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Student Ministry February 2018

Dear Church Family,

The Student Ministry has been gearing up for the Spring and Summer by planning for events and putting dates on the calendar. We are really excited for this year’s line-up of things to do together with friends and the rest or our Student Ministry family. It is going to be full of fun times, encouraging fellowship, and spiritual growth. These events are going to be great! But with all that said, I believe there is a danger that we can easily ignore. If we aren’t careful, we will look forward to these events and forget about the essential week-by-week fellowship and worship that we all need. It can be very tempting as believers to operate from one spiritual “high” to another and neglect walking together with Christ. But the Bible doesn’t describe the Christian life as a sprint, but as a faithful and persevering walk with Christ. It is a hike that goes from mountaintops to valleys, from deserts to grassy plains. And we need each other regularly in our lives to keep us looking to Christ no matter what the terrain is.

The reason I say all of that is to mention that it would be a shame for us to make it to all the church events (which would be great!) but miss out on the weekly fellowship and worship that is so important for our Christian walk. While the Student Ministry events will be major  factors in students’ lives, Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night church will be even more influential over time. Missing these regular times to worship, fellowship, and grow together even though you’re making it to all the events would be like only drinking water once a month. It’s simply unhealthy. 

Spiritual health can hardly be overrated, therefore, the Student Ministry is a place where building close, genuine relationships and growing together in Christ is a major priority. And the best way to build relationships is regular, frequent time together. That is why I want to encourage all of us to prioritize the weekly times that we have at our church to fellowship and worship. This is how we build lasting friendships and grow in our faith. My hope for students is that they will enjoy time with their friends as well as build new genuine friendships. My prayer is that they will be growing in their faith in Christ and love for one another simultaneously. But I have no reason to expect those things to happen if we are not gathering together regularly for fellowship and worship. God works miracles sometimes, but very often He works through the most mundane things in life to bring about amazing results. I am praying for Him to do both.

My hope is that the students of Oakhill Baptist Church and their friends from school and elsewhere would come to all of the events we have planned and experience the love and life-changing grace of God in the gospel of Christ. My prayer is that they will also make it a priority like never before to gather together regularly at church to hangout and have fun      together while growing in their faith in Christ. Will you pray for these things with me? Will you pray for these things in your own life and for the rest of our church? We are doing a series on Wednesday nights that will help students know how to defend their faith and have courage sharing the gospel. We will investigate many of the questions that students and even adults have about Christianity. If you have a child or grandchild in the Student Ministry, would you encourage them to come regularly? Come, let us walk together with Christ, from mountaintops to valleys, from deserts to grassy plains.

Sincerely,

Brian Van Doren  

Student Ministry January 2018

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