6th Grader Welcome Party!

This upcoming Wednesday night (August 31st) we are having a welcome party for all of our new 6th graders! Come and hang out and get to know your youth group. This event will take place from 6:00pm - 7:30pm in the youth wing at FBC Fairborn. We will eat, hang out, and have a time of worship and Bible study.
Parents are welcome at this event! We want you to stay in the loop with everything we do as a ministry.
All food is free and we hope to see you there!

Guys Night 8/24/11

Bible Study

Main focus: Discipleship

*Romans 12:9-21

Godly character is expected. It is not only expected by God, but by the leadership of this church. The Insult jar is not a joke or just a good way to raise money for missions, but it is a reminder that we need to honor God with our mouths.

Is this passage in Romans a checklist? If you do these things you are good to go? No, that is not the point of Paul telling us these things. He is giving us a real life look at how a Christian should live.

Both Victoria and Daejanna shared on Sunday morning about how they could see Christ on the faces and lives of the African brothers and sisters. How does that happen? Is it just by an eventual switch that gets flipped in your heart and you “become” like Christ? Not at all. You don’t become like Christ overnight. You have to make choices and struggle with your sin nature to champion Him above all else.

Let me ask you this question. What is the difference between moral living and godly living? They both look the same. They both seem to honor God the same way. After all, a lot of people think that their way to God is through doing good things. But what is the foundational difference between the 2?

The difference is that one has its foundation in a relationship with God. The other is simply going along with what we all know to be the “right” thing to do; the reason you obey your parents, avoid drugs, help the old lady with her groceries, don’t cheat on a hard test is that you want to be a good person.

Godly living has its base in Christ. The reason you don’t do all the before mentioned things is because you want to honor God. Your point of view is no longer set on yourself, but is set on God and making sure that others see Him in you. Like my favorite verse in the Bible. John 3:30 “He must increase, I must decrease.” You don’t have a focus on you becoming a good person, but on God being a great God in your life.

            Does living a godly life just fall into your lap at random? It’s kind of like sleeping on your textbook and expecting the knowledge to just seep through into your brain. It is not going to happen. You have to make a conscious daily choice to grow in your relationship with God. If you are a Christian, this is what is expected of you.

            If you had a friend that only called or texted you whenever you needed something, would you be eager to hear from them every day? Not really. It would probably drive you crazy. But if you had a friend that was always inviting you over to hang out, have pizza, go to movies and all, you would look forward to having them call you. Don’t be that guy that just comes to God when you need something. Start moving toward Him every day. Start inviting Him to be a part of everything that you do.

            Stepping towards God on a daily basis takes work. It takes time and effort. How do you make sure that you are taking steps towards God and not just floating through life? It’s helpful to set goals and actually start working on your problem areas. Are you having trouble finding what you need to work on? Read through Romans 12:9-21 and pick one to start working on. Ask God to help you as you try to watch what you say, or maybe how you treat others. He will love the interaction and will come alongside you to guide you through.

            Another way to make sure that you are on track is to have a mentor. This is something that has been on my heart for a while. I want to make sure that you each have a person that you can go to 24/7 with questions/concerns or just to pray.

            A mentor helps keep you on track. They help you stay accountable and make sure that you are spending time with God. This is a great way to grow in your walk with God.

            Right now we are working on a structure to provide a mentor for each one of you. Until that happens, know that I am always available! Any of our other student workers would love to be a mentor for you as well. You don’t have to wait until we get things organized, you can simply ask one of us to be a mentor for you.

            If nothing else, make sure that you are taking steps towards God. Reading scripture on a daily basis, spending time in prayer, and working on these things mentioned in Romans 12.

The Torch Online!

Have you been stuck at home and unable to pick up the latest copy of the Torch? Did your student forget to bring one home for you? Not a problem! Just click the new "The Torch" tab above and follow the instructions!

The Torch is our monthly youth group newsletter. Stay up to date with events and calendar updates, articles by yours truly, and daily scripture reading that co-insides with our Sunday school lessons.

Ignite T-shirts are on the way!

We have t-shirts on the way! I figured it was time that we had our youth group t-shirt redesigned. They are only $5 a piece!

Place orders with Kevin Singerman.

Youth T-shirts are Royal Blue with white lettering.

Leadership T-shirts are dark gray with white lettering.

Girls and Guys Night

Join us this Wednesday night at First Baptist Church of Fairborn for a Girls and Guys night! Be sure to be on time! The girls will be leaving the church and will head over to our new apartment to hang out with Victoria for the evening. The guys will take over the youth wing. We will provide food and drinks! Hope to see you there!

Sunday School is Epic

Have you been hanging out at church for a while and not gotten plugged into a Sunday school class? Why? Sunday school is epic! Join us this Sunday! We serve breakfast in the youth wing from 9:15am - 9:45am and we have great Sunday school teachers! See you there this Sunday morning.

Africa Missions Presentation 2011

This past Sunday we had the great opportunity to give a presentation on what God did while we were in Africa! Daejanna, Michelle, Victoria, and I presented in both of the morning services. They all did a great job! 

Here are my notes just in case you were unable to be there:

     This trip to Africa was challenging in many different ways. When we arrived I sensed one major key difference between Burkina Faso and Benin, where I grew up. The difference was that there “seemed” to be no voodoo influence. I was taken off guard by that because I thought that the Burkinabe people were just as influenced by animism as Benin. But there you would see more Mosques and Muslim influence than anything else.

      Little did I know that they were actually under the same influence; they just kept their voodoo religion much more hidden. Once the team entered the village of Karengasso-Vige my original thoughts about the area were confirmed. They were still in bondage to voodoo and sorcery and they held very strongly to their Muslim faith.

      People wore voodoo protection rings as they bowed to Allah. We walked by a huge mosque on our daily walk back to the pastor’s house. You could definitely see the things to which they were enslaved.

Pastor Daoda, the head pastor of the church in Karengasso-Vige, had been working in this village for about 5 years. He seemed a little discouraged and after spending a week there we all had an understanding of why. The spiritual battle in the village was incredible. The people living in Karengasso-Vige are under Satan's tight grip and he is not letting go without a serious fight.

Almost like clockwork, anytime we would move to a time of decision with any group of people, there would be some major disturbance. Either children would begin fighting, or a person would completely interrupt us and change the subject.

One particular encounter took place on Wednesday. We decided to walk out and check up on some of the people who had recently made decisions for Christ. As we were on our way we saw that an older gentleman was out with his wives. We had spoken to his wives a few days prior, but they said they couldn’t make a decision for faith unless their husband was present. So we changed direction mid-stride and walked over to him. As it turns out, he had spoken with one of our other evangelism teams and had wanted us to come by to share with him again. God had appointed this meeting.

After we shared Christ with him once more he stated that he and his wives would continue considering what we had told him. Then something very odd happened. He pulled out a pen and paper and asked to have each of our names. After a long interchange of names we prayed for him and left.

On the road back the African brothers and sisters seemed very uneasy. I asked them what was on their mind and they said, “That man is the head voodoo witchdoctor for this village. He asked for our names so he can pronounce curses on us tonight.” I used the wrote answer of, “Well, we are under the blood of Christ and nothing can bother us because of that.”

They took it very seriously and as soon as we got back to the church compound we spent about 15 minutes in prayer. They were taking action against the spiritual forces before anything had taken place. Which is something that we can learn from.

I was up for several hours that night trying to sleep but completely unable to do so. The strange thing was that my feet were itching like crazy! I turned on my flashlight thinking that I had a bunch of bug bites, but they were clear, nothing was there. Still, the itching continued. The longer I was up, the more aware I was of this incredible feeling of evil that was resting over our small village house. As soon as I recognized it, I immediately began praying against it. I rebuked Satan in Jesus name and asked for God’s Spirit to fill that place.

After praying, God gave me a peace and my feet stopped itching. I could sleep.

The next day one of our African sisters shared about a dream that she had that very night. She dreamed that the voodoo witchdoctor was using the list to pronounce curses on each and every person so that they would get terribly sick. She woke up from her dream and began praying against him at that very moment.

This was just a small glimpse of the spiritual battle that had been going on during our trip. We were directly in the line of fire, but the Lord kept us safe in His hands! Our God is stronger than any other.

I don’t want you to think that you are in the safe zone here in Fairborn Ohio. Just like I thought that voodoo wasn’t present in Burkina Faso, Satan hides himself so that we are not always aware of his dealings. We need to open our eyes to the fact that we are in a spiritual battle every day. Are you on the offense? Or the defense?

*Is 40:3–5 ³     A voice cries:

       “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

  ⁴    Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill be made low;

       the uneven ground shall become level,

and the rough places a plain.

  ⁵    And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

They are still doing follow up work, but my rough estimates are that over 25 people came to Christ through the work in the village and the city!

The Lord directs your steps when you ask Him to do so. The Lord gives you the words you should speak when you need them. The Lord brings people to Himself so that His glory will be revealed. Praise the Lord for everything that He did on this trip and allowing us to be a part of it. Thank you for praying for us and sending us out!

Forward Motion, Session 1 8-17-11

Introduction

Aren’t there times when you’re talking with a Christian friend or sitting in church, or just observing other Christians, and it feels like following Christ is a giant leap? There are times when you are so ready to jump. You come back from camp, a retreat, a mission trip or a conference and you are ready to take on the world. But after a few weeks it feels more like the world took you on. The place you thought you should be was too far to jump.

If some of us were really honest, there are times when we feel guilty because we don’t look, talk, dress or act like what we think a Christian should. But in our minds to reach that ideal would be such a leap from who we are right now.

You are getting ready to head back into the real world. We have had some awesome experiences over the summer, but this is where the rubber meets the road. Are you going to be different? Or fall back into the same old “you” that you were before hand?

Truth

When you read the Gospels--the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--and go through the words and actions of Jesus, it seems like following Him is anything but a little step. He’s asking people to take some major leaps and make some major changes.
*Mk 8:34–35 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.^”
*John 8:11 To the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said, “Go, and from now on sin no more.”  
*Matthew 5:48 “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Jesus’ expectations are very high for His followers.

Let me ask you this. If the president came to you tonight and asked you to solve our nation’s debt in 24 hours, would it be possible? If you were told to start training because you were going to fight Chuck Norris in a few days, would you be ready?

Jesus’ expectations seem to be impossible to meet don’t they? Be as Holy as I am? Go and sin no more? Those are pretty tall orders aren’t they? But here is the deal, Jesus doesn’t expect these changes to take place in 24 hours.

Jesus said to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. Do you think denying yourself is a one time decision? Do you think you can simply say, “I’m going to quit doing what I want and do what God wants,” and then never have another issue again?

What about “go and sin no more”? Do you think that the woman, who had just been caught in adultery immediately had better relationships and instantly and drew good boundaries in her life? No, leaving a life of sin takes steps. She’ll have to cut off ties with some people in her life. She’ll have to start depending on God for things that she had originally been looking for in relationships.

What about Jesus’ statement about being “perfect”? How many of you feel perfect? How many of you strive for perfection but just never seem to get there? It’s a good goal. But it just seems impossible, doesn’t it? Why is that?

It’s because Jesus was asking these people to do something they weren’t capable of on their own. They would need some help. Jesus knew that too. He even acknowledged that His requests were impossible without help.

*Mk 10:27 ^“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Every big thing that Jesus asks us to do starts with a single step. The challenge to love our enemies? A step. The challenge to forgive? A step. The challenge to be thankful? The challenge to be patient? The challenge to pray or read the Bible? They are all steps.

Even following Christ begins with a simple step. Jesus extended the invitation time and time again to those around Him with two little words, “Follow me.” For some, those words seemed huge and they were reluctant to step. Others just simply got up and followed. But regardless of the weight of those words, the reality is that following Him requires a step.

Application

Have you ever seen the show “Extreme Makeover”? They take a person that looks rather pitiful and over the course of a TV show, they make them into a fashion savvy model.

There is a wide spread myth that says if you are a Christian who wants transformed behavior then you will need to take a huge unrealistic leap. Your life will be magically transformed, “Extreme Makeover” style. The myth states that you will immediately kick the smoking habit. You will immediately stop swearing. Instantly, all of your issues and struggles will go away when you take this one huge leap. You will be one person one minute, and you will leap to being a completely different person the next minute.

God does sometimes work in that way. There have been people that were alcohol, drug, or porn addicts that when they came to Christ, were able to completely walk away from those things without an issue. For others it takes struggles and seriously planned steps to kick those habits.

Maybe you tried to make a giant leap after camp or a mission trip. Maybe you’ve watched someone else try to make the leap. You heard them say, “I’m going to change the world. I’m going to completely change my life.” Then he or she came back, and after a few weeks, nothing about him or her had changed. Why? It’s not because the intensions weren’t good or that the goal wasn’t achievable. It’s because the leap was too big. That person was never shown the steps. (Kristen Paulick, changing Cambodia one person at a time)

What happens if we take this leap and we fail? What happens if this leap is not realistic? How do we feel as a follower of Christ? Taking leaps is an overwhelming task. If Christianity is about taking unrealistic leaps, then Christianity quickly becomes tiring, exhausting and frustrating. God does work miracles sometimes, but what about the times He chooses not to operate that way, those times when instead He wants to walk you through something step by step?

Example: My brother-in-law has an uncle that has a serious addiction to smoking even though he is a Christian. Does that make him “unfit” to follow Christ? Does it make him less worthy?

God has been showing me how deep His mercy is and how His thoughts are definitely not my thoughts. From a human perspective we would say “Get rid of that idol in your life, you sinner!” When we don’t know the struggles that this man is going through to try and quit smoking. God looks at the intentions of the heart, not the outward circumstances. God is so forgiving!

When you walk with God, it’s inevitable that He will change you to be more like Him. But the leap mentality says that you have to have every question answered before you step. The leap mentality says that you have to work out all your issues before you come to Christ. And that is simply not true. How is He supposed to help you work through your issues if you stay apart from Him?

*Mt 11:28–30 “²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus isn’t looking for leaps, just simple steps. He says, “Follow Me.” If there are any changes that need to happen in your life, areas where you are settling for less than God’s best, He’ll get to those in His time.

When you walked to an altar or a friend told you about Jesus and said you should give Him your life, did you really know what that meant? When you agreed to lay aside “all” of yourself in order to have a relationship with Him, did you realize how big “all” really was? Is that something that hit you at once? Or are you finding out every day just how much “all” is? The Holy Spirit points out one thing at a time in your life that stands between you and God.

Conclusion

Jesus’ goal for us is the step, not the leap. As we close, what is the next step for you? Maybe it’s just to believe that God exists. That might be a good step. Maybe for you it is to forgive someone who hurt you. Maybe it is to trust God with a relationship.

If the leap is “making a difference for Christ at your school,” then that doesn’t start with a pep rally or lunchroom sermons. It starts with building a real relationship with someone, and in the process find ways to share what you believe. If it’s the leap of cleaning up your language, then it’s the step of being conscious of what you say.

Some of you are beating yourself up because you can’t make the leap. You’re frustrated because your life isn’t where you think it should be. You’re blind to just how far you’ve come and totally locked in on where you want to be. Just remember it’s all about the steps--even if it’s small steps. Some days you’ll do better than others. And when you don’t do it well, His grace and mercy are there, ready to help you take another step. 

And what if God didn’t hold that same expectation you have? What if He didn’t expect you to be a perfect replica of someone else? What if the way you got from where you are to where you want to be was just by the steps you take every day? Is it possible that He thinks we are supposed to simply move moment by moment, decision by decision, step by step towards who He thinks we are supposed to be?

The step is different for all of us. Have you felt the pressure to take a leap? Remember, following Jesus is just a step. It is not about leaping.