Hello!  Hope you're all well.  Just a warning that this could get a bit long.  We just have a few things to share with you and there's no way around using more words to do so.  

Before we get to the "news" I'd really like to offer encouragement.  Some of you are like "I'm good" or "wait, I'm discouraged?"   Maybe this is more of a challenge to be alert or steadfast or sober minded as Peter would say.  This season we're in has a tendency to wear on you, maybe without you even knowing it's happening.  With that mind I'd love to challenge you to read Psalm 63 at some point this week.  I ran across this Psalm through a daily email and it jumped off the phone screen.  I won't add much only ask that as you read, see it as a reminder of all our soul is to do as a child of God.  These are not orders but reactions.  Reactions to a holy God who has snatched us from the pits of hell.  In light of that we should seek Him right?  But so often we get distracted, discouraged, dissatisfied with who God is.  So the encouragement is to refocus, remain stedfast and sober minded.  We are living in something new for all of us.  So much uncertainty.  If we're not careful we'll slowly make our way to a life of ho-hum or boredom.  Our zeal and passion for Christ will slowly dim and our faith in this Savior will become one of many things rather than the main thing.  All that to say this, we must guard our hearts and souls during this season.  Yes, we should be guarding these things in all seasons but we all know and realize that this season is just different.  Be on guard.

As you read Psalm 63 do so with eyes that are looking, sounds crazy because you'd think your eyes are always looking, that's the purpose of eyes right?  But we know better.  I also want you to read this text with a soul that is longing. 
The Psalm is a response to God, a promise to God.   Look for the attitude and response of David's soul.  What is it he is hoping, desiring to do?  Find those things and you find what are eyes and souls should be looking for and thirsting after daily.  But above all...let this serve as a reminder of that which our soul is to be doing, daily.  I love you all and am praying we remain stedfast and encouraged.  God has won but we must fight!  So fight on!

We wrapped up our Elevate series by looking at 1 Peter.  I have enjoyed this series so much as it's a great baseline for when we dive deep into the book in the future.  It may be a reminder of a previous study.  This series may not bring the flash and glimmer but that's ok.   Our hope has been simple, what do students most need in the midst of a very uncertain time?  The Word.  Guidance, assurance, confidence and clarity in the world.  Why?  Because when all else fails, the Word of God remains.  We would do well to give much time to this treasure.

The video for last night is below.  We hope you'll watch it for the first time or watch it again.

You received information regarding our students "moving on up" on Tuesday in our church-wide email.  So let this serve as a reminder and then let me offer a little more information.

Our hope for doing this within the student ministry is mainly to give our 5th graders an opportunity to begin this transition.  Moving into the student ministry is a big deal, sometimes a very scary thing.  So why not use this time as a transition in a very non-threatening way.  We also realize that Google Hangout Sunday School is not easily done within our Children's Ministry.  So this will give them an opportunity to be fed as well.  We will be working hard to reach out to all our upcoming 5th graders to let them know how to connect to their class.

We also realize many of our seniors will be moving off to college soon.  Even if they're staying at home and attending school or joining the workforce, they are in a transition of their own.  We want to provide a way for them to begin this new transition and begin to be with "their" people and ensure a connection to the 831 College Ministry begins smoothly.  This transition is a bit easier due to them seeing many familiar faces but still, it's a transition.

Our 8th graders have a transition themselves... so our hope in sticking with this original move-up date is simple, let's have some form of normalcy to life, especially when there is an opportunity to be together as a ministry and as a Sunday School class.

We realize this was a bit sudden, we apologize for that.  But it honestly snuck up on us a bit, even though we've discussed it off and on for the last few weeks.   We are trusting that this will help bring a bit of a spark and also a glimmer of new to our ministry and their lives.

Because of this being a bit sudden we totally understand if your student would rather spend another week in their "old" class.  They may be itching to move as well, so we will by no means be standing at the door and rejecting people into a certain class.  We're simply letting you know that we would love for everyone to "move on up" and begin this new season of life.  One thing is for sure, our teachers and I will not be asking folks to leave a class.  We just wanted you to know a little bit more about why The Rock is promoting.  Many times knowing the "why" greatly helps understanding the "what."  In this case the "why" is for 5th graders to have an opportunity for a Sunday School gathering, begin the season of transition, and for a sense of normalcy to be brought to the craziness of 2020.

Our teachers will be working hard to reach out to those that are new in their class.  I will be reaching out to these groups as well.  But this update should reach everyone affiliated with our student ministry, so we're hoping to best inform you of the why and when.  Making the connections between teacher and student is important to us and you can trust we are working hard to make this transition as smooth as possible.  

The Google Hangout links for each class we offer at RRBC can be found on our church website.  You can access that link by clicking HERE

We appreciate your understanding and help with this.  And again, we're hoping this will bring a sense of newness and a spark to our time together on Sunday mornings!

The Covid pandemic has brought many things our way.  It has caused us to be stretched in ways we never would've chosen.  While we as a church ministry were equipped to "do church" over the internet, our student ministry solely relied on being together physically.   That changed over night and we are so thankful that transition was smooth....or sort of smooth.

One opportunity that has presented itself is The Rock SM Podcast.  Many folks have requested this and as we mentioned it last week we had even more people express interest in it.  So what would this podcast be about and how would it be useful?  Great question.  

The Rock SM Podcast would cover many aspects of life.  From the funny side to the culture side, to the serious life side and the Biblical side, The Rock SM Podcast would attempt to color in some grey areas and provide an arena for us to dive into topics we simply have run out of time for in our normal gatherings.  It'll be fun and serious, Christ-centered and clean, spontaneously planned and most of all God glorifying.   We'll have special guests and special segments.  We'll have student highlights and leaders catch-ups.  

We're not quite sure if this will be a weekly or monthly thing.  One thing we know for sure is we want to provide yet another resource to students and parents.  Our heart is to present others mature in Christ Jesus.  So this podcast will have that as it's ultimate hope.  We hope you'll join us but at the end of the day, we're doing this for the sake of Christ and His Church.

Be on the lookout for the premiere.  We'll make sure we send you all the information of when and how to connect.

The RockLab is an opportunity for students to come and walk slowly through a book or section of a book over the course of 3 nights.  We originally had one planned for August and have decided to carry on with this gathering.  We will be letting you know these dates.  We are currently thinking through that as well as seeking feedback from students/leaders.  So be on the lookout for that information!

Hope everyone is doing good this Thursday.  Also hoping you all were able to join us last night for The Rock SM Live.  It seems this new normal is not so new anymore.  Our heart has been to do our best to provide content and resources that would help students and leaders stay in the Word and be discipled in their faith.  From week 1 we've done this and will continue to do this until we're able to be together again.  We're praying that we don't have too much longer to be together but until then, you can be assured that we will provide daily devotions, SS opportunities as well as The Rock SM Live as opportunities to dig deeper.

Speaking of last night, we spent time catching up with the panel of guys, having a little fun.  After that we jumped into the book of Acts.  Acts is an incredible book that seems to be a major player in the New Testament.  So much of what follows this book in our Bibles finds it's home in Acts.   We hope you joined us last night but if not, we've got the link below for you to join us in this elevated walk through of Acts.

Praying you all have a great weekend.  We look forward to seeing you all this Sunday!