Grace Newsletter - September

G.R.A.C.E. News

From Nancy Stevens

The FPC Youth are gearing up for an exciting 2007-2008 year. Through all of the youth fellowship opportunities, events and trips, we remain God-centered. We continue to approach youth ministry holistically and feel God continues to bless us in leadership areas from our youth ministry team and from our newly formed youth council.

Our youth ministry is named G.R.A.C.E. because that is our purpose statement for God. It comes from The Great Commandment and The Great Commission found in Matthew 22 and 28 The acronym stands for:

G: Glorify God

R: Reach All

A: Accept All

C: Care For Others

E: Equip (Energize) Youth for Discipleship

If you were to come up with a quick summation of what our ministry is based on (other than the obvious center, Jesus), it would be prayer and relationships! We believe we were all created to be in community with one another and with God and we accomplish that in many ways. We also believe that Jesus came down not only to bridge the gap between us and God, but to also show us how to get it right while we are here on earth: hence, “On earth as it is in heaven.”

Our youth ministry efforts are also designed to not only draw us closer to God in our youth community, but also in our Fairfax Presbyterian Church community. We are all on the same journey to God, we’re just at different places along the path. We “older” folks have been traveling the path longer. We are blessed to have the youth we have here at FPC. They are an incredible testimony of what passionate living for God looks like and this upcoming year they are excited to share their journey.

We are also becoming intentional about focusing on the real bottom line of ministry, our souls. How can any of us do God’s business if we don’t know who we are in Christ? An Olympic athlete becomes the best at what s/he does due to intense training and practice. How can we truly discover who we are in Christ without spending time with Him? Time in scripture, prayer, worship and more importantly, quiet time, just listening. When Mother Theresa was on Larry King Live a few years ago, he asked her about her prayer life. The conversation went something like this: King asked her what God said to her when she prayed and she said “Nothing. He listens.” Then King asked her what she said when she talked to God and she said “Nothing. I listen.” She also said that if he didn’t understand that she didn’t know how to explain it. In those few words she actually spoke volumes. Are we listening? Are we quiet? How can any of us discern as individuals, small groups, youth groups, church leadership, or entire congregations if we are not intentionally spending quality time with God?

So, in the midst of all of this, how do we accomplish true community, with God and with each other? There doesn’t seem to be an easy answer, but along our journey together this year, we will focus on our own individual stories as we study the life of the disciple Peter. On Sunday mornings during Breakfast & Bible (B&B) we will follow Peter’s life from the time he was first called by Jesus in Luke 5 and parallel his life with our own. We will intentionally focus our minds and hearts on spending time with God, while also using our gifts to share with our church family.

One of the things on our agenda we are most excited about is that on fourth Sundays, after our 8:45 Encounter! Service, the youth are going to provide refreshments for our church congregation. They will use this time to get to know the many members of our church they do not often interact with. This was the idea of youth council and will hopefully be a time of building community and establishing new relationships.

On Sunday, September 30, we will share our  summer experiences from our mission trip to Philadelphia and our high school retreat to Montreat at a free spaghetti dinner for the congregation at which the youth will give their testimonies and present a slide show.

There are many goals set for our ministry in the upcoming year, as well as the years to come, but our overall goal is to strengthen our individual relationships with our Lord and Savior and be a better “body of Christ” as a church community. If you are interested in learning more about G.R.A.C.E., there is a booklet in the narthex, or you can contact Nancy Stevens at 703 273-5300.