Summer Starts All Things New
School is almost over for the year and many of you are already done. Some of you are done with High School forever, Congratulations. The end of the school year always brings with it such a sense of relief and a feeling of freedom. However, as we look to Summer jobs and other activities, we need to remember that Summer is not an excuse to stop being who God has created and called us to be. It is so easy to fall into a new routine where faith an spiritual things fall away. The Summer bombards us with so many distractions and temptations that we have to be more diligent and disciplined than ever to walk in a manner worthy of our calling.
With freedom comes responsibility, and we have to take responsibility for our faith. We have to remember to always make God our first desire, because that is where real freedom lies. The Bible says that where the Spirit of God is there is freedom, but it also says do not use your freedom as an excuse for sin. We have to remember that God desires to have fellowship with us. He wants to be with us, and wants to bless us and be affectionate toward us. God delights in us when we trust in Him. If we are children of God, then we delight when He delights in us. That is why Piper says that God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him, and we are most satisfied in Him when He is most glorified in us.
We are starting a new book in Sunday School this week, the book of Colossians. This little book was chosen to help us all think more deeply about our spiritual lives this Summer, and as we move through it and finish our study of Ephesians, we should be encouraged in living out the more practical aspects of our spiritual lives. I pray that you will make the most of it and really commit to being here this Summer as much as you can, and spending this Summer growing in wisdom and the knowledge of God, knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Next Sunday will be the drawing for the Big Snooz Letter Prize. So, this is the last week to get you name in the drawing by telling me who Epaphras is and why he is an important figure. The first three people to come tell me who He is gets a small prize this week, but anyone who comes to tell me who he is gets their name in the drawing for the big prize.
There are a couple of other things I want you to be aware of. We will be holding FUEL Praise Team interviews and auditions during the month of June. If you are interested in trying to be part of the FPT, you need to talk to Jason McHenry or myself in the next couple of weeks and fill out an application as soon as they are available (Wednesday, June 1).
Also, We will be selecting a new Student Leadership Team for next year. That team will be made up of one representative from each Sunday School class, as elected by that class. The classes in the Fall will be; 7-9th grade Girls, 7-9th grade Boys, 10-11th grade Girls, 10-11th grade Boys, and Co-ed Seniors. Also, the entire group will vote on one Senior to be the Captain of the SLT. That group will help plan activities and service projects, as they meet with me once a month, and will pray with me as I consult with them concerning ministry to students. Those elections will be held on Promotion Sunday, August 21st.
Promotion Retreat (Rookie Camp) will be August 20th, but the new 7th graders will join us, starting August 3rd, when FUEL starts back after the July break. Starting that night, Fuel Breakout Groups will be going through a workbook called Developing Disciplines. This workbook is a 25 week strategy designed to help establish the fundamental disciplines that are key to the discipleship process. There will be significant rewards for completing the workbook each semester. Y-MIT will start back September 11th with The Truth Project!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Reid
