Continue reading »]]> During the month of February, we will be in a 2-part series, called “True Love.” In a month where many are focused on love, with Valentine’s Day, we want to focus on the True Love of Jesus. After each session explanation is a couple “Parent Cue” question designed for parent to discuss with their teens after Youth Group.

Session 1 (Feb. 12, 2012)

• JESUS – During this first week, we will talk all about Jesus. He came to earth for one huge act of True Love — to die in our place. If we are going to follow Jesus, we better spend some time figuring out who He is.
• Parent Cue:
• When did you first hear about Jesus?
• If someone were to ask you who Jesus is, what would you tell them?
• How do you make Jesus the center of your life every day?

Session 2 (Feb. 19, 2012)

• BAPTISM – Jesus has already come, died, and risen from the dead. Now, it is up to us to respond. The Bible asks that we believe and be baptized. During the second week, we will talk about what that means.
• Parent Cue:
• Have you been baptized? If so, when?
• When should a person be baptized?
• What are some of the reasons why God asks us to be baptized?

We hope you can join us for a great series on what True Love really looks like!

Also, due to February school break, we will have a “game night” at Youth Group on February 26.

Continue reading »]]> We would like to invite all current 8th-12th grade students to join us for our annual mission trip. This year, we will head to the Brandon, VT, area to serve in Jesus’ name from July 15-21, 2012. If you would like to come along, download the application form below, and turn it in to the RCC office.

The overall cost will be $350 per student. Of that, a $50 deposit is due on Sunday, March 6, 2012. The rest needs to be raised through personal fundraising, support letters, or your own money. The additional costs, including transportation, will be covered through group fundraising efforts (i.e. RCC’s Got Talent, silent auction, “You’ve Been Flocked”).

WorkcampNE 2012 Student Application (PDF Format)

Continue reading »]]> The Huffinton Post recently published an article that declared kids want fame more than anything else. In a world with things like YouTube, that idea of fame is perhaps more achievable now than ever. Every day, there are tons of teens posting video diaries, music videos, and film projects on the internet. Some of them just want to have fun, but many do it for one purpose — fame. They want their “big break,” and with examples like Justin Bieber, they believe it is possible. Teens have goals to gain millions of subscribers on YouTube, not only to showcase talent, but in order to be known.

While fame in itself is not bad, according to the Bible, it can easily detract from the way God prefers us to live — selfless and humble. In the world today, we are bombarded by media that tells us we are so important, and God says the same thing. However, He also teaches us “The last will be first” (Matt. 20:16), and “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3).

Suggestions for Parents:

• Talk to your teens about their goals in life.
• Share your own goals with your teens and with your spouse.
• If your teen desires to be famous, discuss the underlying reasons to achieve fame.
• Discuss how one can remain humble while also being famous.

Resources:

• Huffington Post article
• Interlinc Online’s thoughts about the Huffington Post article

Continue reading »]]> Attention all guys 13 years and older! We would love for you to join in with our men’s ministry for the “Iron Sharpens Iron” conference. This year, the event will take place in Portsmouth, NH, on April 28. The cost for teens is only $29 (lunch not included).

For more information about ISI, watch the video below or check out their website. If you want to come along this year, contact Steve or the RCC Office.

Continue reading »]]> Starting on Wednesday, January 18, we will walk through the book, Mere Christianity (by CS Lewis) with any high school student willing to join. This will be an intense study, but it will be greatly beneficial to understanding what we should believe about God/church and why. The study will be each Wednesday evening from 6-8pm at the home of Steve and Yvette in Salem. (Contact Steve for directions.)

If you plan on joining us for this study, you need to purchase or borrow a copy of the book. Also, below are several resources you can use while reading the book.

• Mere Christianity – Study Guide: This is long, but it will be very helpful as you read the book. If you do the questions in here, you will be ready to jump right into discussion each week.
• Mere Christianity – Study Questions: These are the questions we will use to base our main discussion on each week.
• Mere Christianity – Study Questions for eReaders: Same as above, but sized for eReaders (i.e. Kindle, Nook).

All the above resources are in PDF format. If you need a PDF file reader, we suggest Adobe Reader.

Schedule:

• Jan. 18 – Intro discussion; Read preface together.
• Jan. 25 – Fun night; No discussion.
• Feb. 1 – Book 1
• Feb. 8 – Book 2
• Feb. 15 – Book 3 (Chapters 1-4)
• Feb. 22 – Book 3 (Chapters 5-8)
• Feb. 29 – Book 3 (Chapters 9-12)

Continue reading »]]> As we continue through our “Guardrails” series, we want to pass along a great (Orange) blog post for you parents. It is by Carey Nieuwhof, and it speaks about the balance of grace and discipline within parenting.

Many of the parents who came to this month’s Parent Group discussed the difficulty with balancing these two concepts. As you talk with your teenagers and help them setup their own guardrails, it is important to find the balance between grace and discipline.

READ THE FULL BLOG POST

Continue reading »]]>

On January 28, we will go on our annual ski trip. This year, we are changing things up a bit and heading to Pats Peak. This is a great trip for everyone, as there will be challenging trails for experienced skiers, training for beginners, and snow-tubing for everyone. All of this is included in one price ($45). The deadline for singing up is January 22.

Where are we going?
We are heading to Pats Peak (about 1 1/2 hours from RCC).

Who all can go?
This trip is for all 6-12th grade students and their friends!

What will my $45 include?

• Lift Ticket
• Equipment Rental
• Snow-Tubing
• Training/Lessons

*Eat lunch before you come.  We will not stop on the way.

What do I need to do?

• Your parent must sign the RCC permission slip letting us know that they are aware of you being with us for the entire time of this trip.
• If you have not done so already, your parent must complete the RCC Medical Release/Waiver of Liability/Insurance Form.  This form is good from August. 1, 2011 through August 31, 2012.  If you have one on file at the church already, you do not need to complete this form.

Turn in all of these forms and your money to Steve or the main office on or before Sunday, January 22, 2012.

WANT TO SAVE MONEY?? OF COURSE YOU DO!!

• You can sign up online for only $38 (that’s a $7 savings!).
• Head to http://www.patspeak.com/group_events.html.
• Input our username (RCCSALEM) and password (skitrip).
• Walk through the online registration, and you will be all set!

DOWNLOAD THE SKI TRIP 2012 INFO PACKET
(INCLUDES PERMISSION SLIP & MEDICAL FORM)

Continue reading »]]> RCC has officially partnered with several other area youth ministries for “The Gathering.” We will meet together to strengthen one another, encourage one another, and learn about our Father’s great love.  You will have fun, play some games, meet good friends, and grow in faith in order to face this tough life. We gather on the third Saturday of each month from 6-9pm*.

For more information about “The Gathering,” including the monthly schedule, visit http://thegatheringyouth.wordpress.com.

*For times when we meet at a church in Salem, we ask that you meet us at the location. For out of town events, we will carpool from RCC. Look for posts on here, Facebook, and Twitter for the carpool times.

Continue reading »]]> For the month of January, we are going to be in a series called “Guardrails” at Youth Group. Below is an outline of each week, along with some questions parents can ask their teens after each week (Parent Cue). We think this will be a fantastic month!

Series Overview
Guardrails are “a system designed to keep something from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas.” Just like the guardrails we see on the roads we drive everyday, the guardrails we place in our lives are designed with a simple purpose; to create a small accident to protect us from a larger one. We don’t often spend a lot of time thinking about or paying attention to them, but when we need them, we are very glad that guardrails are there. In the same way that guardrails protect us on the road, when we establish them in our lives, they can help to both protect us and direct us. Most likely our biggest mistakes in life could have been avoided if we had guardrails steering us in the right direction. The goal should never be to see how close we can get to a guardrail without crashing but rather to keep us from ever going “too far,” in the wrong direction.

Session 1: Shift (January 8, 2012)

• Guardrails are part of our every day experience. Whether we are walking, biking or driving there are guardrails all around us to protect us from those off-limit areas—areas where we could drop off the edge or crash into something. But where are the guardrails in our actual, everyday lives? We have to establish those personal guardrails ourselves so that we can back up and stay on the safe side of a potentially dangerous situation.
• Has there ever been a time when you wish you had some guardrails in place—something that would have protected you from a certain situation? Can you share a time that you did have some boundaries and were protected from something because of them?

Session 2: Swerve (January 15, 2012)

• We may be able to recognize the need for guardrails in some relationships and habits, but what about relationships with our friends? It seems a bit odd to think we may need to set up boundaries with our friends. But our friends have the power to influence our decisions, our actions and even the quality of our lives. With that much potential to determine the direction of our lives, putting up a few guardrails when it comes to our friendships may be one of the wisest things we can do.
• How important to you are the friendships you have right now? Do you feel like the friends you have really make a difference in your life? Do you believe that your choices about your friends really matter?

Session 3: Brake (January 22, 2012)

• Everywhere we go we see images, hear songs, read advertisements and receive the message that sex is great. And it’s true. Sex is great! But what makes sex great is that it is a gift from God, given with a purpose. It was created for intimacy with one person and when we establish guardrails early, we set ourselves up for the greatest potential to experience this intimacy in marriage. Without guardrails we set ourselves up to experience some deep pain, both physically and emotionally. But establishing guardrails is a crucial way for us to have the healthiest relationships we possibly can.
• Are sexual guardrails important for both young people and adults? What are some difficulties you may come across when you draw sexual boundaries that culture or your friends may not feel the same conviction about? How can you keep those guardrails firm, even if you are the only one you know who has them? Talk about some sexual guardrails you either have already established or that you are going to establish.

Session 4: Steer (January 29, 2012)

• Sometimes it can feel like rules and regulations are only there to block us and interrupt our lives. Why would we want to set up rules that keep us from doing what we want? But, the truth is, if we aren’t diligent about creating and keeping guardrails, we set ourselves up for way more pain than any amount of fun is worth. And, establishing guardrails is something we have to make a decision to do. No one else can do it for us.
• If someone else tells you what guardrails to have, do you think you will stick to them? Why is it important for you to make a decision to establish guardrails? What do you think is at stake if you don’t set up some guardrails in your life?

DOWNLOAD THE FULL “GUARDRAILS PARENT CUE.” (.pdf format)