The HWY53 Student Ministry at Chestnut Mountain Church has a busy but exciting semester ahead.  God has been faithful in providing clear direction and new ideas to help teach students that gospel and help grow them into more fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

One Life, One Purchase is a new idea that will hopefully help students help students share the love of Jesus Christ in their schools and daily lives.  To kick off this movement, we are making “One Life, One Purchase” Hwy53 t-shirts available.  These shirts will cost $10 upfront and we will place an order when we reach a certain number of t-shirts.  Any money made from the t-shirts will go to help HWY53 on its mission to build Syonga, a church in Uganda, Africa.

Take a look at the shirt and please buy one of yourself and, if you are a parent, for your student!  We will have more info about the “One Life, One Purchase” movement soon!

God has called us to be a light to the world and to spread the gospel to all the nations.  We are so excited to go on a journey with the HWY53 students in Uganda, Africa.  For only $7000, we are going to have the opportunity to build a new church building for a growing bush church called SYONGA.  This church is pastored by an amazing Christian leader in Uganda and God has been bringing to people to their church and school and as a result, the mud hut church they currently worship in has become too small.  Together we can help bring Jesus to more lives in Africa by equipping the Christians there to reach more and more people.

These just a couple of pictures of what the church looks like now!  Tons of work to be done!  There will be a collection bin in the HWY53 student center until we reach our goal of $7000.  This could be a year long journey or even longer but we are confident that God is going to use this project to help shape all of worldviews to look more like His.

Session Two: Resolution

A verbal shot is fired and our gut tells us to fire back. That word, that attitude from someone else hurt us or made us mad, so we want to give some of that back. Been there? How often do we quickly react to something a sibling or parent does or says in a way that raises the level of tension and anger instead of diffusing it? But there is another option! We can choose to stop the madness and think through our words and actions. We can begin to see more clearly that when something provokes us, we have a choice to make before we respond. We can be part of the resolution instead of part of the problem.Session Two

Session Two Parent Cue:

Take a recent argument or “loud discussion” you had. Write down what prompted the conversation, then write down each of your responses. Now backtrack and each of you identify the decisions you made that prompted your responses. Maybe you reacted to how something was said, or one word set you off. Maybe you responded out of fear of what could happen.

We are praying for you and your family.

 

This week is part 2 of our series we call “Picture Perfect”.  Last week we talked about how many times we form this idea of the perfect family.  In our mind we think that the perfect family is the end goal… and as we saw in the Bible; the perfect family does not exist.

Not only are we part of an imperfect family, but we also have some decisions to make. Every time we are confronted by our parents, siblings, or grandparents we have a decision.  We actually get to control (through the help of the Holy Spirit) how we REACT.

When our family life becomes messy, we get to choose how we will react to the situation.  Are you going to part of the messy cycle or be part of the RESOLUTION?

This week we will dive into the story of Joseph (Genesis 37) and see how he overcame a crazy messy family and was part of the RESOLUTION.

Hope to see you on Wednesday.

Parents: Check out the ParentCue from last week. We will be posting conversation starters for you and your teenager.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT:

Here is an overview of what we’re talking about at Crowded House. Listed below is the Parent Cue to help you dialog with your teenager about the session. The question is intended not just to be asked by you, but to be responded to by BOTH of you. Use this opportunity to find out what God is teaching your student, and allow them to see what God is teaching you as well.

Session One: Snapshot:

Does it ever feel like there are families who are more “perfect” than yours? They dress better. Have a nicer house. Never seem to have a disagreement of any kind. But when we see these families, we’re not seeing the full picture; we’re simply seeing a snapshot. If we actually lived in that family and dealt with each person on a daily basis, we would probably realize that the perfect family is, well, a myth. The truth is that no family is perfect. We are all just human, and when we realize that we can live in the messiness of our families and learn to find the good, we begin to understand the purpose God has in placing us in our particular family.

Session 1 – Parent Cue:

Have you ever thought a family was “perfect,” only to find out how “normal” they were as you got to know them? Did you ever wish you were part of a different family growing up? Why?

 

Did you know that you are part of a FAMILY!  Yes, no matter how weird, dumb, or annoying your family can be, you are part of it.  Yes, you are probably annoying at some point.  When I was a teenager I always wanted to be like someone else.  My friends always had the “better” family.  My friend’s family was less annoying, less embarrassing, and all that good stuff.  I soon learned that my friend’s family had “issues” too.  In fact, we all do!  God put me into my family for a reason, and no it isn’t  just annoy your little sister.  IT’S MUCH BIGGER than THAT.  God has placed you in your family… so find the good in the midst of the messiness.  Come tomorrow night and we will discover together some stories Jesus told about being part of a family.

Also – better brush up on the facts about your brother or sister… you just might need them on Wednesday.

Series Overview:

You’ve seen their shiny, happy faces staring at you from picture frames, magazine ads and commercials. They are the perfect family. Every tooth sparkles. Every face beams with joy. And they seem to have everything you don’t. But the reality is, well they aren’t real. In fact it’s an illusion. There’s no such thing as a picture perfect family. Families are made up of imperfect people—people like you and me. So how do we live and interact with the family God has placed us in? How do we find a way to be a part of it, instead of just surviving and living for the day when we move on? Because no family is perfect. And no person is either.

 

 

We will be leaving this Saturday morning for our High School Fall Retreat. We are joining Lakewood Baptist at Camp McCall in Sunset, SC. Please be praying for all students and leaders as we learn what it looks like to “Leap before You Look.” Faith without sight is a tough concept to grasp and apply to our daily lives.

John 20:29, Jesus tells Thomas, “…blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 states, “We live by faith, not by sight.”

Here are five things to pray for our students as God works through many hearts this weeekend.

1. Growth in Grace- 2 Peter 3:18

2. Love for God’s Word- Psalm 19:10

3.Faith- Luke 17:5-6, Hebrews 11:1-40

4.Prayfulness- Ephesians 6:18

5.Faithfulness- Proverbs 3:3

Overtime is this Friday night at 10:00pm – 12:00am, or right after the local football games, at Chestnut Mountain Church!  Go hang out with your football team and then head to CMC right after the game!  Feel free to bring friends and just come hang out with free food, s’mores, games, music, and a live band, A Love Not Lost!  So come hang out with the Hwy53 and Chestnut Mountain Presbyterian Church student ministries and unwind from a long week and enjoy the fall weather.  A Love Not Lost will start playing around 11:00pm and will be bringing a great, fun and LOUD concert!  You don’t want to miss this.

 

We look forward to seeing ya there!  Lets pack the student center out and have some fun!

Hands Of The Healer – Eddie Kirkland

The Time Has Come- Hillsong United

You Are My Passion – Jesus Culture

One Thing Remains- Jesus Culture

Yahweh- Hillsong United

 

Feel free to message me on twitter or Facebook If ya’ll have any questions about tonights worship set. I love you guys!! -Miranda

 

 

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to take a minute to post the songs from tonight. I want to encourage each and every one of you to keep pressing forward in your walk with Christ. Keep Pursuing Him and He will draw near to you! Encourage each other!  We all need Cheerleaders and friends to keep us accountable!

Here is Tonight’s Set

Like a Lion – Kristian Stanfill

Time has Come- Hillsong United

Our God- Chris Tomlin

Beautiful Things- Gungor

From the Inside Out- Hillsong United

AND we got a little punk at the end with

Forward Motion- Relient K

I wanted to leave ya’ll with a video of Gungor singing Beautiful Things at the Relevant Studios!

As always I love all of you with all my heart and I am here for you! I’m so blessed to get to Worship along side all of you every Wednesday! Have a Great rest of the week and Enjoy