We had a great night together at Rock celebrating Thanksgiving as a family....a big, big family.  We had a table for 88 and then an adult table of 8!  Much thanks to all you who helped by serving, setting up, picking up, and bringing in food/drinks.  The kids showed up hungry and hardly left anything to pack up.  That wasn't because of a lack of food though!

I sat back right before we started and was thankful for the opportunity to simply be together.  The students were at the table, talking, coloring, laughing, and simply being together.  That was a joy and I can't wait until next year!
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Refuel is right around the corner.  Here's what you need to know.
Our sign up deadline is Sunday, November 27th.  We really need to nail down who is going.
This deadline is for both trips, Middle and High School.
You are officially signed up by paying a $20 deposit.
If you pay online please add a $5 fee to the cost of the trip.

Date Reminder:
Middle School - Pigeon Mountain, LaFayette, GA - December 19-21 - $75
High School - Destin, FL - January 13-16 - $125

Well, we've had a Thanksgiving meal so I guess now we have our football game.
The turkey bowl is a throwback event we typically had each year.  As our group changed so did the desire to play.  Now it seems we have a new breed of Rock Students who want this back.
Well here it is!     November 27th - 1 pm - Carrollton Practice Fields.
Grab lunch after church and then meet us at the field.
After the game go shower up and meet us back at church. that night!

Parents are welcome to come and cheer on their little football player.....of you can nap.

Good afternoon!  Hope everyone is doing good!  Quick update of what's going on at The Rock this week.  Quite a few things to bring up so buckle up.

We're in the midst of a series from Micah 6:8.  Our entire year is built around the idea of CLEAN.  In its simplest form Clean is a life that glorifies God.  But what does that look like?  How are we to do it?  These are questions we're looking to answer this year.

Micah 6:8 answers some of this for us.  Last night we look at what it means to "Do Justice."  That can be confusing but something we need to understand and then apply.  Attached are the notes from last night.

The RockFeast is a night of thanks and a night of food.  Most students never have the opportunity to gather around a huge family table to share a meal. Growing up this was always a highlight for me....that and the football game that would come after the grown-ups woke up from their nap.  
Our hope is to bring a big family gathering to the Rock in the form of a meal/feast.  The RockFeast is next week and we still have a few things needed to pull off the night.  Please follow the link and see if there is something you can help out with as we seek to make the 3rd annual RockFeast something special!
        SIGN UP HERE.

I mentioned the football game earlier....well here it is!   We're bringing back the Turkey Bowl and have 43 students signed up to play.  We will have 4 teams and play a tournament on Nov. 27 at 1 pm at the Carrollton practice fields.  Parents are welcome to come and cheer on Sparky or come and give the old folks a hard time.  Students have time to go to town and grab lunch and then head out to the fields.  Should be interesting!

Signups for our 2 Refuel trips are underway and the time has come where we need deposits or payments.  The financial part helps us know who is serious about going.  So please check out the Refuel page on our website and let us know if you have any questions.   Two trips, ONE goal. 
MS Trip - Dec. 19-21 - Pigeon Mountain - $75
HS Trip - Jan. 13-16 - The beaches of 30A - $125

I'll keep this as short as possible I hope.  Over the last few months I've evaluating where we stand as a student ministry and where I am as the student pastor.  We've never professed to be perfect or have it all figured out...this is evident.  With this in mind the need to always ask tough questions is there.  I do this to ensure we are never in a place that's stagnant.  We always want to be moving forward but also honoring God in that process.  Below are some things we are seeking to improve on as we move forward.

• More involvement in the local school. (Chris)
• A more involved and active presence from our main leaders. (SS and Life Groups)
• Bring an element of fun back into the ministry.
• Guard the time in the Word but make it practical, God honoring and true to Itself.
• More accountability for me (Chris) and those helping within our ministry.
• More opportunity to reach the weak and strengthen the strong.

 I would love to hear from you as parents and even the students who may read this.  What are some weak points you see within our student ministry?  What are some things we could do better?  What are some things we do well?
We have tough skin and we want you to know we're always seeking to glorify our Father and exalt the Son in all we do.  We also know we miss that mark too many times.  For this reason we evaluate and always seem to find ourselves retuning a bit.  We'd love to hear your feedback.
I love the fact that I'm able to pour into students weekly. I so hope to point students to Christ and to lead them to know and follow Him. I want to ensure my time and energy is not wasted and we are pursuing the right direction to that end.  

Thanks for the opportunity to be a small part in the life of your student.

Hope you're summer is going good!  One day soon maybe the Fall season will show up, preferably before Thanksgiving.  I did want to remind/inform you of a couple of things.

The last few years we've had a huge family meal together at The Rock.  This has been a neat thing through the years and a way for many of our students to enjoy a BIG family meal.  This event is huge and we need a ton of help.  Many of you are always wanting to help out.....here's your chance.

You can help by following this link and by signing up to bring an item to help us feed the students during the ROCKFEAST.  If you have a special dish that's not on the list that you want to bring feel free to email us and let us know....otherwise we are looking for those traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

Feel free to stick around and help serve during this night.  We may even let you eat!
ROCKFEAST SIGN UP PAGE.

This is very important.  Need to make sure everyone is clear on our new plans for Refuel.
This year we will be having 2 trips.  We have decided to make our trips a bit more age specific which will allow us to teach and discuss topics in a more detailed way.  We are excited for these possibilities!

OUR HS TRIP will take place January 13-16 and we will be heading to the beach....crazy right?  Unfortunately our normal cabin is under renovation and after talking with several students and then showing them the type of beach house we would get they decided a beach trip wasn't such a bad idea.  The beach may be cold but it won't be crowded.  Most importantly we'll have some good teaching!  With that in mind we need students to sign up.  The back wall at the Rock is the best place to sign up.....other than you paying a deposit online or by handing me the money directly.  The cost of this trip is $125.  SIGN UP!

OUR MS TRIP will take place December 19-21.  This may be an odd time but it may also take care of the "what to do with the kids" problem the first week of Christmas vacation brings.  We will be back before the Christmas travels take place unless your family plans to leave a little early.  We wrestled with when to do this and sought to have as much time in between the two trips as possible.  This trip will be heading to the mountain.....Pigeon Mountain to be specific.  This will be a high energy time away filled with games and topics specifically for MS students.  The cost of this trip is $75

The sign ups for both trips are located on the back wall of The Rock.  You can also email me if you are planning to go.  We will be setting a deadline date in order to obtain our numbers needed for food, lodging and travels.  

Attached below are the sermon notes from last week.  Dealing with significance and the overall idea of how we are to live selfless in a selfie world.