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Student Ministry January 2018

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Dear Church Family,

 By the time you read this, Christmas will have been long behind us; at least a week or so anyway. I hope that you and your family had a great time together celebrating the coming of our Savior to the earth. I pray that there was little-to-no family drama, and that all the presents were exactly what they wanted. I hope that you were pleased with your presents too, of course. But I wonder, did you struggle at all to think of gifts that you actually wanted? I mean gifts within reason. I always ask Kayla for a brand-new Corvette every birthday and Christmas. That’s an easy one… and one I’ll probably never get, haha! But was it hard to think of things that you wanted for Christmas that you knew they could actually get you?

Some of you have no idea what I’m talking about, and that’s totally ok! But others know what it’s like to try to think of something you want, or even need (other than socks), to ask from others. Most of us living in the U.S. already have everything we could ever need. We also have many things that we simply want but don’t really need. If you’re like me, that can make it difficult to think of things to ask for from others. Did you find yourself thinking, “well no, I’ve already got one of those. Don’t need that either. Hmm, what do I want for Christmas?” I doubt that I’m the only one who had this experience.

Here’s my point; I find it interesting that we are not more aware of our extreme abundance at Christmas time. There are many people who feel their need the most at this time of year, but most of us have all we could ever truly need or want and more. Why aren’t we more content? Think about the new year that is upon us. People are far from content at the beginning of the new year. Instead we want change. We want things to be better. We want to be slimmer and manage our finances better and acquire more belongings that we think will make us happy. Did we not learn our lesson? Have we     already forgotten to be thankful? Have we forgotten that God has given us Himself in Christ so that we can have ultimate fulfillment through abiding in Him?

New Year’s resolutions can be quite helpful. But what kind of resolutions are we really making? Are we making a     resolution that finds our happiness in Christ, the One who’s birth we just celebrated? Or are we looking to the world for resolutions that it deems worthwhile? We cannot expect life to be very fruitful if we are making resolutions that are not first and foremost centered on Christ. Want to lose some weight? That’s great! But are we losing it for ourselves, or so we can be good stewards of the body God has given us? Want to have better time management? Superb! But why? So we can use time to be less stressed and more comfortable, or so we can use our time for God’s Kingdom and growing in Him and making Him known? Resolutions aren’t bad, but our motives matter immensely. What are your resolutions for this year, and how are they centered on Christ? I’ll tell you that our students need to see us adults be resolved to spend time in the Word and share the gospel. They need examples of godly resolutions. Will you help me be resolved to show that knowing Christ and being known by Him is better than all other resolutions?

Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren  

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Student Ministry September 2017

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Dear Church Family,


In my last article I mentioned that one of the Student Ministry’s main goals is to create an atmosphere that promotes Christian unity and discipleship. I want to talk a little about one way that that goal will be accomplished as we move forward as a youth group and as a church. I  believe that when people think about unity they tend to picture a group of people who genuinely enjoy spending time together. They see a jovial, inclusive, and intimate group of friends. They see like-minded people having animated conversations concerning the thing about which they are like-minded. They see sober-minded individuals helping carry the heavy burdens of their downtrodden friends. They see outcasts being invited into the middle of the conversation. What is all of this that we imagine when we think of unity? I think we tend to call that love.


This we know is a good thing and something that we ought to encourage. But what about discipleship? What do we think of when we hear that word? Some might think of a dirty dry-erase board with verses written on it. Others may think of lectures and slideshows. Many think of open Bibles, a hot cup of coffee, and good conversations. Yet others imagine embarrassing conversations about accountability. I think what we ought to see is what the   Bible shows us from the life of Jesus. We ought to see a group of people spending time together talking about God’s word and how it applies to their specific lives. Our imaginations ought to envision men meeting together for breakfast to discuss their Bible readings for that week. We should visualize younger ladies asking older ladies to meet with them to grow as godly women. We should see small groups with open Bibles asking questions about how Jesus can guide them through what’s going on in their lives at that present time. And there are many other ways we can imagine discipleship, including dry-erase boards and sermons. But when we look at all of those things, I think the common denominator of them all would have to be what we tend to call the Truth. That is, the Christian message of the gospel being applied to our lives. That is definitely something that we ought to encourage as well as love.


So, if our desire is to have an atmosphere that promotes unity and discipleship, it seems to me that we must be a group of people who cherish love and truth above all things. It is important to note that truth (the gospel of Jesus Christ) is what leads to genuine love. This is because it is through the gospel that we come to know the love of God (John 3:16; 1John 2:4-6, 3:16, 4:9-10). Therefore, we need to be people who are obsessed with the Truth and love. It is through an obsession to walk according to the Truth (not just know it, but walk in it), and be changed by it into a people who love completely and unconditionally, that we will be a unified and Christlike people.


Our Student Ministry needs to be one that is completely governed by truth and love. Think of what that would mean for students today who are surrounded by deception and selfishness. I think a place defined by truth and love is exactly what students are looking for in this world, and I want our church and Student Ministry to continue to be a place where they can find it. I hope this is your desire as well! I think that it probably is. If so, please pray for our ministry and our students. We need that above all else. But maybe you would like to be actively a part of making this goal more of a reality.  I would love to talk with you about that! Please call or email me if you would like to talk about how to help promote the Truth in love.


Sincerely,
Brian

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