Join us March 16th for the 2nd Annual "Cheetah Chase!" Cheetah Chase is a Student Ministries wide (College. High School, Jr. High) Photo Scavenger Hunt. Students will be divided into teams, assigned a leader who will be with the team the entire night, and then given their clues. Each clue will be a hidden code of a location around town. Once the code is broken, the team must drive to that location, take a picture, and move onto the next clue. The team with the most correct pictures wins! The purpose of this event is to promote unity amongst student ministries as a whole. We want healthy relationships with other students to be established in all Ministries! If you are interested in attending this event, signing up and bringing a permission slip is required! You can sign up on Sunday Morning, Tuesday Night, or via email. General Permission Slips can be found online. We hope to see you there

Friday, March 2nd through March 3rd will be the culmination of our 30 Hour Famine Outreach! The famine starts at noon on Friday and will end at 6:00pm on Saturday for dinner. We will be meeting at the church on Friday night and most of Saturday for the majority of our activities. Stay tuned for further information coming soon!

Also please join us Sunday January 29th at 7pm in the Youth Hall as we discuss this event further as well as prepare our hearts for what the Lord wants to do in and through us during 30 hour famine!

Please feel free to contact us on the "contact page" if you have any questions

Check out the promo video for "30 Hour Famine" below

January 15th Catalyst will be kicking off a brand new series. We are so excited about this series. This Series is called "Your Identity and Destiny" and will be from January 15th-May 6th, 2012. In this series  we will be discussing our value and Identity as sons and daughters of God. We will be taking it a little bit further by teaching how our Identity as sons and daughters of God will help us to determine our Destiny and how to walk in alignment with that Destiny. Make sure to check the website for updates and testimonies from this series, and please pray for this series. Pray that God will be glorified, pray that Students will know that they are valued, they have a purpose, and they are loved!

Parents this message is for you! Do your kids ever come home from Catalyst talking non-stop about the awesome games they played? This is your opportunity to get in on the action as well! Join us February 28th for the 2nd Annual "Parent Vs. Student Game Night". This event is from 6:30-8:30pm in the South Hills Community Church Youth Hall. If you think you can beat your own kids at their own games please join us February 28th, and come ready to play. The cost is free, we just ask that each family bring a dessert to share! We hope to see you there...if you are up for the challenge!

Thanks for checking out Student Ministries' OPERATION: BLESSING! You may have heard of this effort from a flyer or by word-of-mouth; either way, please read on to find out what this thing is all about.

This holiday season Mosaic, Catalyst and Kaleo are joining forces to bless the homeless in San Jose! This will be a 3-phase plan to supply the homeless with the essentials for life and the winter season.

   THE PLAN…

Phase 1: “Day of Distribution” – Saturday, December 10 – 1:00-2:30pm

Phase 1 consists of us getting together for the purpose of spreading the word to the 1-Mile Radius around South Hills.  We’ll gather just for an hour and a half, pray over the flyers, split up into teams and hand-deliver the flyers to the neighborhood. These flyers will have information about our project and will let people know that we’ll be back on Saturday the 17^th to collect any supplies they would like to donate. The more helpers we have, the more flyers we can get out and that means more opportunity for donations!

Phase 2: “Day of Preparation” – Saturday, December 17 – 1:00-5:00pm

During Phase 2 we will be tackling a number of different tasks in order to prepare for the event on Sunday including: collect supplies from the 1-Mile Radius, organize and label clothing, assemble the brown bags, discuss the flow and responsibilities for Sunday and go over a short briefing on how to interact with the homeless. 

Phase 3: “Day of Blessing” – Sunday, December 18 – 2:00-6:00pm

This is the big day! Phase 3 will be the culmination of OPERATION: BLESSING as we travel downtown to serve and hand out the supplies we have been collecting. We’ll be meeting at SHCC to pack the vans and go over the briefing for anyone who missed it on Saturday. We will then load up and head downtown to set up and hang out with the homeless until the service starts. The homeless ministry’s weekly volunteer briefing begins at 3:30 and we’ll begin serving food and handing out supplies at 4:00pm. After it’s all done we’ll pack up and head back to SHCC for a short debriefing.

           HOW YOU CAN HELP…

High School & Junior High Students:

1. Volunteer: We are going to need plenty of help on the three days listed above! Sign up at Catalyst or Mosaic to attend as many of the days as you can!
2. Collect: Many of you have already been out there collecting supplies from your family members, neighbors and classmates; that’s awesome! The success of this event lies heavily on our ability to collect as many supplies as we can!
3. Donate: many of you have items in your possession that you could likely live without. Take a look at your jackets, coats, hats, gloves and other clothing items to see if there’s something you would like to donate this holiday season. (Please be sure to ask your parents before giving away things from your house.)

Everyone else:

The best way for you to get involved would be to DONATE, DONATE and DONATE!!!

There are many items that are needed in order to make this event happen. If you saw or received one of the hundreds of flyers we have spread throughout San Jose and are wondering how to help or what you can do, take a look at the lists below.

DONATION GUIDELINES:

1. If you are donating used clothing we only ask that it be lightly used. Please refrain from donating clothing with holes, large stains or anything that has been heavily soiled.
2. Please donate only new, BLACK socks.
3. Please donate only new food and hygiene supplies. The best place to get these items would be at the dollar store!
4. Please only donate perishable food items the week leading up to December 18th so they do not go bad before we can distribute them.

           DONATABLE ITEMS:

Clothing

• Jackets
• Sweaters
• Black Socks
• Shoes
• Gloves
• Warm hats
• Ponchos
• Scarves
• Umbrellas
• Blankets

Hygiene

• Toothbrushes
• Toothpaste
• Combs
• Mouthwash
• Deodorant
• Hand sanitizer
• Tissues
• Soap
• Lotion
• Hand wipes
• Shampoo
• Sunscreen
• Band aids
• Chapstick
• Feminine hygiene products

Food

• Bread
• Lunch meat
• Sliced cheese
• Fruit 
• Candy Canes
• Trail Mix
• Gum
• Raisins
• Granola bars
• Apple sauce
• Mints
• Crackers
• Juice boxes
• Water
• Mini dog food packs

The Holiday Season is here! It is filled with many wonderful things like Turkey, Stuffing, Presents, Stockings, and of course the celebration of Christ's Birth! The Holiday season does bring some sad news though. At Catlalyst we understand that the Holiday Season is a time to celebrate with family, and we also understand to get to your family requires long drives, and even plane rides! We will not be having Catalyst Core Groups on November 22nd, December 20th/27th, and we will not be having a Catalyst Sunday morning service on December 25th! Enjoy the Holidays with your family, and for those of you traveling...Safe Travels! SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR!

An Aweful Life
An Aweful Life examines what it looks like to live a awe inspired life of worship based on an understanding of God’s mercy through Jesus Christ.

We were created to worship God and be in awe of who He is. If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are an act of worship, however, too often that worship goes to celebrities, leaders in the church or ourselves instead of to the One who is truly worthy. When we look at who God is and the gift of His son Jesus, we should fall to our knees and be in awe that God, in his great mercy, desires to be in a relationship with us. This should cause us to respond by offering all that we are back to him as a living sacrifice, a life that is set apart from the world and acceptable to God. A life lived in awe of who God is.

An Aweful Life takes a look at the lives of individuals who have learned to live each moment in awe of God’s mercy. We will learn what day to day worship is, and seek out practical ways we can offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice.

Theme Verse: 
Therefore, I urge you, brothers an sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
[Romans 12:1]

Are you Excited about Christmas? The Catalyst Staff cannot wait until Christmas!  Join us Tuesday December 13th from 6:30-8:30pm for the Catalyst Ugly Sweater Party! We will be exchanging presents, wearing Ugly sweaters of course, eating christmas cookies, and playing Christmas games!!! What is the cost you ask? COST IS FREE!!! We just ask that you 1) wear an Ugly Christmas Sweater 2) Bring a batch of homemade cookies to share 3) bring something random from HOME wrapped for the gift exchange! It is going to be awesome, and you do not want to miss this! It only happens once a year! Sign up now by emailing Pastor Josh on the contact page!

It is that time again, time for "Awards Night". Awards Night is a night dedicated to reflecting back on everything that God has done in and through Catalyst this past year. It is a night of testimonies, and a night of recognition. Throughout the night we will here testimonies from students as well as reflect back on the events of 2011 and look ahead at what is planned in 2012. We as the Catalyst leadership also want to recognize students for personal acheivements this past year, things they have been praying for, things they have personally accomplished. It is an awesome night, one of everyone's favorite Catalyst gatherings. Oh did I mention it is a red carpet event? Everyone dressed up in ties and dresses, and you are served Dinner and dessert by your leaders! How awesome is that! You do not want to miss this night! We do ask that you SIGN UP to attend this event, so we know how much food to cook, so please sign up ASAP! We look forward to celebrating this past year with you on November 29th, 2011 at 6:30pm in the Youth Hall!

Many students (and adults for that matter) have a false understanding as to what Worship is! Worship is so much more than instruments, worship is so much more than songs, worship is a lifestyle! "Shift" is the Catalyst Worship Class where our goal is to shift the current thinking many have as to what worship is, and come back to an understanding of worship according to scripture. The Last Sunday of every month (with some holiday exceptions) we come together for a free lunch from 11:45-1:15pm in Pastor Josh's office. We will be going through a workbook called "Pure Praise" by Dwayne Moore which costs $12, as well as the book of Psalms. This class has already begun but you can join any time you want! Every month Lunch will be free, and the only cost to you is the purchase of the workbook. You do not want to miss this class! This class is open to ALL Jr. High Students, and parents are free to sit in as well. This class will be led by Elyssa Robertson/Pastor Josh Robertson. We hope to see you there. You can sign up by email, or Sunday Morning at the Catalyst Info Table!