Weekly Update 6.22

Tonight, June 22
Tonight, we will continue our summer long "BGCC Summer Olympics" competition. Tonight will combine both academic/logic and athletic competitions. Please dress appropriately. If you didn't come three weeks ago for kick ball, don't worry! We will put you on a team.

Sunday, June 27
This Sunday is the Josh Knabel show at BGCC. Josh will be doing both Sunday Schools and then answering the question "What are different ways to spread the Word of God?" during Ignite. Hope to see you there!

6.20 Sunday School "The Holy Spirit"

Senior High- Jared Graves
Junior High- John Baker

Introduction

Many times, people will take a jar with them on a vacation or a trip. They will collect dirt/air/etc from that place and bring it back home with them. Baseball teams often scoop up some dirt from their home baseball field and take it with them to give them good luck and to remind them who they are playing for.

If you had a jar, what points in your life would you have liked to bottle up?

 If this worked in our spiritual lives, what point would you bottle up?

Probably the most overused phrase in the Christian life is “mountain top experience.” These are instances in our lives where we believe that things really couldn’t get any better. They are the moments when God was so evident, it felt like you could reach out and touch Him. These are the times that we feel like we want to bottle up. Then, when bad times come, or that spiritual high wears off, we can sneak a sniff of the moment from our jar and let that feeling come over us again. For those of you who went to CIY, this happens every year. We always say “I wish I felt like I did at CIY”. How can we maintain this momentum, how can we always live our life with the same enthusiasm and excitement as those mountain top experiences?

Simply put, the Spirit of God never changes. We are always holding the Spirit within our heart. Today, let us find out more about the Spirit and examine how we can keep the momentum from CIY or find that mountain top experience at any time and in any situation.

Bible Study

Hand out the papers that have every mention of the Spirit of God in the Bible. See what we can learn from the Bible verses.

What does our research today concerning the Spirit of God tell us about His workings in our life?

If the Spirit of God never changes, why do we feel like we have come down the mountain?

If it is our fault for getting down from the mountain, what can we do to sustain the Spirit’s workings in our life?

Weekly Update 6.6

First things first...

We had a GREAT "Promotion Sunday". Combined, our Sunday morning total for junior and senior high was 41 students. Then we had 32 students for Ignite. With some of our students on vacation and others out of town, I can already tell that this year will be awesome, and I can't wait to see us grow beyond our current state, both spiritually and numerically!

TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT
It is VBS time at BGCC. All our senior high students are invited to come and volunteer for VBS. Our junior high students will be taking part in their own special section of VBS. They will not be doing the normal "kiddy" VBS, but will instead be taking part in a new and exclusive week-long experience. They will need to wear clothes to be active in (and shoes to fit that). Tonight we will be walking around a lot, so please dress accordingly.

Thursday, June 10
Also this week, we will be traveling to Barren Heights to do a service project. We will be leaving the church by 8:00am and will return by 3:00pm. While we are there, we will be helping them do some landscaping and getting them ready for their summer camps. Barren Heights is a great place for persons with disabilities and their families. We have some members at BGCC that have attended there in the past. Please let me know if you planning on attending this trip and if you are a parent that is interested in taking students on this trip. We need more parents.

Sunday, June 13
We will be continuing our series "Life's Toughest Questions" Sunday night. We will be answering the question, "I feel like I fit in better and enjoy hanging out more with my non-Christian friends than I do the people in my youth group. Does this mean that I am disconnected from the body?" We will also be playing some games and continuing to grow together as a body. Hope to see you there!

CIY 2010
We have 16 youth leaving for CIY next Monday morning. Those students need to have their BGCC and CIY waiver, along with the remainder of their CIY payment before we leave. We are going to have a great week. Please be praying for the students, sponsors, and conference. Thanks!

6/6 Sunday School "Yearly Check-Up"

Devotion by Jared Graves

Introduction

Students will play a get to know you game. This will serve as an opportunity to welcome new students to the group and make them feel welcomed.

“Find Someone Who”: Students are to go around with a sheet of paper and find someone that fits the description of each statement. They can only use the same person twice.

Bible Study

Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-20

Which gifts/parts of the body would the Corinthians celebrate?

What are the gifts/parts of the body that we seem to hold higher in the church today?

Read 1 Corinthians 12:21-27

What are the gifts/parts of the body that the Corinthians would have looked down on?

What are the gifts/part of the body that we seem to look down on or totally ignore?

Application

We are one body. Today we have some new faces with us. I hope that you will take time to get to know them more and welcome them with open arms to our group. To our new kids, we say welcome. However, we also want to let you know that you are at a new point in your life. Now you are called to a higher responsibility. Let us use our gifts to the best that we can and let’s be a well-oiled machine for Christ, His Church, and His people!

5/30 Sunday School "Peer Pressure"

Devotion by Josh Knabel:


Introduction & Bible Study:

• Students are presented scenarios about peer pressure and must take time to match up the correct verses with the right scenario.
• Scenario 1- Ephesians 4:25, Ashley should explain why she won’t be going to the party.  She should tell Jessie about the youth group event and her feelings towards it
• Scenario 2- Galatians 6:1-2, Mark should sit down with Terry and explain what he’s seeing in Terry’s life.  He should try to persuade Terry to get involved in the church again.  He should also avoid getting involved with Terry’s new crowd.
• Scenario 3- Philippians 4:6-7, If Alan were going to be blackballed for not attending the party, he should turn his worries and feelings over to God and trust God to make his remaining years in drama enjoyable.
• Scenario 4- Psalm 37: 23-24, Eddie should refuse to join his friends in taunting the new kid. Even though Eddie stumbled before when he made fun of the new kid, the Lord will provide strength for him to resist this time.
• Scenario 5- II Corinthians 5:17, Rita should try and explain to her friends that she really doesn’t have the desire anymore to do the kinds of things she used to do.  She should then offer some alternative suggestions for what she and her friends could do together, suggestions that go along with Rita’s new personality.

The kids should take some time and write down some other situations that go along with peer pressure, and then share the ideas, while also checking to see if the five bible passages relate to the options they’ve chosen in anyway

Conclusion:

• Now just because we have biblical answers does that mean that standing up to peer pressure is going to be easy, just remember that God has promised to be with and help us when were in a tough situation, but he hasn’t promised that we’ll never face anything like that, or that life will always be easy, that’s why we have to rely on him.

Weekly Update 6.1

TONIGHT!!!
Our 2nd Annual BGCC Summer Olympics kick off tonight at Covington Woods Park. The game will begin at 6:00 and end at 8:00. If you miss this week, it does not mean that you cannot participate in the rest of the competitions. Come out and get ready for a great time.

Sunday, June 6
Sunday is promotion Sunday. All eighth graders have been moved up to our senior high class that meets at 8:30 in the youth center. Our new friends from the fifth grade will meet in the Youth Center at 9:45 with the junior high.

Sunday night is Ignite, where all students, junior and senior high, meet together for games, food, and fellowship. This week's devotion is coming from Josh as he answers the question, "Why is Jesus important?" Josh will be giving his testimony, and we will take time to make sure we get to know each other better.

Thursday, June 10
We will be heading to Barren Heights camp in Louisville, KY to help them out with some landscaping in preparation for their summer camps. They are very excited for us to come up and help out, so hopefully we can have a big turn out. If you are coming to the mission day, please contact us (youth@bowlinggreenchristian.org). Also, if you are a parent who wants to accompany us as a chaperone, you are welcomed to come. Once again, just let us know by e-mailing us.

Mission Trip
We still have one slot remaining for the mission trip (July 11-17). If you are interested in attending, please let us know so we can reserve your spot. The cost is $200 ($150 if you have set up a payment plan).

Have a great week!