SEPTEMBER

I feel like I was just writing about how school was almost out for the summer. Now it’s time to find those no. 2 pencils and start doing eyeball exercises to get ready for reading. As you may, or may not be getting ready for school, there is something that always comes back around each year. That is a new start. No matter what you did last school year, each of you is given a fresh start with the new school year. (I know you’re probably thinking I’m going to tell you how you have a new start with God through his son Jesus Christ. Very good and very true, but not where I was going.) All your regrets or victories from last year start over too. All your accomplishments and failures in school are behind you and now you live a new day, a new year. What are you prepared to do about it? What opportunities to share God’s love with a hurting friend, or in what ways are you prepared to share your relationship with God with your friends? There are only a few more days until you get back to the crowded hallways of your school, and what are you going to do about it?

Peace out, word to your mother,
PA

EPIC GATHERINGS
-630p Epic Cafe Opens ______________Sept 2 Rt. 10 Tour
-650p Epic Cafe Closes______________ Sept 9 getEpic
-700p “U” Groups __________________Sept 16 getEpic
-830p Altar/Dismissal_______________ Sept 23 getEpic
__________________________________Sept 30 getEpic

YOUTH SUNDAY & SEE YOU @ THE POLE.

Date: Sept 20 _____________ Date: Sept 23 @ 7am


Youth Sunday and See You @ The Pole are coming up on the 20th and 23rd of September. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to pray for your school, our country, and the upcoming year.

SENIOR DINNER!

Date: September 10
Time: 6:30p @ Antonio’s

Seniors, it is your time to shine. I want to spend some time getting to talk with only our rising seniors, as we share a meal together at Antonio’s (near Wal-Mart). This is such a special year for you and we want to celebrate you on Thursday, September 10 for dinner at 6:30p. Please bring about $15 for your meal and tip. We are looking forward to all that God is going to do in your last year of high school.

5th Quarter

One Friday night a month
Cstone Bistro Cafe
Time: 8:30-11p

From two of our missions trips this summer, Cambodia and Montana, God has given us a heart to be more intentional with our Café. The high school and college ministries are teaming up to use the Café as a place for people to come and hang out after the local football games. The love God has for us all will be shown through music, comedy, and the arts. Future

Dates:
September 11
October 16
November 13
December 18

9th GRADE PICNIC
August 30 @ 1pm Roark’s House
11337 Shorecrest Ln.
Chesterfield, 23838

If you have a rising 9th grader, we would like to invite you to the 9th grade picnic. We will be celebrating your child as they are rising into 9th grade. Please contact Karen in the church office at 748-8613 to notify her if you are able to attend. We reserve this time for rising 9th graders and their parents/guardians only.






Route 10 Tour

What is it:
The Rt. 10 Tour is a tour of outdoor youth gatherings
throughout our community. Joining together with other youth groups from around the area, we are coming together to promote community among the body of Christ in our county.

Where is it:
The locations and times are at the bottom of this newsletter. The address to each location is there incase you need it.

What do you do:
While at the Rt. 10 Tour there will be activities starting at 6:30p. The activities will change with each location. We will have something for everyone; ranging from kickball, flag football, soccer, ultimate frisbee, basketball, and sand volleyball to board games, card games, and just hangin’ out. We are out there to have fun and get to know one another, so the activities won’t be super competitive but there will be a ref for each activity, including Scrabble!

How do I get there:
To make sure that we start on time and have everyone there
we ask that you provide your own ride to and from each location. At the entrance to each location there will be balloons to help guide you to the location.

Who will be speaking:
Each one of the youth pastors involved will be sharing on a different aspect of community. Service will end at 8:30p each night.


August 12 Chester YMCA 3011 W Hundred Rd.
August 26 Rockwood Park 3401 Courthouse Rd.
August 19 Thomas Dale HS 3626 W Hundred Rd.
September 2 Ironbridge Park 6600 Whitepine Rd.

Pictures from Montana

Hey guys! I wanted to post some pictures of the Montana trip (especially of the youth serving) that you guys might not have seen or taken yourselves.  Enjoy!  Also, this is a reminder to be at all 3 church services this Sunday for testimonies from the trip. 

Wednesday/Thursday

Sorry we weren't able to send an email update from yesterday. We have found it to to be quite a challenge working in a community without frequent use of cell phones, internet, and easy transportation. Sometimes it feels as if we are set back in time 50 years! Yesterday was an action packed day as we were able to host our community cookout at the Boys & Girls Club for anyone who wanted to come. Tim Brock cooked us up some hamburgers, the youth shared their human video's, and we were really able to interact and spend quality time with the residents of Lame Deer. The human videos were very powerful and it opened the doors to speak to some of the younger children about drugs, alcohol, church, and Jesus. Definitely the highlight of the evening would be the annual basketball tournament that most of us participated in. Since there is not alot to do on the reservation, the people play basketball alllllllllllllllllllllllll thhheeeee tiiiiimmmmmeeee:-) And they are REALLY good!!! It was a great night getting to share in living the life that these people do on a daily basis. The youth met other teens their age and I even saw some of our youth praying with them before they left. It was a wonderful outreach night.
The leaders came together late Wednesday night with what we realized was a huge spiritual attack straight from the enemy. Through lots of prayer, intercession, discussion and encouragement, we woke up today with a fresh spirit of unity and excitement for the rest of the trip. We encouraged the youth this morning to completely give their everything for the remainder of the trip, asking them to come on board with the new vision of unification that we have been praying for. So far today, it has been incredible. It's awesome to serve a God that shows up when we ask him too!
Today is our last day to work with the Boys and Girls Club and also with the Outdoor Camp. The Lame Deer children are already saddened to know that we will be leaving in a few days but I know that that just shows that relationships have been made. The youth are doing so great and parents, I think you would be proud to see them working so hard (especially in this 100+ degree weather!) Thank you again for all your prayers! Pictures to hopefully be posted later this evening!

The computer is about to die but I hope to put more pictures up soon!

Tuesday, July 21

Another great day here in Montana! All the teams jumped into action this morning and I heard great testimonies from each group on what's been going on with their interactions with the people of Lame Deer. Please continue to pray for divine interactions with the Cheyenne people. Each group has had different opportunities, but all purposely intentional by God. The construction team finished up their work at Christ the Rock church, helping them turn a junk room into a cafe. This group was also able to participate in a prayer walk around Lame Deer this morning. They would stop at houses and ask people how they could pray for them. One of the youth was so excited that he was able to share and pray with a 5 year old little girl who was struggling with alcoholic parents. To see his face light up as he was talking about this opportunity was awesome. The Boys and Girls Club team had a fun day of loving kids and swimming at St. Labre. It is a challenge trying to stay afloat with 5-7 kids attached to you at all times! The kids really brightened up when they saw us return on the 2nd day, so I feel as if we are making an impact with relationships. The Outdoor Camp really stepped up today with a homeade curriculum created solely by the youth. They taught the kids about the importance of trust, along with the armor of God. The children participated in a blindfolded obstacle course where they learned about the importance of trust and love for one another. It was a really cool day for the the outdoor camp.
For our fun activity tonight, the bus actually made it 45 minutes away from our camp to General Custer's Last Stand. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and after a brief history lesson, we broke into small groups to debrief the day. After a gas station junk food stop (sorry parents!), we headed home for a night of rest to prepare for Day 3 of ministry. Thank you for your prayers!!
**On a sidenote, their is no cell phone service in Lame Deer. Diane Wood has provided the youth with free prepaid phone cards but we have had difficulty finding phones for the kids to call on. There has been no injuries or emergencies with any of the youth so please be reassured that everyone is doing well. We hope to make phone calls throughout the week if the opportunity arises.

Monday, July 20

Well, we've officially delved into our work here in Lame Deer! We have the youth divided into four subgroups all working on different projects while here in Montana. The first is the outdoor camp at Crazy Head Springs which is where the youth are holding a daycamp for children 12 and under. It consists of activities, bible stories, and lots of games and food for these precious children. They are going to be illustrating learning to put on the full armor of God daily. I feel as if these children are going to have a truly amazing experience this week. The second and third groups are ministering through community service- consisting of painting, lawn mowing, church repair, etc. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves today and showed a great sense of teamwork getting their jobs done. The last group is actively involved at the Boys and Girls Club organizing crafts and sports for ages 10 and under. I (Shawn) was able to be a part of this today and I can tell you the children love for us to be there. Sadly, you can feel a sense of separation or annoyance with some of the workers there as we are trying to bring Christ into these children's lives. We are strongly praying against the attack of Satan this week.

Which brings me to our highlight of the day....:-)

On our way out to Buffalo Jump (a hiking trail and overlook) for our fun activity of the night, our faithful schoolbus that we have been borrowing from Pastor Dean's church decided to stall out. Thankfully Anthony Wood is a diesel mechanic and immediately got to work. We sent a few people back into town and the youth were all safely transported back to Lame Deer with the help of a borrowed 18 passenger van and some of the wonderful youth workers here. It turns out that the gas gage doesn't exactly read the correct level of gas and we apparently just ran out of gas. The bus is fine and we will attempt to hike Buffalo Jump tomorrow. We ended the day with a good time of prayer and small groups and are about to head to bed for Day 2 of ministry. Thank you for your continued prayers..... we can feel them!

We've Arrived in Lame Deer!!

Sorry for the delay in writing to all the parents, but we've officially and safely made it to Lame Deer, Montana! We arrived here last night around 10 pm, with all kids and ALL luggage safely. Our flights were uncomplicated and thanks to our neon yellow shirts, we were able to share with alot of people about what we are coming out here to do. We are staying in separate Head Start buildings with guys in one and girls in the other. It always takes a little adjusting to the time difference (2 hours) and we crashed late last night. This morning we split into groups and had the priviledge of attending 3 local churches (Christ the Rock with Pastor Michelle, Morningstar Baptist Church with Pastor Dean, and the Pentacostal Church with Pastor Luther Yellowrope ). All of the churches were very welcoming and I hope that we were able to bless them as much as they blessed us. This afternoon we headed out to Crazy Head Camp to swim in the lakes, play some wiffleball, and have a cookout for dinner. After dinner tonight we will have our first opportunity to break into small groups to pray for the impact of our upcoming week. We are super excited to begin the camps and community service tomorrow and appreciate all prayers for God's perfect will for His people out here. We are anticipating God's best!!!

JULY

School is out!
I know you all couldn’t wait for it last month, but the summer is finally here. This summer is going to be filled with all sorts of great things for you and I know you have already started experiencing some of those things. As you get out there and enjoy your summer I want to remind you of the words that Darlene Knowles shared with us at Epic the other night. She said that if you find yourself bored this summer it’s because you let yourself get bored. Go out and do something for God. You have learned about what it is to follow God every week at Epic. Now Go....Go and do something great. Take the things you’ve learned and go and reach new heights. Following God will hardly leave you bored. It’s more scary honestly! Above is a picture of Shawn and my puppy. He hasn’t arrived yet because he is only 18 days old. But when our puppy, Denali by the way, comes home he won’t be staying in the yard long. He will want to explore and see new things. God wants to do the same with you. Take you to new places in your relationship with him. Go explore! Let God be your guide. He wants to do big things with you!
That’s the word,
PA





DISCIPLESHIP WEEK!
Date: July 5-9th
Time: All Day!
Cost: $50 for non-MT Team members
$25 for Montana Team members

Discipleship Week is going to be great this year! We will begin on Sunday night at 5pm. Jay Leroux will be sharing about spiritual warfare this week. Spiritual warfare, or whatever you want to call it...The enemy coming against those who follow Christ, Satan attacking you...The bottom line is that God’s Word is very clear about the fact that the enemy roams the earth looking for people to devour. During our Discipleship week, Dr. J will be taking us through the power that is in Christ to defeat the enemy. He will be growing us in our ability to defend ourselves against the enemy’s plans. Come and join us for a week of discipleship! Don't forget your teddy bear to keep company at night!







We got a Facebook! We have finally caught up to the 21st century...a little! If you are one who doesn’t really remember what is going on after Wednesday night announcements, check out our Facebook Group. It will be updated with what is going on in Epic and will be a great place to connect with other people that are in Epic. All you have to do is search for our Group, getEpic, and click to join. Anyone can join.






LAME DEER, MONTANA’S FINEST

The moment you have all been waiting for.....it’s time for the main event! Just a reminder that everyone must sign up for Discipleship Week and participate. Also, your final money is due by July 5th. I’m looking forward to how God is going to use us as we go!







Café

NO CAFE IN July
Cstone Bistro Cafe on Friday Nights.

July is proving to be one of our busiest months as a church and that is why we are taking the month of July off in the Café on Friday nights. Our church is going to be taking 3 missions trips during July and we also Kids Summer Fellowship and Discipleship Week. We will be back in August, so look out for the new schedule for Friday nights Cstone Bistro.

BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!!!!

NAME: Adam Reuss
LOCATION: Chester, VA
TITLE: May

We are back! We're sorry it has been a while since our site has been updated. Life has been busy around here in getting prepared for Anniversary Sunday.

Shawn and I have been talking about getting a dog the past month or so. We don’t know what we’re going to get yet. Shawn has her heart set on a labrodoodle. Apparently it’s a mix between a lab and a poodle. They kinda look like a lab with shaggy hair! I kinda like this guy in the picture. I want my dog to be a super hero. Haha. Well maybe he or she wont be a super hero but I do think that all of you are super hero’s. You can be super hero’s in the way you love others. Its really a lot more easy than we make it a lot times. I mean really think about it for a second. You can be a super hero to someone just by the way you treat them. Jesus told some people who were all about serving themselves that even the most insignificant things they do for other people are as if they did it for Christ. Start with the little things.

That’s the word,
PA

EPIC GATHERINGS
-630p Epic Cafe Opens May 6 The Least of These
-650p Epic Cafe Closes May 13 Get Epic
-700p “U” Groups May 20 Celebrate Jesus!
-830p Altar/Dismissal May 27 Get Epic


LAME DEER, MONTANA’S FINEST!

Also be checking your email for updates. We will be sending you vital info to the email you provided on your application. Please keep Lindsay E, Anthony W and PA in your prayers as they are going on the pre-trip this month.





GRADUATE BANQUET!
Date: May 28
Time: 6pm

Grad Sunday is on June 7

“How many more days til I graduate?!?!”
You are almost there! I just want to encourage you Seniors to finish strong! It is so exciting to almost be done with school and going on to the next step in your life. It is such a fun time of year and we want to celebrate your accomplishment together. We wish you the best and can’t wait to see where God takes you after life in high school. Please make sure that you have been receiving information regarding the evening in the mail. If you have a Senior that is graduating this year and has not received any information, please contact the church office as soon as possible.



Film and Culture Review

Friday April 17, 7p-10p
Cstone Bistro Cafe 2p

We had a small group at our last Film and Culture night in the cafe on April 17th, but it was a really great night. I never knew you could draw so many things out of a Pixar movie that relate to life in our culture. Wall-E ended up being a great look at what can happen when we become spiritually lazy. Come and check out our Film and Culture nights this summer as we watch them under the real stars, outside!

HEARTS UNITED IN PRAISE

HEARTS UNITED IN PRAISE
Friday Mar 13, 7p-930p
House of Prayer

Do you want to see our community come together to worship God? No matter what denomination or background? Join us as we join together to see God’s Kingdom worship him. Hearts United in Praise is a inter-denominational lead and participated event. We are not affiliated with any one church but come from all different churches. The praise team is made up of members from different churches as well. Join us as we come together as the Chesterfield community to be united for one purpose-to bring praise and worship to Jesus Christ. If you would like more info about the night, a letter for your pastor, flyers, or info on how to participate on the worship team please contact Adam Reuss using the info below.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to encourage you to be a part of what God is doing in our community. The word revival never really appealed to me because of some past experiences, but in praying for our community I really sensed God bringing a change to our community by bringing us together as His body. The things God can do through us together are way more than anything he could do with us separated and disengaged from one another. Let's get together and be the body of Christ in our community! Let's use this platform of worshiping God to start a bond between us to see Him change our city.
Peace in Him,
Adam Reuss

MARCH MADNESS!

The big tournament is here! March is one of the greatest months for college basketball fans because it starts the biggest tournament in college sports. 65 teams (including the play in game) all have a shot at becoming this years NCAA basketball champions. Sometimes a Cinderella team, a team no one thought could win, rises to the top. Sometimes it’s the team everyone picked to win it all. But the bottom line is: THERE IS ONLY ONE CHAMPION! Our lives can sometimes feel like a Cinderella team. We feel like we have no shot at winning. Sometimes we feel like we are top of the world and no one can beat us. The Apostle Paul would have said, “No matter if you feel like the underdog or the king of the hill run this race with passion. Throwing off all the things that will keep you from winning the prize.” Press on to know God more and more. The prize we run after is eternal life. Don’t let anything get in your way to keep you from that prize. And always remember, THERE IS ONLY ONE CHAMPION!
That’s the word,
PA

EPIC GATHERINGS
-630p Epic Cafe Opens Mar 4 Celebrate Jesus!
-650p Epic Cafe Closes Mar 11 One Decision Away
-700p “U” Groups Mar 18 One Decision Away
-830p Altar/Dismissal Mar 25 One Decision Away


EPIC MISSIONS TRIP TO MONTANA
July 18-26 2009

Now that the date for applications to Montana has passed we get to start getting ready for the Missions Trip! We will be having interviews so we can help give you a vision for our mission. Interviews will be on March 15 @ 11:30a in the Choir Room, upstairs in the new building. Also before we even get everything going you can be raising money by getting auction-able items for our Missions Auction.



MARCH MADNESS BABY!
Friday March 20 @ 7p
In the Café

Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The Cameron Crazies are gettin’ pumped up BABY!
IT’S TIME TO GET HYPE!
We are going to get March Madness started off on the right foot by watching the opening round in the café on the big screen. We’ll have bracket s to fill out before the tournament starts for prizes at the end of the tournament. The Café will be open with drinks and desserts. Also if you can grow a mustache we’ll be having the best March Mustache Madness Contest. If you need a head start go ahead and start your mustache now!



PSALM 150 NIGHT and FINE ARTS.
Sun Mar 1 @ 6p Fri Mar 6- Sat Mar 7 @2:30p

Join us as we celebrate what God is doing through the arts in our students. Our team will be traveling to Maryland to perform human videos and art pieces as well as ministering through preaching the Word of God. Please join us on Sunday March 1 @ 6p in the Sanctuary as they share the pieces God has given to them for ministry.

FEBRUARY

Winter Advance is over and its time to get ready for February. There is one thing that February brings each year and that is a good ol’ football game. It’s Super Bowl time, and we are going to be ringing in February with a Super Bowl party in the Café at 6p on the 1st. I don’t know who you will be voting for but there will be plenty of screen for everyone. February also brings us the opportunity to reach out to our community. This is a cold month and there are a lot of homeless people who need wood to burn to stay warm. We are going to be having Wood Chop, horse back riding and a bonfire cookout. The following Sunday we have the opportunity to go out and deliver some of the wood. I like to think of February as National Flannel Awareness Month. Join us on Wednesday nights as we look at the impact of our decisions this month. That’s the word, PA EPIC GATHERINGS -630p Epic Cafe Opens Feb 4 One Decision Away -650p Epic Cafe Closes Feb 11 One Decision Away -700p “U” Groups Feb 18 One Decision Away -830p Altar/Dismissal Feb 25 One Decision Away




EPIC MISSIONS TRIP TO MONTANA
July 18-26 2009

The date for applications and deposit for Montana are almost here. Sunday February 22nd is when these are due. Please turn in any applications or deposits into the black box outside the youth room. Put any money in one of the tan envelopes and write your name on it and what it is for. Also, in getting ready for this years mission trip to Montana we are going to be having another Missions Auction. If you would like information on how to receive auction-able please contact P Adam at the church office for the paper work. There has been some confusion about what the deposit is, so we are going to go with the cost listed in the missions booklet. The minimum amount due on February 22nd is $95. If you paid more, just think, your that much closer to being done.


SUPER BOWL PARTY!
Sunday Feb 1 In the Café, bring your favorite party food!

We had a blast watching the Steeler's amazing come back in the final minutes of the game to be this years Superbowl Champs. It was really great getting to hang out with the college kids as we watched the game on the big screen in the Cafe.

















WOOD CHOP!
Saturday Feb 21, 1p-8p Delivery-Sunday Feb 22 @ 2p

LET ME SEE YOUR PLAID! We are heading out to a farm in Amelia to chop up some dead trees to give to the homeless camps in our community. We will depart from the church at 1p on Saturday. While on the farm we will not only be chopping wood but we will also have the opportunity to ride horses, have a bonfire and eat dinner at our cookout. The following Sunday we will deliver the wood at 2p after church. If you have a mom or dad who has a truck or would like to participate feel free to bring them. Please contact P Adam if you are able to bring a truck.

JANUARY

Wow, another year in the books. I can’t believe it is almost 2009. This can be exciting or really depressing. That means your one more year closer to being out of school, it is a new start for you. Maybe last year wasn’t the greatest, but you have a new start in 2009. Think of this new year as the beginning of something new that God wants to do in you. A new deeper place that he wants to take you. In The Message Bible Proverbs 1:7 says “Start with God-the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.” Let this new year start with God. You can only go where he wants to take you if you let him teach you. And as my good friend Mr. T would say, “I pity da FOOL!” Let God take your new year and take you to a new level in your relationship with him. Start with him and let him take you from there. I hope you have a Happy New Year! And hey, why not come spend it with us at the New Years Eve Party!?!?!
That’s the word,
PA



EPIC GATHERINGS
-630p Epic Cafe Opens Jan 7 Why Me?
-650p Epic Cafe Closes Jan 14 Why Me?
-700p “U” Groups Jan 21 No Epic
-830p Altar/Dismissal Jan 28 Why Me?



EPIC MISSIONS TRIP TO MONTANA
July 18-26 2009
Application Due Feb 21st

THE DATES ARE FINALLY IN FOR THIS YEARS MISSIONS TRIP. We will be working with Rick and Shirl Robinson on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. The youth will be helping facilitate a summer camp for elementary kids, working with the Boys and Girls Club, and doing work projects on the “rez” for the elderly and foster families. If you turn in a $95 deposit before Dec 25th we’ll give you $50 off your total cost. Applications must be turned in by February 21st.




WINTER ADVANCE!
Friday Jan 16- Monday Jan 19
Depart from church parking lot on Friday Jan 16th @ 3p.
PERMISSION SLIP DUE BY JAN. 14TH

“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!” Get ready for next years Winter Advance! We are quickly approaching 2009 and that can only mean one thing...WINTER ADVANCE. We will be heading up to Camp Brethren Woods and Massanutten during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. Pastor Wayne is going to be our guest speaker this year. He is the pastor of a great church in Richmond, Va and has been there for 20 years... oh wait. You all know all that already, sorry about that. If you have ever hung out with PWayne you know how encouraging and knowledgeable he is to be around. P.Wayne will be speaking on godly sexuality and how to make right choices. Sign up for this years Winter Advance next to the youth room. Prices listed below:

$115 For Advance (Same price if hangin’ in the lodge.)
$147 For Adv and Ski or Snowboard Lift Ticket
$171 For Adv and Lift Ticket and Ski/Board Rental
$137 For Adv and Tubing Pass
$143 For Adv and Water Park Pass