I came across a blog post called “Should We Read Our Kid’s Texts?“.  I thought it was kind of interesting.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Main Thoughts

This past Sunday we continued our “Your Journey” series and focused on “Your Ministry.”  This week we focused on the fact that God has created each of us with a purpose, a God-given “special responsibility.” We spent some time looking at how God has SHAPED us to best fulfill our special responsibility.

In Ephesians (3:1-9), the apostle Paul describes his God-given ministry to the Gentiles.

Verse 1,2 – “When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles… assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles.”

From there we looked at 3 Thoughts:

1. God has given each of us a special responsibility.
2. How has God SHAPED you for your special ministry? God has given each of them:
   • Spiritual Gifts
   • Heart/Passion
   • Abilities
   • Personality
   • Experiences
3. Keep Christ at the center of your special responsibility – don’t let pride creep in.”

I closed our time by sharing 1 Prayer I have:

That our students would discover God’s special responsibility for their lives and they would embrace it.

Parent Questions – How has God SHAPED you?  Are you answering the call on your lives?

Audio Link for Message

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Ignite News

Next Week @ Ignite – “Your Life Part 1”

1 Month Snapshot

• January 29 – Final deadline to register for our HS Haiti Mission Trip – only 6 spots remain
• February 1 – sAlt meeting at the church from 6:30-8pm
• February 5 – Super Bowl Event
• February 10-12 – Winter Retreat
• February 12 – No Sunday Morning Ignite or Sunday Night Fusion due to the Winter Retreat
• February 19 – No Sunday Morning Ignite or Sunday Night Fusion due to the Winter Break (in the schools)
• February 26 – New “Sex and Love” series begins (more details to come in a few weeks)

Jan26

The Super Bowl is coming and so is our event for 7th-12th grade students.

There will be TONS of things to do…TONS of prizes…and TONS of free food.

Check out all of “The Big Game” info on our facebook page.

Main Thoughts

This past Sunday we continued our “Your Journey” series and focused on “Your Church Family.”  I wanted our students to understand that even though they were very different from each other and come from different backgrounds (family, neighborhood, school, hobbies, etc), they could and should be able to unite as one group in Jesus.  Too often we allow our differences separate us.

In the book of Ephesians (2:11-19) Paul took some time to address some of the Jew vs. Gentile (anyone who wasn’t a Jew) differences.  Generally these two groups didn’t like each other at all.  In the end their faith in Jesus conquered those differences and united them in God’s family.

Verse 19 – “So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.  You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people.  You are members of God’s family.”

From there we looked at 2 Thoughts:

1. All believers are united in Jesus – a part of God’s family
2. We need to treat each other like a loving family

I closed our time by sharing 2 Prayers I have:

1. For our group – that all are accepted and welcomed into our group no matter what race, background, school, hobby, etc…
2. For you – that you would go out of your way to treat people with kindness and believe that everyone matters, not just people who are just like you.

Parent Questions – Do you believe that everyone matters?  If so, how do you seek to live that out in your life?

Audio Link for Message

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Ignite News

Next Week @ Ignite – “Your Ministry”

1 Month Snapshot

• January 22 – Final deadline to register for our Winter Retreat
• January 29 – Final deadline to register for our HS Haiti Mission Trip – only 6 spots remain
• February 1 – sAlt meeting at the church from 6:30-8pm
• February 5 – Super Bowl Event (details come this Sunday)
• February 10-12 – Winter Retreat

Jan18

The deadline for our Winter Retreat is this Sunday.  Check out the information and don’t miss out on this awesome weekend.

By the way, we’re going to a different camp (Mishindoh – Hillsdale, MI) – this new camp has much better facilities and has more to offer such as an indoor climbing wall (free) and paintball ($20 extra).

***PLEASE don’t allow money to keep you from attending.  We do have scholarship money available.  If this is a need for you, contact me (tmorelock@riveroaks.org or 875-1152).

By the way, many of our students currently have money in their account (from fundraisers) that can be used towards mission trips and retreats.  To find out if your child has money in their account, click here.  If you’d like to apply money from their account towards a certain trip, please indicate that on their application.

Tommy

We’ve extended the deadline for our Haiti Mission Trip (July 5-12) to January 29th but there are only 6 spots still available.  So if you’re interested, turn in your paperwork ASAP.  You don’t want to be #7.

By the way, if money has prevented you from signing up, contact me!

Tommy

Jan13

Are you in HS?

Are you interested in growing in your faith and as a leader?

If so, fill out the sAlt application.  All applications must be filled out by  this Sunday, 1/15.

By the way, sAlt is an acronym for “Student AMP Leadership Team”.

Winter Retreat (February 10-12)

Our retreat is quickly approaching!  Please keep in mind that the early registration deadline is this Sunday (January 15 – price goes up after this date).  Paperwork can be found by clicking here.

I really hope you (or your child) will be able to attend.  Retreats are always a great opportunity to get away with your friends, enjoy some tubing and other snow activities, and most importantly grow closer to Christ.

By the way, we’re going to a different camp (Mishindoh – Hillsdale, MI) – this new camp has much better facilities and has more to offer such as an indoor climbing wall (free) and paintball ($20 extra).

***PLEASE don’t allow money to keep you from attending.  We do have scholarship money available.  If this is a need for you, contact me (tmorelock@riveroaks.org or 875-1152).

By the way, many of our students currently have money in their account (from fundraisers) that can be used towards mission trips and retreats.  To find out if your child has money in their account, click here.  If you’d like to apply money from their account towards a certain trip, please indicate that on their application.

Thanks!

HS Haiti Mission Trip (July 5-12)

The registration deadline for our mission trip is this Sunday (January 15).  Please keep in mind that there are a limited number of spots available.  To find information about the trip, the ministry we’re partnering with, and the actual application, click here.

By the way, many of our students currently have money in their account (from fundraisers) that can be used towards mission trips and retreats.  To find out if your child has money in their account, click here.  If you’d like to apply money from their account towards a certain trip, please indicate that on their application.

Thanks!

Jan12

Main Thoughts

This past Sunday we started a new 5-week series called “Your Journey” which focuses on the idea that all of us are on a journey in this life and the choices we make affect our path.

We kicked off the series by looking at Ephesians 1:1.  It’s interesting that when Paul thought about the believers in Ephesus the thing that stood out to him the most was their strong faith.  It wasn’t the things people normally think about – jobs, money, talents, etc.  Later on in Ephesians 1 we see that Paul prayed for them often.  We even get a glimpse of what he prayed for (1:15-18).

I closed our time by sharing 2 Prayers I have for you (our students) and One Question:

1. That you would have a constantly growing faith.
2. That you would have a faith that lasts a lifetime.

Question – What kind of faith journey are you on RIGHT NOW?

Parent Questions – Do you have people in your life that do not know Jesus?  How often to you pray for them?

Audio Link for Message

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Ignite News

Next Week @ Ignite – “Your Church Family”

1 Month Snapshot

• January 15 – Registration due for our Winter Retreat and HS Haiti Mission Trip
• January 18 – sAlt meeting at the church from 6:30-8pm (HS student leadership team) – in order to be on this team you must fill out an application by January 15
• February 5 – Super Bowl Event (more details to come soon)
• February 10-12 – Winter Retreat