When I was brought on as youth pastor I had one objective- be clear about the gospel! This is the most vital thing I could do for the life of our church. Zealous for the the clarity of the gospel I spent several weeks unpacking the truth that is the power of God unto salvation.
As I concluded that series I wanted the students to have a clear and informed understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, I began a series entitled: Who is this Jesus? This series is a verse by verse teaching of the Gospel According to Mark. The author leaves no room for curiosity as to whom the book will be about. Verse one states clearly, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” How about that! Already, in verse one the reader has a phenomenal understanding of who Jesus is. He is the Christ, the Son of God. Furthermore, the book will be the gospel or “good news” of this man named Jesus. My prayer is that I will be faithful to the text in giving the students a correct picture of Jesus.
Up to Date
Tonight we continued our study of the Gospel of Mark as we looked at Mark 1:21-28. The author recounts an event in the life of Jesus that would be any horror movie to shame. Jesus is confronted in the synagogue by a man with an unclean spirit. A clearer contrast could not be found: Jesus the Son of God, who had just had the Spirit of God descend like a dove upon Him in verse 10 was confronted by a man with a “unclean” spirit. Nothing could be considered more ungodly than something “unclean” (just read the Old Testament). So, this is the setting: Jesus astonishing the congregation huddled in the synagogue with his authoritative teaching when an unclean spirit cries out. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God.” (Mark 1:24) The spirit knew Jesus to the extent that the spirit declares what Jesus will do: destroy demons. The spirit knew that the Kingdom had come and that Jesus would ultimately wipe them out.
Jesus responds with one powerful sentence, ” Be silent, and come out of him!” (Mark 1:25) Then something remarkable follows- the unclean spirit leaves the man. What did Jesus do to remove the unclean spirit? Did he use a special potion? Did he use a particular prop? No, Jesus only spoke a command and the spirit obeyed. Jesus’ word was his action. We see this same concept when He called Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Jesus says, “Follow me,” then the immediate response of the disciples was the drop their nets and follow Jesus. This shows us the utterly unique authority of Jesus! He speaks as to act and everything must obey! What an amazing Lord!
If Jesus is authoritative it means that we must do what he says. Furthermore, it is good for us to do what he says. What an amazing concept: it is what we must do and it is the best thing for us! Amen! So, trust in the Jesus who has authority above all! What is sin, pain, family problems, and addictions to the one who speaks and even the unclean spirits obey! Go to Jesus, it is what we must do and it is the best thing we could ever do.
nmartin, January 12th 2011 |
Posted in Bible Study Blogs
“Nappy” Nate Martin
Hello! As the youth pastor of First Baptist I want to always provide our church and community with news concerning our young people. Therefore, as of today I will seek to update the blog on a weekly basis providing pictures, news, devotionals, teaching outlines, and other resources to point the youth and our church to our Lord Jesus Christ! So, log on and dive in so that we may see youth follow Jesus.
jgreene, January 10th 2011 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
Hey everybody. I wanted to take a few moments to introduce you guys to our new youth pastor, Nate Martin. Nate was voted in this past Wednesday night and will assume responsibility of the youth pastor position immediately. We are excited to have him and pray that he leads our teens into a deeper relationship with Christ. So please reach out to Nate to welcome him and let him know you’re happy that he’s going to be taking our church’s youth on a journey to grow in Christ.
kgreer, October 8th 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
We have built our Youth Ministry on teaching the Word of God. Over the last 7 plus years, it has been our top priority to get the many Youth of Fairdale a Bible and then begin teaching it to them verse by verse and book by book. We thank God that its not really “our” ministry but instead “His work”. We are thankful that He has brought many young people to us, and we hope He will continue using us to see their lives changed for the good.
Please click this link to read a good article on teaching the Bible to youth verse by verse. It is called “Your Students Can Handle Expository Preaching.”
jgreene, September 6th 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
Many of our students attend Fairdale High School.
This picture was taken at the High School’s FCA meeting on Thursday afternoon. Our Pastor Josh Greene volunteers to help lead the FCA group.
jgreene, September 2nd 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
Church in Fairdale,
For the last month I have had the privelege of serving WITH you. When I say privelege, I mean it. I come away from this time being truly blessed, and I thank God for using you in that. We have become friends within the family. I thank you.
Over the last month, Christ encouraged me and convicted me. It was encouraging to see youth with a desire to grow. It was encouraging to be in worship services where God and His word were the main focus. And it was encouraging to see men serving FBCF in any way they could, specifically with the new kitchen. As I said, I was also convicted. I saw how much I have to grow. Christ revealed to me that I must spend more time in His word. And Christ showed me, that to be more like Jesus, I must fall in love with serving His church.
Thank you for the time you sacrificed to help me grow, and to grow with me. I loved it! FBCF, I love you. I will miss you. I hope to see you all again.
In Christ,
Seth Springs
jgreene, August 24th 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
Hey guys, I am Seth Springs. I am a 17 year old from Charlotte, North Carolina. I am about to enter my Senior year of high school. I am a former athlete and I love to compete. So what?
Christ has given me the awesome opportunity of serving FBCF for the next month. I was saved by Christ a little over 2 years ago, and I pray that God would continue to work in and through me.
I am excited to be serving the church in various ways, but I am very excited about getting to know the people! Also, I will be teaching youth bible study for the next few Wednesday nights. Together we will, “Believe Jesus. Love Jesus. Live Jesus.”
Thank you in advance for the friendships that we will build!
In Christ,
Seth Springs
Contact Info:
Email- Tsethsprings@aol.com
Website- www.doyouhavetheurge.blogspot.com
You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter.
jgreene, August 5th 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
This past Wednesday evening was Drew, Amanda & Calvin Krutzas final day serving at our church.
We will truly miss them. For the last 2 and a half years they have shown us what it means to truly love and follow Jesus. We thank God for bringing them into our lives. We are so thankful for how God used them with our Youth group. We pray that their new ministry opportunity would be filled with God’s leading.
Thank you Drew & Amanda! We will miss you!
jgreene, July 29th 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
This summer is our 3rd summer of having Youth work at the church. This is a great working/ministry/discipleship opportunity for these youth, and it is also a great blessing to our church. Nate Martin (a faithful member of our church and a ministerial student at Boyce College) is leading the interns this summer. They work Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 3pm. The interns do a little bit of everything from studying the Bible to planning Youth events to serving the church in any capacity. All to become more like our King Jesus!
Chassity!
My name is Chassity Arnold. Or you can call me Chuck. I am seventeen. I will be a senior at Butler High School. This year will be my second year doing interns. I hope and pray that all of the youth and interns will grow to love Jesus more.
Michaela!
I’m Michaela. People call me Mike. I am 15, a sophomore at Male High School. I talk a lot. I am hoping that this year I will grow and love Jesus more. I laugh like a pig. At least that’s what JGreene says.
Josh!
Hey everyone! My name is Joshua Vincent and I am an intern for the first time at FBCF. I just graduated from Fairdale High, and I am now a freshman in college at JCTC. I am 19 years old. I would love to use this internship to become a stronger follower in Christ. I enjoy reading, playing drums, and just helping people. I am looking forward to seeing how God uses me this summer to help people.
jgreene, July 6th 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
Summer 2010 is a little different from the previous summers for the Youth Group of FBC Fairdale.
This is the first summer in 6 years that we are not going to Youth Camp. We think that will prove to be a really good thing because we are finding many ways to impact our youth in various ways.
1) SUPER TUESDAYS – Six different Tuesdays this summer all Youth are invited to church for Bible, Fun, & Service.
2) BATS GAME – On July 6, all of the youth are going to a Louisville Bats Game. Free Tickets are provided.
3) HOLIDAY WORLD – On July 13, all youth are invited to Holiday World. Cost is $30 each.
4) SUMMER INTERNS – We are having 3 youth work at church for 7 weeks this summer as interns. They will helping the Pastor and Nate Martin. This begins July 6. More to come later in regards to this.
5) ECUADOR MISSION TRIP – We had 3 youth go on our summer mission trip to Ecuador. It was mighty trip that God is still impacting us from. More to come later in regards to this.
6) FCA LEADERSHIP CAMP- We also sent 3 youth to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Leadership Camp.
7) YOUTH INTERNSHIP – We also have a High School Senior from North Carolina coming for four weeks to serve in our church. He is in the ministry and will be working along with our Pastor and Youth Group. He will be here from mid July to mid August.
That is a busy summer. We are praying for God to work mightily in our young people.
jgreene, June 29th 2010 |
Posted in Recent Good Stuff
