Plugged-in Parents Newsletter (December 2014) by Immanuel Baptist Church

DECEMBER 2014

PLUGGED IN A MONTHLY PUBLICATIONTO HELP PARENTS BETTER PLUG INTOTHE SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT OFTHEIR STUDENT

December Issue THIS MONTH

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CHAMPIONS FOOTBALL BANQUET (12/1)

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BIG DAY (12/7)

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11TH GRADE CHRISTMAS PARTY (12/14)

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GIRL’S MINISTRY (12/21)

THE GATHERING (12/17) 9TH GRADE CHRISTMAS PARTY (12/7)

COMING SOON

TIPS FOR A GREAT FAMILY CHRISTMAS 1. Set manageable expectations. 2. Remember the holiday season does not eliminate sadness or loneliness. 3. Acknowledge the past, but look toward the future. 4. Develop and encourage a life of gratitude. 5. Do something for someone else. 6. Enjoy activities that are cheap or free. 7. Enjoy a family holiday tradition. 8. Try something new. 9. Spend money responsibly. 10. Carve out some time for yourself. A publication of IBC Student Ministr y.  www.ibclrstudents.org © 2014

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PARENT MEETING (1/4 AND 1/7, IDENTICAL)

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DISCIPLE NOW (1/16-18)

PR AY ER FOR MY TEEN CULTIVATING JOY

ENGAGE  THE APOSTLES CREED: MODIFIED BY THE AMERICAN CHURCH

BIG ROCKS

2015 BIG ROCK EVENTS

STUDENT MINISTRY STAFF

Matt Hubbard

Melissa Sponer

Ross Spigner

Amanda Beach

Lead Student Pastor

Girls Ministry Associate

Middle School Pastor

Ministry Assistant

ONE GIFT YOU HOPED TO GET BUT NEVER RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS:    LITTLE TIKES COZY COUPE CAR.

ONE GIFT YOU HOPED TO GET BUT NEVER RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS:    POWER WHEEL.

ONE GIFT YOU HOPED TO GET BUT NEVER RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS:    CASH.

ONE GIFT YOU HOPED TO GET BUT NEVER RECEIVED FOR CHRISTMAS:    PANDA RING.

From Our Heart I’m praying for your Christmas season. And here are some of the ways that I’ve started praying for you. (1) That Christmas is an enjoyable celebration. This month, I decided to pray that this might be the happiest of Christmas’s for you. I hope that the truth that God decided to send Jesus to this earth resonates deeply in your soul. You are filled with joy and gratitude knowing that God loved you enough to send Jesus. In response, you will be filled with the freedom to celebrate unashamedly and generously. Even for some who are currently or who may have recently experienced the troubles of this world, I pray that the troubles would grow strangely dim as you look fully into Jesus’ arrival. (2) That as a family you bless one another. My second prayer is that you call on the Lord to fulfill his promise in another’s life. Our church’s Home 22:6 ministry describes how to bless someone. It mentions five essential components of meaningful touch, a spoken message, expressing high value, picturing a special future, and an active commitment. I’m praying that Christmas is not a wasted opportunity to bless others in your family. That the gifts given to each other have a way of expressing high value, picturing a special future, and an active commitment. That the way the gifts are given will have meaningful touch and a spoken message. With Christmas celebrating Jesus’ coming in the past, we can bless our family and friends by declaring over them that God’s presence will come upon them in the next year in some significant or timely way. (3) That you are reminded that just as God did not spare his own Son, we know that he will continue to graciously give us all things. I’m praying that you will leave this Christmas season hopeful. Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” God certainly is the greatest gift giver. No greater gift has ever been given than Jesus Christ. What is more… is that not only did God give us Jesus by sending him to live, but he also gave Jesus so that he would die for our sins. Jesus was the gift that continued to give; and He is the gift that continues to give today. Romans 8:32 is growing in me as one of my favorite promises in the Bible. It expresses a certainty of promise that if God would not withhold Jesus from me in his coming and death, then certainly would He not continue to give me everything else I need. I’m praying for us all, that as we reflect often on God’s gift of Jesus so that we are joyful in hope of how God will continue to give us grace in all that we need. A publication of IBC Student Ministr y.  www.ibclrstudents.org © 2014

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PR AYER FOR MY TEEN This is an excerpt on Cultivating Joy in “31 Days of Prayer for My Teen” by Susan Alexander Yates (Baker Books). DEPRESSION SEEMS SO PREVALENT ALL AROUND US. SOME PEOPLE HAVE CHEMICAL REASONS FOR SICKNESS, OTHERS ARE PHYSICAL, YET MOST OTHERS SIMPLY FALL INTO A MALAISE. WHERE IS JOY? WHERE IS WHOLESOME LAUGHTER? FATHER, MY TEEN SO FREQUENTLY FEELS DOWN. I K NOW INTROSPECTION AND INSECUR ITY ARE NOR MAL TO SOME DEGREE WITH TEENS, BUT TODAY, DEPRESSION SEEMS ALL TOO ACCEPTED. CIRCUMSTANCES TOO FREQUENTLY CONTROL HIS DISPOSITION. HE IS OF TEN DISAPPOINTED BY UNF ULFILLED E XPECTATIONS. HE TOO EASILY COULD FALL INTO A DEPRESSED STATE. FATHER, YOU DO NOT WANT HIM TO LIVE LIK E THIS. YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM YOUR HOLY SPIR IT TO FILL HIM WITH JOY REGAR DLESS OF HIS CIRCUMSTANCES.* YOUR SCR IPTURES ARE F ULL OF STOR IES ABOUT YOUR PEOPLE IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES, STILL REMAINING JOYF UL! I THINK OF SHADR ACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO WOR SHIPING GOD AS THEY PREPARED TO DIE IN THE F UR NACE.* OR OF NEHEMIAH FACING OPPOSITION AS HE LED HIS PEOPLE BACK TO JERUSALEM TO REBUILD THEIR TEMPLE.* OR OF MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS, WHO, AF TER SHE RECOVERED FROM HER SHOCK AND FEAR OF HEAR ING WHAT YOU HAD CHOSEN HER TO DO, BEGAN TO SING WITH JOY.* EACH OF THESE PEOPLE CHOSE TO TRUST YOU. AND YOU FILLED THEM WITH JOY. FATHER, WE CAN’T CHUR N UP JOY ON OUR OWN. BUT WE CAN CHOOSE TO TRUST YOU AND TO ASK YOU FOR JOY. YOU HAVE PROMISED TO GIVE IT TO US!* FATHER, I ASK THAT YOU WOULD OVERWHELM MY SON WITH JOY TODAY. I PR AY ALSO THAT YOU WILL GIVE HIM FR IENDS WHO WILL MAK E HIM LAUGH. WE ALL NEED PEOPLE IN OUR LIVES WHO HELP US LAUGH. LAUGHTER IS YOUR GIFT! IT HELPS RESTORE OUR PER SPECTIVE IN ALL SITUATIONS. AND AS I THINK AHE AD, O LOR D, I PR AY THAT ONE DAY YOU’LL GIVE MY SON A WIFE WHO WILL MAK E HIM LAUGH. HE WILL NEED LAUGHTER IN HIS MAR R IAGE. SHOW ME THIS DAY HOW TO MAK E MY HOME A HOME OF LAUGHTER— NOT LAUGHTER CAUSED BY SARCASM, BUT LAUGHTER IN RESPONSE TO THE PURE JOY OF K NOWING YOU.*

HE BROUGHT ME OUT INTO A SPACIOUS PLACE; HE RESCUED ME BECAUSE HE DELIGHTED IN ME. PSALM 18:19 SCRIPTURE REFERENCES (IN ORDER OF STARRED REFERENCES IN PRAYER): GALATIANS 5:22; DANIEL 3:16–18; NEHEMIAH 8:10; LUKE 1:46– 47; JOHN 15: 9–11; 1 PETER 1:8

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2014 / December 1

Football Banquet

MS / HS worship/meal

MS / HS 11 worship/meal

THE GATHERING 5:45 - 7:15

Merry 26 Christmas!!

B.I.G. DAY

followed by a lunch for Ronnie McKnight

Girls Ministry 12 - 2

Churchwide Christmas Eve Service 5pm

New Years Eve

Joint Worship 10am

No SS/ Evening Service

January 1 January 4 January 7 January 7

COMING SOON

January 15 January 16-18 January 25

New Year’s Day Parent Meeting Option 1 (following HighPoint Worship) Student Worship Resumes Parent Meeting Option 2 (HS Parents @6:00PM, MS Parents @7:00PM DNOW Prayer Night DNOW Girls Ministry

Keep your eyes and ears open for Sunday School class Christmas and New Year’s parties!

ENGAGE

THE APOSTLES CREED MODIFIED BY THE AMERICAN CHURCH 1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven, earth— and especially me. (Isaiah 42:8)

10. I believe I should perform religious service because it gets me in better with God. I never have really grasped the gospel and grace alone. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

13. I believe focusing on me and my life deserves most of my time, so I have outsourced the spiritual leadership of my children to the church. (Deuteronomy 6:7)

11. I believe revival might be nice, but I don’t want it to change my pleasant life. I just want a strong economy, and I want bad people to behave. (Luke 18:13)

14. I believe my children’s trophies and scholarships are more exciting than my children’s kingdom impact. My children are on earth to make me feel proud. (Isaiah 43:6–7)

15.I believe it would be great if my neighbors and associates were converted, but I cannot put my income, relaxed schedule, or reputation at risk to go share with them. (Luke 14:23)

2. And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, my magnificent mascot. (Revelation 5:13)

3. I believe in the Holy Ghost, sent to comfort me. (John 15:26)

4. I believe I am the center of things and that the Godhead exists for my happiness and well-being. (Acts 17:28)

16.I believe the gospel should spread worldwide, but I have made no significant change in my standard of living to help fund that eﬀort. (Philippians 3:8)

5. I believe my prayers should tell the Almighty ways He can fix and improve things to my liking. However, my schedule is important, so that does not leave much time to praise Him. (Hebrews 13:15)

17.I believe God wants me to feel whole and complete, so He is fine with my favorite overindulgence. I do not understand being satisfied in Christ alone. (Psalm 63:5)

18.I believe we should end abortion, but I have no need to make personal sacrifices for children who are born unwanted. (Matthew 25:45)

6. I believe if Jesus told me to empty every bank account, sell my house and cars, and give it all away, I should tell Him, “No! My religion should bring me more, not less.” (Mark 10:21)

19.I believe God is angry about homosexuality, but He just winks when I go online to flirt or look at naked people. (Matthew 5:28)

7. I believe if Jesus told me to do something that would be unpatriotic to the nation I love, I would refuse. Jesus is my divine butler, not my King. (John 18:36)

8. I believe if Jesus told me to make Him a higher priority than my family, I would not do it. My family always must come first. (Luke 14:26)

9. I believe if Jesus told me to do something that would bring me physical suﬀering and even death, I would say, ”What are You thinking? I am special, and I deserve good health and a long life.” (Acts 21:13)

20.I believe we should end government welfare, but I am not personally involved in financially changing the life situation of someone in genuine need. (1 John 3:17)

12. I believe I deserve exciting entertainment on Sunday morning. I expect preaching that makes me feel good and music that makes me happy I am a Christian. (2 Timothy 4:3)

21. I believe we should get Bibles back in schools, but I am much too busy to read my own copy during the week. (Romans 15:14)

22. I believe in spending hours with sports and entertainment, but spending even one hour in prayer sounds strange. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

1. Our land faces many threats. But none are as dangerous as selffocused, comfortable Christians who no longer are salt or light. (Matthew 5:13)

23. I believe, like Adam and Eve, the central issue when I make a decision is me. When realizing that starts to bother me, I just focus more on the bad people. (Genesis 3:6)

2. Jesus doesn’t say bad people make Him sick at His stomach. He says I do. (Revelation 3:16)

24. I believe it would be fine for my children to turn out just like me. And in fact, they already are. (Ephesians 6:4)

But what if Jesus appeared right here in front of me? What if He looked through my religious shell and into my soul? What if He used words from Revelation 3:17 and told me I am poor and naked and too blind to see it? What if His Spirit broke through that blindness and opened my eyes? What if He allowed me to see that:

3. Revelation 3:20 was written to believers. Jesus is saying to me, “I stand at the door and knock.” How did He get outside?

4. Christ once was my all. When did I lose my first love? (Revelation 2:4)

5. Am I ready to fully embrace the supreme majesty of King Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of the Father? To declare Him King of kings and Lord of lords? (Colossians 1:18)

6. Am I ready to love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength? To love others as I love myself? To join the glorious Christ in bringing His A publication of IBC Student Ministr y.  www.ibclrstudents.org © 2014

kingdom on earth and thus to multiply worshippers for eternity? (Matthew 22:36–39)

7. Am I ready for spiritual awakening —a Christ awakening—to begin in me? (Philippians 2:9–11)

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suﬀered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:7–8, ESV). BY DR. RICHARD ROSS, PROFESSOR OF STUDENT MINISTRY AT SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.

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