Howdy, everybody. Hope you're doing
good. Good news...one more short week of Finals and you'll be done with
school until January!
Christmas Break is a good time to
breathe. Do your best to enjoy the time away from school, from friends,
and from life's "noise." Focus not on how "bored" you
are, but rather on the opportunity to be still for a bit. Read something,
work around your house (your parents can give you ideas), re-arrange your room,
draw or paint something...but maintain a good attitude and enjoy where you are
in the moment. We have to…because it will pass quickly and we'll soon be
knee-deep in the Spring Semester.
My prayer for you all is that you hear
and see something special from God during this time; maybe a confirmation about
where your life is going...or maybe a gentle nudge in a different
direction...or just a deeper confirmation of Him.
COMBINED (News for both HS & MS)
Rawk the Hawk!
Saturday, Jan
7 1:00-9:00pm
Rawk the Hawk (RTH) is a area concert youth event…multiple youth
ministries will be working together on this.
Some of our high-schoolers will be planning stuff for the afternoon time
(more about that later).
As a HPY student, I encourage you to (1) plan on going and (2) invite an
unchurched friend. This is a GREAT place
to help get a friend to connect to Jesus and connect to people who live for
Jesus.
RTH costs $10 and will take place at Central Baptist Church in Leander. You get a t-shirt, supper, Battle of the
Bands access (our HighPoint college band is one of the entries), large-group
activities during the afternoon, and entry to the big evening concert/speaking
event that evening.
FADE will be the featured band.
Grab some friends—get ready to make some new ones—and start the new year
out right.
Look for signups in the Lobby soon.
MIDDLE SCHOOL News
Sunday Morn Elevate Class – Christmas Schedule
Dec 11—Meet as scheduled
Dec 18—Meet as scheduled
Dec 25—No class—All in Worship Center for
single 10:30am service
Jan 1— No class—All in Worship Center for
single 10:30am service
Sunday Nite MS Groups – Christmas Schedule
Dec 11—Meet as scheduled
Dec 18—MS Christmas Party (visit www.highpointyouth.org for more info)
Dec 25 & Jan 1—Christmas Break
Jan 8—Spring Groups Kickoff
Camp Springs
Our annual MS summer camp will take place July
1-6, 2012.
Mark your calendars. This gets better every year.
HIGH SCHOOL News
HPY High-Schoolers-- Thanks for
giving so much this Christmas season. Last
Sunday, a good-sized group of you guys & gals traveled to Bastrop with a
few leaders and spent many hours helping to pull off an amazing blessing meal
to almost 250 fire victims and firefighters.
A special thanks goes to Deedra Seekatz (our “GO” girl) for setting it
up. Also, thanks for all the cans of
food you donated for Hill Country Community Ministries…and for the coats that
were donated to area schools. Is there
anything y’all can’t do for
Christ? I don’t think so.
REVERB – Christmas Schedule
Dec 14—Freshmen/Sophomores-only
at Mike & JM’s
Dec 21 & 28—Christmas Break
Jan 4—Juniors/Seniors-only
at Mike & JM’s
Jan 11—REVERB Spring Kickoff (all HS)
Summer Mission Trip to Joplin.
This summer, all HPY HS students will have
the opportunity to travel to Joplin, Missouri to help rebuild after the huge F5
tornado hit in May this past year.
This will be
a tough—but very good—trip.
It happens July 14-21, 2012. Mark your calendars.
1. Something For Your Heart
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4)
How big is the gap between what you say you believe and how you're
feeling emotionally? That's the question we're going to tackle this week as we
dig through part of Philippians 4.
Paul wrote a lot about trusting God all the way into our emotional state
of mind. Does it make sense for someone to say that the God of the universe is
also the Father who loves him/her best -- and then still feel depressed? angry? anxious? bitter? sad? giddy?
The Bible answers yes to some of those and no to others, depending on
the source of the emotion and the depth of our faith. Today's verse, for
instance, is not a command to feel shiny happy all of the time, no matter what.
God doesn't want us to paste smiles over what we really feel.
It is a
command, though, to actively tell ourselves that being in Christ -- having God
as our Father -- is always, always
cause for celebration. No matter the ups and downs of our daily lives,
exercising our joy response -- whether that involves singing and dancing or
just quietly remembering that we're loved and okay in Him -- is a rational
response to being a child of the King with a secure, prosperous, and eternal
future.
CONNECT: How would you describe your
emotional state of mind today? How does what you believe about your
relationship with God through Jesus impact you emotionally? Do you let it
change how you feel? Can you stop it from changing how you feel?
GROW: Ask God to help you to rejoice
in the Lord always. Then ask Him again.
GO: Ask five or so Christians you
know how they choose to "rejoice in the Lord always." What does that
mean to them?
Get More Daily Devotionals at PlanetWisdom.com.
2. Surf Report
The
Descendants [Christianity Today]
My
Week With Marilyn [Plugged In]
That’s it for now. See
you Sunday!
-Mike
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Horton
Youth Pastor
HighPoint Fellowship
512-731-0064
