Just so you know, if you happen to tragically miss a week at EPIC you can download our podcast in iTunes or the Zune marketplace.  Or you can click HERE to listen online!!

Have fun downloading, listening and TAKING NOTES!!!

-Rob Jr.

This weekend at EPIC we concluded our series on the doctrine of justification called Jesus + Nothing = Everything. (both title and content based on the book of the same title by Tullian Tchividjian) It was serious, fun and effective. We made an intentional effort to be more theologically heavy and doctrinally challenging.  I think our students were challenged and I pray they now understand God’s incredible Grace more than ever.  The last week of the series was really a recap of the other weeks.  Here were the points:

1. We worship an incomprehensibly glorious God.

Isaiah 6 and

Isaiah 45:5 – I am the Lord, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.

2. We are sinfully lost people

Gen 8:21 – Every inclination of man’s heart is evil from childhood

Matt 19:12 -  Spiritually sick

2 Thess. 2:9 –  We are continually perishing

3. God’s grace is simply scandalous.

The beauty of the gospel is that God knows all our sins and sinful desires yet does not count them against us because of the cross of Jesus.

Great series.  Excited to see how our students respond to God’s grace.

-Rob Jr.

As we have moved into uncharted territory in our Student Ministry, we have been praying intensely about what God has next for us.  In the last 18 months we have experienced tremendous growth in attendees, student leadership and adult leadership as God has repeatedly blessed this ministry.  As we look to the future we are breaking ground on some new goals and targets for this season of EPIC Student Ministry.

We came up with these specific Vision statements or goals for where we believe God is calling us to go in the next 3-5 years.

• 250 student consistently committed to EPIC Groups by December 2013
•  80 Adult Leaders trained, commissioned and engaged in serving in the Student Ministry by December by 2013
•  160 students at Camp EPIC by summer of 2013; along with another significant contingency of students partnering with us in EPIC Mission: Brazil
•  Have a dedicated Student Center for EPIC by December 2015

These are lofty goals and if achieved it will only be by God’s hand and for his glory.   This excites me.  Having concrete targets and solidified vision can be scary because it is easy to see when you miss the mark; but this is a risk that our ministry team is willing to take as we seek God’s will humbly and obey boldly.

In the first three verse of Psalm 23 it reads;

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.

We exist for God’s namesake. This vision is simply an expression of our humble seeking and bold obedience.  Please join us as we pray for God to move.

-Rob Jr.

5. Each day Camp Rec is filled with something new!  You have the opportunity to go off-site for White Water Rafting, puddle-jumping, Lake Tubing, wakeboarding or even hiking.  The water is freezing and you will get wet during ‘Raft Wars.’

4. OR you can stay on campus for Camp Rec and you can choose from; hanging in the foam pit, the shooting range, kicking it at the skate park, paintballing, basketball, the Goliath Swing and the ‘3 Man Swing – Pastor Rob vomited 5 times on the 3 man swing last summer – let’s hope he can top that this year!

3. If you went last year, these two words will help you remember the fun, the crazy, the INSANITY and the awesomeness this is EPIC CAMP SWO – “Pancake House.”

2. EPIC Camp SWO is a life changing event.  You will meet new friends, build new relationships, make lifetime memories and most important of all, you will encounter God in a way you never have before!

1. Everybody’s doing it! – this is the one time you want to be like the crowd; everyone else is going – you don’t want to be left. Come be a part of the BIG stuff that God is going to do in you this summer at EPIC Camp SWO.

EPIC Camp SWO is this summer from June 10 – 16.  We will be returning to the same location we did last year – Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters in Andrews, NC.  Registration is open and we have 112 spots but they are filling up fast so sign up now at www.thestudentwebsite.com.  If you have any questions please contact us at students@stfchurch.com

- Rob Jr.

I am completely and utterly convinced that short-term mission projects are effective and beneficial for Students!  I have participated in short term mission trips as both a student and a leader and I am excited and prayerful to see what God is going to do this summer in our students and through our Students on our trip – EPIC Mission: Brazil.

Mission Trips have so many angles and moving parts.  As I see our trip coming together with travel arrangements, lodging, transportation and our partnership with the on-the-ground organization that we are working with Projecta Vida; I cant help but get excited and encouraged. But the most encouraging aspect of our trip is the students I see signing up.  It is the students who will be challenged, broken, sustained, grown and changed!  As I see the students who are signing up to go here are my three prayers for our team:

1. If there is a non-Christian student partnering with us, I pray that he/she is challenged to experience the life-changing grace of Jesus Christ.  What a testimony this would be!

2. For the students who are ‘fringe,’  those students who come only part time; I pray they are challenged to embrace God  on a whole new level; moving from the outside to ALL IN with their commitment to their relationship with our Savior.

3. For the student who is already ALL IN, committed and leading the charge, I pray that they will be drawn in with a whole new appreciation and understanding of God’s greater Kingdom.

God is ordaining and preparing students to partner with us from all walks of life, and we are ready to embrace them.  Please join our Student Ministry Team in praying for these students; and if you would like to help contribute financially to this trip and to the destinies of these students please contact us at students@stfchurch.com

This is a letter I read to our Student Ministry at EPIC on Sunday January 15th.  It was a description of what I have been wrestling with for the next season of our ministry.  The three main hopes I have for our students this semester are:

1. That they will forget and overcome all the junk and opposition they face in the world and go ALL IN this year for Jesus; putting him on the throne of their lives.

2.  That each and every student would get connected to an EPIC Group.  NO EXCUSES – ALL IN

3. That each student would consider joining our growing deeper Bible Study on Wednesday nights at 6:30 – Emerge.

-Rob Jr.

EPIC_011512

Top 10 moments of EPIC 2011

10. The ‘Gift Prayer’ that we prayed over the Seniors with- by SLAMMING them in the face with shaving cream

9. Dateable- the series, our tag line, ‘It won’t last’ and the 81 commitments to purity

8. Spring Break Mission – 25 of our Students using their Spring Breaks to serve our Community

7.the EPIC worship team and particularly the song, Give Me Faith

6. Every time Austen Stewart danced in 2011

5. Student Leadership Team Ski Trip

4. Frontliners – Our Summer trip to Arkansas to share the Gospel and grow closer to God.  What an impactful time.

3. The EPIC Icing Fight – BEST.EPIC.EVER.

2. Camp SWO

1. The birth a special future EPIC student – Hadley Elizabeth Flint

Top 10 things we are looking forward to in 2012:

10. The birth of Danielle’s son, Westin

9. Dodgeball in the BIRTHA

8. Each of you becoming true FOLLOWERS of God; NOT A FAN

7. Our Dating Series- Zombie Apocalypse

6. the BIG Split – different teaching each week for MS & HS

5. our summer intern-

4. Camp SWO

3. More students stepping up into leadership; SLT, Groups Leaders, & HOST team

2. Mission Brazil

1. Each and every one of you Epic-ers getting plugged into and connected with a Group!