Parkside Church Westside Blog

This past weekend, our student ministry went on a retreat to Solon, Ohio, at at Parkside Bainbridge's youth facility, "The Warehouse." From the inflatable slide and obstacle courses, to competitive ping-pong and pool matches, to a life-sized rendition of the classic game "Hungry Hungry Hippos", much fun was had by all.

 

This year's retreat was themed, "Growing in Grace," based off of a book by David Mathis. Together, we looked at three primary channels through which God continues to grow us by his grace and what it means to...

1. "Hear God's voice" | God speaks to us through his word, the Bible. As we tune our ears to listen actively to what God has to say to us in the scriptures, we will be instructed, guided, and nourished.
2. "Have God's ear" | God has initiated the conversation, but he also promises to listen to our responses to him. It's remarkable to know that the God of the universe listens and cares when we call to him in prayer. The concept of a relationship with God becomes tangible as we listen to him speak by his word and respond to him in prayer.
3. "Belong to his body" | When we meet together to hear God's voice and have his ear, we are encouraged and challenged; our burdens are shared; and, our joys are multiplied. God has designed us for fellowship. Gathering as the body of believers now is a glimpse at our eternal destination, where we will have perfect unity with God and God's people from all corners of the globe!

Together these things are the essential building blocks for growing in a relationship with God. It's easy to start thinking of Bible-reading, prayer, and church as Christian duties, yet duty becomes grace when we have in view the heavy lifting Christ has already accomplished for us. Because God stooped to us, we can hear his voice. And because Christ died and rose for us, God listens to us and gathers us into his family.

 

If you have a student who is interested in youth ministry at Parkside Westside, please send them to our next Neighborhood gathering this Sunday, February 11.

 

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