Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / August 7, 2016 | TBC Student Ministries - Youth Sunday 2016

Transcript

August 7, 2016 | TBC Student Ministries - Youth Sunday 2016 · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Good morning to Pika Bible Church.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_03: How are you guys doing this morning?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_03: We got like half the people who said woo, and then half the people who are trying to look through the bulletin or um do something this morning.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_03: But it's good to see you all this morning.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: My name is Derek.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: I'm the student pastor here at TBC.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm gonna take a poll this morning.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_03: This is the first service I've done it in, and I'm just really curious to see if any of you guys are like me or not.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_03: How many of you guys, when you got your bulletin, you read what was on the front?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_03: Honesty, don't raise it just because you're the person next to you raised it.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, we got about half.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: That's good.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: I'm proud of you guys.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: For everybody else, it will be highly worth your time to take one minute and read the rest of what is on the front of that bulletin.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_03: And the hope is that when you finish reading it, that you are a little bit confused.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: And you might even think we don't know English.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: But that's the goal.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're a little bit confused and think we're crazy with what's on there, it's okay.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: That's how it's supposed to be.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_03: I'm really excited to be here this morning as you guys were coming in, um, being greeted, handed bulletins.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: You see a lot of people wearing this shirt.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_03: And it says no longer aliens on the front, which is what we have been talking about this entire summer.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: Our summer theme verses of in Ephesians 2.19, which says that we are no longer aliens, we're no longer foreigners to God's kingdom, but we are fellow citizens, that we are, we're saints in the kingdom of God.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: And so we spent this summer talking about the gospel, talking about the story of God, about at the very beginning, creation, how God created this world perfectly.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: We talked about the fall, how Adam and Eve sinned and broke that perfect relationship between God and man, and why Jesus had to come to this earth, why he lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again showing that he was God, and how we have eternal life, and how we can be part, how we are members of God's kingdom when we put our faith and our trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_03: Not because of anything that we've done, not because we're we're great people and we've got it all together, but because Christ did it first and he calls us to put our faith and trust in him, and that's how we become members of the kingdom of God, and how how cool it is that we get the opportunity to share that with the students, the most basic thing of all of Christianity, and talk about that.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_03: So that way at the end of the summer, our students were able to articulate the gospel, to be able to explain to somebody else the good news of Jesus Christ.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: And so I just want to give you guys a quick look into some of the things that we've been doing this summer as we watch this video.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_10: Good morning.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_10: Hi, I'm Lori Tennyson.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_10: I'm the student ministry assistant here at Topeka Bible Church.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_10: And it was about a year ago that Derek and I were just coming off another crazy summer, much like this one, and we were sitting around chatting about what had been great about the summer and what the coming year was gonna look like.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_10: And one of the questions that we kind of tossed back and forth was what would it look like to take our students on a trip, a missions trip, where it was solely focused on sharing the gospel, on sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_10: And so we both got really excited about that, and uh the pursuit of that vision turned into an opportunity to go to New York and spend a week sharing the love of Christ with people in New York City.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_10: We took 10 leaders and 20 students with us, and four of them are here this morning, and they're gonna share a little bit of that experience with you.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_10: So if you guys want to come on up.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_06: Okay, so this is my third time doing this, as all of us, so it'll probably be our best time.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_06: No, um, I'm Haley Cashman.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_06: I go to Topeka High School, I'm a junior this year, so that's exciting.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_06: My story kind of is gonna be about before New York was even a thing in my head.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_06: So it was one Sunday morning, I heard about it at the youth group, and Derek told us about the opportunity of going on a mission trip to New York, and I was like, oh yeah, that'd be cool, but uh probably not for me.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_06: Um I just thought it would be really time consuming or really expensive, and I just didn't want to put in the work.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_06: But me and Lori hang out sometimes, and the specific time we went to G's and we got frozen custard, and we were just talking about casual things like we always do, and she brought up the mission trip, and I was like, eh, it's no, not for me really.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_06: But as we all know, Lori's a very persistent, nagging person.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_06: So she kept talking about it as I was trying to change the subject.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_06: Um, so I ended up going home that night, promising Lori that I would talk to my folks about it and see what their insight of it was.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_06: And they said that it would be a great thing to do, but they also told me that I would have to raise that money by myself, which was something that was the biggest problem that I had.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_06: I was really anxious that I wasn't gonna be able to make the money or it was just gonna be a disaster because I also drive this year, so I'm gonna have to buy a car, and that I just thought it was just wasn't gonna work out.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_06: But eventually the summer got going, and we had a fun we had plenty of fundraisers that I did, and I raised a lot of money through that.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_06: And at the end of it, the morning that we were leaving for New York, my parents only had to pay$9.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_06: They kindly paid that for me.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_06: So yeah.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_06: So my story is basically just about how God presented this great opportunity to me that I thought I could never picture myself doing or going on.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_06: And he really pulled through and helped me along with all of my anxieties that I had before.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_15: So yeah, so my name is Drew Will, and I go to CarePro Latin School.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_15: Um, and when I was presented with the idea of going to New York City for evangelism, um I was a little I was a little hesitant at first because talking to random people about Christ is not one of my strong suits.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_15: Uh so I did end up going though, and although I did learn a ton of things while I was there, one of the coolest things I learned was that um it isn't fully our job to convert that person to Christianity.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_15: It's just more on us to plant the seed, um, and then God will make it grow.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_15: And I learned that b basically through a conversation with a guy I had who was originally from Africa, and he had grown up a Catholic with his family, but unfortunately, once he had left the house and started living by himself, um, he had fallen away from the faith.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_15: Um and so throughout the whole midst of the conversation, I was I got the idea that he wasn't really too interested in talking with us, and he would he would just give little one-word answers.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_15: And we all walked away from that conversation thinking that we hadn't really done the best job.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_15: But we were reminded that we showed him the love of Christ, which is one thing that you gotta do in evangelism.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_15: You can't really tell people about the love of Christ because people listen to a lot more about what you do than what you say.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_15: Um and so it's really nice to th to see that God was working on his heart, and we did all we could.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_15: So thank you.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_09: Hi, my name is Grace Hockey.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_09: Um this trip to New York, uh, God taught me just how impactful your words can actually be.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_09: Um so this summer, like I said, I'm a graduate, so my last summer spent with a youth group, and I just wanted to do everything I could uh while I was still here.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_09: So that's one of the reasons why I went to New York.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_09: Um the second night we were there, um earlier that day, the Jews for Jesus people gave us a crash course in evangelism.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_09: They just uh taught us different tips and tricks we could use to get people engaged in conversations.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_09: Um so that night we split up into two groups, and I went to Washington Square, and I was with one of our summer interns, Abby.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_09: Um it was really, really scary uh going and sharing your faith with total strangers.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_09: Um that was crazy, and I still can't believe I did it.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_09: But um Abby led the first couple conversations, and after that she was like, Okay, Grace, it's your turn.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_09: You need to take the reins.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_09: And I was like, Okay, I can do this.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_09: Um I see a harmless enough looking man sitting on a bench.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_09: I was like, okay, let's let's go talk to him.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_09: Um I had this whole speech prepared in my head.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_09: I was gonna say, Hi, I'm Grace Hockey Lai.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_09: We're here with Jews for Jesus on a scale of one to ten.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_09: How spiritual are you?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_09: I just had this whole thing prepared in my brain.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_09: Um we walk up to him and I just blurt out, do you know Jesus?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_09: Uh 10 seconds of uncomfortable silence, awkward eye contact, um, and then he starts laughing.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_09: Which uh better than silence, but still not the best.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_09: Um he turned out to be a Christian.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_09: Uh we ended up having a really good conversation with him.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_09: And after that, I was like, well, I can really can't get any worse than this.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_09: So you just you gotta go out there and you just gotta uh put your feet in the door and just start talking.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_09: And like Drew said, you plant the seed and God really does do the rest.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_09: Um so it was a really great opportunity.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_09: I had to go and do that.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_17: So hi, my name is Fernando Garcia.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_17: I graduated from Topeka High School this year, and I'm currently going to Coffeyville Community College.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_17: Um I don't know about you guys, but going to a random city and talking to some random people just is kind of an it's a scary thing, let alone talking about Jesus Christ.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_17: And that was my main issue showing up to the Jews for Jesus trip in New York was how am I how am I even gonna start conversations with people?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_17: Um like Grace said, the first night we were in Union Square and we were splitting up into groups of three, and my leader was Jeremy, and I was with my friend Michael Brown.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_17: And uh we were walking away from like our huge group and leaving in the groups of three, and Jeremy was like, Hey, Michael Fernando, do you guys do you guys have this?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_17: And we were like, Of course we do.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_17: Are you kidding me?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_17: So like Jeremy walks away, we walk five steps away, and we wanted to start crying.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_17: It was it was frightening.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_17: We we did not know how we were gonna start conversations with people.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_17: Um we would like walk in the direction of someone, say, Hey, this is the one we're gonna start, so we're gonna start this out strong.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_17: Nope.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_17: Walk over to this way.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_17: And we're like, maybe, maybe this guy.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_17: Nope.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_17: It just went on for 30 minutes of us just frightening just to start any conversation with anyone.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_17: Um then this this couple, this couple, we're walking just through the middle of the park, and this couple stops us and asks us to take a picture of them.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_17: And we're like, uh yeah, we can we can take a picture of you guys.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_17: And then they asked us, what are we doing in New York?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_17: And we're like, um we're like, we're here for Juice for Jesus, actually, uh, with our church, French Beeky, Kansas.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_17: And then I look at Michael, I'm like, that was that was a little too easy.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_17: Like, like so we actually were able to engage in conversation and spread, um, explain to them why we're there, explain to them what we thought about Jesus, and um got their opinions and share our faith with them.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_17: It was amazing.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_17: So, like they left, and I I looked over at Michael again, I'm like, I think we just got our new idea of how we're gonna approach.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_17: So we started walking around, pulling out our phones, giving it to people, saying, Hey, can you take pictures of us?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_17: We're tourists.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_17: So uh that was just one of the one of the ways God opened us, uh opened up for us to approach conversations.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_17: Um, another way was one day we were uh we had iced tea that we were giving out to people, um kind of like a starter, but still wasn't like really the like we still have to come up with a way to talk to people, especially the people that were walking by saying that they didn't have any time and that they were in a rush.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_17: So I was like, maybe I can get something, think of something to grab their attention.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_17: So this lady was walking by, and I'm just like, uh excuse me, ma'am, I don't have a second.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_17: And she's like, Hey, what?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_17: And I'm like, yes, I got her in the trap.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_17: So that was that was like one of the ways as well.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_17: Um, I don't know, just just an eye grabber.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_17: She would stop, and I honestly did not know what to follow up that with.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_17: At first, I was like, I was like, I didn't think I would get this far.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_17: I'm sorry.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_17: So um the third way that I found out was um we're on a boat on the ferry to uh uh Ellis Island, and we were playing Pokemon, and uh it's a game we got this year.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_17: Uh a lot of teenagers are playing it, catching Pokemon in real life.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_17: Uh real life.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_17: Um there's this couple that was playing, and we walked up to them and started talking to them about Pokemon, and then the conversation shifted and talked to them about our faith.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_17: It was just such a huge shift, but it was one of the ways that we were able to conversate with people, and it was this real interesting trip, and I loved it so much, and it was a huge blessing on all of us.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_17: I could probably say that, and it was a great time.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_10: We are just so proud of these guys and all of our students that went on the trip.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_10: Um, so this is my 11th summer on staff here at TBC with the student ministry, and one of the things that I just marvel at at the end of every summer is how in the world God is so faithful to provide us with such an awesome group of interns year after year.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_10: And this year was absolutely no exception.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_10: Um, he brought in college students for us that just pour into our students in ways that you guys can't imagine.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_10: The time and the effort that they put into connecting our kids with the Lord and with each other.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_10: Um, it's just it it's mind-boggling.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_10: So they do such a great job.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_10: And I would just love the opportunity for you guys to get to hear a little bit from them, for them to introduce themselves to you.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_10: So if you guys want to come on up.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_10: Um Yeah.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_10: And we always have six interns, but one of our interns, Jeremiah Halbert, is from uh CFO College of the Ozarks, and he is RAing there this year, and so he had to go back a little bit early to start his duties down there.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_10: So we're gonna watch a video of him, and then we'll let you get to know these guys.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_12: Hey guys, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Jeremiah Halbert.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_12: I'm one of the student ministry interns here at TBC this summer.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_12: Um, first off, I just wanted to say thank you for a great summer.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_12: It's been incredible, um, and I've learned a lot throughout everything and from each of you that I've met along the way.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_12: Uh I'm sorry I can't be here for you Sunday.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_12: I hope you're having a great day.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_12: I had to head back early to go work back at C of O in Branson, Missouri, back home.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_12: So again, I hope you're having a great Sunday, and thank you for an incredible summer.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_12: I just wanted to first off kind of tell you how a guy from Missouri ends up in Topeka, Kansas.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_12: I actually heard of the internship from one of my professors who had heard of it from Emma, the other and one of the other interns.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_12: And one day I was just walking by and she pulled me in her office and just told me that she thought I'd be a great fit for an internship uh in a youth ministry in Topeka.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_12: And my first thought was, why on earth would I want to come to Topeka and kind of put myself in an environment with no people I know in a place I don't know.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_12: But after I prayed about it a lot and really just thought about what I want to do with my life and the type of summer I wanted to have, I talked to Derek and he honestly sold me on the whole process and on the whole summer.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_12: Um, I immediately applied and hoped for the best, and somehow, by the grace of God, got the internship.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_12: But it's been an incredible experience from start to finish, and I'm so thankful I was able to spend my summer with you all.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_12: I really wanted to stress, just in the rest of what I have to say, just the fact of how important trusting God is.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_12: Uh, if I if I hadn't just decided to trust him in this process and in this situation, I never would have met any of you.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_12: I never would have come to Topeka in the first place and had an incredible summer.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_12: And I think trusting God has led me to a lot of different opportunities, whether that was waking you all up, who I didn't know you at the time, so waking strangers up at 6 a.m.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_12: in a turkey costume like a fool, or um co-hosting a show, wearing onesie pajamas and a blazer.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_12: It was just a blast.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_12: Even just ministering to strangers in New York City with some of you all.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_12: It's just been an incredible experience, and um without trusting God, I never would have had any of that.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_12: So I think that's what I've learned most throughout this entire summer.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_12: And also just how great of a place to Pika is and how great you all are.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_12: So I hope you have a great rest of your summer and a great school year, and try not to forget me, because I'll miss you all a lot.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_12: So have a great day.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_11: More as an example of something that that happened a lot of times this summer.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_11: Um, I was showed so many times how God is strong in my weaknesses and how in my um failures he can still succeed.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_11: And uh one of those examples is when we were in New York, we were told to go out on the streets and evangelize to people like you've heard, which I'd never done before.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_11: I'm a leader, but that doesn't make me any more qualified than anybody else.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_11: And so the the first night we were there, went out to this park, and Tommy and Matt, who were doing announcements just a minute ago, were in my group.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_11: And I'm like, all right, guys, go out and and and go start talking to people.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_11: And they're like, I think we're gonna follow you first.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_11: And I'm like, oh, all right.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_11: Well, I I know nothing, but I'll act like I do so that you can learn from me.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_11: Um so so I so I I can't sit there and I can't um not choose someone.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_11: I can't try to you know put it off and put it off and put it off until we have to leave, like I would have loved to.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_11: Um but anyway, uh Matt goes off on his own, and Tommy decides to stick with me.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_11: And we go up and talk to this guy, and after a few minutes, Tommy leaves, and our conversation went well.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_11: But it just showed me so much that uh when I'm not comfortable and when I am in in a situation that uh is not anything that I'm good at, God can still use that to then encourage Tommy to go out.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_11: And it was so cool then that Tommy, later on at the end of the night when we were getting back together, came back so excited about this girl Natasha that he talked to.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_11: She was Hindu and he had such a good conversation with her and got to just share the truth of the gospel with her.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_11: And uh it just showed me so much that it despite me knowing what to say, um, God uses that to encourage other people.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_11: And that was something that I saw recurringly throughout the summer, but I enjoyed that experience.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_14: Hi, I'm Leah Maynard.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_14: Um, one thing that impacted me this summer um was our Sunday morning series.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_14: Um as staff, one of our main goals for the summer was that all the students would be able to articulate the gospel by the end of the summer.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_14: So on Sunday mornings, we um just really went in depth into the gospel and um talked about what it means, why it's important, um, and why Jesus had to come in the first place.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_14: Um so for me, I became a Christian when I was three and have gone to church my entire life.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_14: Um so the gospel had sort of just become another Bible story, um, another sermon, and kind of lost its importance.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_14: Um talking about it every Sunday and um seeing the students get excited about it, and especially going to New York and seeing how powerful just sharing the simple gospel with people was was really, really cool for me and really eye-opening and something that I won't forget.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_04: Hi, my name is Abby Holloway, and I'm going to be entering my second um year at Washburn University here in town.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: And I've grown up here in the church all my life, so um I kind of knew, um, having been in the youth group, what it was like to be an intern.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_04: But my story is a little bit unique because I never really expected that I would be an intern.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_04: So this was kind of a surprise to me.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I just remember that one day Derek um calls me and he's like, Oh, hey, we need a girl intern.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm just kind of like, uh, okay.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and he asked me if I wanted to do it, and I was like, I don't know, not sure.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not really natural.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: Leader, I don't really talk well in front of others on stage.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know if I can do that.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_04: I don't feel like I connect well with people very easily.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: And um, I actually um struggled a little bit growing up in the youth group, uh felt lonely a lot and just wasn't sure if that was something I wanted to get back into.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_04: And so I told him that I would think about it for a week because if I don't have a deadline, I won't make a decision.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_04: So I said that deadline, and um uh that whole week I was just going back and forth, didn't know, wasn't sure where God was leading me, just felt like kind of in limbo between those things.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_04: And um, right on the last day, um, God just really put it on my heart that this was something he wanted me to do, and um just gave me a piece about that decision.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_04: And uh something that came to my mind um is the verse in Esther, uh Esther 414, where um Mordecai is trying to convince Esther to go before the king and to save her people, and he says, Perhaps you are created, or perhaps you are here for such a time as this.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_04: And that really resonated for me and really showed um up in the first big week event that we had.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_04: As you saw in the video, our first big event is Summer Sizzle, and it's just so jam-packed week.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's always been one of my favorite events that we do.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_04: It's intense, it's high energy, we um do service projects, we have fun, we play games, we go crazy, just letting a lot of steam out and things like that.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_04: And um, but one of the things that you don't see on that video is that we have a worship time, and um during that worship time, we uh all of us interns got the ch opportunity to share our testimonies.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_04: And so that was really special to me because I got to share how I hadn't felt um the most included necessarily in my youth group, and how it had kind of kind of been a struggle for me, and how that even though I'd gone through that, God had brought me through it and um showed me that I could come back and make a difference and um be a light to the people around me.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_04: And so just that verse um for such a time as this resonated so much with me throughout the summer and helped me to see that we're all here for a purpose.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um each and every one of you, God has you here specifically for this time, and he has amazing plans for you if you'll just give yourself to him and follow him with whatever you do and just trust in him, like Ben was saying, even in your weakness.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_04: Um so I encourage you to um I encourage you to just whatever pain, whatever suffering, whatever brokenness you have, um, that you would just give it all to God and know that you're here for a time and he has you here for a purpose.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_16: Hello, I had a great summer.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_16: Just kidding.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_16: Um I'm Jeremy Ruiz.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_16: Um I will be returning to both K-State and MCC uh in a week, actually.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_16: And the summer really was just awesome.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_16: I love being an intern.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_16: It was a great learning experience.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_16: You learn how to lead uh while actually leading, getting thrown into it.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_16: And not only do we just plan everything for the summer, make the summer fun for the kids and get them involved, but we're also able to be a helping hand in the process of students growing closer to Christ and growing their faith in Christ.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_16: And it really is just a privilege to be able to do that.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_16: And a big time where I was able to see a lot of growth was at well yeah, in New York too, um, but Sky Ranch was with our second camp that we went to this summer.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_16: And every morning, I know Jeremiah and Ben did a morning devo, and some of the boys would get up for that, and they would just dig into the word early on, and then after that, we would have a quiet time, and we'd all just spread out, and I would see a lot of students just digging into the word and just meditating and praying, and it really just was a cool thing to see, because I wish I had been as diligent as them when I was their age, that's for sure.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_16: But I don't know, it was just awesome to see, and then worship as well at Sky Ranch.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_16: The kids were amazing, the music was awesome, and I just saw them passionately pouring out their hearts to God through this worship, just singing their souls out, basically.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_16: And it was, I don't know, it just gave me chills and made me want to grow deeper in my faith and be a good example for all these youth.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_16: And that's how it impacted me this summer.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_16: So, yeah.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_07: Hi, my name is Emma Schultz, and I go to school at College of the Ozarks.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_07: So if you haven't been able to tell from all of our pictures and our stories, we had such a great summer.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_07: Um, we had so much fun.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_07: I loved working alongside all of these people and being with the students.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_07: Um I'm kind of piggybacking off of what Jeremy said.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_07: In Sky Ranch, we had morning devotions, and so each of us would lead a little like 10-minute devotion, and then the kids were encouraged to go out and get into the word on their own, which can be kind of intimidating if you don't really know what to do.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_07: And so I was sitting on the front porch one morning, and there were a couple of other students around, and I could see one girl in particular, and she was like flipping through the Bible, and then she would close it, and then she'd open it again and like keep flipping, and um I could tell that she just wasn't quite sure what to do.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_07: And so she after a few minutes of that kind of leaned over and said, Will you help me?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_07: And it was just super cool because I got to sit with her and we worked together on our devotions for the rest of that week.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_07: And I showed her like a couple of different ways that to read the Bible, and um it was really encouraging to me to see her relationship with the Lord grow, but also how it's just a constant learning progress for all of us.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_10: So it's a tradition at TBC uh toward the end of every youth Sunday that we take up a love offering for our interns.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_10: And I wish that you guys had the opportunity to go back with me and see all that went into putting on this summer and everything that they did.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_10: They literally put hundreds of hours into our students and our ministry putting on Summer Sizzle, which the planning for that and the execution is just intense.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_10: Um, all of the fellowship that they had with our students at Sky Ranch and Junior High Rampage and Close Encounters, um, and just the leadership with which they just marched into the streets of New York City leading our students, and as you've heard, feeling uneasy about it themselves and yet led our students so well.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_10: And so I just ask that you guys would prayerfully consider um thanking them for all their time and their hard work and giving in in the offering to them.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_10: And as you do that, if our ushers want to come down and you guys can enjoy a video of all that they've done this summer, thank you.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_13: Um when I think about all the people at Topeka Bible Church and the ministry, um, all the leaders, they really they helped they impact my life because um when I think about two specifically, Jeremy and Jeremiah, they didn't they weren't just people that were there that I saw only in the church.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_13: They were they were people that showed me that I could still have a faith in Christ and also be goofy at the same time because there were many times I would see Jeremy playing with him at soccer, but then also we would also make nights where we'd hang out at the clerks and just do things like watch movies and play ping pong.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_13: And I mean I can remember like being on Jeremiah's team and Jeremy on the other side with Fernando, and we every time we scored a point, we would do a little dance or something, and it was it was crazy because then we'd have to they tell us to quiet down just to make sure we didn't wake up the clerks, but it's just little things like that that really helped show me that um I can still have a faith, but um especially like going off into college, like I can find people that I can express a faith with, but also still at the same time have fun.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: Every year the summer interns would be assigned grades to work with, and this year Leo was assigned to work with my grade.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'd been talking to her probably in May, and I told her that one of my goals was to begin um was to start establishing healthy habits before I left to call left for college.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so I wanted to start like integrating God into my daily routine, like reading my Bible every night and just praying more.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so she talked to me and we or she came up with the idea to do a Bible study.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: So throughout the summer, we read through the book of John and James, and so I would read that every night, and then we would meet up um probably once or twice a month, and we would just discuss it, like we would go through it, and I would ask her questions, and she would answer questions for me and just explain parts that I didn't understand.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I really appreciate um the time that she put in to um helping me.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: So junior year, I was invited by Will Whipperman to be in a Bible study with three or four other guys.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_02: He was an intern for that summer, and we all just met either weekly or you know, whenever we could make it.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: It was kind of just a spur of the moment thing.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: And through that, and through all the guys in that Bible study, I just really was encouraged and we all just got to talking about life in general, and we all found out that we all struggle with basically the same problems.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it was very encouraging and very reassuring to know that you weren't really the only one who had those types of problems.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: And through that, and through high school and the rest of my high school um years, I was encouraged and have actually started now a Bible study with two or three other guys, and I just really think it's awesome that I was encouraged to do that.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_08: So, one of the leaders I really wanted to talk about was Judy Graeber.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_08: She's a woman in our uh youth group downstairs, and I know I've gotten really close to her since she's arrived at our church.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_08: I mean, she's helped me with so much uh in my life, like all of the good times and the bad times.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_08: She's been there for me when I got my first job.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_08: We talked about it all the time.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_08: She was my emotional support.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_08: One of the things I also wanted to talk about her is that she was also there for me for my downtimes as well.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_08: She she helped me through when my mom went through bipolar disorder, and we found that out.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_08: She was there for me.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_08: She knew I was kind of freaking out about it.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_08: She wanted to be there for me, and I could tell that she was really genuine about it.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_08: She wanted to be there for me.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_08: She didn't just want to be there just to be there.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_08: She was really interested in what I had to say.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_08: And I mean, I appreciate that from her because you don't find that type of relationship so easily.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_08: And that's why I'm so grateful for her that God's put her in my life and in my family's life.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_08: And I just know that we're gonna grow and prosper from there.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_08: And no matter what happens, she's always gonna be a beautiful person inside and out, and I know I can depend on her no matter what.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_08: So, yeah, Judy Graeber's like amazing.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_03: We really do have so many amazing leaders who make our student ministry possible to provide these different opportunities for our students to grow closer in their relationship with Christ.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_03: And so I just want to take a second and recognize um just a large group of people who have an impact on our ministry.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_03: One of those people, my wife Gabby, um, especially just being gone at different events and things all summer, um, I really appreciate you for being there and supporting me in that.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Lori, yeah.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, Lori, just for everything that she does, all the behind-the-scenes things that happen in student ministry, all of our summer interns who have just poured hours and hours into this summer, Jeremiah for leading worship and organizing the band today, Sam and everybody back in the in the tech department for making all of this cool stuff possible that some of us are not as good at.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, thank you guys for all you do there.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_03: All of our year-round small group leaders, we have about 30 small group leaders year-round, which um they they take the time and they spend week after week Sunday and also midweeks to pour in to our kids here at TBC.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_03: And then all of our adult volunteers, parents who help out at different events like driving for summer sizzle or being a host home for big weekend or whatever the case is.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_03: So, can we just give a big round of applause to everybody who has a hand in this?
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_03: It really is really neat to do that.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: And so, if you're not already involved in student ministry in some type of way, I would highly encourage you just to pray about that.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_03: If you're looking for a place to get plugged in, if you're looking for a place where you can serve and also be poured into and also gain a lot yourself, then I'd highly encourage you to pray and think about being a leader in our student ministry, whether that's being a small group leader on Sunday morning, maybe it's being a small group leader during the midweek time, or maybe even if you can't commit to doing something like that consistently, you'd be able to commit to spending a few hours each month, maybe twice a month, meeting one-on-one with a student, maybe meeting with a small group of students at Sonic or at McDonald's or wherever it is.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_03: Because as we read the statistics that come out, for students who grow up in the church, about three out of every four of them, once they hit college, they're going their own way, they're not getting plugged into church.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_03: And one thing I like to tell the students is we want you to graduate high school, but we don't want you to graduate God.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_03: And one of the biggest influences for students in remaining in church and remaining connected to God is if they have somebody that they can point to and say, this specific person helped me in my walk with the Lord.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'd just encourage you to pray about that.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: If you would like to be a person like that, where you have students who are looking back and saying, This person helped me grow closer in my walk with God, pray about that, and I'd really love for you to be a part of this amazing ministry.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_03: And right now I'd like to bring up two of our volunteers, Blaine and Lindy Clark, if you guys will come forward.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_03: They've been, yeah, give them a round of applause.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_03: They have been leaders in student ministry for a decade now, and it's an amazing feat in itself.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: They've got two beautiful kids, Boone and Caroline, both under the age of five, and they they still make it every week on Sunday mornings as well as um some other different events.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so one thing that I'm curious about, and I think everybody else probably is too, with as busy as you guys are and everything that's happened just in your family over the over the past few years, having two kids under five, what keeps you connected to student ministry and wanting to be a leader?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_05: I would say that God has any time that we make time to serve the Lord, He dumps that time back out on us.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_05: So, you know, we don't really, it doesn't take that much time for us to come to church and to spend maybe an extra hour or do something midweek.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_05: It always feels like, oh no, maybe that's gonna be too much.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_05: But if you make time to serve the Lord, he's going to bless you and give you that time back in the week.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_05: And for some reason, there's always more time after we're done serving the Lord than than if we just decided not to do that.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: So uh for me, I think a big part of it is growing up in the church, uh having uh had different leaders throughout uh different aspects, you know, grade school and whatnot.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: I still get to see those leaders and I get to talk to them.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I've actually had several of their children come through and I've got to volunteer and be leaders for their kids.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just another way that uh we can kind of be if we're the hands and feet of the church, we have to be the hands and feet.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's we have to be present, we have to be here not just on Sunday mornings as sitting in the congregation, but uh we all have different gifts, and I have the maturity level of an eighth grader.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I hang out with young men and wrestle and play, and I get to uh I just day to day get to pour a little love on them, and you know I get to kind of hear a little feedback over the years on you know how they're doing and watch them grow up, and it's it's pretty cool.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it definitely is cool to pour into um students, to pour into kids if any of you guys have volunteered anywhere else in your lives, like I have.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes when you go to volunteer, you volunteer because you want to help, but then you end up being feeling like you've been impacted more than you've actually poured out.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_03: And so for you guys, I know you guys have kind of a similar experience, but how have you guys been impacted personally by serving as leaders in the student ministry?
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I started serving, I haven't done it quite as long as Blaine has, but it's maybe been like eight or nine years.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_05: And so that was before I became a parent, and I thought, like going into help, I'm like, I'm gonna tell them what's what I'm gonna be a good example.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_05: And I quickly learned that that's not really how it works, that you have to lead by example, and you really have to be following after Christ so that you can pour out and talk to these kids about what's going on in your life.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_05: If you don't have an active spiritual life with the Lord and you're not really following him, there you're not gonna have anything to give to them or to talk to them about.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_05: So it's it's made me have to have a genuine, thriving walk with the Lord so that I can come in every week and and I can encourage them, but that's what's it's been for me.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like a like a wild animal smells fear, kids smell just fake.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you go in there and tell them one thing and they can see through your life or behavior that that's not how you act, um, they're pretty much gonna tune you out for the rest of the time.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I really had to, like she said, you gotta be the image that you portray has to be what you're you're saying, also.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: And even in the word I've you know, if you're if you're if you're teaching these young men, for my instance, about the Bible, you really should know the Bible a little bit at least.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you have to be honest, nobody's gonna be perfect, you don't have to be a perfect person to come in here and help, but you have to be real and you have to have the desire.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: What you are striving for has to be what you're telling these kids to aim for.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh otherwise you're just, I think Paul said a sounding gong, you're just noise in their ear, and they get a lot of that anyway.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, that's true.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: It definitely is a great, a great time and a great experience as far as accountability and making sure that we as leaders are staying in the word and being good examples of the things that we're trying to teach our students.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um in your in your guys' experience over the past 10 years or so, what is at least one way that you've seen an impact on students because of your leadership?
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_05: I would have to say that sometimes the the times that I would spend with them, like I wouldn't think that they would think it was that significant.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_05: But like we, you know, have like fun events that we do summer sizzle and that kind of stuff.
• 42:38
  SPEAKER_05: But recently I was talking with some of the now interns, and they remembered some probably weird and goofy stuff that I that I did.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_05: And I didn't realize that that would be something that they would take with them and that they would remember and even really care about.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_05: But it's been really cool to see how they've gone from I'm not that tall, I used to be tall, taller than all of them, and now they're they're all grown up, but they're also grown up in the Lord and they're following after him.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_05: And to think that I might have had a little part to play is completely thrilling.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: So like Lindney said, you get to, I mean, you get to invest in these.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, for for the most part of my career, I've had seventh and eighth grade boys, and a lot of it's just sit down, stop breaking things, that hurts.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the probably a month ago, I had a young man come up to me and uh hadn't seen him in several years, and he was like, Hey, I'm with Young Life now, and I'm working with these young boys, and I have this group of just ragtag misfits, and we've been doing all these cool activities, and we went on this trip, and I told him about Jesus, and we're having these Bible studies, and he was the kid everybody loved except the leaders, because he took everybody the other way.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: Just follow me, and that he turned it around, and now he's bringing these young men up in a way that's you know, following the Lord, and you know, it just being able to be there with him for that little bit of time and hoping that something I said or just being around him just helped him steer him in that direction is really cool to see because you know, through all my faults, I can help progress the kingdom, and that's really cool.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_03: So that is really cool to see.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: And like they've shared, being a leader in this ministry is absolutely not for perfect people.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_03: So if you think that you're perfect, this is not the ministry to get involved in.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, there might be somewhere else for you.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: This is for people who just want to be real, who want to invest in the next generation of students who want to share the gospel, who want to share Jesus Christ, talk about Christ in the context of life, and help lead people to life in Christ, like like we're trying to do at Topeka Bible Church as a whole.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_03: And so I really encourage you to pray about getting involved in some type of way.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_03: Even if you don't know how you would get involved, just please contact me and we can talk about it and be very creative.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_03: Because there's there's lots and lots of students and lots of ways that you can get involved.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_03: So let me pray for us this morning.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_03: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the opportunity to worship together in the morning.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for all of our students that we get to pour into.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for how they impact our lives as leaders.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for the leaders that we do have and the leaders who we will have in the future, God, and just pray that you would prepare them and work in their hearts.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_03: Lord, we thank you most of all for Jesus Christ that he came, lived a perfect life, that he died on the cross for our sins, and that through his sacrifice, through his resurrection, that we could have eternal life.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_03: Lord, send us out today.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_03: Help us to live for you, help us to be examples and to share your gospel about Jesus Christ in words and in our actions.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_03: In Jesus' name, amen.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_03: You're dismissed.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for coming this morning.