April Update

A new month is upon us and with it comes a new set of events for Teen Impact. This has been a whirlwind year in my mind thus far! We are 3 months through and I feel like things might finally be settling down to normalcy... whatever that looks like. Thank you to those that prayed for us while we were away in Florida. We had a fantastic time. Be praying Pastor Mike and his family as it is their turn to get some much needed vacation in the Sunshine State.

- Visitation
We will have visitation on April 3rd and 17th. I'd encourage parent and teen alike to come out to visitation. This is a great time to visit those that have visited MHBC and to visit those that might need some encouragement in our own congregation.

- SNAC
We have a SNAC this month coming up this Sunday, April 6th. The SNAC will not be at the church this month, but will be hosted by the Howard family. We will pass along directions as we get them and would love it if some parents would possibly be willing to help us transport teens from the church to the Howard's and vice versa as is necessary. Also, the time for the SNAC will be a little different this month. It will run from 7:00-8:30.

- Youth Group Activity
It seems like forever since we had an activity. This one should be pretty fun. We are looking to play a game of Human Clue. You've probably played the board game version of it, so we will try to bring the game to life for the teens. We don't need anything from the parents except to drop your kids off at 6 and pick them up at 8 at night. The activity will be April 12th. If you though do want to help out at the activity, let me know and we can figure something out.

- Prayer Breakfast
We haven't had one of these in awhile either. These are special times for our teens and this prayer breakfast will be at our apartment, 20 North Star Circle, on April 26th.  We will have some yummy breakfast food, spend some great time in prayer, and go over a chapter in the book of Hebrews together.

If you have any questions about Teen Impact or would like to help us out in any way, shape, or form, let me know. You can reach me at (870) 706-7086 or e-mail me at nicholasfox521@gmail.com. Continue to pray for the teens to grow. We are seeing many of them taking steps towards being more God-focused teenagers. They need the encouragement from mom and dad as well. We love your kids and have enjoyed ministering to them and you.

I'd also encourage you to lift me up in prayer if you think of it. I'll be preaching the evening service this Sunday on John 11 and the raising of Lazarus from the dead. I'm nervous, excited, and anticipated God to do great things and I would love to see you come out.

Welcome!

In an effort to keep everyone involved up to date with the happenings of our youth group, I thought that it would be appropriate to start a blog. People like blogs nowadays, and they can be useful tools in getting information out and in sharing thoughts. Here you will see a myriad of different purposes. Each week the teens have videos that they can watch on YouTube that work as homework for them on Wednesdays. These videos will be posted here. There will be updates for the parents to help them know what is coming this month. There will be updates on what we have been studying through.

The goal as always with anything that we do in our youth group is for the teens, parents, and youth staff to grow together in a deeper and fuller knowledge of our great God. So I will update you on what you need to know for this next week, throw in a YouTube link for a video, and lastly encourage you with something that God has been encouraging me with lately.

What you need to know for the upcoming week is that this Wednesday, there is no youth group. We still want you to come out to church tough and watch the AWANA Grand Prix. The kids and parents (mostly parents) have been working hard to get their cars all set and racing ready. Come on out and see some creativity and cheer on the kids in this fun event. There will be some snacks available and a gospel message. This is a great time to encourage the parents of the AWANA kids.

Also, this Sunday and Wednesday will look a little different since Pastor Nick and Ms. Caitlin will be away on vacation in Florida. Pastor Mike will be teaching the teens on Wednesday, so they will be in good hands. Also, for Sunday school this upcoming week, the teens will join the adult Sunday school with Tom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFbyZl6IWWQ
Here is the link to this week's video for the teens to watch. There is some homework in there for you to complete so I would strongly encourage you to do so.

Lastly, I wanted to encourage you with something that God has been teaching me. I've been spending some good time in 1 Corinthians lately and have walked away encouraged by the fact that I am the temple of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, we are told that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that we have been bought with a price, therefore we are to glorify God with our bodies. Its a fairly common verse and I find it to be a great encouragement. My body is not my own. My body belongs to someone. The Corinthians really struggled with how they used their bodies. They used them for themselves by being sexual immoral. This ought not to be so for the Christian. We have been bought by God so we must glorify God with our bodies. We can't do this on our own. Praise God that we have the indwelling Holy Spirit so that we can glorify God. We have what we need to glorify God and that is awesome news!