All students of GSM are encouraged to participate in our ongoing Community Groups that meet twice-a-month during the school year. High School students meet on the 1st & 3rd Sundays from 6-8 p.m., and Junior High students meet on the 2nd & 4th Sundays from 6-8 p.m. Here are our schedules for the year, including the Sundays that we will not meet.
August 1st was the 6 month marker for me here at Grace, and what a great 6 months it has been. I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, and spend a lot of time with some great students. I feel like we have made great strides in building relationships, meeting some organizational needs, enlisting leadership, and most importantly in trying to align the direction of GSM with our core values of Worship, Community, and Mission.
One part of that process that has taken shape recently, is the makeup of our GSM Staff. I feel very privileged to have added two great people as teammates in the Ministry......
Chris Hemphill joined our staff on August 15th in the role of University Blvd Student Director. Chris is a graduate of the University of Georgia, and has served the past two summers as a Pine Cove Staffer, most recently as a Senior Counselor. Chris also graduated last May from the Forge, Pine Cove's 9 month discipleship program. During our interviews with Chris, I really appreciated the passion he showed for the Lord, for students, for teaching, and for relationships, and I know that God will do amazing things through his ministry at UB, and as a part of GSM.
FOCUS is coming!!! Starting on 4/1, all GSM students (6th-12th Grade) in Tyler will gather together each Wednesday for a High-Energy time of Worship, Bible Study, and Recreation. We'll meet at the Old Jacksonville Campus from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. What a great opportunity this will be to set aside a small portion of time in the middle of a hectic week, to FOCUS on who God is, what He is doing, and how He wants to involve us in His plan. Students are encouraged to start blocking off this time in your weekly schedule, help us spread the word, and begin thinking about what friends you will bring with you each week.
REMEMBER our two LEAD-IN events to the kick-off of our first Wednesday night FOCUS!
NEXT Wednesday, 3/18: GSM (JH and HS) @ the SKATEPLEX! Bring $5 and friends from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. as we rent out the rink for our group. Snack Bar will be available, as well as access to THE CAVE - black-light game room with LCD screens, PS3's, Wii's, and XBOX 360's.
Wednesday, 3/25: GSM Aggie Softball! Junior High vs High School. We will meet @ the GCS Upper Campus Baseball Field for a non-traditional game of Softball. The Junior High team gets to play normal, while the High School team has to do everything backwards. Bat, Catch, Throw, etc. We will have hamburgers and hot dogs available @ 6:00 pm. with the games scheduled to run from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Starting on Wednesday, April 1st, all GSM students (6th - 12th Grade) in Tyler will gather together each week for a High-Energy time of Worship, Bible Study, and Recreation. We'll meet at the Old Jacksonville Campus from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. What a great opportunity this will be to set aside a small portion of time in the middle of a hectic week, to FOCUS on who God is, what He is doing, and how He wants to involve us in His plan. Students are encouraged to start blocking off this time in your weekly schedule, help us spread the word, and begin thinking about what friends you will bring with you each week.
We are also excited to announce two LEAD-IN events to the kick-off of our first Wednesday night FOCUS!
Wednesday, March 18th: GSM (JH and HS) @ the SKATEPLEX! Bring $5 and friends from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. as we rent out the arena for our group. Snack Bar and Video Games will be available.
Wednesday, March 25th: GSM Aggie Softball! Junior High vs High School. We will meet @ the GCS Upper Campus Baseball Field for a non-traditional game of Slow-Pitch Softball. The Junior High team gets to play normal, while the High School team has to do everything backwards. Bat, Catch, Throw, etc. We hope to have hamburgers and hot dogs available @ 6:00 pm. with the games scheduled to run from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Join us @ GSM on Sunday @ 9:30 as we work through a study entitled
Live Love: A New Life. A New Love.
What are you living for? With so much going on, what really matters? Christ said His followers should be known for their love. Drawing from the writings of John, the beloved disciple, Live Love focuses on the heart of life as part of God’s family. What are students living for? Love changes everything.
Feb. 1st All OJ students in refinery
(6th -12th grade) 9:30 am
Feb. 8th Introduce Mickey & Family
(all three services)
Interview Mickey on Stage
No Student Life (classes for students) students attend church service
Feb. 15th After church lunch
GSM High school worship band
Lunch following 11 O'clock service for parents and studentsMickey speaks and share vision, heart for GSM at lunch.
GSM Volunteer Ingredients: A heart for God, A love and passion to reach students, the ability to control a wild group of teenagers, someone able to endure sleepless nights at camps, retreats, and mission trips, and someone willing to be there for a student whenever they are needed.
Week in and week out we depend on you, our GSM volunteer. We would be no where without the dedicated service of each and everyone of the people that volunteers for GSM. There would be no one to lead groups on Sunday morning, disciple students in community groups, or help on Wednesday nights. In other words, our volunteers are important.
So on Sunday, January 25 from 3-4:30pm, we are once again having the Volunteer Summit. This is an opportunity for us to celebrate you and how God has used you over the course of the past year. So please come and celebrate what God has done and gain vision for what he will do. See you January 25th!
On Saturday, November 15th, a group of twelve students and I met together at 8:30 am to serve our community. We went to the newly constructed David Powell Community Food Pantry in Lindale to help with some landscaping. Our mission was to take a pile that consisted of six yards of dirt and countless roots, and use it to level out the ground around the building. Let me tell you, six yards of dirt doesn't sound like much, but it is a lot of dirt. Once we were done spreading the dirt, we had to spread seed out so grass would grow around the pantry.
On Sunday, about 25 students in Lindale got together to play a game of flag football. We had a great time. However this was much more than a football game. This game allowed people to get to know each other. We were joking and having a great time. We just took advantage of the two hours we were there to have fun. Of course there was a little bit of friendly competition and trash talking, but it was all done in fun. We didn't even keep score. This day was not about who won, or who had the best catch, or who was the best athlete. Instead, we had a great time playing football, and living life together on a Sunday afternoon.
No, not that kind of football! All junior high and high school students are welcome to join GSM at Pool Park on Sunday, November 9th to play some football. Come out and display your skills, if you think you have any. We will get started at 2:00 in the afternoon and end about 4:00. So, come out and have some fun and make sure to bring friends. By the way, Jarrett English will be playing. So I understand if you don't come so you get embarrassed when he shows you how it is done. See you Sunday!
Many people, even going back in history, have wished and searched for a fountain of youth to keep them young. Well I have found a simple way to at least stay young at heart! Volunteer with Grace Student Ministry. No, this is not a shameless plug to get volunteers, it is just my honest perspective of how giving a little of my time every week has affected my life in a huge way.
This last weekend, I was able to plan a girl's only event for our Grace Lindale students. Four women and two students graciously volunteered to help organize the evening with me. We had such an amazing time in the preparation time of it that I was pumped by the time Saturday got here. The evening was aimed to be a fun relaxing time for the junior high and high school girls so they would be able to bond and be silly. We had tons of spa related things set up for everyone to use to help us relax after the long week! The highlight of the evening came when we all piled in the bathroom together. Fifteen people, hands encased in paraffin wax, feet soaking in a jet bathtub-laughing, talking, and bonding as the wax dried. Regardless of whether we were teenager or adult, we had a blast just being girls. Each of us left with creatively painted nails, hilarious pictures, and wonderful memories of a great evening.
I have to say I was completely worn out by the time I headed home. But honestly I left feeling young at heart, blessed by my amazing God. I am so thankful that His plan brought my path to this ministry. The time spent building relationships with these teenagers has really changed my life in such a big way. I think that our girl's spa night was a great success. So if you missed out, we hope to see you next time!
Keri Hendon
Last Monday was a night of firsts for me. I had just gotten off of work when I received a phone call from a friend asking me if I wanting to go hog hunting.
Excited at the thought of killing my first hog, I quickly went home and grabbed my gun, and headed out to the land where we were hunting. When we got there, I walked about a quarter of a mile to a tripod stand at the edge a field.
I climbed into the stand and got situated and made sure that I was not going to fall out. From my stand I could see a deer feeder in the middle of the field that hogs had been eating from. I was confident that my chances were good that I was going to see some action.
I had only been sitting in my stand for about 45 minutes when this pig comes walking out of the woods from behind the deer feeder. As soon as I saw the pig, my heart began to race because of my excitement. I raised my gun slowly and located the pig through the lens of my scope.
Once I had it in my sites, I waited for it to turn to present a good target. As soon as this happened, I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and pulled the trigger. Next thing I knew I had shot my first ever hog. I was so excited. My friend and I loaded it up and took it to his house where he showed me how to skin and quarter it. Now I can say I have also skinned my very first hog. What a night!
I took the meat to a butcher shop here in town and had them make it into sausage. I just picked it up yesterday. I can't wait to grill some sausage and enjoy the fruits of my first successful hog hunt.
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