This youth retreat is led by a team from Liberty University. Worship and teaching times hosted at Purcellville Baptist, boys and girls small groups led by volunteers from Blue Ridge, overnight hosting by Blue Ridge families. Will include great teaching, discussion and prayer, service projects in the community, and tons of fun! Download the form and register today!

DNow Registration Form (pdf)

Deliver the form and payment to Blue Ridge Bible Church to complete your registration.

More details

When? Feb 24 @ 5:30pm to Feb 26 at noon

How much? $50
 (cost includes Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast and a t-shirt)

Registration deadline is February 15th

More info? Contact Rich Shipe at 540-338-2299 or rich@brbible.org

We hope to see you there!

We will celebrate Super Bowl Sunday on February 5 by a canned food drive for our annual “Souper” Bowl Sunday! We will join more than a quarter of a million young people around the country who use Super Bowl Sunday as a way to raise awareness of local hunger relief charities. The food we collect will go to Tree of Life Food Pantry right here in Purcellville. Urgent food needs include: canned vegetables, canned fruits, canned meats, canned beans, canned soups and chili, 100% juices, peanut butter & jelly, honey, rice & pasta, spaghetti and tomato sauce, macaroni & cheese, baking items such as flour, sugar, vegetable oil, pancake mix and syrup, cake mixes and frosting, condiments (ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise), breakfast cereal, ground coffee and tea.

Thank You Night is a chance for clubbers to express gratitude for those who influence and serve for Christ. We want to instill an attitude for gratitude.

On Heart Night we will examine the condition of our hearts. There will be a special council time message and some awesome treats!

Leap Day is only celebrated every four years. We will leap between activities all night long! Join us for some high flying adventure!

Just an administration note: When we have to cancel Awana due to weather, we will make every effort to call all our clubbers to inform them. The church website will have up-to-the-minute information as well. And don’t forget to follow the church on Twitter for all the latest information.

February 5 – Souper Bowl Sunday!

February 12 – Thank You Night

February 19 – Heart Night

February 26 – Leap Night

By Geni Hall

I’ve been involved in politics and pro-life causes since I was in high school. It would seem that we are winning the pro-life debate in our country in a lot of ways. It used to be that you would constantly hear people argue that the baby is just a blob of cells. Thankfully more and more people are admitting that the baby is a human life distinct from his mother. But sadly the argument seems to now be shifting to a debate over whether some lives are not worth living. People say that because the baby has a disability it should be killed. People say that because the baby is unwanted it should be killed. Those are very sad statements, aren’t they?

Registration is closed because our vans are full. If you would like to come and have a vehicle of your own you are very welcome to join us! Details below…

Details:

11:30 a.m. – Pre-trip meeting, prayer, and departure

6:00 p.m. – Estimated return

We’ll tweet when we are leaving DC with an estimate of arrival back in Purcellville: twitter.com/brbible

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
~ Psalm 139:13-16

Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Christmas Eve, 6 pm

Come remember the reason for the season this Christmas Eve at “Let There Be Light,” a special service at Blue Ridge Bible Church on December 24 from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Enjoy singing many familiar carols along with the Blue Ridge Children’s Choir as we light the candles of advent and retell the Christmas story.

Christmas Day, 11 am

Childcare through age five will be provided during this service. There will be no 8:30 am service and no Sunday school at 9:45 am.

Homepage photo by Jeff Weese.

816 children logging 2,172 clubber-years and 143,000+ Bible verse recitations
315 families
600+ parents
1,300+ visitors
288 directors and leaders logging 700 leader-years including:
53 Leaders-In-Training (older teens groomed to become leaders)
86 Patrick Henry College students
63 young adults
Hundreds of Romanian children and adults through our sister Awana Club run by missionaries, Adrian & Lavinia Dreana
1,500+ third-world children through our annual participation in Operation Christmas Child

Thousands of children and adults have been impacted by God’s work in and through Awana at Blue Ridge since it began 15 years ago. It plays a vitally effective part in our church’s outreach, discipleship, family ministry, volunteer training and leadership development efforts, aligning directly with Blue Ridge’s Mission, Values, and Vision.

What is Awana?

Spawned in Chicago 60 years ago, Awana is a fully integrated evangelism and discipleship program that appeals to both churched and non-churched kids, leading them to trust Christ for salvation and grow them in enduring faith and service to God.* Fun games, engaging materials and methods, and involved parents and leaders all come together for an exciting experience that helps shape kids for God’s eternal purposes.

Awana blends biblical instruction, evangelism, scripture memorization and tons of fun for kids ages 2 to 18 along with their families and entire communities while helping instruct parents, train volunteers and making a life-defining, long-lasting spiritual impact.

Today more than 1.5 million children and youth, 250,000 volunteers and 170+ field staff take part in Awana in over 22,000 churches from 100 different denominations in the U.S. and internationally each week.*

Its Philosophy

God intends parents to be the primary spiritual nurturers of their children. He designed the home to be the center of discipleship where kids are molded into spiritually-mature Christ followers and where parents and children grow together in faith, building stronger families and churches along the way.* Awana helps parents fulfill this calling.

The ages of 4 to 14 are the golden hour of evangelism. Research, anecdotal evidence and even common sense all clearly identify the childhood years as the window of opportunity for the greatest life-saving impact for eternity. For a large majority of people, if they do not respond to the gospel as a child, they likely will not do so later in life. All the ages of youth form the silver day. The teenage years as well provide a prime opportunity to evangelize. - Rock-Solid Kids, Larry Fowler

When parents and churches work together to teach God’s Word across kids’ formative years, they produce young adults marked by steadfast biblical faith and character.*

Its Impact

Today’s church is in crisis. The trends are troubling:

• Over half of all church-going teens abandon their faith after high school.
• As few as one in 10 possesses a biblical view of God and the world.
• Bible knowledge among college students has plummeted to all-time lows.
• The majority of children from Christian homes leave the church by age 19.*

Unfortunately, these are more than mere statistics. They represent millions of young people around the country. The crisis they face—and that churches and parents must confront—is all too real.*

By contrast, most kids trained in Awana continue to faithfully follow Jesus as adults.* Independent research demonstrates that young adults with 6 or more years of previous Awana experience are dramatically different from their peers:

• Church attendance – 92.7 percent of Awana alumni continue to regularly attend church as adults, and only 1.8 percent said they had dropped out of church since high school. By comparison, 36 percent of Americans surveyed by Baylor who attended church at age 12 said they are now unchurched as adults.*
• Belief in God – 93.7 percent of Awana alumni said they wholeheartedly believe in God as opposed to 65.8 percent of Baylor respondents.*
• Jesus and salvation – 98.6 percent of Awana alumni believe Jesus is God’s Son compared to 70 percent of Americans and 85 percent of Protestants. 93 percent of Awana alumni believe Christ is the only way to salvation. 69.6 percent of Americans believe many roads lead to salvation or do not believe in salvation.*
• Belief about the Bible – 94 percent of Awana alumni believe the Bible is God’s Word compared to 58 percent of Americans and 73 percent of Protestants. Awana alumni are also 3.6 times more likely than other churchgoers and Americans to read in virtually every case the Bible several times a week.*
• Church service – At 74 percent, Awana alumni were five times more likely than Americans polled by Baylor to serve their church 11 hours or more each month.*
• Personal evangelism – 70 percent of Awana alumni said they share their faith with friends at least once a month compared to 35.7 percent of the national average, 48.7 percent of Protestants and 59 percent of the most devoted churchgoers.*

Awana alumni were found to be more devoted to God, His Word and their local church than even the nation’s most committed churchgoers.* Why? The evidence indicates that consistent, long-term participation in Awana—accompanied by spiritual training from parents—reaps long-lasting results.*

By Earl Hall

* Content reprinted from material available on the Awana website at www.awana.org

In addition, clubbers often struggle with inviting friends and neighbors to join us at Awana. Our focus is outreach. We do want to reach our neighbors for Christ. Our goal is to lovingly open our doors and share the Good News about Christ to the lost. Because of that, we plan to do a literature drop in Purcellville neighborhoods advertising our Awana program with doorknob hangers. For the Awana clubbers in uniform who join us to help, this will count as one visitor requirement in their book. The outreach event is planned for Labor Day, Monday, September 5th. Watch the bulletin for further details.

Leadership training will take place the end of August! Be praying how God can use you in this dynamic ministry. Positions fill up fast so contact us today!

Contact Earl and Geni Hall for further information (earlwmhall@aol.com, genihall@aol.com)

Also consider how you might get involved with the church’s orphans and adoption ministry, Reflection Ministries.

As the children help Mr. MacDonald with his harvest, he teaches them the parable of the seed and the sower. When they’re visited by some mischievous crows and rumor weeds, they begin to understand that the best way to produce the fruit God desires in their lives is to plant their roots firmly in God’s Word.

All children ages 7 to 13 (as of January 1, 2011) are welcome to join the choir for this production. The musical contains 10 songs which the entire choir will be performing together with no auditions necessary. There will be auditions for speaking roles and solos, tentatively scheduled for March 30 and April 3. Every child in choir is welcome to audition.

Keep reading for complete details and how to participate!

To join this production, simply fill out the form below which includes an order for CDs and choral books. Each family should order at least 1 CD and choral book (you may choose to order more if you desire for each child in your family to have their own book or CD). CDs cost $6 each and choral books cost $8 each. Please submit your order form by Tuesday, March 8. Payment will be collected at a later date at choir, when the order arrives. (We will also be purchasing t-shirts for this production which will be ordered at a later date and should cost no more than $10 per child.)

Our rehearsal schedule will involve our regular Wednesday night rehearsals from 7 to 8 pm. In addition, the whole choir will need to be at two extra rehearsals during the week of the musical (technical and dress rehearsals). Choir members who receive speaking roles will have additional acting rehearsals either before or after choir on Wednesday nights (for example, either from 6 to 7 pm or 8 to 9 pm).

Acorns to Oaks is an excellent opportunity for your children to learn more about growing in Christ, advance their musical and artistic skills, and hide God’s Word in their heart through memorable songs they will love to sing!

Imagine your son or daughter in 30 or 40 years. What one phrase would sum up everything that you hope for in the life and character of your son or daughter?

Amy Chua (the “Tiger Mom”) recently published a book called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother which contrasts the “western” approach to parenting with the Chinese approach which she considers superior. Here is how she sums up the two views:

Western parents try to respect their children’s individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. By contrast, the Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they’re capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

I think the “Tiger Mom” would answer my question by saying she would want her children to be successful. And she would argue that there is an absolute standard of success. In her view “success” is always getting A’s and never an A minus or less. Her hope is that her children will work at whatever they are doing until they reach that perfect grade.

Of course there is nothing wrong with success and hard work and doing well at what you are doing. But does success really sum up our hope for the future as Christians? Even if our son or daughter is the most successful person of their generation will that really be enough? Jesus asks this question in Mark 8:36, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

So what is the answer? What phrase should describe our hope for our children? Jesus tells us a couple of verses earlier:

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Mark 8:34-35 ESV

Jesus calls us to “come after” him. This is what it means to be a disciple of Christ. This is my hope for my children to be a…

Disciple of Christ

If my children as adults are fully devoted disciples of Christ, my hope for them will be realized. And Christ does not just give us a phrase but he also clearly defines it. These disciples are not just Christian In Name Only, they are doing three things: 1) Denying themselves (huge!), 2) willingly sacrificing themselves for the cause of Christ (even unto death), and 3) following Christ in their life. I get excited just thinking about it. If my children are doing those things what more could I want?

If your hope is that your children grow to become fully devoted disciples of Christ, I want to recommend the book Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp. In my opinion this book is a  modern classic. It will help parents understand their role as partners with the Holy Spirit in leading their children to become disciples of Christ. We must remember that our children’s greatest problem and their only solution is the same as with all mankind. Our collective problem is sin and our collective answer is our savior Jesus Christ.

But what are we, fathers, doing today to help lead our children toward being disciples of Christ? My family has done a lot in the last two years, including: piano lessons, the softball practices, the school work, the music competitions, the art classes, the vacations to amazing places, the museums, Sunday School, etc. In doing all these things was I (or am I) doing them in hope of my children becoming something other than a disciple of Christ? Is them becoming a disciple of Christ a lower goal or hope?

We are in the process of adopting two boys from Haiti. I just know that I will be tempted to push them into sports because of my secret hope that one of them will be the next Pierre Garçon (Haitian born wide receiver for the Colts).

All those things I am doing for my children are good things, but what good is it if they master those areas but forfeit their soul?

Clearly my job as their father is to disciple them. But to do it right is to disciple them in Christ, not in success.

Do you want your child to not hit their siblings? Or do you want your child to deal with anger at the heart level with the power of the Holy Spirit?

Do you want your child to work hard? Or do you want your child to work heartily knowing they are serving the Lord Jesus Christ?

Here is a harder one for us as parents: Do you want your child to be a successful (fill in the blank)? Or do you want your child to deny his own desires, be willing to sacrifice self, and then do whatever Christ calls him to do?

Tedd Tripp will help you to see your call as a father to lead your children in partnership with the Holy Spirit toward being disciples of Christ, not disciples of “success.”