Y5: Did God really say . . . Sex is Good?

Small group workshop presenter

Pastor Brad Snyder

 

Youth is a time of life full of curiosity. Sometimes the more we learn, the more curious we get. We need to be careful to not let our curiosity lead us to believe lies. That’s especially true with sex. Sex is good. It’s okay to be curious about it. Most people think about sex a lot more than we talk about it. And even when we talk about it, we often perpetuate more lies. We’ll have an honest conversation about the lies of media and pornography, and what the truth of God’s Word says in response to those lies.

Pastor Brad Snyder serves at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Boise and Nampa, Idaho. He is also the chairman of Conquerors through Christ, a WELS ministry that helps people resist, reject, and recover from using pornography by teaching about sex as a good gift from our great God.

Pastor Brett Krause

Y2: I Stink at Bible Study—HELP!

Small group workshop presenter

Pastor Brett Krause

 

“Be in your Bible!” We hear this advice all the time from those who care about our souls. And it’s beautiful advice! Our Bibles are where God reveals to us the story of Jesus and what his story means for ours, both now and for all eternity. But where should I start? How should I study? What if I don’t understand what I’m reading? Can I understand what I’m reading? This workshop will help answer all those questions and more by providing practical tools for meaningful Bible study that we can put to use right now, and for the rest of our lives.

Pastor Brett Krause serves at Zion Lutheran Church and School, in Denver, Colo., where he was assigned from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2010. Of all the joys he has in his ministry, he enjoys teaching Bible study the most. Brett and his wife, Michelle, have three children—Sophia (14), Silas (12), and Malachi (10)—so helping teens study the Bible is close to his heart.

Y3: Psychological Stewardship: How to Live with All Your Heart, Mind, and Soul

Small group workshop presenter

Karen Fischer

 

God created us to live life to the full. That is not easy to do when everything comes at us fast and furious. Social media of all kinds, climate change, sexual identity, financial uncertainty, and personal worries drive the anxieties of your generation. All of this challenges our mental, spiritual, and emotional health. The anxieties of this generation are not unprecedented, and they are not insurmountable. Rooted in God’s timeless promises, this session will provide evidence-based social science strategies to manage personal anxieties. The goal: to move away from fearful worry and toward eager anticipation of what God has in store for our lives.

“Living in grace, working with wisdom, transcending through humor.” Karen Fischer is a licensed professional counselor passionate about mental wellness. She serves people in outpatient settings, groups, mentorship, and education. Her mode of operating is to look for the “what to do” over the “why do I feel like this” in helping people. Karen’s passion surrounds marrying the grace and truth of the gospel with understanding psychological stewardship.

Rev. Dr. Michael Berg

Y4: Apologetics: Defending the Faith by Caring for the Skeptic

Small group workshop presenter

Rev. Dr. Michael Berg

 

Christian apologetics can be described as “defending the faith using reason” or, from 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason [apologia] for the hope that you have.” Yet there is more to the story. Apologetics is a ministry of caring. We care about the doubts of skeptics and believers alike. While Christians cannot produce faith in dead hearts, we can knock down faulty arguments against the Christian message and make a positive argument for the Christian faith. In this breakout group we will explore ways to think and speak clearly about our faith. From there the Holy Spirit does his work.

Rev. Dr. Michael Berg is an associate professor of theology at Wisconsin Lutheran College, where he teaches courses on worship, apologetics, Martin Luther, Christ in the Old Testament, and Christ and Culture. He is the author of Vocation: The Setting for Human Flourishing (1517), The Baptismal Life (Northwestern Publishing House), On Any Given Sunday: The Story of Christ in the Divine Service (1517), and an upcoming book from Northwestern Publishing House called Peter: Theologian of the Cross.

L3: WELS Youth Night

Leadership workshop presenter

Pastor Ben & Ezra Blumer

 

The WELS Youth Night initiative was launched at the 2022 youth rally. The idea is to gather high school teens for a one-night event that includes games, food, a Bible message, and small group discussion. In this workshop designed for leaders, Ezra Blumer and Pastor Ben Blumer will teach how to put on a Youth Night event. They will share some things they’ve learned since the initiative was first launched and offer some ways to maximize your impact with teens following the event. Finally, there will be a Q&A opportunity where Ezra and Pastor Ben will answer all your Youth Night questions.

Ezra and Pastor Ben will also present information about the new interactive virtual WELS national teen Bible study, which offers greater relational youth connection opportunities and spiritual growth by connecting teens around the country via video around the Word.

Ezra Blumer helped launch WELS Youth Night. He has led Youth Night events at his home church, NorthCross, in Lakeville, Minn., and across the country. He also helped start NXT GEN (a high school ministry) at NorthCross. Ezra just finished his first year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

Pastor Ben Blumer was also part of the team that launched WELS Youth Night. He is the lead pastor at NorthCross Church in Lakeville, where he also oversees their NXT GEN ministry.