Student Ministry Fall Overview 2011-12

Here is the latest FALL Student Ministry Overview . . .

(Click here for printable copy)

MESSAGE FROM TYLER

Recently, a friend of mine was telling me about some of her experiences with some tomato plants. She had this vision of a vibrant, growing garden full of fresh, ripe, juicy, delicious tomatoes. She had dreams of making homemade salsa, marinara sauce, and margarita pizzas. She planted the tomato plants in some pots on her front porch. She told of how exciting it was to dig her hands into that potting soil, push the seed into the richness, and soak the concoction with life-giving water. For those first few days, she was almost glued to a lawn chair waiting for her plants to spring forth. One day, she walked onto her front porch morning coffee in hand, and there they were: three small plants who had pushed through the dirt and were signs of new life.

But…The various obligations of life began to take their toll. She had schoolwork, job duties, family events, hobbies, and all kinds of stuff that occupied her attention. However, she didn’t totally forget her plants. Every morning before she left for work she would give her plants a little bit of water; it was all she had time to do. She did not feel like she had time to give her plants the attention they needed, so she just gave them enough water to keep them alive.

An interesting thing began to happen . . . Her plants didn’t die, but they also did not grow. They were alive, but they stayed the exact same size. And while her friends were harvesting fresh vegetables, my friend was stuck with three plants that produced nothing.

Don’t we all find ourselves at that place sometimes? Especially in our relationships with friends/family/ourselves/God…we do enough to keep them alive, but we don’t give enough time or effort to produce true results, true goals, true growth.And we so desire that in our lives. Not that any of it is bad; but if we are not careful, church can simply become meaningless ritual, a place where we go through motions. We are doing enough in our spiritual lives to keep things alive, but we are not growing, we are not changing, we are not bearing fruit.

For this upcoming season of our Student Ministry, we are going to focus on what it means to grow. Many of us who grew up in church can talk about the Bible till we are blue in the face, we can beautifully sing meaningful hymns, and we can do good deeds until our hands are blistered. But is that really what it means to grow? Perhaps, like my friend’s tomatoes, our relationship with God does not require more “doing,” but instead calls us into more “being.” It calls us into simply being with God.  

For our Sunday morning Bible studies, we will be exploring how the ancient texts of the Scriptures can mold, change, and form us into who Christ is calling us to be. During Sunday evenings at InnerMission, we will focus on hearing one another’s stories of growth, playing games together, and being willing to listen to one another’s journeys of faith and human condition. On Wednesday evenings, Middle School students will get the chance to explore their spiritual pilgrimages during Middle School Formation, and Jr. & Sr. High will be divided into two Discussion Groups whose sole purpose is to provide a safe place to talk about the intersection between faith, culture, and the world around us.

Throughout the year we will also have times to get away from routine and focus on certain areas we want to grow within ourselves. Jr. & Sr. students will be headed to a place of rest for the Student Fall Retreat. In the spring, all students and their friends are invited to be a part of Disciple Now, a time of exploring what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Finally, in the summer the Middle School Mission Trip & Student Summer Camp are designed to be experiences that bring unity to our relationships with one another, ourselves, and (ultimately) God.

And if we will invest the time, energy, emotions, and thoughts into our relationship with God, we might just be surprised what comes springing from the soil of our souls; we might just be surprised what will grow within us and through us.

Tyler Tankersley, Student Pastor

ttankersley@2bcliberty.org