The snow is LEAVING! We are down to BIG piles and patches here & there, then with a little more rain and a few warmer days they will be gone.  Almost like sin, although it never disappears because of the world we live in, a little bit of God’s Word each day, some good relationships and fellowship with Christians, some regular attendance of church and a whole lot of prayers will help you avoid some of the sins we encounter in our daily walk with Christ.   Let Christ do the power lifting in your walk with him and more joy & contentment will fill your days.

Spring is almost here & summer’s coming. WE WOULD LIKE TO WORK FOR YOU! The students are willing to work to earn their way to State Youth Convention, International Youth Convention and summer activities.  We would like to be at your service.  What does that mean?  What are the jobs that you need to do around your home in the next several months and would be willing to pay a student help you?  We have already inventoried the skills that our students possess and hope to match them up with what you need to have done.  Jobs might include such things as: Cleaning a garage, washing windows, babysitting, washing a car, yard work, possibly painting, shoveling snow, cleaning out an attic, moving things, and the list goes on and on.  We have a huge list of possibilities. We’re asking you to pray about it, think about it, and put us to work HELPING US HELPING YOU & HELPING YOU HELP US!

State Youth Convention is May 16-18 for our high school students. We have 14 students registered for the convention (including 3 St. Johns students).   Students may still register up until May but it will cost more. The $80 balance will be due May 11th.   We will be working with the Meridian Church of God for transportation and help with the convention.  Pastor Jerry will need to leave the convention by noon on Saturday the 17th to attend the Memorial Services for his Dad who passed away in January, leaving Lawrence & Jo Adams in charge of the remaining time and getting the students home.  Everything should work out well and maybe we will even find another adult to attend with us.  Keep us in your prayers!

The SYC will open on Friday night with Royal Tailor in concert. Royal Tailor is a Christian band with hits like “Ready, Set Go,” and “Jesus Love,” featuring TobyMac. Our other guest is John Tibbs.  John and his group will be leading us in worship throughout the weekend. Our speaker for the weekend will be Leo Robinson II.  He will challenge us to pursue vibrant lives for Christ.  Leo is from Flint and a Church of God Youth Pastor.

Our Winter Lock-In was a big success with many students attending with guests as we spent the entire night up playing games, eating, watching movies and hearing the Word of God.  All had a good time. A group of 20 went to the movies last week to see God’s Not Dead, an excellent testimony of how God works in our world and changes lives.  Our summer schedule will soon be coming out with many activities including the International Youth Convention, July 2-9 and possibly a mission trip weekend in August.

This week we will be “discussing” the movie God’s Not Dead (designed to discuss whether you have seen the movie or not) and the following week we will cover “Easter & the Resurrection.”  From there we will close out our study on “Relationships.”  Our last two relationship lessons are “What Happens When a Couple Breaks-Up” and “Healthy Ways Boys Treat Girls and Healthy Ways Girls Treat Boys.”  God has something to say about both!  Our youth discussions have been great as we learn how to apply our Christian beliefs to our lives.

April, May & June will be months of fundraising, as we need to earn money for our big events. Yesterday we earned over $80 just collecting pop cans & bottles in less than 2 hours.  We will be doing this almost weekly.  Friday, April 4th (tomorrow night) we will be having our Bake Potato Buffet from 5:00-6:30 PM at the church.  Currently we are having our gift card sale where we earn a percentage on each card sold.  Our Youth Garage Sale will be Friday & Saturday, April 25 & 26, so we are collecting articles for the sale soon.  We will store things in the garage as we receive them, and then transfer them to the Grahams, 712 Stillmeadow in town, for the sale. The next week, May 3, we will be working at an auction selling refreshments.  Hanging Baskets will be sold April 13th to May 5th with delivery on Friday, May 9th. (Just in time for Mother’s Day!)

The BIG events are of course, State Youth Convention and even BIGGER, the International Youth Convention in Nashville, TN.  At this time we have 13 delegates to the IYC  which includes four adults and these students:  Elizabeth Dale, Brandon Devericks, Paul Hassen, Tristan Mapes, Shane Mudd, Jessi Smith, Nick Torres, Sabrina Torres, and Lacinda Vinson.  Registration is still open until May 9th; however, the sooner we know final numbers the better.  PLEASE hold these delegates up in prayer as we prepare for this life-changing experience.

Parents and church, your prayers, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated and we look forward every week to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our students through interaction, study, fellowship and relationship.  Thank you for sharing your son or daughter and our congregation for holding the youth up in PRAYER.

Love God, Love People

Blessings,

Pastor Jerry