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Table of Contents

Important Dates

LOOK

BACK

LOOK

OUT

Important Word

D-Now 2014

Mission Trip to OK

weSERVE 2014

What to Watch For

Beach Week 2014

Identity Matters

See a weekly schedule for the year 2015, as well as important

yearly dates.

An important message from student pastor Chris Renfro.

A look back on the amazing success of Disciple Now 2014.

Last year we took an amazing mission trip to Oklahoma to help

with the Bounce team.

A week of service and missions for our students!

Seven dangerous apps parents should look out for.

We had a lot of fun last year with Beach week, and it’s thanks to you!

Ever wonder what occupies the minds of your teenagers more than just about

anything else?

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LOOK

FORW

ARD

D-Now 2015

DR Mission Trip 2015

Communicate

SLU

Book RecommendationsBook Recommendations

Senior Retreat 2015

February 6-8, 2015 we will be hosting D-Now for all First City

Students and their friends.

In April, the Juniors and Seniors will be heading to the Dominican Republic for

a Spring Break Mission Trip.

We have many ways to communicate with our students and parents.

Student Leadership University is one of the premier student leadership training

program in the world.

Recommended books to read for our parents.

Recommended books to read for our students.

I can promise you seniors, you wont want to miss this weekend!

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The ScheduleImportant Dates For the Year 2015

• February 6-8: D-Now Weekend

• April 6-12: Spring Break Mission Trip to the DR - Jr. & Sr.

• May 3: Senior Sunday

• May 29-31: Senior Retreat

• June 22-26: Summer Camp

• July 5-9: SLU 101-Orlando (Student Leadership Team)

• August 9: Promotion Sunday

• August 9: Fall Gathering - Parent and Student Meeting

• November 4: The Night

Disciple Now 2014. Friendships are made, and lives are changed in a

dynamic way.

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The Schedule

Bouce Mission Trip to Oklahoma 2014. Helped many familes during what was a diffucult & trying time.

Beach Week 2014 was an amazing time of worship, teaching, games, and amazing friendships.

Happenings

Sundays• Service and Connect Groups at 9:30 and 11:00 AM

Wednesdays• 6:00 to 7:30 PM• Worship • Message• Games

Weekly

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Student Pastorfrom the

T hank you so much for checking out our Spring 2015 Student Magazine.

We are excited for what God is doing in First City Student Ministries and we want to adequately communicate all that we have to offer for your family.

First, we want to “Look Back” on what God has done in our church through the Student Ministry this past year, and celebrate all that He has done. God is doing awesome things in the lives of our students and our families. In this mag-azine you will find information

about Camps, Missions Trips, Outreach events, and D-Now that we have done in the past 12 months. It is truly amazing to see all that has happened in

such a short time.

Second, we want to “Look Out”. We want to provide tools to help in parenting, information about our ministry, and ways to communicate so that you can stay informed with all that we are doing.

Lastly, we want to “Look Forward” to what God is doing in our Student Ministry and communicate information about some incredible opportu-

nities that we have coming up in 2015. This year we will have D-Now, Summer Camp, a Mission Trip to the Dominican Republic,

as well as a leadership program for our students called “Student Leadership University”, and a weekend retreat for our gradu-ating seniors. We cant wait to see what God does in the lives of our students and families this year. This magazine only offers a small glimpse of what is

THE PURPOSE OF THIS MAGAZINE IS THREE-FOLD

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We are excited for what God is doing here.

“

”going on in First City Students. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at the office at 770-475-6556, or call me on my cell phone anytime. Know that I am here to support you and your family. I can’t wait to partner with you this year!

Chris RenfroStudent Pastor

770-500-5613

Crenfro@fbca.com

Twitter: Chris_Renfro

Facebook: Chris Renfro

Instagram: ChrisRenfro

Kelley JanzenStudent Assistant

770-475-6556 x1509

Kjanzen@fbca.com

Facebook: Kelley Janzen

LookingD-NOW 2014

“I always look forward to this weekend and the great time that I have with my friends. It is great to grow with each other in Christ as well.”Paris Mitchell, 11th Grade

BackAt D-Now 2014 we were blessed once again by Aaron Keyes and his leader-ship team. Last year Aaron brought the worship and the word to a whole new life. The theme of this past year was Collide. It was about what happens when different ideas about God collide. Aaron also talked about mercy and how we can often walk with an attitude that God owes me.

Students showed up at the church on Friday night for pizza and a time to hang out together. We had worship and then we were off to host homes. On Saturday, Students, Leaders and Host Homes had a time of bible study in the

morning and then they got all dressed up for game time at the park. Teams were dressed up as Minions, Wizard of Oz, Pac Man and much much more. There were a few rewards given out at game time: the spirit stick was won by the seniors and the best dressed was won by the 6th grade girls. We ended the day with a time of worship.

Sunday was a fun day when all the students returned back at the church all wearing their D-Now shirt and ready for the morning. There were 170 students involved, 13 host homes, 26 leaders and 30 people that brought breakfast and dinner to our host homes. We want to thank everyone

who was involved in this weekend.

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“Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philip-pi. On the way He asked them, “Who do people say I am?”. They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Mark 8:27-29

Beach Week 2014 was held at Myrtle Beach, SC. Each morning and evening we went to the Myrtle Beach

Conference Center for a time of worship with the Passion Band and David Platt.

The theme for the week was “Who Do You Say That I Am”. David Platt painted a clear picture of who Christ is! He is our Christ, Messiah, God’s son, he transforms lives, he guides us, he requires us to pick up our cross and follow him.

In the afternoon when we would get back to the place that we stayed we would break into our small groups and talk about

what we just learned that morning. This was a time that we could share what we might strug-gle with, a time to pray together and just have a time of bonding. We had some amazing adult leaders who gave up a week of their vacation to go spend with the students and pour truth into them. Beach Week 2014 had a HUGE impact in many students lives, and we are so grateful for the many people who volunteered to make it happen.

Beach Week 2014

“I absolutely loved going on the beach week trips. It allowed me to grow closer to the students and really further my relationships with them. The trips allow you to grow at such a deeper level. I am so encouraged at the spiritual maturity of our students and love spending time with them!”Carmen Mitchell, Adult Student Leader

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OklahomaMission Trip 2014

On May 20, 2013 an EF5 tornado struck Moore, OK

with peak winds estimated at 210 mph killing 24 people and destroying a lot of houses and parks. Our Students got involved with an organization called Bounce. Bounce is a mission experience that provides student ministries the opportunity to impact affected areas by being the hands and feet of Christ. The new student ministry platform offers students the opportunity to assist communities in their efforts to BOUNCE back from devastation after disaster has struck. In addition to disaster recovery projects, a BOUNCE mission features times of worship and reflection designed

to help participants encounter and respond to God. These students were able to come in and restore hope, rebuild that community and reflect Christ while they were doing their projects. Students did every-thing from putting a park back together so that children are able to play again safely, to fixing roof damage, sheet rocking walls and cleanup projects. There were 10 other churches working with our church and students were able to bond with other students from all over the country.

We are so proud of our student and adults that took a week out of their summer to help the people of Moore out.

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weSERVE 2014WESERVE is a mission week where Middle School

Students were given the opportunity to learn could how to do missions in the area that they live. We had some High School students and adult leaders who were there to help and hang out with the Middle School Students. They stayed at the church Sunday through Wednesday on air mattress and were up each morn-ing to help out in different areas of our Vacation Bible School. In the afternoon we headed to Dahlonega, GA to help with a church plant that was starting.

Taylor Teel, Children’s Pastor: VBS is the biggest outreach event we do as a children’s ministry and one of the largest within the church. It takes a massive display of volunteers and people sacrificing their time to pull it off. This simply could not take place without students in our student ministry participating in weSERVE and using their time, gifts, and talents to invest in those behind them. Not only is the number of students volunteering at VBS impactful, but the lessons and maturity developed during this time serves as a catalyst for how they interact and lead with others in the future.

In Dahlonega, we went to some of the local parks and picked up trash and helped organize and clean up some of the local thrift stores. Students really enjoyed reaching out to the locals and helping them. Little did they know how much of a great impact that this was going to make for the church plant. On Tuesday night we headed to one of the local restaurants in the area to end our service there and ate at the Smith House. Gabe Dodd, Church Planter at The Branch Church: weSERVE was our first opportunity to serve Dahlone-ga and get to know our community. Because of FBCA students, we now have a great Sunday evening location at the parks and recreation that opened the doors to us because we first served them.

We ended the week on Wednesday Afternoon tubing in Dahlonega. Students loved hanging out in the river having fun. This was truly a great opportunity for FBCA students to serve in local missions.

LookingOut

7Dangerous

Parentsshouldlookoutfor....

APPS

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I work in public relations at Cook Children’s. It’s my job to be on social networking sites, peruse the internet and keep up with the latest Apps offered on smartphones. It’s a great job and I love what I do, but over the last cou-ple years, I have learned so much about the dangers of Smart Phone Apps. It’s downright scary.

Technology, especially if you’re a little behind the times, can be very deceptive. Your kids may be downloading Apps that you think are innocent and just a simple way for them to keep in contact with their buddies, but unfor-tunately, this isn’t always the case.

To keep your children safe, it’s best that you monitor their phone. Look through their apps, texts and pictures. They may feel that you’re invading their privacy, but let’s be honest… You’re paying the phone bill, so you can do whatever you want! So, as you monitor your kid’s phone, keep an eye out for these 7 apps you may not be aware of, that in my opinion are very dangerous:

Yik Yak – This App is one of the newest and one of the most dangerous. It allows users to post text-only Yaks of up to 200 characters. The messages can be viewed by the 500 Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing -sexually explicit con-tent, abusive language and personal attacks so severe that schools are starting to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Although the posts are anonymous, kids start revealing personal information as they get more comfortable with other users.

SnapChat – This App allows users to send photos that will disappear after 10 seconds. Once the recipient opens the picture, the timer starts. Then it’s gone. From both the sender’s phone and the recipient’s phone. However, the recipient can take a screen shot of the photo and have it to share with others. This App enables kids to feel more comfortable “sexting” with peers.

KiK Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under 18 for a number of reasons. The App allows kids to send private messages that their parents can’t see. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously pos-es the risk of sexual predators chatting with your child. And again, this is an easy tool for sexting. Poof –The Poof App allows users to make Apps dis-appear on their phone with one touch. Kids can hide every app they don’t want you to see on their phone. All they have to do is open the App and select the ones they don’t want you to see. Very scary! The good news about this App is it is no longer available, which isn’t

uncommon for these types of Apps. But, if it was down-loaded before it was deleted from the App store, your child may still have it. Keep in mind that Apps like this are created and then terminated pretty quickly by An-droid and Apple stores, but there are similar ones being created constantly. Some other names include: Hidden Apps, App Lock and Hide It Pro. Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with video chat added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – chat par-ticipants are only identified as “You” and “Stranger”. You don’t have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find chat partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook “likes” and try to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. There is a high risk of sexual predators and you don’t want your kids giving out their personal information, much less even talking to strangers. Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming constantly on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he met on this App just last year. Down – This application, which used to be called “Bang with Friends,” is connected to Facebook. Users can categorize their Facebook friends in one of two ways: they can indicate whether or not a friend is someone they’d like to hang with or someone they are “down” to hook up with. The slogan for the App: “The anony-mous, simple, fun way to find friends who are down for the night.” If that alone doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will!

I know it’s overwhelming to keep up with your kids and their online habits. But just remember to check their phones often, and even more importantly have real life conversations with them. Discuss the dangers of the Apps and make sure they understand the need to keep personal information private.

Kristin Peaks | Senior Digital & Social Media Specialist at Cook Children’s

www.checkupnewsroom.com

IdentityMattersEver wonder what occupies the minds of your teenagers more than just about anything else? It’s the quest to figure out who they are and who they will be for the rest of their lives. Developmental experts call this primary task of adolescence “identity formation.” It’s this quest for identity that leads so many of them to regularly reinvent and curate themselves visually and descriptively on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To complicate matters, they’ve been hammered long before their teenage years by a non-stop flow of compelling messages fed to them by a culture that’s more than happy to write their identity script, telling them what to think, what to say, how to live, and who to be.If our primary calling as parents is to point our kids to Christ, praying that He would embrace them so hard that they would find their identity solely in their embrace of Him, then what can we do to help our kids find their way through youth culture’s confusing identity mess? Here are some suggestions to get you started.

First, look in the mirror to evaluate the identi-ty you’ve chosen. Our example speaks louder than anything else to our kids. In his book The Reason For God, Tim Keller reminds us that “every person must find some way to ‘justify their existence,’ and to stave off the universal fear that they’re a ‘bum.’” Ultimately, our identity can and must be found in Christ and Christ alone. We must be sure that with Augustine we are able to

say, “Our hearts our restless until they find their rest (identity) in Thee!”

Second, continually check in on the identity-shaping world of your kids. For the Christian parent, culture-watching is an active and on-going responsibility. The responsibility falls on us to stay on top of the nuances of our kids’ youth culture, particularly the messengers and messages that are shaping their identity. But it’s not just something we do. It’s something we do with a purpose. Theologian John Stott calls this “dual listening.” He says that we “stand between the Word and the world with conse-quent obligation to listen to both. We listen to the Word in order to discover ever more of the riches of Christ. And we listen to the world in order to discover which of Christ’s riches are needed most and how to present them in their best light.”

Third, confront the lies. Several times in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issues “You have heard it said. . . . but I tell you” statements. Each and every time, Jesus is issuing a corrective to conventional, widely-held, cultural wisdom that his hearers had not only heard, but had allowed to become a part of their very lives. A hallmark of our parenting is continually assuming the same “you have heard it said. . . . but Jesus tells you” posture on identity matters. Look for, find, and expose our world’s identity lies. . . in the culture, in yourself, and in your kids.

www.cpyu.orgWalt Mueller, CPYU PresidentTHE CENTER FOR PARENT/YOUTH UNDERSTANDING

Forward

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LookingForward

D-NOW2015

February 6-8, 2015 we will be hosting DNow for all First City Students and their friends. The theme for this week-end is “Amplify” and we will be talking about how to take your faith to the next level. This is going to be an incredi-ble weekend for students to worship together, learn from Gods Word, and build great friendships with other stu-dents their age! All students will meet at the church on Friday night, where we will have games, worship, and a message. We will be broken up by grade and gender and staying at host homes for Friday and Saturday evenings. The students will attend our 11am service on Sunday, February 8, and be able to leave with their families from church. The cost for the weekend is $75, but we don’t want money to prevent any student from being able to attend so please contact us if there is a financial need.

“D-NOW is a time when I can get away from the stress of school and hang out with my friends”Lee McCellan, 12th Grade

“Being locked in a house with 20 of your best friends makes for the best memories.”Kendall Habowski, 12th Grade

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DR Mission Trip 2015In April, the Juniors and Seniors will be heading to the Dominican Republic for a Spring Break Mission Trip. We have been to the Dominican for 2 years now and have established a relationship with the children there. A few years back we started sponsoring 7 children (1 child per grade) through Compassion International from the Domin-ican Republic. In 2012, we were able to go and actually meet our sponsored children there in the Dominican.

Every Connect Group collects money each month to sponsor a child, and writes letters to encourage them. The money that is collected provides food, medical care and education in the ways of the Lord. They are also taught life skills and develop a relationship with our students.

Our Juniors and Seniors are going to be able to go and spend time with with these kids plus a whole lot more kids. There are about 400 kids in each compassion proj-ect and our students get to be with all of them through VBS, youth night, playing games, singing together and just talking about the differences where we live. This year their main focus is going to be on relationships. We have done construction projects in the past but they really want our FBCA students to talk to the Dominican students about struggles, to hang out with them, to teach them how to pray for one another and teach them more about the bible. FBCA adult ladies will be teaching the young mothers how to take care of their children and how to raise them up in a loving, Christian home. FBCA adult men will be sharing with the men about their struggles, and how to be a Godly man of their household.

This opportunity can change the life of a child and our stu-dents. Many of these kids live in a house the size of a

small office. They have a tin roof, tin walls and if they are lucky they have a cement floor and a bathroom. Our students will see that first hand. We have found that there is something special about doing a foreign mission trip. You learn a lot about how other people live, you get to experience the way that they worship and feel the love they show you as the love that you have for them grows deeper and deeper.

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Student Leadership

Senior Retreat 2015

University What Is It?

Student Leadership University (SLU) is one of the premier student leadership training programs in the world. SLU’s 4-year program is a significant component of our plan to equip future leaders in our ministry. We believe that this training give students an enormous advantage in accelerating their leadership decisions.

Modeled after Fortune 500 corporate leadership seminars, SLU exposes each student to comprehensive leadership development programs. These skills include time and life management, goal setting, dealing with conflict, and developing a Christian world view.

SLU’s programs are based on the belief that the great-est catalyst for personal development occurs through the people you meet, the places you go, the books you read, and the things you memorize. SLU combines in-depth classroom lectures with accelerated learning, interactive workshops, and in-the-field experiences.

*To be eligible to attend SLU you must be a part of our leadership team and fulfill the necessary requirements. IF you have questions about this please contact Chris.

If you could have received one piece of advice before you graduated high school what would it have been? Our seniors are facing some major challenges as they leave home and head to college and beyond. Our desire is to help them create a plan so that they can succeed spiritually and be set up for success as they prepare for careers and families in the future.

With that said we have planned a Senior Retreat for May 29-31. During this retreat we are going to take all seniors for the weekend and have them learn from some incredible members of our church and community on

topics like missions, purity, money management, time management, life skills, etc. We are going to help them create a plan for college that will set them up for success starting with the first day they arrive on their campus.

I can promise you seniors, you wont want to miss this weekend!

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Student Leadership Book Recommendations

Book Recommendations

for students

for parents

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your HeartJ.D. Greear’s book Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart is a challenging book that explains the Gospel in clear terms for every person and provides encouragement that you can be assured you are saved if you have accepted Christ as your savior. This book explains that that our salvation is based on ac-cepting Christ’s grace, repenting of our sins, and resting in a relationship with Christ. It is a great, easy read for students who may be unsure of their faith or have trouble understanding the Gospel.

Love & RespectA phenomenal marriage tool that should be in the hands of every husband and wife. This book has drastically changed my approach to marriage, especially helping my husband and I understand each other and our responses a bit better. This book highlights some of the greatest communication mysteries that have perplexed husbands and wives for centuries! Eggerichs and his wife discovered a truth regarding marriages found in Ephesians 5:33.

Opie Doesn’t Live Here AnymoreThis book is a collection of blogs and essays that wrestle with what it means for students who love God to engage with a culture that often times doesn’t.

Mere ChristianityC. S. Lewis defends Christianity by building a logical foundation for belief and constructing an entire theology upon that foundation. He begins with the premise that a Natural Law must exist, as humans did not invent it, but humans respond to it and cannot escape its influences. From this he proposes that God must exist, and that this God must be made up of three parts: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost (or Spirit). Love springs from the relationship between the Father and Son.

Kisses From KatieKisses From Katie is an incredible autobiography from Katie Davis. As a High

School graduate Katie moved to Africa and started an orphanage that has now grown into a major organization. She tells her story, and challenges young

people that God can use them to do incredible things for Him, and that there are more important things in the world than “The American Dream.”

Age of OppotunityPaul David Tripp is a unique pastor and author who seeks to help encourage and assist parents of

adolescents. In Age of Opportunity he examines the “heart issues” affecting parents and their teens and provides encouragement on how to deepen communication, learn, and grow closer together.

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