Happy New Year!
January is in full swing, and already half over. I dropped my parents off at the airport on January 5th, after spending 3 weeks with them. Our time together was really great, I enjoyed being able to spend Christmas and New Years with them. After the Christmas break, I hit the ground running. We're off to a good semester.
Follow your heart ... THAT'S NOT TRUE!
In his commencement address to Stanford graduates, Steve Jobs encouraged students to follow their hearts. The message students received wasn't a new one - it's one they'd heard from childhood through subtle and not-so-subtle Disney movies. Society says, "If it feels good, do it." For the past two weeks, we challenged this teaching at youth group and encouraged our students to turn to the Word of God and cling to His absolute Truth, rather than trust our own hearts and feelings. We want our students to submit themselves to the Lord's ways instead of relying on our limited understanding. So, in an effort to teach them to recognize the lie of following their heart, we told them to say (or shout, because that's more fun middle schoolers) "that's not true" whenever they hear the phrase.
This week we're transitioning to a Bible walk through series at youth group.
"This may sound like a stupid question ... but what exactly is salvation?"
A sixth grade girl asked me this question during Bible study last week, which sparked for a great conversation!! Her question reminded me of the necessity to define basic church words in middle school friendly terms.
Last semester we looked at who Jesus is and this semester we're looking at what it means to follow Him. The first lesson discussed the price of salvation - it's free, but it's going to cost us our lives as we trade in our ways for His ways.
WOAH man
My high school girls have been eager to read through the Old Testament and study different women that we come across. So far we've covered Eve and Sarah. A few of the girls are reading Old Testament stories for the first time, and it's been super fun to see their excitement and curiosity. They had no idea there were so many bizarre stories in the Scriptures. I've gotten a few "woah, that's crazy" remarks from my girls so far, and look forward to more.
Crazy Commitments
I'm not always big on New Year's resolutions, but each year I typically desire to be more disciplined in my Bible reading and attempt to read through it. This year I did the same thing, and even checked out a few online reading plans for ideas. Well, I threw those out the window a week ago. Two high school students were super eager about wanting to read through the Bible -quickly. And by quickly, they decided to try and finish the entire Bible before track season starts - in March. My co-worker decided to do it with them. I agreed to make up their reading schedule and give them a check-off chart. After doing that, I decided it's been awhile since I committed to something crazy... and reading 17 chapters of the Bible everyday for nearly 3 months is crazy, but worthwhile. So I committed. So far, so good. It's amazing how the hunger and desire for growth among students spurs me on!
ESCAPE: Marvels
Our middle school outreach camp is coming up fast! It's February 17-20. Our theme this year is Marvels, a super hero themed camp where we'll look at Jesus' and His marvelous works. So far, we've got 26 students signed up. Would you begin praying that God would prepare the hearts of these students. Some know the Lord, some come to group each week with questions but haven't become followers, and some simply haven't expressed an interest in the Lord.
Thanks for joining me in prayer and supporting ministry at Ramstein!
Blessings,
Beth
