Young Adult Ministry

Excuse the long break in updates, but a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 

This year, the Young Adult Ministry has much to be thankful for, especially following our annual retreat! Here’s the group photo:

For the rest of the photos, go here. If you have any photos from the retreat, please e-mail them to HoJin!

Enjoy time with family, friends, and acquaintances - remembering that the Lord is the provider of all that we have and all that we experience, chiefly through Jesus Christ!

For some mid-week laughs. Enjoy!

cstonecmj:

THANK YOU

for all your donations to the Blackstone Pledge drive over the summer! We collected cratefuls of school supplies and delivered them to Blackstone a couple weeks ago. The teachers were ecstatic, and they’ll be including this in their October newsletter to all the families!

Your generosity and love was a huge blessing to our staff, the teachers at Blackstone and the students that will be enjoying them! Please continue to keep them in your prayers as we start sending in volunteers this week!

cstonecmj:

Excerpt(s):

According to Luther, the purpose of every vocation is to love and serve one’s neighbor… For Luther, vocation was far more than economic activity, including also our callings in our families, the church, and the culture as a whole. Each of these vocations calls us to particular neighbors whom we are to love and serve.

Furthermore, God himself, in his providential care for his whole creation, is working through our human vocations. God gives us our daily bread by means of the farmer, the miller, and the baker. He protects us by means of lawful magistrates. He creates and cares for new human beings by means of fathers and mothers. He proclaims his Word and administers his sacraments by means of pastors. He creates beauty by means of artists and musicians.

To use Aristotelian terms, loving one’s neighbor means to treat other human beings, particularly those we meet in our vocations, as intrinsic, not instrumental goods; that is, we see them as being valuable in themselves, and not just for how we can use them. 

What: FRIDAY NIGHT FELLOWSHIP (FNF)

When: 7:30pm this Friday, October 12th

Where: BFIT Auditorium

As mentioned earlier, our theme for Fall FNF gatherings will be “How The Gospel Changes Everything”. This Friday, we will look into how the Gospel changes the way we use our resources (namely, our time and money).

Come out for a time of worship, learning, testimony, and fellowship!

Note: All of the Friday Night Fellowship gathering dates are in the “FNF” link above!

Not all of us have Columbus Day off today, but here’s a reflection on rest from Randy Alcorn (especially in light of our recent sermon on remembering the Sabbath):

When God created the world, he rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). That’s the basis for the biblical Sabbath, when all people and animals rested (Exodus 20:9-11). God set aside days and weeks of rest, and he even rested the earth itself every seventh year (Leviticus 25:4-5). This is the rest we can anticipate on the New Earth—times of joyful praise and relaxed fellowship.

Read the rest here.

Join us from November 16 to 18 for our annual Young Adult Retreat!

This year, we will be going to Singing Hills Conference Center in Plainfield, NH to connect with God and with one another by focusing on the theme of “The Church” — learning what it means to be part of the universal Church as well as a local church and seeking out how it affects our relationship with God, fellow believers, and the world.

Space is very limited, so secure your spot by both registering using this online form and paying (at least) a $25 deposit by cash or check after Sunday service.

The early bird rate ends on October 21st, so clear your calendars and commit to this special opportunity to be blessed with your peers!

Perry Noble writes on The Resurgence blog:

We all have them: life-changing moments, you know, the ones where the world seems to stand still and you come face to face with something that just about engulfs you.

It happened to me in August of 1999. I was having lunch with a friend/mentor of mine at Red Lobster (love their garlic cheese biscuits!) I had been restless for about six months and I knew God was pushing me towards something . . . but I wasn’t sure what. Also, I didn’t want my restlessness to turn into rebellion by me trying to force something, so I began processing with him out loud.

And then he asked me this question…

Read the rest here to find out what the question was!

In case you haven’t seen the link on our Twitter account, here’s the blog post from David Mathis where he writes about some practical ways to reduce the distractions during times of corporate worship:

We love to blame our neighbor, or the worship leader, for our inability to engage in corporate worship. But the deeper problem usually belongs to the one who is distracted.

Read the rest here, including some very practical steps on how to be a blessing to others during worship services.