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.

Here are a few things we think are important for you to know.

• Senior Highlight - Last night on The Rock SM Live we begin highlighting our seniors.  This is in addition to our normal Sunday graduate recognition service.  We're still planning on the official recognition but just not sure when that will be just yet.  In the meantime, we hope to do a little something special for our seniors. To do this we need your help.  Simply CLICK HERE to get an updated form.  Have your senior fill it out and then return it to us.  Print it out, simply email, send a pigeon, it really doesn't matter.  Just get us the information along with a photo.  We hope you'll help us!
• Summer Camp - The leaders and I met this past Tuesday to begin the discussion regarding camp.  Of course it's been on my mind for a while but we're getting in the time frame where a decision must be made.  We're hoping to be able to share with you some exciting news regarding our time together at Focus Camp this year.  Know this....we will have the opportunity to be together for Summer Camp.
• Splash - Currently it looks like Splash will be done on a "as needed" basis.  That simply means there may be some needs but the time frame could be last minute.  We're ready and willing to serve.  As needs come up we'll text everyone the amount of people and time/date needed.  It will be first come, first serve for each task.
• Devotions - Don't forget, we have daily devotions, written by our leaders, ready each day on our website.  Another great option to be together in the Word!
• Blue Couch VIP - We added another new thing last night at The Rock SM Live, PEOPLE!  Continuing this week and until further notice we will allow one family a week to attend the Rock SM Live.  Of course there will be some guidelines that we must follow. But I know this, it seemed to minister to the family in attendance last night and it sure was good to "be" with people again.  You may be reading this and thinking "that's crazy."  If so, that's totally fine.  But we were thinking there may be some families that would love to come. So what's the next step?  To begin, you simply email CHRIS and say, "our family wants to come to The Rock SM Live!"  We'll compile the list and do a random drawing and then notify the family that will attend.  We'll go over the do's/don'ts and have a great night together.  Again, we're not sure what to expect but wanted to give you an opportunity to be in attendance if you desired.  We have a great section set up and believe you will experience a little more home when here than you can on a couch, with a phone, and the chance of a bad connection.  So if you're interested email Chris.               *disclaimer - you cannot just show up.  We have a grizzly bear guarding the door.
• Q&A - We partnered with 831 for a Q&A this week.  We ask the students for any questions they had and then attempted to answer them.  It'd be great if you could watch.  We even had some special guests join us. You can WATCH HERE.
  
• Last night - Last night we continued our Jesus & People series.  I'm loving the live stream!  Obviously us all together is the best option.  But it has been so great to still be able to be together!  I believe we figured out our audio issues but last night the connection was a bit unstable at first.  The good thing is all of these nights are recorded and available on our Facebook and YouTube page.  What a great tool this is!    The video to last night is below.  We hope you enjoy and dive into the Word with us.

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!

 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.

The 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 

We 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!

For 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.

The 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!

Last 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.

• ​"Welcome to the Rock" Shout outs - Simple. Record yourself saying "Welcome to The Rock" and then send it to us.
• Bible reading & Prayer - Read a passage of your choice or we can give you a passage.  Read it and then pray for our time together in the Word.
• Get in the Hot Seat - We'll be sharing more about this but our plan is to invite a student or leader to take  seat in the hot seat and answer questions on the fly.  Just a way for us to have some fun prior in the beginning...like we typically do in The Rock.
• Leader Catch-up on Zoom - We'll need some leaders to play catch-up with me and Andrew on Zoom.  We'll record it, edit it, and play it on Wednesday night.  We want our leaders to take a part in the service.  This would be you catching up with the students prior to The Rock on Wednesday.
• Join us for the Lunch Hang on Thursday at Noon - Each Thursday we get together on Zoom and simply hang out.  We had a great time today and want to do something special for a service.  So join us next week and be a part of it with us!
• Devotions from Leaders - Mentioned above
• LASTLY - There are many things we have learned and refined during this season, one of them is our communication.  In an effort to best stay in touch with your student we need your help.  If you could ensure we have their cellphone number and carrier as well as their email we would greatly appreciate it.  This will allow them to be informed moving forward.  This goes for you as parents as well.  To help us keep track of this, let us know if your student is NOT receiving emails and texts weekly from us especially if they desire to receive those things. 

Last 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...

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.

• TODAY - 12p - Lunch Hang on Zoom - Take a break from school and say hello! Here's the Zoom Link.    Meeting ID: 608 723 576   Password: 007493
• The Rock Daily - Devotion written by Rock Staff. 
• Sunday School & Worship - Find your class at Roopvilleroad.org later today.'
• The Rock Sm Live each Wednesday on Facebook/Youtube Live - more on this below.

 
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! 

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!

A 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

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!

Here are some great opportunities for your student this upcoming week!

• TODAY - 12p - Lunch Hang on Zoom - Take a break from school and say hello!
  https://us04web.zoom.us/j/608723576?pwd=OEFZNU9Fdm1tTTUvc1pQMUx3S04rZz09
  Meeting ID: 608 723 576
  Password: 007493
• The Rock Daily - Devotion written by Rock Staff. 
• Sunday School & Worship - Find your class at Roopvilleroad.org later today.

• THE ROCK SM LIVE - 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.  Our options are limited really.  We could get upset, quit or do the best we can with what we've been given.  Currently we're choosing the "do the best we can" method and we'd love for you and your student to join us!   We've attached the video from last night and have all of them available on our YouTube page as well as Facebook.  This has been such a good series on relationships.  So please, tune in!

Have a great day and we'll plan to see everyone Sunday morning!
Chris/Andrew