FBCG This Week: PURE SEX Edition!

Hey Parents,

Hope you're having a great week!  Wanted to make you aware of some information about what's going on in our Student Ministry here at FBCG!

1.  We have IGNITE Tonight!...Jeff Rush will be hanging out with our Middle School students and Coat will be hanging with our high schoolers....doors open @ 5:45 so encourage your student to come and hang out!

2. Do you remember your elementary school years??....c'mon think back....do you remember what your favorite part of the day was?  If you were anywhere close to a normal kid, then your answer should be RECESS!!  I mean who didn't love that part of the day where you got to ditch the books, ditch the teacher and run around outside with your friends right??

Well on Sunday nights from 6:00 -7:00 we're going to have some Recess time for you parents.  Come hang out with Jeff, Kathy Decker, and Julie Buttrey for a time of fun, fellowship, and we'll do a little bit of talking about parenting and your students and lifting our families up in prayer!  Come hang give it a try this week!  We'll be meeting up in The Attic!

And don't forget that while we are meeting, our girls will be going through A Daughter's Worth & a study of James with Crystal and Lydia at the Kelly house, while our guys will be going through a Francis Chan study on Courage with Josh at Josh's house!

3.  All of you should have gotten a letter in the mail this past week about our upcoming Pure Sex series that we'll be leading our students through during the month of March.  Several of you have expressed encouragement and support for this series as we know it's something that all of our students face on a daily basis.  However, some of you have, with good reason asked for a little more info and insight into what this series will actually cover and what will be discussed.  I want to encourage you to join us Sunday night for our Recess time because we will spend a few minutes giving you the info you need and we'll answer any questions you might have on the series.

4.  Wednesday night, March 7 is BIGNITE...we'll be having a "Just Dance" party with some fun with the XBOX 360 Kinnect system....gonna be good stuff!

5.  On Sunday night, March 11 WINTERJAM is back in Nashville...this is one of our students favorite events each year and we'll be going again this year....Students pay $10 at the door for admission...we'll be leaving at 4 PM on that Sunday afternoon and should be home around 9 or 9:30....parents and families are welcome to join us in going...it's always a great time!

6.  Summer camp is on the calendar!  We'll be going to Centrifuge in Panama City Beach July 9 - 13.  The camp is $296 and we are asking for a $50 "I'm Committing to Camp" Non-refundable deposit by Sunday, March 25th.  You'll be getting some more information in the mail in the next few weeks about this trip, but let me just take a moment to encourage you to consider investing in your kids by sending them to camp this summer.  I can speak for myself and say that Fuge Camps played a huge role in my spiritual journey and I believe it can play a huge role in the lives of your students as well!  Sign-ups are live on the church website...visit the link below to sign your students up!

http://fbcgoodlettsville.com/templates/System/details.asp?id=50292&PID=914664

Have a great rest of the week and check out some thoughts below before you take off!

Jeff

Focus on This One Thing
So, let's do a quick survey:

If I asked you whether you would like your child or teen to display any of the following characteristics, what would you say?

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Goodness

Kindness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Let me rephrase that:  Is there anyone who doesn't want to see theses in their kids?  I mean come on, many of us pray for these things to be active in our student's life.

Why wouldn't you?  Kids who exhibit these things become adults who make outstanding spouses, parents, employees, bosses, and citizens.

Now another list.  Anyone interested in seeing these characteristics at work in our students' lives?

Outbursts of anger

Hostility

Quarreling

Jealousy

Envy

Drunkenness

Dissension

Exactly.  None of us.  In fact, it's a bit repulsive.

Your pray against these things, don't you?

As some of you are realizing, this list isn't arbitrary.  In fact, it's pulled directly from the Bible (Galatians 5:19-23).

The two lists describe what happens when God is at work in us and when He is not.

What has bothered me about his for years is that sometimes my life can look more like the second list, and less like the first.  What gives?  I'm a Christian.  Shouldn't' my life automatically default to the better virtues?  Shouldn't some change ensue?  How come when I pray, things don't change nearly as much as I want them to?

Well, I left one of the virtues off the list.  In addition to the Holy Spirit bringing love, joy and more, He brings one other thing: self-control.  (It's in verses 23.)

For years, I thought self-control was such an odd addition to the list.  You could almost frame the list and hang it somewhere prominent if it wasn't for the word "self-control."  That one is just so, practical or something.

But more recently, I realized that it might be the most important virtue of all.  Why?  Because if I have self-control, everything else is so much easier.

Self-control makes it easier to love.  And to be gentle.  And to keep peace.  Being able to control yourself leads to fewer outbursts or anger, fewer quarrels and means you can stop drinking or not drink at all.

Omit self-control, and both lists start to look either impossible to attain or impossible to avoid.  Add self-control, and the whole thing flips.

Which is maybe why one of the best things you can do for yourself, and your family, is to put more focus on the virtue of self-control.

What if every day you were more intentional about choosing to do something you didn't want to and showing your kids how to do the same?  What if every time you prayed, you also prayed for the virtue of self-control?  In your child's life, teen's life, and your life, it might just change more than you think!

Keep the GLO Glowing!!

Hey Parents,

I hope that your student was able to attend our GLO retreat this past weekend....it was a great time of worship, fun, fellowship and Bible study.  We're confident that God is moving in the lives of our students and I want to encourage you to have them at IGNITE tomorrow night at 5:45.  We'll be closing out our series called "Collide" with a strong word from God's Word about living a life that doesn't follow the status quo...it has the chance to be a powerful night for our students, so we hope you'll make it a point to have them there!  Doors open @ 5:45 PM

That's not the only thing that we're excited about that's happening this week!  Starting Sunday night at 6:00 PM we'll be launching a time for parent's that we're calling Recess.  You guys remember Recess right?  The favorite part of everybody's school day....the time where you got to put your pencils down, shut your brains off and just enjoy life and your friends.  We'll that's what we'll be doing on Sunday nights (maybe without as much running as we did in elementary school!)  This will be a time where we'll come together as parents and student leaders and have some fun and fellowship and maybe talk about dealing with teenagers a little bit.  Kathy Decker and Julie Buttrey will be helping to amp the fun up so you know it's gonna be good (and maybe a little competitive)!

So drop your guys and girls off for their own Bible studies at 6:00 (Girls at the Kelly house, guys at Josh's house) and then meet us up in The Attic @ 6:00 for some fun!

While we've been challenging our students with the idea of collisions, I wanted to share a few thoughts with you guys today.  Look forward to hanging out with you guys Sunday night!

Collision Stories
I like to think of myself as a pretty coordinated individual.  I never have been called clumsy or klutzy, I've never broken a bone, or had any other type of major trauma.

However, I do know a thing or two about collision.

I'm the guy who always went across the middle on the football team where it always seemed a much bigger, much stronger, much meaner linebacker was waiting for me to arrive.

I'm the guy who tried the Michael Jackson spin and moonwalk to Thriller in my aunt's living room which resulted in my head meeting the corner of the coffee table.

I'm the guy who fish-tailed his 1978 Ford Truck around the curve the 1st week of driving to school my sophomore year trying to impress my friends I was giving a lift to.

Maybe nothing too major, but collisions none the less.

And while sometimes it's been painful or embarrassing, these collisions have taught me all kinds of lessons.

Like the person who hit the bumper of my car when I was a newly licensed driver.  Someone at a traffic light thought the light had changed and hit the gas, giving my car a bump.  That moment taught me to allow space at the stoplight and to make sure I knew what was going on around me.

But I've also had some collisions in my life that have had a great impact on me personally as well.

Like my Sunday school teacher in high school, Jim Buchanan.  He impacted my life in a huge way.  He made this kid feel like he was a wanted part of the world.  It's why I looked forward to church and loved being around Jim and his family.

Or the time during college when I was lying in bed, pouring out my broken heart out to God and He brought both comfort and joy.

Or the time I met someone from another denomination who really loved God and I realized that my particular church didn't have a monopoly on Him.

There are many other collision stories, moments when God's truth collided with me, God's people crashed into me, God Himself showed up in my life in ways that I never saw coming - much like a middle linebacker or a coffee table that jumped into my path.

What about you?

What are the moments when God crashed into you?

What about the moments when His truth showed up somewhere you didn't expect and He showed you something about who He is?  Was it in the face of one of your children, your spouse or a total stranger?  Was it in a book, a movie?  Maybe it was in a sunset or a walk on the beach or a hike in the mountains?

Take some time today to think about the ways God has collided with you, and you with Him.  And how not only you collided, but you were changed.

Then do one more thing for me.....tell your students.  Let your son or daughter hear about the collision from your own lips, let him or her into your story and get a glimpse of your collision stories.

And when he or she hears your stories about a God who collides with us, changes us, maybe they'll be intentional about colliding with God as well.

Have a great week,
Jeff

This Week @ FBCG: GLO Edition!

Parents,

Wow, we've got a busy week this week as our GLO weekend has arrived!  But that's not all that we're excited about...a lot of stuff to tell you about this week!

1.  Tonight is our Valentine's Day Girl's Night @ the Kelly House.  All of our youth girls are invited to our house tonight from 6 - 9 PM to hang out with Crystal and Lydia and to have a great night of fellowship, fun and a chick flick!  The students don't need to bring anything so drop them off and have some time for yourselves tonight!

2.  IGNITE is going on tomorrow night...doors open in The Attic @ 5:45 PM so make sure your students are there!

3.  GLO kicks off Thursday night!  We are excited about what God has in store for our student ministry this weekend.  Our focus this year is The Church and we'll be talking about what God intended when he created the church, how we as believers plug in and what a Christ-focused church looks like!  Students will hear from Coat, Lyle, myself and Jake Gaines who is returning to FBCG for the weekend with Becca and baby Jovie!  We'll also be lead by the Michael Reid Band in worship and we have assembled a great team of leaders to come in and invest in the students.  This year we have the Brook's, Norman's, Nichols', Allen's, Meadows, and Bowman's homes serving as host homes so we're thankful for them!

Make sure you've signed your student up on the church website at fbcgoodlettsville.com/students and make sure they are here Thursday night at 7:00 to kick off a great weekend!  Cost is $30 for church students and students can still sign up and can still bring an unchurched friend for free!!

4.  Starting Sunday night, February 26th, we'll be starting a group called "Parent's Hour Out".  Each Sunday night from 6:00 - 7:00 PM we'll invite all of our parents to come together for an hour of fellowship, fun, food and a little focus on our students.  While our guys and girls will be in their own respective Bible studies during the hour, we'll have the "Fun Patrol" of Kathy Decker, Julie Buttrey and myself ready to lead parents during an hour of fun so come give it a try and you'll be glad you did!!

To close out, check out the thoughts below on increasing your child's self-esteem!

Want to Increase Your Child's Self-Esteem?

What parent doesn’t? I’ve not yet met a parent who’s said, “I hope to instill such a low sense of self-esteem in my kids that they struggle with self worth for the rest of their lives.”

Despite our best intentions, self-esteem issues arise in almost all of us. Why?

It’s not for lack of trying. Many of us offer endless streams of encouraging words to our kids. We pretty much hand out awards for everything from potty training to putting away their crayons to not skipping class in high school. We enroll them in non-competitive sports where every one’s a winner no matter how many goals get scored. In some circles, everything we tell our kids is designed to encourage them, even when maybe they shouldn’t be encouraged.

But self-esteem continues to be evasive, with a generation or two of kids who vacillate between unrealistically high view of themselves and a crushingly low self-esteem. Sometimes in the same child. Sometimes in the same child on the same day.

I want to make a strange connection: What if self-control and self-esteem are linked? What if the child who develops self-control also ends up developing self-respect?

Think about it. When do you feel best about yourself? I personally feel much better about myself when I:

Keep my word.

Eat healthy.

Work out.

Prioritize devotional time with God.

Treat people with kindness, even when I feel like doing otherwise.

Show up prepared and on time.

Exceed expectations.

Take responsibility rather than blame others.

What links every single one of these things is a very difficult-to-master virtue: self-control. When I practice self-control in all areas of my life (resisting impulses, making myself do things I don’t want to do, prioritizing my time and energy), my self-respect grows. By contrast, when I fail in areas like this, my self-respect and self-esteem suffers; I can get into an endless stream of self-defeating talk that’s hard to get out of. Until I practice more self-control.

See the link? Self-control and self-respect are perhaps a little more tied together than we might initially think.

As a result, if you want to grow a healthy self-esteem in your child, you might want to help them develop a healthy sense of self-control. 

Ironically, one of the best ways to develop self-esteem might not be to try to directly instill self-esteem at all, but instead to work on self-control. Better self-esteem, surprisingly, may follow.

Have a great Tuesday,

Jeff