Redefined: FBC Starkville February 2015

R E D E F I N E DF B C S TA R KV I L L E F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5

A S TO RY O FD I S C I P L E S H I PA c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h

J o B e t h D o d d s .P. 8

B I B L I C A LM A R R I AG EW h a t m a k e s a

m a r r i a g e s a c re d ? P.1 0

S E R V I N G T H R O U G HG U E S T S E R V I C E M I N I S T RY

We l c o m i n g p e o p l e t oF B C S t a r k v i l l e .

P.1 4

BiblicalMarriage

2 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 | I s s u e 2

CHILDRENS BUILDING

OPENING!FEBRUARY 8THNEW SUNDAY MORNING SCHEDULE

SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:45 AM

WORSHIP SERVICES8:30 & 11:00 AM

CONTENTS

B I B L I C A LM A R R I AG E

W h a t m a k e s a m a r r i a g e s a c re d ?

A S TO RY O FD I S C I P L E S H I PA c o n v e r s a t i o n w i t h

J o B e t h D o d d s

8CHURCH STAFFC H I P S T E V E N S S E N I O R PA S TO R | [email protected]

C L I F TO N C U R T I SA S S O C . PA S TO R O F PA S TO R A L C A R E & FAC I L I T Y A D M I N .

[email protected]

D R . TO M J E N K I N S A S S O C . PA S TO R O F M U S I C & M E D I A | [email protected]

N AT H A N TAY LO R U N I V E R S I T Y & M I S S I O N S M I N I S T E R | [email protected]

N E I L T U L LO S YO U T H M I N I S T E R | [email protected]

L E A H F R A N C E S E ATO N DIRECTOR OF CHILDRENS MINISTRY | [email protected]

C H A R I T Y G WA LT N E Y DIRECTOR OF PRESCHOOL MINISTRY | [email protected]

B O B BY D A L E S S A N D R O DIRECTOR OF MEDIA & TECHNICAL ARTS MINISTRY

[email protected]

4 First Word from Chip Stevens

FEATURES5 Youth Relationships

8 GATHER: From Visitors to Sunday School Teachers

16 GO: A Journey to East Asia

OUR CHURCH FAMILY18 Book Review: The 5 Love Languages

19 Our Church Family Updates

20 Parents Page/Upcoming Events

21 Calendar

S E R V I N G T H R O U G HG U E S T S E R V I C E S M I N I S T RY

We l c o m i n g p e o p l e t oF B C S t a r k v i l l e .

4 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 5 | I s s u e 2

hen you think about February, you generally think about Valentines Day. From passing out small cards with candy attached in elementary school to buying a special gift or dinner for your spouse, the month of February has been an opportunity to show appreciation to the one we love. One things for sure: love gets a lot more complicated when you get past cards and candy.

For the month of February, the sermon series is entitled Marriage:Redefined. We will look at what Gods Word says about life before marriage, about Gods desire for marriage, what Gods Word has to say about same-sex relationships, and how to have a marriage that lasts. Each of these messages will help us really take a closer look at Gods heart regarding marriage. In a world that sends so many conflicting messages about what love is, its imperative that we,

as a church, know truth so we can live it and communicate it. I hope youll join us each Sunday for worship.

In this months edition of Redefined, youll find guidance for parenting dating youth, a book review of The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman and an article based on an infor-mal church survey about Biblical marriage. In addition to the calendar and events for February, youll also find stories about how God is working in the lives of people at FBC.

We are so excited to move into the new Childrens Building on February 8. With the new building comes a new schedule. With the new schedule comes new opportunities to GATHER, GROW, GIVE, and GO. We hope youll take advantage of these opportunities for you and your family to grow in your relationship with Christ and to invite others to do the same. These are exciting days.

Thank you for allowing us to GATHERGROWGIVEand GO with you!

FIRST WORDFROM CHIP STEVENS

Twitter: @fbcstarkchip

F B C S TA R K V I L L E . C O M 5

outh pastors have a front row seat to teenage couples falling in love at summer camp or some other youth event. Within hours they become convinced that their new crush is the love of their life. Girls begin making wedding plans, and its all great until the bus pulls back into the church parking lot just in time for them to break up.

The teenage years are a time of constant change. As they are transitioning from childhood into adulthood, they are constantly seeking out and discovering what they like and dont like. Soccer was their favorite sport, but now its baseball, and itll be football within a few months. They are discovering what subjects or hobbies interest them. They are becoming aware of how God has gifted them. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that how a teenager feels about a particular guy or girl wont last long either. Thankfully, teens dont have to go through this stage of life without the influence

and guidance of moms, dads, and other adults who care for them. While parents cannot control the emotions of their teenager; that does not mean that moms and dads should throw up their hands in surrender on the topic of youth relationships.

If you were to read the various parenting books for parents of teens, you would find a wide variety of opinions on the topic. Some writers express that teenagers should

abstain from dating altogether, while others write that there's nothing wrong with teenagers dating as it helps prepare them for a future marriage by discovering what to look for (or avoid) in a future spouse. Scripture does give moms and dads some guidance - not necessarily a how-to-list for handling teens and dating, but it gives some principles for how to guide them.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you

today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

- Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Scripture teaches us that parents are to be engaged in regular conversations with their teenagers. Your own love for the Lord should be spilling over into your conversations with your teen no matter the topic of discussion - sports, school or dating. That doesnt mean its an easy

YOUTHRELATIONSHIPS

B Y N E I L T U L LO S

NEIL TULLOS has served as our Youth Minister since 2014. You can connect with him on Twitter @neiltullos or on The City.

conversation. Here are a few ideas that might help with your teen:

Set a pattern worth copying - Display a marriage/dating relationship/singleness that gives your son or daughter a good pattern to follow in their own life. Create a high level of expectation for your child in their dating relationships.

Have an ongoing conversation rather than the talk - Have an open line of communication where your son or daughter has the freedom to have honest conversations about dating.

Pray - If your teen is dating there is no doubt that your prayer life has increased, but even more than that, begin praying now for the type of person your teen is becoming and for their future spouse. Let your teen know that you care deeply about who he or she is becoming and for the type of person that they will choose to marry one day.

To stay engaged with what is happening each week in our youth ministry and how to continue the conversation in your home, join our Youth Parents Group on The City. Each week, parenting resources are published to help you parent your teen.

"Your own love for the Lord

should be spi l l ing over into your

conversat ions with your teen no

matter the topic of d iscuss ion

- sports , school or dat ing."

- Nei l Tul los

GATHERF B C S TA R KV I L L E

B Y L E A H F R A N C E S E ATO N

or many of us, Sunday comes with the expectation of attending Sunday School and a service of worship. However, Sunday School is relatively new in the life of the Christian church. It began in England in the late 1700s as a way to teach and educate children who worked in

factories and could not attend school. What began as a way to teach children how to read and write

quickly became an avenue for the advancement of the Gospel. By the 1900s, Sunday School was an integral part of the education ministries of the Church. This is still true for FBC Starkville. It is through Sunday School that the life of our church happens; where we are able to gather with people in the same station of life; and where we learn from and support each other.

FROM VISITORS TOSUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS

F B C S TA R K V I L L E . C O M 7

Of course, the worship experience offers an opportunity to learn and hear Biblical instruction, and perhaps in the midst of a busy schedule, it can be easy to forgo Sunday School and simply attend worship. Yet, if youre like me, there have been moments when you just want to raise your hand in the middle of a sermon and say, Im going to need a little clarification

on that, or Can we just explore that thought for a minute? This is why Sunday School is important and vital to our walk with the Lord. It allows us to open the door for discovery, discussion, and accountability. In these small groups, we can share the good and the bad, the victories and defeats.

In the span of six months, Jer