thisistheROCK

Should you date or wait to date in middle school?

This is one of the questions that we asked in this lesson. Dating in general can be a tricky thing especially when we don't root our understanding of love and marriage from the Bible. What is love at its core, and what is the purpose of marriage?

Listen in to this lesson and hear where to draw the line with dating as a disciple of Jesus.

You know the worth of someone based upon what you are willing to pay for it. You pay for that bag of candy or chips because it's worth it to you. You pay for that new video game because it's worth it. You pay for things that you believe are worth the price.

Well, what is the price for us to have a relationship with God?

In this lesson, we will talk about social media and see what it is good and bad for. Our worth should never be rootd in anyone or anything other than Jesus, and face-to-face community should never be substitued for a screen.

Although we think that we might have a lot of time on this earth, our time on this earth is short! It is like mist: at one moment here and the next it's gone.

If this is true, then how are we supposed to spend our time on this earth? By being alert and intentional with what we think about.

But what if most of our time on earth gets filled up by looking at a screen?

Listen in to this week's lesson and hear how we need to be intentionally evaluating what entertainment we choose to watch and listen to.

Now that we are Christians, what do we do now?

We are supposed to be holy, or set apart, not looking like the world but looking more and more like our King Jesus.

However, there are things that can distract us from doing this if we don't draw the line. Good things can become bad things, and in this series, we are going to look at what these things are good for, what they are bad for, and where we need to draw the line.

Things like friends, social media, entertainment, dating, and more.

Listen in to this week's lesson and hear how friends can shape our futures for the better and worse.

Imagine you are in school, and you get in trouble...BIG trouble. The principal says you need to come to the office to face the consequences. However, your friend steps in and says, "I will take whatever my friend's punishment is so that my friend does not have to." How would you feel? Happy? Speechless?

Now, this might not ever actually happen in school, but this is basically what Jesus did for the whole world. For those who understand their sin and realize their need for Jesus' forgiveness, Jesus offers to take our punishment through his death on the cross.

Listen in to this week's lesson to hear how God loves us and made a way for us to come into a relationship with himself through Jesus.

When you don't use something for its intended purpose, it breaks. Whether that's sitting on a table, slamming a laptop shut, or jumping on the bed, things break when the original design is overlooked.

We are meant for a relationship with God where we worship and love him more than anything, but when we go outside that original design, things get messed up and there are serious consequences.

Join us this week as Justin shows us how Sin came into the world through Adam and Eve's sin and how we are broken because of it.

The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ that we are designed for a relationship with God, and although we are broken from that relationship because of our sin, Jesus loves us and made a way for us to come back into a relationship with himself through faith!

Although many of us have heard of the Gospel many times, we need to be careful to not let it become a boring message in our hearts because it is the most beautiful and incredible story of all time! Also, even though we might think we know what the Gospel is, we need to ask ourselves the question, "Could I explain the good news to someone else?"

Listen in to the first part of our 3 lessons on the Gospel where we see how God created us in his image to be with him and to worship him.

Philippians is all about helping us be brighter lights and witnesses for the Lord, but does this mean that we must doing grand geustures for the Lord?

Sometimes, the best way to be a witness is to do the little things right, and this includes rejoicing in God, praying to Him, not worrying but trusting Him, and focusing on the Lord.

Listen in to this week's lesson and hear all about how to let God's goodness be made know to all the people around you!

We just welcomed our new 6th graders to the Rock, and we could not be more excited!

The Rock is all about knowing Jesus and making him known, and what we want to specifically see in our student's lives is for them to know confidently who God is, fall deeply in love with Him, and live fully in Him.

To know him, love him, and live for him is a great summary of what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus, and at the Rock, we are all about owning our faith and having tons of fun in community.

Listen in to hear what the Rock is all about!

If your life was a book with chapters, what would the last chapter of your life say was most important to you? Was it friends? Was it school? Was is sports? Was it Jesus?

While we can accomplish many things in life, it is crucial that we rememeber that our whole lives are for God's glory alone, and our good deeds and works are garbage in perspective of God's grace and glory.

Listen in to this week's lesson and hear how Paul views his life in light of knowing Jesus.