Happy last day of April! How many of you still think we're in February? Here's a good one, how often in the last 5 weeks have you asked, "What day is it?" Not sure you're answer but I've asked myself that question multiple times, daily! The days are blending together but it seems there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime we continue walking with God through Christ. We continue engaging with Him through His Word, together, as a family and as a church. That's the hope and prayer! Please know this....the leaders and I are doing all we can to make sure The Rock SM doesn't skip a beat during this time, even if we're not sure what day it is or what month we're in. News & NotesHere are a few things we think are important for you to know.
We love you all and miss you terribly. Hope you'll take in all that's been said and connect with us as we continue to pursue Christ together!
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Hello! Hope everyone is healthy, and doing well in your house! There is much to share with you today in our update so I pray you'll stick it out to the end! Also, due to us not being together as we typically are I'm including our students in these weekly updates. May be good to continue to do that moving forward. Senior HighlightThe class of 2020 may have the cool year to graduate (2020) but it sure hasn't been "too cool" to them. They are missing some things we often take for granted or possibly even wished we didn't have to endure. I believe we're all realizing just how special these special moments really are, especially our seniors/parents. In an effort to brighten their day and honor them we will be highlighting a few of our seniors each Wednesday on The Rock SM Live. To do this we need your help. We lean on you as parents and students to provide details for the yearly Sunday Graduate Recognition Service and we are asking for that again for this Wednesday highlight. So, if you have a senior you'd like to see highlighted on Wednesday nights, please send us a photo and a have them answer a few questions. WE HAVE A FORM ESPECIALLY FOR THIS HIGHLIGHT. You can email or return the form to Chris@roopvilleroad.org Summer PlansWe are currently praying through and discussing our summer plans such as Splash, Summer Camp, any weekly outings as well as a few mission trips. Unfortunately there are so many variables at play and uncertainties still looming. Please pray with us as we consider the options and ultimately seek to do what is both safe and God honoring. We'll do our best to keep you as informed as possible. Thanks for your patience during this process! DevotionsFor the last several weeks we have provided devotions on our website to help bridge the gap between us during this time. Those are available HERE. Also, we're still looking for more leaders to jump in and help us with the writing. Please respond to Andrew as soon as possible. Q&AThe Rock SM and 831 have combined for a Q&A session... What are your questions? What's something that confuses you, you have a hard time grasping? Scripture? Life? Post it HERE! We'll drop it Wednesday after the Rock! NEEDED: Students & LeadersLast night we were able to incorporate videos into our service. This opens up some doors to have student/leader participation during the Rock Sm Live. We are excited about this but need help in order to make it happen! All of this to hopefully make our online experience feel as much like home as possible. Here's where and how you can help us as students/leaders.
The Rock SM LiveLast night we kicked off a new series, Jesus & People. This series will follow Jesus and various interactions he had with various types of people. Through this we will see the greatest example of how we too can deal with the bully, the forgotten, those who aren't like us, and even ourselves. I'm so looking forward to learning from The Master. We had some audio issues last night but please know we stayed late, until those were fixed. Hopefully this week will be much better from that standpoint. BUT, we know technology can cause many obstacles. We've included the video from last night below. Please take some time to watch it, watch it again and then share with others! As you watch it, go ahead and subscribe to the channel. We'll be live on both Youtube and Facebook Live each Wednesday until we're able to be together again. Instagram TV will have the video a day later. As always, we love you and miss you all terribly! We can't wait to be together again but in the meantime we'll thank God for the ways He allows us to be together, even when we can't be together. Chris/Andrew
Happy day 2,524 of isolation! What's that? It hasn't been that long? Oh, only like 3o days? Wow, I guess I'm expecting to see the Tom Hanks character holding his volleyball friend emerge from houses nationwide. Long hair, beard, clothes made from scraps found around the house. Ok, maybe a little overboard there. I may be the only one who is beginning to feel like this new normal is just flat out normal now and we'll be stuck in this way of life forever. I was thinking yesterday...how long will it take before we get out of some of the routines we're now in. What if we never did? What if someone deemed it necessary that we always live in this way. Hmmm, to be continued...
Updates, Opportunities and Last Night
Life is definitely moving at a different pace now. As a ministry we are attempting to stay connected and make the most out of this new normal. We would love to connect with the students and as of now have a few ways to do that. All an attempt to be together even when we can't be together.
THE ROCK SM LIVE is our main point of connection each week. I pray you're tuning into this night. Sure, it's different but it's such a joy to still be together on Wednesday nights. I mean what else could you possibly be doing on Wednesday night? I could tell you a million things you're not doing! God has cleared our schedule for us, how will we honor him with what's left? We wrapped up our WE BE series last night. Such a great time together looking at the various relationships we have in this life. Namely our hope was to seek God for wisdom in how we approach these relationships as Christ is in Focus and as Christ is our Focus. Below is the video from last night. Each night/sermon is on YouTube or Facebook if you'd like to catch up on the series or The Rock in general. Hope you have a great weekend and we see each you online this Sunday! Chris/Andrew Happy Maundy Thursday! Maundy Thursday is the the day of Holy Week that Jesus met with his disciples for the Last Supper and washed their feet. (Luke 22:19-20; John 13:3-17). Use this Spring Break to focus on the great work of Jesus; his life, death, and resurrection! This Easter will be a bit odd not being together. However, there is nothing, including a virus, that can change what Jesus has accomplished! LAST NIGHT...We began a new series on relationships a few weeks ago and last night we continued it. We know as Christians that our faith in Jesus has completely changed our lives and that includes our relationships! We've looked at our dating relationships, friendships, and last night we looked at our familial relationships! We can pick who we date and who our friends are, but we cannot choose our family! Since we are stuck with them... how does our faith in Christ affect that? Ultimately, what we said last night was - Our Families should be marked with love, obedience and grace & ultimately rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ! Next week we will finish up this series by talking about how we live and interact with everyone else! Check out last nights notes and video below! Leader LowdownA new section we wanted to add to our weekly update is a blurb from a Rock leader! This separation may seem a little better if we can stay connected through it! Hey guys! I hope everyone is surviving and thriving during this crazy corona chaos! Our family is “adapting” to this new normal. I’m so thankful for this spring break week, where we can just hang out and enjoy each other without the pressure of school work. I want to share a quick verse with you, and hope that it encourages you like it did me. This is from Proverbs, the 12th chapter: 25) Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. This verse is so fitting for where we are right now. Many are suffering from anxiety- even if they don’t know that’s what it’s called- and a good word could be exactly what’s needed! If the Lord puts someone on your heart or mind, reach out! Even if it feels awkward, just do it! If you’re the sufferer, the best remedy could be for YOU to offer the “good word” to someone else! Take the time to reach out to at least one person today. I love you guys and miss you like crazy! -Stacy UPCOMING...Today... Every Thursday at 12p we've been hanging out through a Zoom call! It's an easy way to still see each and be together! Come and hang with us! Click here - https://us04web.zoom.us/j/868100167?pwd=WG5IMlJTWXBQOXArYTN4L0YvVGp6UT09 Password: therock Sunday School... Sunday school is continuing via Google Meet. If you aren't connected to a SS class let us know and we'll get you connected! The Sunday school class list, links and numbers can be found here and in the link on the RockSM Instagram! Easter Services... Join us on Sunday morning as we gather online for sunrise service, morning service and at 7pm for evening service! We miss and love you guys like crazy! We can't wait to be with you, in the same building, again! Grateful, - Christ & Andrew ![]()
Good day to everyone, I trust you are happy in the Lord and finding your hope/comfort in Him today. I'm having a hard time processing all that's happening in the lives of many within our church. From sickness, to job situations to our school deal, there is much to "worry" about. But Psalm 46 comes rushing in. What a hope to know that God is our refuge in the midst of any storm. I will not fear, for God is with me/us.
I know many of our teachers and students are especially hurting today. There are many, many comforting thoughts floating around for those who are hurting in light of the school closures. Much has and will be said. Just go on Facebook, you'll see them. The last thing I want to do is add to that list but I did want to offer a quick thought. I hurt for them all. I am sorry it has turned out this way. I am an optimist. I do get down, but not often. My nature is to look for the positive and quickly move that direction. Some say I just avoid dealing with the reality of pain, loss, hurt. That's fine, but i refuse to dwell in the house of the sadness, pain, loss. My nature is to deal swiftly and then move on. But I realize we're all different and respond differently to issues we face. I ask one student yesterday how they felt about it and they responded, "if it weren't for the online work it'd be better." In other words, they wanted summer to hurry up and get here! My kind of kid! Actually, it was my kid! But not all feel this way. I do hurt for the seniors, the 8th graders, the 5th graders who were all looking forward to finishing the year together prior to their new adventure. That won't happen now the way they thought it would happen now. My prayer is that this will teach us all to trust in the Lord. To not allow this world or it's customs to feel like home. Sometime we can't have our cake and eat it too! Sometimes we can't even have the cake! Too often we become too attached to here. This hurts for some but the comfort is "this too shall pass." Dare I say there is a better cake coming. What a great lesson we are all learning, unfortunately many will hurt deeply in light of the lesson. I'm sorry, I wished you could have your cake, eat it, share it, freeze it and pull it out 10 years from now and eat it some more. But can you imagine 5, 10, 15 years from now? Oh the stories these students will have about how they "finished" their year. And then you have the parents. As a senior I would be upset about missing baseball, that's it. The school and festivities, the people and traditions? Not so much. But that was just me. We didn't have the parties, ceremonies, awards stuff that we do now. We gathered on a football field in the valley of Johns Mountain on a warm North Georgia night. An hour later you had a pretty envelope and your family greeted you. You hugged them and then went home. Much has changed since 1991. Much has changed in my own life since 1991. I experienced this last year. I think I walked around in denial. But I hurt for the parents who will experience a new normal. Last year was fun, heart breaking, exciting, painful and BUSY! You don't have to like not experiencing that but I would say be thankful for it. It could be so much different. I really don't like that this is happening. This is not the way we "drew it up." But it is the way it's unfolding. Let's find hope in the midst of it and walk with confidence that God has something great He desires to do in this moment. We all wanted the cake but God desired something different. We're fine with that plan I know. But when that plan affects us the danger is we begin to draw back. I pray we don't. I pray we trust that God is in control. I pray for wisdom, peace, and joy in the midst of plans changing. One of Suzanne's favorite verses says this, "weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning." This too shall pass! Updates
Here are some great opportunities for your student this upcoming week!
Have a great day and we'll plan to see everyone Sunday morning! Chris/Andrew |
Why a blog?A great way for parents and ministry to connect and continue the conversation of what's going on at The Rock. Archives
April 2021
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