Thanks for stopping by! I'm so glad you've stopped by and genuinely hope you find this information helpful in understanding what we do, why we do it and how your teenager in grade 6-12 could get more involved.

Please remember that behind any great Student Ministry are great parents! I believe we are truly blessed by the students and families we have involved here at 3BC. While most of what we do is aimed at teenagers, parents and volunteers are the nuts and bolts to making great ministry happen. From LIFE group teachers, host homes for events, trip chaperones, or even just being an encourager and supporter, adults are very much an essential part of studentministry. Don't ever think we don't need you!

I am so thankful to God for the gift of YOU! Stay involved and remember that I am the easiest guy in the world to talk to. If you ever want to send an email or shoot a text or phone call. PLEASE DO! I would love to hear from you.

Purpose of The Pulse (HS) and The Point (MS)

Here in the Student Ministry of 3BC we are whole-heartedly on board with the greater mission of our church. Like our church, we will produce MATURE disciples, of our Lord Jesus Christ, who advance God' Kingdom, by His power, for His glory! The goal of Third Baptist Church is to worship, glorify, and delight in God as we present to Christ MATURE disciples who:

• Manage God's Resources
• Adopt Spiritual Disciplines
• Treasure Scriptural Truth
• Understand a Biblical Worldview
• Reach Out to Those in Need
• Evangelize the Lost

How great would it be to raise up a generation who have adopted these principles in their youth and live a life guided by the Truths of God's Word! That gets me fired up. I want to see that happening here at 3BC and I pray you do to and will help as we move in that direction!

Our Programs

When most people think of student ministry, they think of programs. Ours exist ONLY to fulfill our purpose, reach our various audiences and express our values. Programs for the 2012 year include the following:

• LIFE groups : Meeting at 8:00am and 10:45am every Sunday Morning, LIFE groups are a place for small group interaction and accountability. They are grade and gender divided to provide the best environment possible for engaging with each other and the Word. Stop by the "staff" pages on the HS and MS sites to see the list of teachers for each LIFE group.

• DU: Here we meet in HS and MS specific locations for discipleship focused topics. We will study through books, topics, group studies, or a variety of materials aimed at taking us deeper in Christ. For example, the High School is now reading through Lee Strobel's, Case for Christ.

• Mid Week Student Worship: Our Wednesday night meeting is a high energy worship environment focused on Gospel teaching and speaking the teenage language. The typical night may include some icebreaker games, worship with the student band and preaching by the student pastor. It's a lot of fun and a great night. High School and Middle School meet in separate locations.

• Student Leadership Team: This team is to develop leaders within our ministry. Through a commitment and application process the leaders are selected and provide a voice in the planning and implementation of programming. Leadership team will meet once a month for meetings and have a summer retreat. See Adam for more info. Application will soon be available.

• Student Praise Band: God has blessed our students with many talents. This is an outlet for those gifts. Whether musically, vocally, tech, or other creative measures, find where you fit!

• Annual Events: Through the year we have many events. Several are annually occurring. You can always count on these:

  

  • Summer Camp (early/mid summer)
  • Disciple Now weekend (early Fall)
  • Christmas LIFE Group parties
  • Superbowl Outreach (Early Feb)
  • Spring Break Mission Trip (mid March)
  • Senior Recognition Sunday (mid May)

Our Hope for Your Family

We sincerely hope that your family will be greatly encouraged in your spiritual journey through your involvement in these Student Ministry programs! The Student Pastor provides oversight of both the High School and Middle School Ministries.

I always welcome your questions or comments through phone, text, email or whatever method. (615) 893-8192 or click here to send an email.

• Family Devotions: Think about the impact you can have on your kids by leading by example. Here is a link to a bi-weekly family devotion. It's not has hard as you think.
  Don't be intimidated by you kids, but take the lead! You are shaping the rest of their lives! Do it INTENTIONALLY! Click HERE for the link.

MUST Resources for Parents

Music Comparison Chart (pdf)
Click this link for a Christian/Secular comparison of who sounds like who so you can pave the way for positive musical influence in your student's ears.

Plugged In
This link is a source for culture investigation that parents need to use on a regular basis to know what their kids are watching, listening to, or playing. This site is kept current and is worth bookmarking.

Answers in Genesis
check it out. Make sure your kids are equipped for the world we live in. See all the great resources available here.

The Rebelution
This blog site is the origin of the fantastic book "Do Hard Things" by the Harris twins. If you have not read the book, read it, then make your kids read it. The blogs here are pretty good about teens rising above the low expectations our culture has for them. "Rebelling against low expectations" what a great idea.

The order of salvation

Links

The Internet has become a great resource for investigating anything and everything related to youth culture. Since the Internet is an important part of the lives of teens, parents need to be aware of what's out there on the Web. In addition, the Internet provides many great informational resources on a variety of topics for those who are raising teenagers.

Please note: Inclusion of a website in our links section does not necessarily imply 3BC endorsement of the site's content.

***Some have been chosen because I've found them to contain useful insight and/or analysis into today's youth culture. Several of these sites are not Christian websites and therefore the material contained on them may be offensive to some. 3BC is not responsible for any of the content found on these links.

1. Parents Television Council
   http://www.parentstv.org A project of the Media Research Center, the PTC's mission is "to bring America's demand for values-driven television programming to the entertainment industry." The site includes up-to-date suggestions for family-friendly viewing, suggestions on how to influence television programming, a family guide to prime time television, and lots of research and analysis.
2. Share Jesus Without Fear (pdf)
3. Biblical Training
   http://www.biblicaltraining.org This site has lots of lectures and resources that are free to download (with a free account). If you know of people who want to increase in their biblical knowledge, this is a great place to start. Also, Reformed Theological Seminary also has free lectures on iTunes.
4. Center for Parent/Youth Understanding
   http://www.cpyu.org A Christ-centered organization committed to building strong families by serving to bridge the cultural-generational gap between parents and teenagers. CPYUhelps parents, youth workers, educators and others understand teenagers andtheir culture so that they will be better equipped to help children and teens navigate the challenging world of adolescence. The site for incredibly helpful "Links!"
5. Screen It!
   http://www.screenit.com/index1 Movie reviews specifically for parents needing insight into today's latest offerings. The MPAA rating (G, PG, PG-13, etc.) is a start, but offers just a one-line, generalized description of the "offending" material. Screen It! is an unbiased, easy to use, heavily detailed and complete look at the movies your kids might see, rent or buy. Detailed content, including a summarized rating of quantity and degree, is listed in the categories of ALCOHOL/DRUGS, BLOOD/GORE, DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE, FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES, GUNS/WEAPONS, IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR, JUMP SCENES (scenes that will make you and/or your child jump), MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE), MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE), PROFANITY, SEX/NUDITY, SMOKING, TENSEFAMILY SCENES, TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT and VIOLENCE.
6. Understanding Your Teenager
   http://www.uyt.com Founded by youth ministry guru Wayne Rice, the Understanding Your Teenager organization conducts lively and informative parenting seminars across North America. The UYT site features information on these seminars, a helpful online bookstore and parenting tips.
7. RealFamilies.com
   http://www.realfamilies.com Christian parenting advice from Dr. Kevin Leman and Dr. Jay Passavant. The site includes parenting tips and information categorized by age of children, along with resources for marriage.
8. National Center for Fathering
   http://www.fathers.com A great site for Dads! Fathers can find practical fathering tips, research onfathering, information on the fathering movement, humor, and an online version of Today's Father magazine.
9. Parents. The Anti-Drug
   http://www.theantidrug.com A helpful site designed to equip parents to understand, prevent and respond to the epidemic of adolescent substance abuse in our country. The site includes news, advice, drug information and treatment suggestions.
10. Center for Sports Parenting
    http://www.sportsparenting.org/csp A web-based program that provides parents with guidance and answers to questions and issues related to youth and sport. CSP seeks to help all those involvedwith youth sports deal with the growing pressures associated with kids and competition in our culture.
11. Parent Soup
    http://www.parentsoup.com This is perhaps the most extensive parenting site on the net. Updated daily, it offers tips, tools, chats, news, message boards, reviews and more on all things parenting.
12. Bully Free
    http://www.bullyfree.com Bully Free is a site committed to preventing and stopping bullying in all environments(i.e., schools, workplaces, etc.). Their goal is to promote the GoldenRule everywhere. Great site for parents, educators, and youth workers striving to create bully free environments.
13. Day of Purity
    http://www.lc.org/dayofpurity.htm Day of purity is striving to promote purity in mind and actions especially among today's youth. This website encourages youth to partake in the national day of purity where they can take a stand and make a public demonstration of their commitment to remain sexually pure, in mind and actions, until marriage.
14. Internet Movie Database
    http://www.imdb.com Everything you could possibly ever want to know about over 140,000 different movies. It includes plot summaries, ratings, reviews, links, and a search engine to guide you through an overwhelming amount of information.
15. The Ultimate Band List
    http://www.ubl.com This is the ultimate source for an overwhelming wealth of information on bands, radio stations, record labels, music news and more.
16. Al Menconi Ministries
    http://www.almenconi.com Al Menconi's mission is to educate and equip parents, leaders and youth to consider the values communicated in their entertainment. The site contains reviews of music and video games as well as articles on the entertainment industry.
17. MTV Online
    http://www.MTV.com The trail-blazing24-hour music channel continues to blaze trails with this cutting-edge web site. Do you want to know more about today's pop culture? This is the place to find music charts, MTV news, and information on a variety of social issues.