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Beats By Mark

UPCOMING EVENTS!

If you are not yet signed up for our email newsletter or our text updates, I’d highly recommend signing up for both of these services as they are a primary means of communicating about events and event changes. I only send a max of one email a week and only a few text messages a week so that you don’t feel like you are receiving spam. The text message service we use only sends messages, it does not receive messages, but always feel free to text/call me directly at 502-777-0885 and I’ll be happy to help with any questions you may have.

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CHAOS - March 13 - 15

Our winter retreat is quickly approaching!! We will be heading back to Highland Lakes this year for a time of fun and intense focus on the Lord. This year we are calling the retreat CHAOS as we look at the discipline of celebrating. We are definitely planning one of the most exciting events we’ve ever planned!! We’ll be looking at how we are to celebrate and enjoy God (specifically His Character and Who He is) and what He has done. We’ll also be looking at how we ought to enjoy and celebrate what God is doing in others through community. And our last large group session will cover what celebration looks like in the midst of suffering.

If you are the parent of a student in the ministry and you would be interested in coming along as a chaperone, please contact me. We are expecting to take the largest group we’ve taken to any event before, so we’ll need some additional help! Please email me or call me if you are interested in helping!! 

I do know of several students that are wanting to participate but are concerned about cost. If you have the means to help sponsor a student to this retreat, please let me know. We want the maximum number of students to hear the Gospel and learn to enjoy God to the fullest!!!

SMALL GROUP CHANGES - February 15

We are making a couple small changes to the way our Sunday night program runs.

The first change is that all high school students will begin to meet at church at 5:30 starting February 15. Both genders will meet together for worship and a lesson and will then meet in gender separated small groups for deeper discussion of the lesson. This means that high school students will no longer meet in host homes; however, junior high girls and boys will continue to meet in their host homes. 

The second change is, starting February 15, we will start offering open gym from 7:30 - 8:30 for both junior high and high school students who went to small groups. This activity is specifically for students who are participating in small groups.

Much Love,

Mark

Happy New Year

It’s that time of year where we find ourselves making resolutions and trying to make this next year better than last year. Which I think is a healthy habit. It’s good to take stock of where things are at and attempt to make adjustments. There are many times that I wish it was as simple as recognizing the problem; that somehow just realizing what was wrong was enough motivation and strength to change. The harsh reality is that it often isn’t enough motivation and doesn’t prompt change.

I recently came across some very helpful suggestions from a pastor in Louisville by the name of Mike Cosper. I wanted to share a few of them with you here. I hope you find them as helpful as I did.

Find Your Motivation

The first thing Mike suggests is that we find the proper motivation. He states that we often will set resolutions out of obligation; that we merely should do something. That’s not a strong enough motivation to keep a commitment.

He suggests focusing on how this resolution will change your life. Here are some suggested answers he gave:

• I want to read the whole Bible, to get a sense for the whole story of salvation.
• I want to immerse myself in Scripture, reading big chunks to help me think more biblically.
• I want to focus on smaller passages of Scripture, meditating on them and memorizing them so I always have them with me.

Make a Plan

Change is usually slow. I think that’s the hardest part of change for me. I want things to happen quickly, but real lasting change usually happens slowly.

It’s like planting a garden. I can’t plant seeds today and expect the harvest tomorrow. It will take a lot of work (watering, pulling weeds, etc.) and time. So often we give up on something good because we don’t see immediate results. That is similar to planting seeds today, watering them today, and then giving up on watering them tomorrow because you don’t see any change.

Mike suggests making a plan that starts small and builds. Going from an eat whatever you want diet to an organic vegan diet is unrealistic. But you can start small and build. Start walking each day. Eliminate soda from your diet. Make some little changes and then build on that until you reach your goal.

Build in Flexibility

As we get behind on things, it can deplete our motivation. So often we’ll quit a resolution just because it’s too much work to get caught back up. Often I’ll suggest to students that they should build flexibility into each week. Rather than going from never reading the Bible to reading an hour every day, I’ll suggest they start a bit smaller and shoot for 15-30 minutes a day for five days a week. That builds some flexibility in if they have a crazy amount of homework one night, and then they don’t feel that they have gotten behind. 

Be Accountable

Let people know about your resolutions so they can check on you and encourage you. Maybe set some resolutions as a family or with a small group and work through them together.