Middle School
Welcome

It’s almost that time of year…Summer! I know that your students are stoked about getting out for the summer. I also know that as a parent, summer is a mixed-blessing. On the one hand you don’t have the “school schedule” that requires early mornings, late nights, and school activities. On the other hand, your kids will be home all…the…time…now! What’s a parent to do?!? I can help you out with that! (At least for a week.)

June 18th through the 22nd will be the MSM’s first ever summer camp! We’re going to Carson Newman University in TN for Centrifuge! Let me assure you…you don’t want your student to miss out on this! It’s only $150, AND, it gets them out of the house for a week!

Due to the threat of severe weather, the lock-in scheduled for tonight has been cancelled. We will definitely re-schedule for a later date.

Friday, March 2nd at 8:oopm. That’s when you’ll want to bring your middle schooler  up to the church for our 1st annual lock-in. Words like amazing, incredible, and epic pop into my head when I think about this night. But all those things aren’t possible without you! We need your help to make this night all those things and more! Here’s what we need:

• Help setting up/cleaning up food when we break to eat
• Chaperones to go with us to our off-campus activity
• Chaperones for the overnight stay here at the church
• Assistance in setting up/breaking down games
• Assistance in monitoring/facilitating games
• Adults who want to hang out and invest in the lives of these students

Please contact me (823-0022 ext. 122) or Sarah Akins (823-0022 ext. 106) if you are able to help in any of these areas.

Thanks so much!

Below is a story related to our new Wednesday Night Series. I am full of anticipation and expectation for what God has in store over the next three weeks!

COLLISION STORIES
By Tim Walker

I’m not the most coordinated person in the world. I can trip over my own two feet just as easily as I can trip over an object in my path. There’s a good reason for it. I have “athletically challenged syndrome.” It’s a real disease. Okay, maybe not yet. But if we can get enough people to petition without injuring themselves with pencils, paper cuts, etc., we’ll get organized.

So, needless to say, I know a thing or two about collision.

I’m the guy who stood in right field, praying the ball wouldn’t collide with my head.

I’m the guy who jumped off the bus at a band competition, thinking I could re-enact the 1980s “Oh What a Feeling”/Toyota commercial jump only to come crashing on the pavement, bloodying my knee and tearing my pants.

I’m the guy who had a head-on collision with my brother on a motorcycle trail. We both swerved. I just swerved the wrong direction.

It’s a gift, I know.

And while I’m not so great at moving around (my wife has a strict “please don’t do that” regarding my dancing), I am very grateful for some of the collisions I’ve had in my life.

Like the person who hit the bumper of my car when I was a newly licensed driver. Someone at a traffic light thought the light had changed and hit the gas, giving my car a bump. That moment taught me to allow space at the stoplight and to make sure I knew what was going on around me.

But I’ve also had some collisions in my life that have had a great impact on me personally as well.

Like my Sunday school teacher in high school, Phil Harley. He impacted my life in a huge way. He made a misfit, uncoordinated kid feel like he was a wanted part of the world. It’s why I looked forward to church and loved being around Phil and his family.

Or the time when I began to see the themes in my Lit class play out in the Bible, and when I began to see that all of life was a mere reflection of the story that unfolds in the Bible.

Or the time when I was driving on the Interstate, pouring my broken heart out to God and He brought both comfort and joy.

Or the time I met someone from another denomination who really loved God and I realized that my particular church didn’t have a monopoly on Him.

There are many other collision stories, moments when God’s truth collided with me, God’s people crashed into me, God Himself showed up in my life in ways that I never saw coming—much like a baseball soaring in the air or the tree that suddenly jumped into my path.

What about you?

What are the moments when God crashed into you?

What about the moments when His truth showed up somewhere you didn’t expect and He showed you something about who He is? Was it in the face of one of your children, your spouse or a total stranger? Was it in a sunset or in a book or a movie?

Take some time today to think about the ways God has collided with you, and you with Him. And how not only you collided, but you were changed.

Then do one more thing for me . . . tell your teen. Let your son or daughter hear about the collision from your own lips, let him or her into your story and get a glimpse of your collision stories.

And when he or she hears your stories about a God who collides with us, changes us, maybe they’ll be intentional about colliding with God as well.

© 2010 Orange. All rights reserved.

Get connected to a wider community of parents at www.orangeparents.org.

We spent this past holiday weekend in the mountains of Pigeon Forge, TN. We joined about ten thousand of our closest friends at the Scott Dawson Conference there, and let me tell you, it was really a great conference experience for us. Rush of Fools led worship (they were incredible!), and David Nasser, Scott Dawson, and Ergun Caner (if you’ve never heard him before, you need to look him up) led our times in the Word. The theme for the weekend was “Emerge and Engage,” and really challenged the students to emerge from the shadows of this world and engage the culture in which they live with the gospel of Jesus Christ. As incredible as the worship and speakers were, there was a sense of fellowship that permeated the group that felt almost tangible. The times hanging out together on the bus, in restaurants and at the mall, ice skating, goofing off at the indoor water park, and chilling at the hotel provided some of the best memories for me from this weekend.

I would encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to build on your relationship with Jesus, as well as build relationships with other youth in our group and community.

We had a great time last night! We got to play a fun game, see the Christmas Party video, and hear about not only listening to God’s voice in our lives but also about being God’s voice as He speaks into other people’s lives through us. I can’t wait to hear about what God is doing in our students’ lives as they embrace what God has in store for them this new year!

One great opportunity coming up for us to listen for God’s voice in our lives is the Winter Retreat. While it’s only a couple of weeks away, there is still time to sign up for it. I realized after talking with some of the middle schoolers that there is some confusion over what exactly the winter retreat is.  I’m going to try to nutshell it here, but for more information, go to strengthtostand.com.

Imagine several hundred students in a conference center…being led in worship by some of the best worship leaders around…praising the name of Jesus in song…listening to some of the most gifted communicators of today teach about living out the Great Commission by engaging the people around you with the gospel of Jesus Christ…while enjoying some of the best fellowship with their friends and youth leaders in the picturesque setting of the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area of Tennessee…and you have the winter retreat. This retreat is open for both high school and middle school students. (Of course, the middle school students won’t have to share a room with the high school students). The cost is $175, and we’ll be leaving from the church on Saturday, January 14th at 8 AM.

Please contact me if you have any questions, but definitely check out strengthtostand.com for more information.

Welcome to 2012! While I won’t go into all of the details now, rest assured that the date on the calendar is not the only thing changing around here. These are exciting times to be around the MSM. The new page is up on the website; this blog is up and rolling; there have been new faces involved in the ministry…a lot has been going on!

We will begin a new series next Wednesday night called “Rhythm” that you won’t want to miss. Parents–you can check the website (www.lakesidebaptist.com) under the ministries tab to find the new middle school page where there will be a link to that week’s lesson. These “Parents’ Cues” are designed to encourage conversation between you and your student about what they’re hearing here at church. The upcoming Sunday School lessons are also highlighted there with the same intent.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us in 2012!

Well, I’ve taken the plunge! The blogosphere has claimed yet another victim…me. While I have no illusion of grandeur with this blog, I do hope that you will check back here often–especially if you have a child in our MSM here at Lakeside. I hope that this will serve to communicate the most up-to-date information to you. I’ll be posting upcoming events and activities; details about those events and activities; upcoming teaching series; service and mission opportunities; and a whole host of other things you’ll want to know. Along the way, I’ll probably share an opinion or observation too.

So, feel free to comment as you wish. All comments are moderated for your and mine protection, but know that every single one will be read and responded to.

Thanks so much!

Anthony

I’m currently working on the MSM page of lakesidebaptist.com. Hopefully it’ll be up and running in the next couple of days.