Southland Christian Church

Here's a thought from Nathan, our Age-Level Minister:

In ministry to teenagers over the years I’ve had A LOT of conversations with parents that go like this:

   “Would you talk to my son?”

   “Sure, what about?”

   “Well he’s depressed, his grades are dropping, he’s started drinking and I think he’s sleeping with his girlfriend.”

   “Gotcha, what specifically do you want me to talk to him about?”

   “I just think he just needs someone right now.”

   “Imagine so.  Tell me about his friends.”

   “Well, he doesn’t have a lot and the ones he has aren’t good.”

   “Does he go to church with you here?”

   “Not really, he goes to his dad’s every other weekend and I used to make him go but he’d rather sleep in….”

It’s at this point my heart breaks, I get a little frustrated at the hopelessness of the situation and wish I had a magic wand that would undo all the issues related to a wandering teenager and heartbroken parent.

Obviously there is no magic wand and on my best day I’m a woefully inadequate resource for the 1,000’s of students living out the same pseudo-satisfying life.  I really wish I had the answer.  (I actually do because quite literally Jesus is THE ANSWER but at this point in a student’s life He’s not relevant.)  So my tension is to help make Jesus relevant to a kid’s life so that he/she chooses a better story than the one described above.  Here’s five ways I believe us here at church and you as parents can help make Jesus relevant:

1. Make sure Jesus is relevant to you.  For me and parents we can’t fake this because students smell a fake a mile away.
2. Make sure your teens have good influences.  You can and should be consistent in knowing who your kids are hanging out with. 
3. “He who walks with the wise grows wise but the companion of fools suffers harm,” is as true a statement today as it was the few thousand years ago it was written.  You need to KNOW your kids friends and make tough calls when they are the wrong friends.
4. Dial in the influence of a trusted adult.  Here at Southland we call these people Life Group leaders.  For info on how to serve with us, visit the blog.
5. Make sure you have time for your teens.  A dad I had a conversation (similar to the one described above) with two weeks ago decided taking his son to a tennis tournament this week is more important than his success at work so they are hanging out together in a subtle effort to be relevant in his son’s life again so he can be better at pointing his son to Jesus.

If your son or daughter is in a tough place we’d love to process and pray with you about it.  To let us know what’s going on, just shoot us an email or call.

A group of 23 Middle School students, some parents, and leaders took a mission trip to Jamaica in July. This trip was meant to broaden our view of who God’s people are and how we can serve them as the church. Our meetings leading up to the trip started with just getting to know each other and learning about Jamaica’s people and culture. Then we started planning and practicing our VBS program.  The VBS would last 3 days and we would do a skit, rec games, and small groups each day. Our week was laid out for us. Monday we would get to walk around the nearby towns and hand out invitations to the VBS. Tuesday through Thursday we would do construction during the day and then have the VBS in the afternoon. We had spent time talking about our fears and expectations of going to Jamaica. We knew the weather would be hot and we would get to love on a lot of kids! Everything else was up to God.

Expectations, fears, and planning were blown away! God knew what we were to do and experience. All we really had to do was show up and be available. This trip was not about us going to Jamaica to show people who God is. This trip was about God revealing to us that we are all chasing after the same things. We all want to know and feel the love of God. We are all battling against the same enemy who wants to pull us away from God. We are just in different battle zones. Jamaica’s battle zone is poverty. United States battle zone is materialism.  The people we met taught us what it meant to trust and rely on God… what true joy and happiness looks like. Hopefully we showed them that there is a group of 23 people who love and pray for them thousands of miles away that serve the same God.

I would like to share a story with you. One is from a  parent and the other is from a student.

Every night we would get together as a team and have some worship time and a short devo. Then we would talk about how we saw God that day. It was amazing how God was moving inside of each person on this team. Each day was a new experience of God opening our eyes to something. Thursday night was our last night to have this worship time. Friday we would have a fun day at a place called Dunns River Falls. That night we were in a very vulnerable place. We were all physically exhausted and spiritually full. One of the parents came up and said she would like to be baptized. She explained that she was baptized when she was 8yrs old. She went through a class at Southland about baptism and thought she understood. After being in Jamaica she has a new understanding of who God really is in her life and she wanted to dedicate her life to living for Him! Here is what she had to say about this experience:

“My husband and mom were both very excited. I love telling everyone about our trip and awesome experience.  It was life changing... boy do I look at things differently.  Now I want my relationship with God to grow more and more and look forward to it!  I want to see actions from myself and less words about doing it.  I want to serve everyone around me!!!”

What a great story.

Thanks for reading,

Caroline

High School ministry rocked the Mud Bowl last weekend. It was awesome. That's all there is to say. If you think you missed out (which is a virtual certainty if you're high school student), you should come be a part of what we do. It's a blast.

Not "brats," like "Hey you brats, get off of my lawn!"

It's like a bratwurst. As in, "Hey middle school kids, are you coming to the Lift cookout for burgers and brats?"

Well, if you are a middle school kid, you should totally come. If you know any middle school students, let them know about our festival of grilled meats. It's this Friday, July 23. Call us if you have questions.

There are literally thousands of children and students in our church that thrive off of the spiritual, relational and emotional development they get at Southland. The investment it takes to love and care for our youth doesn't just happen on it's own. It takes hundreds of volunteers to come in every week and be servant leaders to them.

If you've ever had an interest in working with children or students, there's no time like the present to get involved. There are places to serve from the nursery all the way up to hanging out with high school seniors.

• Contact Laura for more information on how to get involved in the Nursery.
• Contact Wende for more information on how to get involved in Children's Ministry.
• Contact Mallory for more information on how to get involved in Student Ministry.

If you've never had an interest, you should watch this video from Reggie Joiner, and then you'll know for sure if you have an interest or not.

We've got a few middle school students and their families heading to Jamaica this week.  We know when students and families serve together...GREAT things happen!

High School students are at CIY this week. It's an entire week devoted to hanging out with each other and focusing on God.  Don't forget to pray for these students as they will experience God in some life changing ways which will have great impact.

Summer sports leagues are getting ready to kick-off. Actually, there won't be a literal kick-off because the two sports are softball and sand volleyball, neither of which involve kicking. Technically it's a legal play to kick in sand volleyball, but you can't serve with a kick, so kick-off is still an irrelevant term.

So anyways, summer sports are getting ready to start. For sand volleyball there is a competitive league and a recreation league, and for softball there is a men's league and a co-ed league. To play in any of the leagues you'll need to sign up below. There is also a need for captains within each league. You can sign up for that below, too.

Sand Volleyball Captains

If you were a captain in the Spring League you still need to register for the Summer Sand League but do not have to retake the training classes. Training for captains will happen sometime between May 17—June 6. Requirements to be a captain are available in this pdf. Register here before May 17.

Sand Volleyball Recreation League

The recreation league will play on Monday nights, June 14—August 9. Cost is $20 per player, $27 if you'd like to order a shirt. No late registrations will be accepted. Register here between May 17 and June 6. Note: This registration form erroneously has a drop down menu to select the league you want to register for. That field is no longer applicable, and this form is only registering for the Sand Volleyball Monday night recreation league.

Sand Volleyball Competitive League

The competitive league will play on Tuesday nights, June 15—August 10. Cost is $20 per player, $27 if you'd like to order a shirt. No late registrations will be accepted. Register here between May 17 and June 6.

Softball Captains

Training for captains will happen sometime between May 17—June 6. Requirements to be a captain are available in this pdf. Register here between May 16 and May 30.

Softball Men's League

The men's league will play on Monday nights, June 28—August 9. Cost is $30 per player. No late registrations will be accepted. Register here between May 31 and June 18.

Softball Co-ed League

The recreation league will play on Friday nights, June 25—August 6. Cost is $30 per player. No late registrations will be accepted. Register here between May 31 and June 18.

Soccer Coaches Needed

We may have spoken too soon about no kick-offs. The local outreach team needs soccer coaches for a neighborhood outreach in Lexington. You'd be a coach, so you might not be kicking all that much, but rather helping others learn how to kick, so our no kick-offs debate earlier still may hold true. If you're interested in showing some neighborhood kids they matter to Jesus through sports whether you're kicking or not kicking, contact Jeff Story.

Last year ONE80 high school ministry had it's first ever Mud Bowl. It's really not any more complicated than it sounds - we made a big pit of mud, rounded up all the friends we could find, and ran around playing games in the aforementioned mud.

And we're doing it again. Saturday May 15 from 1-3pm Saturday July 17 from 1-3pm in the back of our Harrodsburg Road property (by the baseball fields) we're creating a pit of mud. Anyone in high school should be there, and bring all their friends.

Some parents may not want their students covered in mud - just tell them it's for church, and to build relationships with people so they'll meet the real Jesus. Also, washing machines were invented for a reason!

If you have questions, just contact Mallory.

Update: This is going to sound very silly, but it’s too muddy to have the Mud Bowl Saturday, May 15th. Long story short - to get the equipment in to prepare the perfect mud pit, we have to go through the imperfect mud with trucks, which would no-doubt become stuck, and create some serious issues. We'll let you know when the Mud Bowl is rescheduled.

Update 2: A new date of July 17 has been set. You can see it on the calendar here.

We like to celebrate "wins" around here and follow them up with a challenge of "if". Here's a win from the High School Ministry. It comes in the form of an email to one of our Student Ministries pastors.

Bryce,

Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve within the high school ministries this year!! It has been the biggest blessing from God and something that I needed so much...I think my girls bless me more then I do them. I love serving the students, building relationships, loving on them and coming to home group every week....it is one of the highlights of my week!! Thank you to you, the high school ministries staff and Southland for appreciating me and the leaders and letting us know. Me and my family have served within the church our entire lives and never once have I been thanked like this. For you to genuinely go out of your way to make sure we all know that we are doing a good job and what we are doing is making a difference is HUGE!! You just have no clue. I do not do this by any means to get told thanks, but coming from giving and giving of my time in the church and it becoming something I am "expected", "should"., "need" to do or if I am not giving all my free time to the church then I am doing something wrong and becoming burnt out or dreading having to "serve in the church", this is such a refreshing difference! This is how it should be and another reason Southland and its staff continue to amaze me by their love for people and God and how prevalent it is in the small things.....like saying thank you. It is people like you, Jon Weece, Kaleb and all the other staff I have come to know/look up to that is healing my heart from past damage from "the church". I thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to serve and be a part of something great that is not about me or the people who work, but about God and doing his will and what he has called each and everyone of us to do. I am extremely grateful!!! I look forward to being involved with the high school ministries this summer and in the years to come!!!

I love you guys and hope you and the staff have a fantastic rest of the week!!!!

God bless,
Heather 

How awesome is this? Now ask yourself the big "if" question. What if you decided to give student ministries a try? What if you just started giving a little of your time every week for the God and the community? What if we all did? That's quite a challenge. If you've got your own "Win and If" story, be sure to let us know.

Here's a letter from Michelle, our Director of Student Ministries, about spending the day serving with middle school students.

The Day of Service was an awesome day!  We were part of the team that went to Pine Meadows nursing home.  I along with my two children, were teamed up with about 8 to 10 students and a few parents/leaders. We walked in and were welcomed by smilingfaces.  We sang to some, played bingo with others, and stopped by many rooms to greet the residents.  

One resident in particular caught our eye.  Her name was Ms. Susie.  She shared with us great words of wisdom and the students eyes were locked in and engaged.  She told them to follow their dreams .  She told them that she had a dream to be a missionary, but her family could not support her financially, so she never got to fulfill her dream.
 
Little did she know, that she was on “mission” sharing words of wisdom to young, impressionable students.  We prayed with her and thanked her for allowing the Lord to use her that day.  She said, “Really…”you think so”…we said, “We know so.”
 
As I got in the car with my kids to go home, I said to them, “Guys, I am really proud of the way you let the love of Jesus shine through you today.”  My son said, “We did?”  I said, “Yes.”  He said, “Wow…it’s that easy?” I said, “Yes.”
 
When we arrived back on campus to give the MS students a time to share and reflect on the day, many students that met Ms.Susie, had amazing things to say about their encounter with her that day.

Student ministries is taking any middle schooler who has the guts to go to Know Sweat. Know Sweat is a week-long experience that helps students discover that we can make a difference in the lives of others through service. Students are challenged to see things through God’s eyes and to look for ways that they can share their faith through action. This trip is a great way for students to see the needs that exist not just in the city where they served but back home as well.

All the details about Know Sweat are available here.

High School Ministry recently took a trip to Jamaica. They stayed with Dennis and Mary Herko, a family from Southland, that has lived in Kingston for 20+ years. For many of our students it was the first time they had ever flown – and yes – also the first time they had visited a third world country like Jamaica. The perception, state-side, is probably that Jamaica is a dream place to live... Cool accents, nice weather, tons of cool little shops, and of course the gorgeous beaches. The reality is that poverty has struck most of the country. For 8 days, we took 15 girls and 1 guy to put on a VBS for 400 Jamaican children and work some construction - mixing concrete mostly. You can imagine 15 high school girls mixing concrete... And a lot of it... And yes... It was funny.

Hard work aside, our student’s eyes were opened to the needs of human beings just like they know here. It’s hard to look at a teenager with no clean water, no shoes and no food and not place yourself, or a friend, in their position. Humbling and exposing are the two words that come to mind when I think back to our experience. Humbling... We live in a land of abundance. The thought of going without water for a couple days will most likely never haunt us in Lexington, working exhausting labor jobs [like masonry] and making two dollars a day isn’t a problem here. Going a few days without basic food needs isn’t as typical here as it is there. For our students, being amongst people who live on what they need – literally – was extremely humbling. What we, and our students, classify as “need” are rarely needs. The conviction of living far above our “needs” redefined what our students standard of living should be.

This trip exposed a lot of passions that were hidden in our students' hearts. The Spirit convicted and gave new insights to what our group should and needs to be concerned with here at home. We had some girls say that this trip affirmed their desire to pursue missions with their life, other students realized that Lexington is to be there mission field. “There are people who live in our backyards with needs – why aren’t we doing something about it?” These questions quickly turned into empowering our students to take on their schools and their neighborhoods. Being there brought to light our students' identities and passions that are hidden in the Father.

Because of this trip – we have students who are rallying people in their schools to feed the poor and redeem the oppressed. We have students who now serve their parents with a more joyful attitude. We have girls who now refuse to wear make-up because this life isn’t about how they look or what they can have. We have students who are now sharing the Gospel with more boldness than ever. The Holy Spirit used this trip to teach our students that He is raising up a generation of young people who are going to do something for the Kingdom. We can’t just sit on the sideline anymore. The Lord has showed us, He has humbled us, He has exposed us and now He is leading us to be Kingdom workers no matter where we live or what circumstances we’re in.

For about a year now, Southland's High School Ministry has been gathering students in homes all over Lexington and Nicholasville.  We've seen up to 200 students come together with up to 50 leaders in the 7 houses throughout the week.  Those numbers add up to a lot of life change.  So, if you've been curious, we wanted to show you what these Home Groups looked like.  And if you have questions or want to get involved, just contact Mallory.

Hollywood is smart. Really smart. They've picked up on something that the church has yet to notice. 

The power of the Middle Schoolers, tweens, teenyboppers,..whatever you call them, they've got power they don't even know they posses.

Think about it. It's Middle Schoolers who've rocketed Miley Cyrus to international pop stardom, gave us the multi-million dollar High School Musical trilogy, presented Taylor Swift with a Grammy, single-handledly made Nick Jonas' split from the Jonas Brothers a top ten search on Google, and bought up every last pair of skinny jeans and Vans for when their moms drop them off at the skate park on Saturday. 

Hollywood knows that these kids are impressionable, they're looking for someone to tell them what's cool, what's meaningful, what they should be doing. 

Brad Bramer, Middle School Experience Leader: "[Middle Schoolers] are unpredictable, they are discovering who they are. They are inconsistent, sometimes they are all over the place and sometimes they are focused. It's the most teachable and influential age." 

Brad thinks that Middle School students have a place in the "body" of Christ, but it's not necessarily the one they should have: "I call them the armpit of the church. No one expects anything out of them. I expect them to reflect Christ's actions. I expect [adults in the church] to pour into them, to pour into the most influential part of someone's life, not treat them like damage control." 

This is where Brad and countless other Middle School leaders from Southland and several other Lexington churches are stepping in. Enter the GLU Conference. 

"Our students don't always have a concept of the what the Church, with a capital "C," really is. They've got friends who go to different churches, they drive around and see churches all over Lexington, some of them even go to two or three different churches in a week. Our goal is to unite the church, city-wide, to unite our Middle School students." 

The goal of GLU is to teach Middle Schoolers to be recognizable Christ-followers in their three main mission fields: in the home, with friends, and at school. "Those places are their mission fields and if these students are reflecting Christ [in these places] families would be more healthy, schools would a place of love and healing, not judgement and insecurity. And we want them to do it together; there is strength in numbers. We want them to work together, from all churches in Lexington, to see the bigger picture of the mission is and how they fit into it." 

The GLU conference is stealing a page from Hollywood's book and catching the crowds on their way to watch the DIsney channel. "If we can get Middle School students to start caring about the gospel in the same way, or more than, they care about pop-culture, then Middle Schoolers could lead the church. They could teach us how to be real, not forced or fake. They can make a huge impact in their three mission fields and in the church." 

So, unplug their ipod, wash them up, swing through McDonalds for some pre-conference fuel, give them 10 bucks for the registration fee and bring your Middle Schooler to the GLU Conference, March 5-6, at Southland. We can't promise miracles. Their pants might still  be a little low, they still won't want to take a shower, and they may still sneak out with way too much eyeliner on but they'll come back with a few new friends, a greater understanding of their identity in Christ, and the strength to stand together, no matter where they sit on Sunday. 

GLU from Southland Christian Church on Vimeo.