WHAT'S INSIDE:
WHAT'S INSIDE:
JUNIOR HIGH
- Note from Caleb
- What's Coming Up in Junior High
SENIOR HIGH
- Note from Jenn
- What's Coming Up in Senior High
JR/SR HIGH PARENT RESOURCE
- Topic: Sex & Purity
Between grades 6 and 8, there is unmistakably a large gap in thinking when it comes to dating, sex, and relationships. Whether your student is in the thick of it all or on the fringe of that discovery, the foundations of a pure life (or not so pure life) are being laid every day whether we think about it or not. Our world has A LOT to say about what and how we should interact with dating, sex, and relationships. As you can very plainly see, almost all of it is not good.
One of the major points I desire to emphasize each year is that the idea that "purity" goes way beyond our view of dating, sex, and relationships.
Pursuing purity isn't just our willingness or unwillingness to say "no" to certain things or to draw boundaries in particular parts of our life. Pursuing purity is our willingness to say "yes" to Jesus in every single aspect of our life. Our approach and willingness to say "yes" to Jesus in other areas of our life can have a HUGE impact on our willingness to say "yes" to Jesus when it comes approaching dating, sex, and relationships.
I want to walk with you as parents in navigating these tricky waters and work with you to make sure your student has a healthy, biblically grounded view of purity both within and outside of dating, sex, and relationships.
This year we are focusing on what purity is with a series on Sunday Morning called "WHAT!?!". We will be looking at three main areas of purity in our lives and answering three big WHAT questions each week on those areas:
WHAT is it?
WHAT does it have to do with me?
WHAT do I do about it?
Week 1: What is Purity?: In Self
Bottom Line: Purity is the wholehearted, unselfish pursuit of Jesus. Focus > Flawlessness.
Week 2: What is Purity?: In Relationships
Bottom Line: Purity starts with Jesus work in our heart and flows out into our relationships with... friends, "more than friends", family, enemies, and strangers.
Week 3: What is Purity?: In the World
Bottom Line: God doesn't desire almost's and halfway's, He desires ALL of us, ALWAYS. Our pursuit of Jesus doesn't stop on Sunday, but infiltrates every area of our life, especially those areas that are so prevalent in our world today: technology, music/movies, and media.
We are kicking off a new 5-week series on April 18th called "GREATER THAN" by Francis Chan.
Our hope is that this series will challenge your students’ faith and inspire them to act, knowing that God is GREATER THAN anything standing in their way.
Join us from 7:00-8:30 on Wednesdays.
Rent-A-Student is an opportunity for students to serve and to help earn money towards trips and retreats
We have two opportunities up coming up this month for your student:
April 21st: 9:00 am - 11:00 am @ The Kelley's (2 spots available)
April 21st: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm @ The Cook's (3 spots available)
Contact Caleb if you are interested!
Families of 6th-12th graders! Join us Sunday, May 6th for a Family Event! Mark you calendar! Details coming soon!
As the school year is winding down, we are winding up for a BIG Move Up Sunday! We are SO excited to welcome in our new 6th graders! We are sad to see our 8th graders leave, but we are so excited for them as they move up to the Senior High. Join us as we celebrate the end of the school year and moving up!
Stay tuned to see what we have brewing for our Move Up Bash!
Don't miss out on this summer's Student Life Mission Camp! We are going to Cedarville, OH, July 16-20. We will be serving the community, hearing from an amazing speaker and worship team, and having tons of fun. See attachments for registration forms. $100 deposit. Please email or call with any questions or concerns, I would love to work with you to make this summer a possibility for your student.
Cost: $470
We know the Bible calls us to purity. But what does that really mean and how do we pursue purity in the midst of a world that screams the opposite? The next few weeks we will be focusing on how to live out our faith by pursuing purity. We will discuss relationships, sex, and how to navigate the world of technology. It is my desire to walk along side you as we encourage students to live out God's calling on their life as it pertains to purity. How do we live in the world but not of it as it pertains to sexuality, relationships and media? We will end with a panel on April 29 where all their questions will be answered, well, most anyway. Students can text your questions anonymously that morning or write them down ahead of time. Our focus throughout the entire series will be to pursue purity by pursuing Jesus in all areas of our life.
Week 1: Girls and Guys- Let's discuss what the opposite sex is really thinking, and how that affects our relationships.
Week 2: In the world but not of the world- Does what I post on Snapchat really matter?
Week 3: Panel-Can I really ask that in church? YES!
I invite you to be praying for the next couple of weeks as we explore how to live a life that honors God with our minds and our bodies.
Join us for food, fun, and hearing from Purdue Quarterback David Blough.
Cost is $10.
Join the Senior High girls for a movie night at Jenn Sanson's house. We will be watching the movie Many Beautiful Things. It tells the story of Lilias Trotter. "Could you abandon a dream to pursue your true calling?"
Senior High Mission Camp Parent meeting: April 22, 12:15 Upper Retreat Center Please plan on attending if your student is going to Tennessee. A notary will be available for the forms which require notarization. This is an important meeting for parents to attend.
Senior Recognition Sunday: May 20, 2018 Seniors will be recognized during each service. At 12:15 we will meet in the Upper Retreat Center for lunch and an opportunity to "stone our seniors". More info for senior families to come in the next week.
As the school year is winding down, we are winding up for a BIG Move Up Sunday! We are SO excited to welcome in our new 6th graders! We are sad to see our 8th graders leave, but we are so excited for them as they move up to the Senior High. Join us as we celebrate the end of the school year and moving up!
Stay tuned to see what we have brewing for our Move Up Bash!
There are several opportunities to earn money for our Tennessee trip in June. Please sign up for some slots to work Rent a Student. Rent a student sign up
Also, if you are interested in a weekly mowing job or a mowing job once or twice in April/May, I have two people looking to hire some students in West Lafayette, and one Downtown Lafayette. Contact me if you are interested.
Families of 6th-12th graders! Join us Sunday, May 6th for a Family Event! Mark you calendar! Details coming soon!
CHECK OUT OUR NEW SENIOR HIGH WEB PAGE!
Sex & Purity
It's literally never too early to start talking to kids about sexuality! We're not talking just about the "birds and the bees" either. To help kids build a God-honoring, healthy sexuality, there is a wide spectrum of topics to cover that go way beyond body parts and the mechanics of sex, such as God's design for sexuality, sexual purity, sexual morals and values, and resisting pressure from an overly sexualized culture.
Have you already had "the talk" with your teenager? Good for you. Now, it's time to pick up the conversation again. Then, talk about it some more. Why? Researchers have found that parents who have ongoing dialogue with kids about sex are more effective at delaying their sexual activity and avoiding at-risk sexual behaviors than one talk. Kids change over time. Their sexual curiosity deepens and new questions emerge. The temptations to experiment sexually grow. So, "the talk" you had several years ago with your 14-year-old just won't suffice. Now is the time to keep the conversation going!
Did You Know? Adolescents engage in less sexual activity if their fathers talk to them about sexual matters. (Pediatrics, November 2012.)
Did You Know? Sexting -- the sending of semi-nude or nude photos by smartphone -- has become the new "first base" in teen's sexual behavior. It is now considered the new norm among adolescents and most often precedes sexual activity, and serves as a gateway to increased sexual behaviors. (Pediatrics, November 2014.)
Did You Know? Too often discussions about sex between parents and teens happen after teens become sexually active. Researchers found that more than 40% of adolescents had experienced sexual intercourse before talking about sex with their parents. (Pediatrics, December 2009.)
Did You Know? Nationwide, 46.8% of high school students have had sexual intercourse. The breakdown by grade are as follows:
- 9th graders: 30%
- 10th graders: 41.4%
- 11th graders: 54.1%
- 12th graders: 64.1%
(U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance -- United States, 2013, June, 2014.)