Remember that time you were scurrying around to get things in order for Christmas?  What feels like yesterday has been replaced with baseball practice and tennis matches and soccer and .........  The "old folks" used to tell us that time seemed to move quicker with age, to which I laughed or maybe begged that it would indeed move quicker.  Now I find myself asking for it to slow down.  Paul knew the value of time and using it wisely.  For that reason he encourages us to "redeem the time"  in Ephesians 5:16.  Don't put off, don't forget to love those around you  Don't forget to stop as you rush.  Don't forget to love as you discipline.  Don't forget to squeeze as you hug.  James would remind us that life is nothing more than a vapor.  In light of this...redeem the time.  Yes, Christmas will be here in 2-3 weeks I suppose.  But don't allow 11 months to slip by without having invested in the things that should matter most.  In other words, redeem the time.  And Merry Christmas!

Smaller crowd than usual last night.  We typically have many of our students participating in spring sports and we also know of many who are sick.  So praying for those students in the midst of tryouts and for those dealing with sickness!   
Last night we continued our series in James.  Having dealt with the reality that we are to be DOERS of the Word as well as HEARERS of the Word, James begins what will be examples of what it looks like to "DO THE WORD."    Andrew's sermon is attached below for you to take a peek at where we've been.

Just a few things for you to take note of as we make the push to Spring/Summer.

• February 8th - 15th - 22nd:  ROCK LAB - This is a continuation of our time at Refuel.  We'll take the book of Colossians, dive in, and get the gold.  It's a great resource for our students and for you too!  Parents are invited to come!   We'll kick off at 6:30p at the Altman house.
• February 29th - GIMC:  We do have our service on March 1st for the GIMC but that Saturday is the big day for our ministry.  We'll work with the church at large to canvas our area and then that night we'll hang out with our missionary, Mike Outten, here at the church.  We'll let you know what time that will be as we get close.
• March 13th-15th - DNOW:  This is a huge weekend for our ministry and area.  We'll partner with several other church to make this weekend happen.  To learn more about DNOW in general please visit the DNOW page on our website.   WE ARE STILL IN NEED OF HOST HOMES.  Get with us if you're able to help with that aspect.  Sidenote: We do realize that the Central HS prom is that Friday night but we had very little options with dates and ultimately had to go with this particular weekend.  Apologies!  But any student attending prom can join us Saturday morning.
• SWEATSHIRT & HOODIE ORDER:  We'll be placing an order for sweatshirts and hoodies this afternoon.  The price will be $20 for either.  Maroon and Navy will be the options.  If you would like to ensure your student has one in their size please email Chris@roopvilleroad.org by 3p on Thursday.  We will be getting some extras and there is a possibility we'll do another order.

​

That's it for this week!
Love you all and so thankful we get to serve and live with such a great group of parents!
In Christ,
Chris

Good afternoon!  Hope everyone is doing good and hopeful this dreary day.  I believe one of the greatest blessings of following Christ is the joy and hope we find on days like today.  You know those days.  The list of things to do is greater than the time in the day, the conditions of the weather seem to make the list grow with each passing mile.  The pressure and stress of life seem to make the good weather leave and the miserable weather linger.  Days we want to end seem to be stuck as if we're Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day.  But one great hope is that in the midst of that type of day, maybe today for you, there a joy and a hope of a new day that is coming.  This present situation, stress or weather pattern can't overcome the fact that a new day is coming.  What a day that shall be!  Until then...we walk, we drive, we live and punch out all that's on our list.  But as we do...we smile.  If not outward, inward.

About doing....Andrew led our time together last night as we continued our series in the book of James.  What does it look like when Faith and Life collide?  Faith Works....we saw this so clearly last night as James addresses the reality that we cannot simply hear the Word only.  We must DO the Word.  What does this look like?  What does this mean?  That's what we discussed last night.  I've attached the sermon for you below.  

Let me say our REFUEL trips this year were incredible.  My heart was so full seeing 60 students dive in, discuss and ultimately digest the Word of God.  We began the work of learning valuable principles that will hopefully last for a long time.  The purpose?  So they may learn and know how to read the Bible for themselves.  Such a huge thing for students to know and understand.  Refuel helps this process and I couldn't be more excited about all we saw.

• ROCK LAB - With the above in mind we're hoping to offer 2 Rock Lab's each year, outside of Refuel.  These will kick off next month. FEBRUARY 8th, 15th, 22nd we'll gather our the Altman home for some time in Colossians.  We'll read it, study it, break it down and get our minds around what God wanted the church at Colossai to know.  What response did He desire?  Then, we'll bring it to 2020.  What is it God is wanting us to know and do from this letter?  I'm excited and really could do this every Saturday.  FOR NOW, WE'LL SETTLE FOR THIS 3 WEEKS.   Also, you as a parent are more than welcome to sit in on the discussion.  The more the merrier.  If we get to crowded at the house we'll move the party to The Rock.  Really hope to see our students come out to this as I know it'll be a huge help to them and us.

• DNOW - March 13-15 - We need host homes for this event.  Please consider helping.  If you have questions as to what this involves let me know.  Sign-ups begin this Wednesday in the Rock.  You can do this online or by signing up in the back of the Rock and actually hand me money.  Cost will be $25.

I believe that's it for this week.
So excited to play a small part in the discipleship process of your student.  Know that we (the leaders and I) love your student and love the Lord.  Our hope is to see them mature in Christ.  To ultimately know Him and make Him known.  It's why we do all we do.

Have a great day and don't forget to smile!
​GRACE WINS.

Good morning/afternoon!   Trusting everyone is enjoying the sun today and getting some good use out of the dust covered sunglasses.  This afternoon you may even want to go in your yard and reacquaint your kids as to what being "outside" is all about. 

​Just a few things to keep you up to date with our Wednesday and some events we have coming up soon.

We continued our James series last night looking at Trials and Temptations.  James offers such a refreshing way to view the junk we often go through.  As a matter of fact by the end of the night I'm hoping The Rock began to reconsider calling issues, junk.  If God truly only gives "good and perfect gifts,"  how could what He allows and sends be junk?  James helps us see this and also helps guide in how we are to walk through these situations in life.  All the while guarding our hearts from the enemy....speaking of temptations and the flesh.  Such a practical issue for us all!  God saves us from our sin and sees us through our sorrow.
We all experience trials and temptations and both are intended to complete us in Christ Jesus. 

Good morning!  I wanted to go ahead and give you all a quick update as we begin this new week. As you know we've started a new series on Wednesday night, working through James.

Our series is called FAITH WORKS: WE DO.  James is a great book that helps see what happens as our Faith and our Life collide.  What happens is works.  Works happens as a result of Faith...not in hopes of anything.  We DO is a simple series that will helps students know what life with Christ looks like.  I'm excited about it.  This week we look at trials and temptations.  What are they?  How do we walk through them?  How do we avoid the bad and embrace the good?

Refuel for our High School students is this weekend.  Here are some details.

• We will leave the church this Friday at 5pm.  Best if students eat something before they get here.  We will stop for a restroom break only and then have some heavy snacks when we get to the house.  
• We need full payments by this Wednesday. If that is a problem let us know you need longer.  This helps us know for sure who is attending.
• We will return on Monday, around 3/4p.  We will text when we get close to Lagrange.
• Cost is $125 which covers food, lodging and materials for teaching. 
• Students need their Bible and a pen, clothes, a towel and washcloth.
  
• NO SLEEPING BAGS OR SHEETS NEEDED.
• They will need spending money for lunch and a gas station stop.  We will also go to the outlets one day for free time.  Otherwise they'll have 3 meals a day and snacks throughout the day.  They won't go hungry while we're there!

Please let us know of any other questions!  It should be a great trip!

Happy Thursday! 
The New Year has started off great in the Rock and I'm sure it has for everyone else as we all get back into the swing of things!
There is a ton going on in the Rock this semester and one we are most excited about is the new series we kicked off last night in the book of James!
The first half of our year was spent looking at who God is specifically through Christ - this semester in light of what we know about the Lord we find in James how that impacts our life! The faith that is working in us translates into us working out our faith. (i.e. bearing fruit!) James helps us understand that! 
It's going to be a great series the students and leaders don't want to miss!

HS Refuel is almost here!
Make sure you are paid up if your student is signed up. If you are not signed up and you think you are going let us know ASAP - or if you were signed up and you are not going anymore we definitely need to know that as well for sleeping arrangements! 
This is going to be an incredible time away as we work through the book of Habakkuk together in our HAB LAB.
MS Refuel went great and we are expecting the very same for HS Refuel!
Join us in praying for the students and leaders this week and next!

As for the details of the trip?  Head to our Refuel page for all the details you need.
​Have more questions?  Send an email, shoot a text or give us a call.

Rock Lab - Our MS Refuel HAB LAB went so well that we have decided to do it more often! Twice a year we are going to offer in-depth Bible study opportunities through books of the Bible. We can't always say everything we want to on a Wednesday night, the ROCK LAB is a great opportunity to do this. The first opportunity begins in February. We will meet Saturdays (February 1, 8, and 15) from 6-8pm to work through the book of Titus. All are welcome and invited! (Parents included.)
GIMC - Global Impact Missions Conference weekend is getting closer! This is a church-wide conference where missionaries of all kinds come from all over the world to share their stories with us and help us understand how we can be involved! Student-wise we will gather for a Hangout on Saturday the 29th in the Rock to hear from our missionary!
DNOW - Discipleship-Now weekend is a ways away from us, March 13-15. However, we know it will sneak up on us quickly! Just a reminder to mark your calendars for the weekend! Just like every year, we will also need volunteers and host homes! If you are interest in hosting students and leaders in your home this year let Chris or Andrew know! As the weekend gets closer, we will give more info!


Thankful to serve you guys week-in and week-out!