First Time at J-Gen (required for first time 7th graders) Do you ever find yourself feeling awkwardly out of place because of your age? Or that everyone else knows what to do except you? J-Gen doesn’t have to be one of those places! Amidst so many new experiences and so many people, this seminar will help you prepare yourself to process and receive what God has for you.
	Prayer Few Christians need to be persuaded on the importance of prayer. And yet many of us experience little satisfaction in cultivating a life of prayer. The early disciples had the same struggle, and though they had heard prayers before, there was something about the way Jesus prayed that compelled them to ask him, "teach us to pray like that!" In this seminar, we will sit under Christ's timeless Word and observe His exemplary prayer life. We will also take a peek into the lives of prayer warriors, both living and dead. Finally, we will discuss some practical ways to help us to pray.
	Fighting Idolatry We were created to worship: to see and delight in the beauty of God. And yet, we so often find ourselves forgetful of God, distracted, even consciously choosing to rebel against him. What’s wrong? The truth is that there is often something deeper going on, something that is killing our worship. In this seminar you will learn to identify and to deal with the idols in your life that keep you from being able to give your all for the God who is worthy of all of our worship.
	Spiritual Friendships “Iron sharpens iron,” says the writer of Proverbs, “so a friend sharpens a friend.” Few people have as formative an influence on our lives as our friends. But how are we “sharpening” each other? What are the marks of a faithful friend? What does the Bible have to say about friendship? In this seminar we will address these questions and show you how your friendships can become rooted in the gospel.
	Life Management What if you had one extra hour per day, or an extra 365 hours per year? How much more effective would you be as a follower of Jesus in your school, work, sports, and relationships? The truth is that you won’t get that extra hour. But after this seminar, you may FEEL like it! We will learn how choices impact our future. We will directly tackle stress and burnout, and realize more balance and margin in our lives by focusing our efforts and activities around your highest priorities!
	Music & Our Lives (9th and up) One young recording artist speaks for many when she says: "Music is my home. When I'm trying to find my inner peace, when it seems like everything is overwhelming, I put music in my ears.” Music is a way of experiencing our world and expression of our hearts. There is much to affirm and much to discuss about the music that defines and displays our moods and lives. This seminar will look at new ways to listen to secular music with a discerning and analytical mindset grounded on biblical truth.
	Christ & Culture The forces of our culture can be relentless in shaping us – telling us who we should be and what we should care about. We know that we are called to be agents of change in our culture, but what does this really mean? How do we discern what to avoid, what to embrace, and what to take a stand against? In this seminar we will learn how to be influencers for God’s kingdom, rather than simply being influenced by “the pattern of this world”.
	Moving To Maturity Adolescence is a time when you feel caught in the middle: you are no longer a child and yet not an adult either. Unfortunately too many young people get stuck in spiritual infancy, never growing up into maturity. What does it mean to be spiritually and emotionally mature? In this seminar we will explore what the Bible has to say about maturity, look at some profiles of immature people, and discover how to remain child-like without being childish.
	What A Girl Wants, What A Girl Needs In our culture, girls struggle to make sense of many mixed messages. They are evaluated on the basis of appearance: be beautiful, sexy, honest, polite, popular, smart (but not too smart), etc. Many times, girls feel like they are caught in the middle: they desire to fit in with their peers, yet they want to be like Christ. How do girls make sense of the complexities of this world and continue to strive to be Christian in a culture obsessed with external beauty? In this seminar, together we will share honestly about the struggles girls face in today’s society and search scripture to help us resolve some of these tensions.
	Missions After Jesus rose from the dead, he gave his disciples a mission: “go into all the world and make disciples of all nations”. Those disciples were faithful to the mission, and almost 2000 years later, the mission continues – and we get to play a part! Have you ever wondered what role God might be calling you to play in fulfilling this Great Commission? In this seminar, you will learn how you can be involved more deeply in taking the message about Jesus to the nations.
	Bringing The Gospel Home We often hear about God's Great Commission to bring the Gospel to the nations. But what about our own backyard, literally? Sometimes our homes are the most difficult places for us to live out the Gospel because it is where people know us the best, and where we may see the worst in others. This seminar will look into how we can live out the Great Commission within the context of our relationships with parents and siblings -- whether or not they are believers.
	Arts & Worship With so many different people in the church, how can each person use their unique gifts to glorify God? Music is just one form of art; what about others like dance, painting, photography, sculptures, or poetry? How can we use these gifts for God’s glory? In this seminar we will talk about practical ways that we can use our creativity to magnify our Creator.
	Student Leadership (11th and up) We often think of leadership as a position, and leaders as “the ones who are in charge.” But Jesus turned this upside down, modeling and teaching a new kind of leading: servant leadership. What does it mean to lead the way that Jesus led? How can you lead when you don’t feel qualified or when you don’t know what to say? What, practically, is a student leader supposed to do? This seminar will address these questions and get to the heart of what God is looking for in those he calls to lead.