CCBC Young Adult Ministry

Last night, we started our first discussion groups on the book, The Pilgrim’s Progress.  IF you missed last night, then don’t feel like you are out of the loop and can’t jump in the middle.  There is still time!  Here is the reading schedule so you can get caught up this week and be prepared to discuss what you learned this Wednesday night at 7 pm.

• 7/23 - pages 12-81
• 7/30 - pages 82-134
• 8/6 - pages 136-200
• 8/13 - pages 202-230

Also, if you have any thoughts or discussion, feel free to comment below or to find us on facebook!

1) Remember Laxer Blaze Sunday evening (July 20) after church.  We need to try to get there at 7:30 and we should have almost an hour and a half.  Cost is $10 for unlimited play.  Click here http://www.lazerblaze.com/generalinfo.html for directions. 

2) Check out this review of Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (first written in 167 found at http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bbunyan5.html.  You can learn much more about the man and his times at the following website:  http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/.  Also, check out the pic - Bunyan had Paul Martin hair!  Join us for the study of this immensely important book on Wednesdays at 7.  Books cost $8 and you can pick one up on Sunday!

3) Paintball on Saturday July 26 at Conder’s in Elizabethtown.  Meet at church at 9 am and we will take the vans.  Cost is $25 for equipment rental, plus you will need money for your paintballs.  Shoot good-spend less!  Let Scott know if you are going!

4) Ridgecrest National Collegiate Week - like a mature youth camp on steroids!  Scott is speaking at this event and has a free apartment, so any guys interested in going would just need to pay the program and meal fee - the seminary will be paying for lodging.  This would be a great way to start off your school year.  This conference includes great preaching and worship, as well as lots of fun.  Check it out at http://www.lifeway.com/ev/ev_occ_details/0%2C2223%2CO%25253D617%2C00.html. 

Since I counted at least 15 people who were out last Sunday, just wanted to send out a quick update over some of the things going on in the next few weeks:

• The Rev. Dr. Scott Davis is preaching on Sunday morning on David and Golisha so make sure you get there early to get a good seat.  Alan is leading our Sunday School discussion over lunch so don’t forget your $3.  And finally, Will is preaching the Sunday Evening service on Ezekiel and missions completing the YAM fun-filled Sunday!
• On Wednesday, Braylon will be completing our Narnia discussion looking at Prince Caspian and the symbolism between it and Scripture.
• On Sunday evening the 20th, each of the mission trips will be sharing a brief testimony of how God worked around the region and around the world this summer.  Following this great time, we are headed to Lazer Blaze for some laser tag action.  Check the Events page for more info!

Start your Fourth of July off right by seeing a bunch of animals behind bars . . . they open at 10:00 am and several from the CCBC Young Adult Ministry are planning on going.  If you are interested, email Marisa at marisablair2001@yahoo.com. 

Help us save the world…………in more ways than one!

As you may or may not know, a group of 7 is traveling to the other side of the world over Christmas ‘08 break and we need your help!  Will, Beth, Rouse, Lindsey, Braylon, Boyd, and Taiter (yes, it’s weird, but she’s Beth’s friend) are going to South Asia for a mission trip to do the Lord’s work (in Nacho voice) and with the raise in gas prices, food prices, flight prices, we need you to help us raise support by saving your aluminum cans! So, here’s what to do:

• Drink up (non-alcoholic of course!),
• Save up (fill up a garbage bag full of aluminum cans. Put the bag next to your garbage can so you don’t forget!), and
• Pack up (pack ‘em in your car and we’ll take them off your hands with a smile

This past Sunday was our first Sunday of the new SS format and many of the attenders enjoyed a friendly game of Ultimate Frisbee afterwards.  I was not there, so Angela W. has graciously offered up this 100% completely accurate first-hand account of the days events:

The funny thing is . . . I didn’t even want to play in the first place.

• 85 degrees outside, with a heat index that made it feel more like 100
• A bunch of way too competitive guys who would play as if their next meal depended on whether or not they won the game
• And a stomach so full of food from the SS meal earlier that I thought I was going to fall over

But for some reason, I let myself get talked into playing anyway.  “It’s just for a while,” they said.  “It’ll be fun,” they promised.  Right.

At first it wasn’t as bad as I thought.  The guys were even behaving!  The only time I messed up was when someone tried to throw the frisbee to me overhand like a baseball - not once, but twice (we won’t name names!).  At one point, someone on my team dropped the frisbee and the other team took possession.  As our defense stepped up to the challenge their drive down the field, I found myself face to face with a sight so terrifying that it can hardly be described - the offensive force that is Adam Boyd!

Our eyes locked.  I could see that he was ready to make a big play, but I was just as ready to stop one.  He tried several times to fake a pass, only to realize that my defense was unshakable.  Unstoppable.  He pulls his arm back, ready to pass downfield, and I take a step forward to block it . . . hands held high . . . arms outstretched . . .

 . . . and I found out I wasn’t unstoppable after all.  Apparently the offensive force that is A Boyd throws a frisbee like an NFL quarterback, and my outstretched hand was just one small obstacle in the way of his receiver.  CRACK came his fist (with frisbee in hand) right onto my right hand resulting in quite an impressive fracture almost from joint to joint.  However, as I became dizzy from the pain, I remember clearly looking behind me where the frisbee had been aimed . . . and seeing it hit the ground instead of the receiver’s hands.

Score one for my unstoppable defense!

Over the spring semester, we had the opportunity to see how God addresses the whole issue of human sexuality - a topic of no small interest to young adults.  My hopes are that this series of Bible studies were interesting, relevant, and helpful.  From understanding why the Bible takes the stand that it does on sexuality to redeeming singleness, from combating pornography and immodesty to reclaiming our biblical roles as men and women - there were lots of topics covered. 

The point in all of our grand discussions can be boiled down to this: if we are indeed Christians, Christ’s blood is not intended simply to save us “when we die,” but to make us “holy” now.  Or, to coin a term, to holify us.  This doesn’t happen all at once - it is a growing process.  Some of us will be further down the road in this than others.  If we are, this is no cause for pride, because it is God who has worked this into our lives.  Rather, we should gladly pass on whatever we might for the building up of our brothers and sisters. 

The Bible is clear; if we claim the redeeming merits of Christ’s atoning blood - this should have an evident impact on the way that we live.  1 Thessalonians 4:13 is unambiguous: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality . . .”

Likewise, Paul elsewhere states his disbelief at the Corinthians celebration of immorality.  All throughout 1 Corinthians 5-6, Paul admonishes the Corinthian church to deal with one of it’s more prominent cases.  If you stop to think about this, it sounds horribly counter-cultural.  After all, isn’t our sexuality a matter of private interest?  Not for a Christian!  The church (i.e., a public community of persons) is told to deal with a man’s sexual issues.  If you are willing to consider the weakness of your own faith, your own flesh’s ability to entice you, your utter inability to resist your own sinful desires - isn’t it a relief to know that one of God’s ordained means to help you grow and fight temptation is other Christians? 

There are some who would claim that our view of sexuality is repressive; that we are sub-human because we do not glory in an unfettered and unhindered approach to sexuality.  But that is just the opposite of the truth.  We value sexuality and hold it high as one of God’s good gifts.  The sexually promiscuous person is the one who is most lonely - hopping from bed to bed in search of God knows what.  Yet the faithful Christian can rest in embracing not just God’s gift, but His sanctions for the gifts use. 

A married couple, joined in both body and soul, is perhaps the best defense for what we mean.  My ultimate fulfillment comes not from an antiseptic hookup in which I get sexual favors.  It comes from being a husband and father the way God intended - and enjoying sex in that environment.  THAT is where the greatest blessings come from - God has granted to me the tremendous privilege of loving and enjoying my wife and kids.  Sexual fulfillment is the dessert.  Heaven forbid that I ever become like the kid who always wants to eat dessert and never wants the main course that God has cooked up for me.

Hopefully those of you who were in SS this past Sunday haven’t forgotten the formula already!!!  I just wanted to send a mid-week reminder to everyone to remember to be in thought this week on Dr. Henderson’s sermon from Sunday on Romans 8:28 in preparation for the next big announcement . . . .

June 22nd is the big day . . . We will be moving our Sunday School class to Sunday’s after church!  We will be meeting in the CAC for a $3 all-you-can-eat lunch around the big table while we discuss and apply the day’s sermon to our own lives.  Also, this will be the Sunday that we welcome the recently graduated Seniors as they spend the summer with us before some of them go off to college.  Stay tuned for some more information in the coming weeks on all that this move entails for you.

Tonight we continue in our discussion of the movie Expelled so be ready to chime in with your thoughts on whether or not Intelligent Design or Evolution even matters in the long run.

Many of the Young Adults are playing in 1 or 2 or both of the softball leagues this year. As of today, the men’s team is 1-1 losing on Thursday night while the Co-Ed team is 1-0 with a game to be played on Friday night. You can catch a recap of the men’s league games every Friday here by their beat writer. We are looking for someone who would be willing to recap all the Co-Ed games. If you are willing, just let us know in the comments at the bottom and we will work that out.

Go CREEK!!