10.4.17 Rock Update

Good morning!  Hope everyone has had a good week and is looking forward to a great weekend!  Plenty of stuff coming up in The Rock SM so we'll get right to it!
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Last Night

We started a new series last night in The Rock called "Flip My House."  Our hope this year in our teaching is to do a new series each month.  The series will all center around our big theme "GREATER."  Because JESUS is greater the greater life is possible.

Life hinges on Jesus.  We spend September understanding why and how Jesus is greater.  This is the foundation of the greater life.  However, life does not simply happen.  We have a responsibility to live, act, and move each day in a way that glorifies Him.  Sometimes things get in the way, sometimes we get off track, sometimes we tend to hold on to the things we shouldn't while letting go of that we need the most.   Enter FLIP MY HOUSE.

We'll spend October moving through the rooms of our spiritual house and doing some work.  Last night we started by looking at kitchen.  I've included the sermon notes below.

Flip My House: Kitchen
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Odds & Ends

While these things aren't major announcements they are things we want you to know about as we move through the fall season.

• ROMANS 12:1-2 - our October memory verse.  Memorize and say the verse and your team gets a point.
• COLOR WARS - This is where "your team gets a point" comes in.  We've taken our entire group and divided it into 4 groups, teams.  Teams can earn points for various things throughout the year; games, Scripture memory, ministry participation, attendance.  At the end of this month we'll allow the teams to pick a color.  Thus the Color Wars.  We will end the year with a huge Color War battle at some point, forgive me.  But the big thing is this....the winning team will have bragging rights but also the opportunity to win some big things.  We'll put all the names in a hat and draw for some big things and even some small things.  So students may have the chance to win a free mission trip.  Looking forward to seeing how this works out.
• TEAM 4 is in the lead.
• Shirts are ordered and will hopefully be here next week.  We did order a few, very few, extra if you happened to miss the order and want a shirt.
• WHATEVER WEDNESDAY - October 25th - We're having a theme night at the end of the month. This is a perfect way to have fun but also go deep.  This will be our last night in the Flip My House series and we'll spend some time looking at the real you.  A big question this night will be "is who you are who you are?"  A perfect night to have some fun by dressing up but then peek behind the mask to do some digging.
• ROCKFEAST - November 15th - huge, fun, neat night where we have a huge, family atmosphere Thanksgiving dinner.  We'll have a huge table in the Rock and will be asking you to bring some fixings for this awesome night.  Many students don't come from a large family and they miss out on sitting at the kids table with their cousins....they miss hearing Uncle Eddie snore after the meal and they miss the bonds that are potentially made anytime the family gets together.  RockFeast is a simple way to bring a little family to our ministry family.  More details later...

Personally...

I'll have the opportunity to speak a few different times this week and I'm very excited about these opportunities.  I would love for you to be praying that God is glorified through these times and that what He communicates through me would make a lasting impact for His glory.   The goal is not to be cute, popular or funny but to present truth in a way that those listening can hear, comprehend and apply to their lives. 

• The Rock - What are you taking in?  What needs to go?   Col. 3:1-17
• FCA at Central Middle - What is your ONE message?  Acts 5:42
• Pre-Game at Carrollton HS - All out, All the time, for an audience of One.  Col. 3:23
• Sunday PM at RRBC - Our response to Dawn... Genesis 41:1-46

This is more in the form of a prayer request.  This year I volunteered with the Central Middle Cross Country team.  I did this to hopefully form relationships with students, be a presence on campus and simply love on the athletes and coaches.  We have about 10 of our ROCK students on the team so it was good to be around them a bit more too!

Our season came to an end this past Tuesday and though I was able to get to meet many new students there were a few relationships that went a bit further.  One particular young lady stands out.  The first few practices she needed a little extra motivation while finishing a run....she was alone....and tired.  I was seeking out someone to finish out the run with and there she was.  A few hundred yards out I challenged her to a race....a gatorade was on the line.  From that moment on that was our connection, a red gatorade.  The practices went on, the meets happened and each time we spoke it was short, in passing, but each time a few more details were given into her life and even mine.  Nothing big was discussed but there was familiarity.  She knew I wasn't weird and that I had her best interest in mind in Cross Country and maybe even life. Eventually she earned the red gatorade....but it was blue.

Fast forward, or rewind, back to Tuesday, our last meet.  My responsibility for the team was to go to the far corner and ensure the runners knew the route and also to offer some encouragement (I yelled at them to run faster.)  Minutes before the race started and seconds before I really needed to get to my post she drops the bomb.  "I'm not sure I really believe in God."  Are you kidding me?  Not for the statement....I loved the honesty and transparency and open door.....but now?  "GO" is about to be yelled and this is the time you choose to ask the question?   In my heart and mind I knew that after that day my contact with her would be limited.....so we talked.  Nothing resolved, no shame or laughter was cast.  But a deeper connection was made.  My hope is that the word I was able to share with her encouraged her and challenged her to dig deeper.  My prayer is that she is at FCA tomorrow morning.  My prayer is that others come along her side and help her see that our God can be trusted....that He is real.  But as she said...."faith can be hard sometimes."  I agree and that is why I toil, strive, remain, and run this race in student ministry.  This is why our ministry is grounded in the truth of God's Word rather than making it look like a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse hour.  There's times for everything. But nothing should ever replace God's Word to us and our time looking at it intently.

I pray you'll pray for these opportunities I listed above but more than that I hope you'll join me in prayer for this young lady and the many countless opportunities each of us have each day to speak Truth.