We had a BLAST at Summer Impact last week! We dug deep into Scripture and discovered the UPRISING that Jesus creates in us so we can be part of the Jesus Uprising in the world! Perhaps you could even ask a 5th/6th grader (your own might be a good start) the memory verse for the week…2 Corinthians 5:17!

Here’s just a snapshot of the NUMBERS from the week:

120 students attended

86 student/adults served

$1022.82 raised for Feed My Starving Children

147 students/adults served at Feed My Starving Children on Friday

32400 meals were packed because of Summer Impact

Feel free to check out the videos below to share in our experience at Summer Impact last week!

God blessed us with an amazing week! We thank you for your thoughts and prayers during the week of Summer Impact 2010!

FBCG Student Ministries is very excited to announce that Grant Diamond will be taking over the ministry responsibilities of Club56 in August. Tim Balow who has worked with Club56 for the last two years will be moving up to Minnesota to be with his future wife as she works through her graduate program.

Grant is a recent graduate of Wheaton College and will be getting married before he starts his new role with FBCG in early August. He will have the opportunity to teach during the summer in the 5th – 8th grade community in the Alpha room, as well as get up to speed on the great things that are happening in FBCG Student Ministries!

Check out the video below to learn more about Grant and his fiancé Kayli!

You are invited to FBCG Project Serve on July 17th from 9-11 am at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora.  Because of your enthusiasm when we served in January, we quickly filled the 160 slots available that day so I know this July morning will fill quickly. Use the following link to lead you to registering (will open up a new window):

http://www.fbcg.com/mo_serve_project

Our hope with these “entry level” serving opportunities is to create the on-ramps for others to experience serving.  When we can do serve together in community and often as a family we are accomplishing MUCH!  It would be great to fill this date immediately and create the need (I might say addiction) to adding many more dates and times throughout our ministry year in order to build our FBCG DNA of serving both our community (Jerusalem) and the world (Judea and the ends of the earth).

If you have participated in Project Serve in January and you know the registration process, you can bless another and coach them through it or simple do register a friend when you register yourself.

Look forward to this morning together as a serving community.

It’s coming your way! Our annual Adventure Trip from June 11th – 14th designed for rising 7th and 8th graders is a fabulous way to jump start your student community experience at FBCG. Expeditions Unlimited in Baraboo, WI does a tremendous job hosting us as we journey together as a community through God’s Word, specifically looking at Adventures With Jesus throughout the four Gospels.

While digging into God’s Word is central to our experience together, we have no shortage of great activities each day from rock climbing at Devil’s Head State Park, canoeing, and Noah’s Ark waterpark, all done in awesome community with other rising 7th and 8th graders.

The cost of the trip is $199 ($185 if paid by May 27th) and includes lodging, meals, and transportation. The purpose of the trip is all about CONNECTING. This will be our first opportunity to grow together as a community!

Summer Impact 2010 is UPON US! We are so excited to start our journey to discover the UPRISING that Jesus creates in us so we can turn the world UPSIDE DOWN! If you are a rising 5th or 6th grader (or know any), mark your calendars for Summer Impact 2010 at FBCG West Campus! More info will follow in the coming weeks.

July 19th – July 23rd 2010

Monday – Thursday :: 6:30 – 8:30 at West Campus

Friday – Serving at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora in the morning or afternoon

Questions? Contact Tim Balow at tbalow@fbcg.com!

Everyone is talking about change nowadays. We talk about how much the world is changing, we talk about how much the world needs change, and we even tend to talk about what people in our lives need to change.

One of the greatest things that God opened my eyes to was the Easter Story. That may seem like a strange thing for a Christian to say, as we believe the Easter Story (the resurrection of Christ) is CENTRAL to our faith. I now believe that more than ever before. I wish I had a better story to say beyond just having God open my eyes to this truth, but it is what it is.

It is only in the Easter Story that we have the power that raised Jesus from the dead (resurrection power) that will lead us into what God calls the “New Creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We talked about this idea at Club56 on Wednesday night, and it excited me to present this incredible truth to students. It’s exciting because I truly believe it will change their life. As Christians, we have access to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, and that power transforms us into the New Creation which leads us into a growing friendship with Jesus.

Students need to have a place to share how God is CHANGING (or transforming) their life. It’s not just about God giving them the will to do more Christian things, but it’s about growth in relationships (with God and others), changed attitudes that leads to changed habits, and finally, the desire to see more of our lives changed through tapping into God’s resurrection power.

Ask your student how God is transforming them. I think you might be surprised by what you hear.

If I ever want to get a group of students to pay attention, all I have to say is “let me tell you a story”. Stories can be so captivating, dramatic, funny, and genuine. I love to tell students stories. Whenever we go on retreats, the boys always request a bedtime story, which usually end up being 2 and 3 bedtime stories, but I know how special those moments can be for us.

A couple weeks ago at Club56, we started a discussion about how God Gives Us Stories. Jesus used to tell stories all the time. These stories usually had their point about what life is like with God in His Kingdom, but these stories were incredibly captivating for his audience. I believe that God gives our students (and each one of us) stories in our lives so that we can see how God works in and through us. One thing that I challenge students with is to see their entire lives as God writing an incredible story. I think this is very helpful, especially as we seek to have our story fit in with God’s BIG story of what He is doing in the world!

Everyone has a story to tell. A very simple thing that we can do with students is to provide a space for them to share their story.  Always ask students to share a stories. You might be surprised by how much their stories reveal!

Our TRIBES CHALLENGE night at Club56 is coming up fast on this Wednesday, March 24th from 6:30 – 8pm at FBCG East Campus. It’s a rare occasion for us to just have some small group fun at Club56. TRIBES is designed to be a small group challenge experience that is FUN and ENGAGING. Think of it as Survivor in small groups!

My hope is that students will brings friends to expose them to the fun of small groups at Club56. This night is TOTALLY free (not just partly free!) and will be hosted the entire evening at East campus. Students should wear clothes that they could move around in and gym shoes would be a wise option.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Tim Balow at Tbalow@fbcg.com. Otherwise, we look forward to a great turn out (with tons of new friends) on Wednesday night at 6:30pm for our TRIBES CHALLENGE where having fun is just the beginning!

Last Wednesday night, we had a tremendous night packing Easter baskets for the Love In Action project at Club56. I am please to report that through the generosity of Club56 families, we were able to pack 28 baskets full of wonderful items that will bless families this Easter.

THANK YOU for your generosity to the ministry of Love In Action and these families. Please pray that these baskets will be a sign of hope for these families and will be blessed by them this Easter!

As students are growing in their faith journey, one of the best things that we can do as the faith community is to come alongside students in order to show them the vital components to faith expression, such as celebrating the Lord’s Supper.

In an even bigger way, at FBCG Student Ministries, we believe that one of the most important pieces to a student’s faith journey is to build faith at home. On March 23rd, we’ll connect these two pieces into a Communion Workshop created specifically for families with elementary and middle school students.

More than anything, we want to equip families to have discussions and go deep with the Lord’s Supper as a family, but also be sensitive to the fact that at FBCG, we encourage only those who have made a faith commitment to participate in the Lord’s Supper. So while we won’t be administering the Lord’s Supper, we as a community will be going deep into the meaning and practice of communion on Tuesday, March 23rd.

We’ll gather in the Alpha Room at WEST Campus from 7pm to 8:15pm. If you are planning on attending, please RSVP to Sue Ann at saegan@fbcg.com!