What's up everyone?? It has been absolutely crazy around here! Continuing to operate during all this has been a huge challenge to say the least. Despite the difficulties and added stress, however, I think everything is going extremely well. Our students are interested in coming and participating, we are seeing new students frequently, and we are sharing the gospel with them every week! I call that a win!

 

Decisions about youth and the ways we have chosen to handle things have not been decided without much prayer and thoughtful discussions. That being said, I realize that some of you would like us to handle things differently. I completely respect any decisions that you make as far as your students go, and I only ask for your understanding as we try to handle things the way we think is best.

 

There are some things I want to make you aware of:

 

1. We are having a fundraiser for church camp! We are selling 2BC t-shirts to reduce the cost of church camp for our students! We have short sleeves, long sleeves, and hoodies available! Plus they are super soft and awesome quality! Tell everyone you know to buy a shirt or hoodie! Buy a bunch of them for your kiddos too! The more we sell, the more successful the fundraiser. People can order shirts by visiting our website (www.secondbaptistmonticello.com) and clicking "Support the SWAMP" or by calling the church office! Please push these as we always try to make church camp cost as low as possible for you all!

 

2. We will be having our Christmas party Monday the 21st at 5pm. There will be games and food and fun. Also we will be playing Silly Dirty Santa (or white elephant). For those of you that don't know how that game works, each student will bring a goofy, cheap, wrapped gift (the crazier, the better), during the game in a randomly decided order students will choose to open one of the presents. Throughout the game, presents will be stolen and stolen again. It's a great time:)

 

3. We will not be having Youth Group on the Wednesdays during Christmas break (23rd and 30th). We will pick back up on the 6th. DGroup will be dependent upon how many students are still in town at those times.

 

4. We will be having a Lock-In on New Year's Eve from 8pm to 8am. I still have no idea why students like these so much, but last time, everyone had a blast so we are going to do this thing again. We will be spending all night long playing games, eating, and having an all around great time. Like last time, there are some VERY important things that you all need to be aware of when sending your student to a lock in.

 

     1. The lock in will be from 8 PM Dec 31 to 8 AM Jan 1. I will not be sleeping during this time. PLEASE be on time to pick up your students Saturday morning. Failure to pick up your student will result in them not being allowed to attend next time.

 

     2. There will be some students that fully intend to stay up the entire night, but there will also be some who intend to sleep at a certain point. The students who decide to sleep will have designated spaces to sleep so they can be separated by gender. Students will only be allowed to sleep in those designated places. Students may want to bring a sleeping bag, or a pillow and blanket for sleeping. Remember, this is not a sleepover. There will not be any quiet places to sleep.

 

     3. There will be several games planned for a big chunk of the night. Please encourage your students to participate in all of the games. Otherwise, they will not have very much fun:(

 

     4. Either Stormy or I need to be made aware of any medicine that needs to be taken at any point during the lock in. Along with this, we need to be made aware of any and all food allergies. We will have food for the students to eat, and here at Second Baptist Church we pride ourselves on not intentionally poisoning people :)

 

     5. In the event, that a student is behaving badly and refuses to correct the issue or if the issue is severe, you will be contacted and will be expected to come get your student. If we can't get a hold of you, we will drive them to your home and drop them off. Bad or dangerous behavior will not be tolerated during these types of activities.

 

     6. Students may wish to wear pajamas or some other sort of comfortable clothing. We are perfectly fine with this, but all outfits must be appropriate. We expect you as parents/guardians to be the ones responsible for appropriate attire. Students will not be allowed to stay at the Lock-In in revealing or inappropriate clothing.

 

If you have any questions feel free to contact me!

Several of you probably have questions about DGroup as we have been changing some things lately.

 

First, what is DGroup? DGroup is short for Discipleship Group. This is a time where we are directly and intentionally showing our students how to follow Jesus in a deeper way. This is different from Wednesday Youth Group in that it is more personal and is discussion based. Also, it is also designed specifically for students who already have a relationship with Jesus who are seeking to further that, whereas Wednesday Youth Group is designed for students at any point in the spiritual walk with the goal of teaching the Bible and sharing the gospel with as many students as possible.

For students who are eager to grow in their relationship with Jesus, I strongly encourage them to be a part of DGroup as we dive deeper into what it means to follow Jesus. Students that don't have a relationship with Jesus are of course welcome to come and could very well benefit from it, but I do want to make you all aware at who this specifically targeted at. 

 

Second, when and where is DGroup? DGroup is every Sunday night at 5pm at mine and Stormy's house. Our house is at 144 E Jackson Ave. in Monticello. It is right next to the Methodist church. It lasts until 6:30pm.

Matthew 14:22-33

²² Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone. ²⁴ Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. ²⁵ Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they cried out in fear.

²⁷ Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ He said, “Come.”

And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

³² When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

 

With the coronavirus still going strong all around us and with our world seeming to get more and more chaotic and uncertain, it is very easy for us to begin to worry. The longer COVID has gone on, the more people are letting it scare them. I want to encourage you amongst all of this to fear not and have faith. 

 

In the verses above, we see the disciples out in the middle of the Sea of Galilea, struggling. There is strong wind and battering waves. It is not a fun situation to be in. Then, out of nowhere, they see someone... Walking on the water! It turned out to be Jesus. Jesus walking on water is crazy enough, but Jesus even allowed Peter to walk on water as well! This proved of course that Jesus is Who He said He is.

 

Something I want us to pay attention to though is what happened with Peter. Peter was able to walk on water. Not only that, but this happened right in the middle of a wind storm! Peter was able to walk on the tumultuous sea. The problem came in when he took his focus off of Jesus and began focusing on the craziness around him.

 

Jesus is bigger than the coronavirus. He was bigger than the coronavirus in March, and He is still bigger than it today. The longer this goes on, the more people are focusing on the craziness around us. My encouragement to you is don't. Don't let the craziness around you cause you to take your eyes off of the One who sustains you. Don't let the craziness around cause you to have fear. Trust in the only One who can protect you throughout this situation. It is when we take our eyes off of Jesus, that we begin to sink into stress and depression and anxiety. Our God is bigger. Focus on Him and have faith.