This month, we have been going through the Rebel lesson series for our MSM Sunday Morning Bible Study, and your student is learning about the importance of obedience and what not to do when God calls you through studying the story of Jonah.
We realize that you, as parents, are the primary faith influencers in your child’s life. The best disciple making takes place when students’ parents take the lead. Here are some conversation starters to help you talk with your child about what they’re learning:
What’s something that stood out to you or surprised you from this lesson series on Jonah?
What’s an application you’ve made and how is it going?
In what areas of your life is it hardest to be obedient to God? How can you grow in that?
I recall meeting Henry Loftin for the first time at Pacesetters Camp in High School. Some family friends invited me to come to camp, and I found myself with a close family of college students in a ministry called Glowing Heart. It was not by chance that God led me to Pacesetters Camp at Dallas Baptist University my Junior Summer in High School. I had many thoughts about my life in Christ, but for some reason Pacesetters was like the fertilizer to the seeds of passion God had been placing in my heart. I found a camp experience that challenged me and stretched me to not only talk about Jesus, but take action for Jesus. That first night, I remember Henry speaking to our group and challenging us to get our relationship right with Jesus at the front end of camp, so that Jesus could work in us for the rest of the week. I remember that God impressed on me His compassion for the lost and the lowly so much, that I was literally WRECKED for Him. What God had been planting in me had risen up as a Passion to follow Christ. From that point forward, that Passion turned to many steps of action at my church. I saw the vision for my life. I began to understand that God could use me to help the lost and the broken where I lived. He had begun framing me to become a Servant Leader.
DBU Memorial Day Celebration
Little did I know that the Lord had a plan for me to join Glowing Heart Ministries in 1998. Henry became more than a camp director or speaker to me. He invited me and everyone on the team to be his family. That family is one that has experienced many days of traveling from church to church, leading to serve as Christ served, love with all our hearts, and experience the life-changing power of the Name of Jesus across the ends of the Earth.
Israel Trip 2001
Not only that, but Laura and I met at DBU and spent many days learning the same ministry through Glowing Heart Ministries. Henry counseled Laura during our “famous break up.” We worked hard to not let our “love life” interfere with the ministry we were doing. Henry taught us to be above reproach and serve others in all that we did. HOWEVER, when the stuff dropped and Laura and I had that time of separation, Henry said something to the sort of, “Next time, give me a heads up when you are about to do something like this.” Henry was someone safe that Laura could run to in a time of trouble. That is why, when we did realize we were meant to spend the rest of our lives together, we had no doubt that Henry would be the one to officiate our marriage. That was right here in New Braunfels, Tx, by the way! We brought the whole Glowing Heart team to do the music, many were bridesmaids and groomsmen, and we knew Henry would be the right person to share the Gospel to our friends and family attending our Holy Matrimony happening at First Baptist Church that hot day of August 3, 2002.
August 3, 2002
I have personally been thankful to the Lord that my place as the Middle School Pastor at Oakwood has given me the ability to continue to share that same legacy Henry shared with me. The blessing is the legacy of Christ passed down from generation to generation. As we remember Henry’s life, we cannot move far from the Good News of Jesus Christ. That is because he was a remarkable example of what Jesus looks like in today’s time. Here are some clips we had from Middle School Pacesetters Camp this past Summer. #henryloftinlegacy
What is OSM NIGHT? OSM NIGHT is a large group WEDNESDAY NIGHT event geared for students to invest and invite a friend. The Oakwood Students Ministry combines both Middle School and High School for a night geared toward sharing the Gospel, Worshipping in Unity, and celebrating Jesus as one BIG OSM FAMILY. We usually kick off Back to School, kick off Summer, kick off Believe Weekend, with OSM Nights.
MIDDLE SCHOOL & HIGH SCHOOL 5:30 Hangout 6PM Pizza 6:30 Opening Game OSM Worship Band WHO’S YOUR 1 CHALLENGE ENDING SONG
When we find the goodness and the sweetness of Shipley Do-Nuts, we have a choice to make. We can keep the goodness to ourselves, or, perhaps, we might love those tasty treats so much, that we want to share the goodness with others.
HOW MANY TIMES DO WE THINK THE OPPOSITE WAY ABOUT THE SWEETNESS OF LIVING FOR JESUS?
The truth of the matter is that living the life for JESUS is GOOD NEWS. This is something that we don’t want to keep for ourselves. We’ve got to give it away.
HOW, DO YOU ASK?
WE SHOW THE LOVE OF JESUS
The essence of who God is… IS LOVE! Read what 1 John has to say about it:
1 John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
The ultimate reality is that GOD IS LOVE. The self-sacrificing love that is displayed in Jesus Christ is something that no human being can offer without the influence of a personal relationship with Him.
In fact, this LOVE can be the single most important evidence of GOD.
1 John 4:9-10
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:11-13
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
The sweetness of following JESUS is that HE LOVED US first, and we get to take part in showing that LOVE to others. The beauty of God’s amazing plan is that when we do SHOW THE LOVE OF JESUS, we put GOD on display. That love can even be “perfected in us.”
As we work to connect the amazing SHIPLEY DO-NUT to Spiritual steps in the MSM, we take the second step to think through and realize that this one is a process.
Think about all the brain changes, hormone changes, brace-face changes, school/educational changes, on top of all the cultural and world-wide changes that hover over us on a daily basis. Just the body alone is a growth process and seems to have intentionality within it.
Much like a GOURMET RECIPE for a SHIPLEY DO-NUT, God has a certain WAY of moving in our lives and a PATH for GROWTH spiritually.
1 John Chapter 2 speaks to those who keep HIS WORD as those who find the perfection of GOD’S LOVE. If we live in HIM and walk as JESUS walked, we begin the process of growth.
THIS RECIPE comes with GOD’S WORD or HIS TRUTH. WE GROW WHEN WE KNOW GOD’S TRUTH. In fact, John goes on to say that the “anointing” as reference to the Holy Spirit is what teaches us THE TRUTH.
The Oakwood Student Ministry has taken the Do-Nut theme to the NEXT LEVEL!!!First Step – KNOW
Step 1 – KNOW
We started off this Promotion Sunday in the Middle School Ministry (MSM) casting vision in a creative way for our three main steps we take in Middle School.
Here you go – KNOW, GROW, SHOW.
Yea, it’s simple, but I believe these are thoughts we need to have as we walk toward making Jesus #1 in our lives.
1 John 5:11-13 Speaks to one aspect of the KNOW step…
“And this is the testimony, that
thatGod gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever has the Son has life;
whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.”
Just like the void of a Do-Nut, we have a GOD-Sized Hole in our hearts that can only be filled with EternalLife. According to 1 John, it is super simple. JESUS fills that HOLE with ETERNAL LIFE!!!! What I enjoy about John is that he decided to write 1John so that everyone can truly KNOW how to have ETERNAL LIFE.
Do YOU KNOW that you have ETERNAL LIFE?
Great, that is the first step to KNOW, GROW, SHOW.
By the way, we have to give a shout out to Theresa at the Shipley Do-Nut shop on Loop 337. She totally gave us the run of the place and allowed us to take clips to show on Sunday Mornings for this series. I even found myself taking an “impromptu” order for two Kolaches at the window!!!
As we hit the MID-SUMMER mark, we stand with one foot in the laid back, vacation mode, and another foot leaning toward the start-up mode for the new school year. School practices of various kinds begin, sales for school supplies remind us that new times are coming (even if we try REALLY HARD to put that thought off). As I look forward to meeting new faces that enter into the Oakwood Student Ministry for the first time as well as seeing everyone back home after trips and adventures of the Summer, I come back to something that is BASIC, yet easy to look over.
WISDOM IS FROM GOD.
We seem to run to Google or ask Siri what time the game is, how the weather might be, or how to spell that SAT word that we keep forgetting. We tune into the 24 hour news and gain insight on world happenings and wonder how we can live our lives in reaction to the circumstances around us. We choose to find what works best for our kids and ourselves when it comes to education. That might be working on study habits, worrying over getting a certain teacher that seems to be a great match for our kid, or choosing to take a whole new adventure of learning (didn’t we do that during the shut down?). The point I am all too easily revealing is that we have so much information at our disposal, that we may forget the need for the most simple ASK.
ASK GOD FOR WISDOM.
With all the information at our fingertips, we still find ourselves stepping in holes, repeating mistakes or even offenses, and wonder how such an educated mind of a human being that we are can slip down the slippery slope of life as fast as we can. Again, WISDOM is from GOD and the key is, that we must take time in our daily comings and goings to ASK FOR IT. Maybe it takes some time for you and me to realize that WE LACK WISDOM. Quite possibly, those repeated circles you are running in remind you of something. ALL OF US LACK WISDOM. WHY? WISDOM IS FROM GOD.
GOD GIVES WISDOM GENEROUSLY.
God is no device that we must subscribe to. He is not a podcast to listen to. He is not a news anchor on location somewhere, waiting for the next chaotic storm. He is the Maker of Heaven and Earth, and He contains this stuff called WISDOM. Wait a minute? He holds it, but does not desire to keep it! He GENEROUSLY GIVES without the added disapproval for asking. He is ready and willing to pour out WISDOM on YOU if you just ASK.
Of all the things this world has to offer, and you have sought after, HAVE YOU ASKED FOR WISDOM?
No matter how much society changes, the container of WISDOM is still GOD. He helps us know what to do with the overload of information and chaos we consume on a daily basis. The simple fact is IF YOU NEED WISDOM, JUST ASK.
Our Middle School Inside Out Sunday AM series will focus on what Christlike character is, why it’s needed, and how to have it. Each lesson gives your student the opportunity to study Scripture and apply it to their own life. Below are the passages we are studying and the main takeaway from each lesson. We also have a key verse for each week.
Week1 – July 11 – Good Fruit
Galatians 5:22–26
THE TAKEAWAY When the Holy Spirit takes root, Christlike character grows in our lives.
Week 2 – July 18 – Be Wise
James 1:2–8
THE TAKEAWAY To be truly wise, you need to be on board with what God wants to do with your life.
Week 3 – July 25 – Thankful
Psalm 107:1–9
THE TAKEAWAY Christ-followers are thankful for the way God satisfies our needs.
Week 4 – Aug 1 – New Clothes, New Me
Colossians 3:1–17
THE TAKEAWAY God’s work on our insides should show change on our outsides.
Parent Resources 