UNITE

Christmas Party Minute To Win It

2011-12-14T13:39:00.000-08:00

This year's annual Christmas Party is going to be crazy. We are going to be playing Minute To Win It to see who has the most Christmas Spirit. Come with a gift to give away and come ready to compete! The party starts at 6pm on Saturday, December 17th! If you would like to compete, here are the game videos below so you can start getting ready!

Jingle In The Trunk

Merry Fishmas

Reindeer Nosedive

Face The Gingerbread Man

Christmas Card Cliffhanger

Christmas Ball

Deck the Balls

It's Thanksgiving, Don't Forget To...

2011-11-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

Today is THANKSGIVING, and as we celebrate this amazing holiday I hope that we don't forget to thank God for all He has done for us. Many of us will spend the day sleeping in, spending time with family, eating turkey and stuffing, watching football, and planning our midnight trip to Wal-Mart on Black Friday. My hope and prayer for you and your family is that you'll stop and take some time to say Thank You to God for His many blessings. Most of us have more than we need and are blessed even more than we stop to think about.

Even if you think that you don't have anything to be thankful for on this holiday, God says in Habakkuk 3:17-19 that we always can be thankful:

17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
able to tread upon the heights.

I know most of you will be tearing up the turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie this afternoon; but even if we didn't have a turkey feast today with family, we can still be thankful to God and praise Him on this Thanksgiving Day. No matter how hard life is; we can rejoice and be thankful for salvation as a Christian! So take some time today, no matter what your day looks like, and praise God for His many blessings!

UPCOMING EVENTS

2011-11-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

Here is a run-down of some of the upcoming events that you won't want to miss:

THE EXCHANGE
Every Sunday @ 9:00 a.m.

What: We're changing up a few things around here on Sundays, and we're going to start a new Sunday Morning Discipleship Group called The Exchange. It is a place you can come on Sunday mornings to get some breakfast, laugh with friends, sing songs to God, and learn how to live like Jesus wants a teenager to live today. We decided to call it The Exchange to remind us of the daily struggle to exchange our old sinful life with our new life in Jesus Christ. This doesn't happen right away, but living like God wants us to live is a daily choice and process. Hopefully, The Exchange will be a place where you can come as a teenager and have fun learning how to live like God wants you to live with other teens! We hope you'll join us!

Christmas Caroling
Thursday, December 15, 6:30-8:15pm

What: On Thursday, December 15th, we're going to take the youth group Christmas Caroling! This is going to be a fun and festive night where the youth group can spread a little Christmas cheer to some older folks in our community. You don't need to have an amazing voice to join us, just bring yourself and be willing to make a joyful noise as we sing some Christmas favorites! Please be at the youth center no later than 6:30pm! Email Pastor Dan if you'd like to come by clicking here.

Christmas Party
Saturday, December 17, at 6pm
Youth Center

What: This is a night you won't want to miss! On Saturday, December 17, we'll be hosting our 3rd Annual Unite Christmas Party. If you aren't in the Christmas spirit yet, I guarantee you'll be after this party! There will be Christmas cookies, Christmas caroling, Christmas candy, Christmas cheering, Christmas costumes, and even some Christmas craziness. This year we will be having some intense Christmas competition as we play Christmas Minute To Win It! These are going to be some crazy games, so you might want to go and start training now by clicking here!

THE PAUSE

2011-08-31T13:12:00.000-07:00

Sundays at 9am during The Exchange
Starting in November

Generation Multitask. It's a fitting label for today's overcommitted, over-entertained teenager. School, band, sports practice, work, volunteering, and hours of "screen time," all create a tremendous drain on your time. Where is the time for cultivating your relationship with Christ? The Pause teaches teenagers like you to "hit pause" and spend time growing your relationship with God. Through the highly interactive Student Book, The Pause will teach you how to pray, how to memorize Scripture, and how to study specific passages of the Bible. Learning these disciplines will lead you into a vibrant relationship with Christ! If you would like find our more about how you can push the Pause button in your life, join us on Sunday mornings at 9am for The Exchange at the Unity Youth Center. For more information, please email Pastor Dan by clicking here.

PROOF

2011-08-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

Sundays at 9am during The Exchange
Starting in September

Who is Jesus? For thousands of years, how people answered this question has literally meant life or death. It's a question all teens must answer, as well. John, one of Jesus' closest disciples, took on the task of proving the identity of Christ. John paints a picture of Jesus as the Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the redeemer of God's children. Proof will teach you the story of Jesus Christ through His powerful teaching, His amazing miracles, and his death and resurrection. If you would like find our more about Jesus, join us on Sunday mornings at 9am for The Exchange at the Unity Youth Center. For more information, please email Pastor Dan by clicking here.

UNITE Youth Group

2011-08-31T10:45:00.001-07:00

UNITE Youth Group at the Unity Youth Center is held every Thursday evening. It's a time of fun games, cool friends, and challenging Bible study. Over the next few weeks, we'll be doing a Bible study on the topic of "What's The Deal With Christians." This will go over questions every teenager has about topics like drinking, unsaved friends, texting, love, and suicide. If you're interested or have questions about any topics like that; join us and bring a friend every Thursday night at 6:30pm at the Unity Youth Center! If you would like more information or directions to our Youth Center, please email Pastor Dan by clicking here.

The Exchange

2011-08-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Exchange [Sunday Morning Discipleship for Teens]
Every Sunday Morning at 9am

I know 9:00 a.m. is early for a teenager on the weekend, but make a choice to get up early on Sunday morning and join us for The Exchange. The Exchange is a Sunday Morning Discipleship Group where teens can have breakfast, make friends, worship God with song, and learn how to better follow Jesus. This is a time where we'll all learn how to Exchange our desire to live for ourselves with the desire to live for Jesus Christ. So get up, come get some grub, and learn how to live like Jesus together with other teens! If you are interested in coming, please contact Pastor Dan for more information by clicking here.

The Lifebook Movement

2011-08-31T10:35:00.001-07:00

A Local Short Term Mission Trip to Your Public School
Coming to You September 26-30, 2011

Starting the 1st week of September, we will be introducing you to the LIFEBOOK, an innovative and creative way to get the Bible in the hands of your unsaved friends. There are thousands of teens in Champaign, IL, that don’t know what many of you know about Jesus. They have never heard how Jesus can change their life. The LIFEBOOK is a cool tool to share that truth with them. For more information, check out www.thelifebook.com. If you would like to join the movement at Unity Baptist Church, please email Pastor Dan for more information by clicking here.

Teen Summer Camp 2011

2011-07-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

Pastor Dan, Laura, and a bunch of our teens hopped in the church van and headed to Frankfurt, MI, on June 27th for summer teen camp. We had an awesome week of roughing it in our tents out in the woods. We had a ton of sweet stuff to do all week including running down and climbing up a 400 ft. sand dune, dune jumping off of the highest dunes we could find, playing tackle football in Lake Michigan, and jumping off of a lighthouse pier! We had some intense competition like airsoft wars in the woods and capture the flag at night! It was an awesome experience, but most importantly we learned more about God and how to grow closer to Him! Below is a highlight video of camp along with a slideshow of all of the things we did. Check them out and let us know if you'd like to be involved for Teen Summer Camp 2011!

Using Time Wisely in 2011

2011-01-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

Ephesians 5:15-16 says,
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil."

2010 is gone, and 2011 has begun. It is a new year, and many have decided that they are going to change in 2011. New Year's resolutions are plentiful and filled with ways to start new good habits and remove old bad habits. Goodbye junk food, hello exercise!

Whether you've made any resolutions like this for 2011, here's a good goal to make for yourself from Ephesians 5:15-16: use your time wisely in 2011! Now, these verses from Ephesians don't just tell you to pick up a planner from Wal-mart and start scheduling out every area of your life, although that could help you greatly; instead it means that we need to make the most of our time here on this evil earth for the Lord as Christians.

What does this mean for you? Take a look at your goals, plans, and desires for 2011 and make sure that God and His desires for your life will fit. If you don't have any room for God, then something needs to go. Get rid of those bad habits or wants that crowd God out and replace them with time with God in Bible reading and prayer. Stop doing so many things at school or work and fill that time with doing things to serve God.

Here's a practical goal for 2011: make it a goal to be involved in Unity Youth events this year whether building Christian relationships, service activities, bible studies, or youth group. Give up some things that you normally want do so that you can make some time for what God wants you to do. You won't be disappointed at what God can do in you if you commit some extra time to Him!

Pastor Dan
Youth Pastor, Unity Baptist Church
217-649-3359

MEET OUR YOUTH PASTOR

2009-08-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Youth Ministry website of Unity Baptist Church. We'd like you to meet Pastor Dan Neighbors who is the Youth Pastor at Unity Baptist Church here in Champaign, IL. Pastor Dan and his wife, Laura, joined the staff of Unity on the 1st of July of 2009 after finishing college and seminary at Northland International University. They also were married on June 13th of 2009, and are enjoying life together as a married couple. Together, Pastor Dan and Laura oversee the entire youth department while focusing mainly on the discipleship and growth of teenagers across the community. They love teenagers and desire to see them have a relationship with the Lord! If you have any questions or would like to talk with Pastor Dan or Laura, simply comment on this post; facebook them; or email them at unifiedyouth@gmail.com. If you or your teens would like to meet Pastor Dan and Laura and be involved in their ministry, simply show up at our Youth Center on Clark Rd. and join us for Youth Group. We'd love to have you!

MARTYRS FOR CHRIST

2009-07-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from Jesus Freaks: Martyrs
by dc Talk

Anila and Perveen

17 and 18 years old

Pakistan 1997

Anila met Perveen at school. As their friendship grew, Anila gave Perveen a Bible and taught her Christian songs. Perveen quickly learned Christian songs and began to teach them to her younger sister when her parents weren’t home. Perveen’s parents soon learned of the songs. Being strict Muslims, they were not happy about them. But rather than confronting Perveen right away, they had her younger sister try to find out where she was getting this Christian influence.

Anila eventually invited Perveen to a Good Friday service. When the young Muslim heard the Gospel presentation, she immediately accepted Jesus. Perveen became very excited about her new relationship with Jesus and saw great changes take place in her life. She read her Bible and praised God boldly. Anila knew that, before long, her friend would encounter opposition from her family.

Perveen’s parents were furious when they learned of her conversion. They had previously arranged for her to marry a Muslim man. When Perveen again refused, she ran away.
When Perveen’s parents could not find her, they accused Anila and her pastor of kidnapping her. They had Anila arrested. Anila was slapped and beaten in front of her parents for over nine hours. Finally she was taken to prison.

Anila’s pastor and his family were taken to prison on the following day. Anila and her pastor experienced horrible tortures in jail. She was whipped sixteen times (five times would make a normal man pass out). When they were released, Anila could not sit for two months, and her pastor could barely walk from the bruises on his hips and thighs.
Perveen was later found by her family. In Muslim nations, children are often severely beaten for converting to Christianity. Others are killed by their own parents or siblings for apostasy, converting to another faith.

To restore the honor of his family, Perveen’s brother stabbed her to death. He then turned himself in to the local authorities. As is not uncommon in such situations, he was eventually released without incident.
Anila was then arrested on charges of kidnapping.
She was imprisoned, then released on bail a little more than a month later. She and her family when into hiding, as their lives were threatened by radical Muslims.
In May 1999, Anila was acquitted of all charges. Praise God for the prayers of faithful believers around the world! Continue to pray for her protection as she remains in hiding.
“I have seen the world,” Anila said, “and it has nothing good. Jesus is my only peace.”

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of other, similar stories that are never told of Christian children and teens.

CAMPING FUN~YEE HAH!

2009-07-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

Teens who went to Youth Camp 2009 enjoyed an exhilarating and enlightening trail ride with 10 exceptional horses and one hillbilly guide that kept us all entertained for the entire two hour trip. Yes, you heard me, we rode those horses all up and down the West Virginian Mountains for two whole hours and we enjoyed it.
It was great because we got to the stables at 3pm and listened to our wonderful guide with his West Virginian accent and humor give us a quick demonstration on how to behave around a horse, how to treat a horse, and how to ride a horse. As soon as he was done, the team at ACE paired us each up with a horse that would work well with us for our two hour ride. For some reason (I because I'm tall), I received a mule horse which was a little bit bigger than the rest of the horses and had tall pointy ears. His name was Dan. Anyways, everyone was happy with their horse and let them eat some grass and drink some water as part of their coffee break before heading out to the trails.
Once on the trails, everyone learned how well (or not so well) they knew how to ride and control a horse. They also learned much about the horse the were riding and even more about the horse in front of them because each horse was usually only a couple feet away from the horse in front of it. So...if you've never been on a horse in your life, here are a few tips about riding that were learned from our extensive experience:

1. Don't let your horse eat while you are riding it; it will take advantage of you and eat the entire trip (Just ask Liz and Cassie)
2. Don't stay too close to the horse in front of you; you'll see, hear, and smell things you ought not. (Just ask anyone on the trip)
3. Don't kick your horse, telling it to move when it's using the bathroom; it doesn't like that. (Would you?)
4. Try to ride in the front of the line; the tour guide from West Virginia will keep you more entertained. (Just ask Nathan, Cassie, Laura, and Alex)
5. Make sure you have a lake or pool to go swimming in after your trail ride.

So, if you think you would've loved to have been at Teen Camp with us riding the trails; here is a short little clip to put you in the mood and show you a little bit of what we experienced. :)

PD (Pastor Dan)

TEEN CAMP 2009

2009-07-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

The teens of Unity Baptist Church enjoyed a 3-day adventure camping trip at ACE Adventure Resort in West Virginia. If you weren't there, you should know that this trip was filled with whitewater rafting, horseback riding, water slides, Jacob, long van rides, off-key singing, spiritual challenges, amazing food, David Jones, heartfelt worship, jumping off rocks, washers, nice warm hot tub, homemade pizza, Nathan Brady, bathroom breaks, beautiful horses, surfing, meat grinders, zip lines, moonwalks, blobs, sandy beaches, P.F.D.'s, Smiley, star tripping, crazy games, smores, early mornings, morning devotions, sleepy teenagers, hillbillies, good music, not enough sleep, long walks, 4 on a couch, confusing conundrums, and all around the most fun anyone could have for three days at camp! (Did I miss anything?)

Pastor Dan and Laura went along with David and Melissa Jones (our cooks); Nathan and Cassie Brady (our sponsors); and 5 teen girls on the Unity Youth Camping Trip. We left Sunday afternoon after church and drove all the way through some very small and windy roads until we reached ACE Adventure Camp and Resort in West Virginia. We arrived a little after 10pm and were ready to eat some tacos before having devotions and heading to bed. You see, we had to get to bed because our whitewater rafting trip on the Lower New River started at 8:30 in the morning. That morning we got up early, had devotions, and ate a good breakfast before heading to the rafting trip where we grabbed our P.F.D.'s (personal flotation device), paddles, and helmet which would help us survive our fierce battle with the waves of the Lower New River. Needless to say, we survived and loved it! Here is just a little sampling of what we experienced while rafting down the river.

PD (Pastor Dan)

EXTREME GAMES HIGHLIGHTS

2009-06-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

If you weren't at Champaign's 1st Extreme Games, I'm telling you right now that you missed out royally! We had the perfect amount of teens show up to make the games go awesome. We got everyone registered and placed on either Team Extreme or Team Gravity for the games that night, and then we jumped right into playing all of the insane, crazy games. We played a game called 2-liter Tube Tug and Tackle first where everyone fought over 2 liters of pop and rubber tire inner tubes in order to gain points for their teams. There was a lot of pushing, shoving, and tackling that took place in order to get those coveted points! We then played the game called You-Don't-Crack-The-Six-Pack where everybody on one team links arms and legs while the other team tries to pull your team apart! Can you imagine the intensity of holding on to your partner for dear life while some is pulling and tugging on you like a rubber band trying to get you apart? Crazy huh?

After all of the take downs and tackling we played a bunch of water games to cool everyone off; and boy, did everyone get cooled off! No one walked away from these water with a dry spot on them! They were diving in pools, dunking their heads, and slipping and sliding on soapy tarps while trying to score points for their team! It was sahweet! After the games were done, everyone tried to dry off while eating their SONIC burgers, chips, pop, and cookies that we had for them to eat. (Oh, by the way, while everyone was eating, some of the adult sponsors at the games decided it would be funny to dump the youth pastor who was running all of the games into the pool full of water. As a result, Pastor Dan got soaked along with his cell phone, megaphone, and Clint's brand new cell phone. :)

We then headed into the church auditorium where we played some crazy icebreaker games and gave away tons of prizes! The teens loved it! Then Pastor Dan preached to all of the teens about the 4 most important truths in their life. Those truths boiled down to the fact that we all need the saving grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ! As a result of the message, 5 teens came forward and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior! That's more exciting than all of the games, prizes, and food combined! The Lord is so good!

Sorry if you missed all of the fun. Don't worry though, we'll do it again next year!

Oh, and by the way, don't forget to check out the sweet highlight video of Extreme Games!

CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE

2008-12-29T14:34:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Well, it is the Christmas season and the New Year is right around the corner, and all of you should be out of school by now. Some of you still have to work over the next few days; many of you will be taking off to go visit family; and all of you will hopefully be looking forward to when you get to show love to your family members by giving gifts to one another around the Christmas Tree! This is a wonderful time of year, and even more wonderful is the reason for the season. Many don't really understand what the real meaning of Christmas is these days. With all of the shopping, presents, music, food, friends, and family; they forget what it is they are really celebrating: The Birth Of Jesus Christ Our Lord And Savior! It can be easy to do, I know; but this Christmas as a youth group, let's make sure that we don't forget. To do this, I have a Christmas Challenge for you that I shared with those in Sunday School. Over the next 2 weeks (while you're out of school), make it a goal to read Matthew 1, Luke 2, and John 19-21 once every day. Read it twice on Christmas Day. And if your family doesn't read the Christmas Story of Luke 2:1-20 before you open your gifts, ask them if you can read it on Christmas morning to focus on Christ first. Doing this will help you to not forget what you are really celebrating this Christmas Season. Remember, the greatest gift anyone can ever receive is God's gift of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I love you all! Have a Merry Christmas!

Pastor Dan

Here's a funny Christmas song just for fun...