March "Madness" is coming...

Hey everyone, Pastor Jay here. I was just telling Albert here how excited we are to be joining all of you very soon. It's going to be a bit crazy for a few months since Teresa, Allison & Jonathan will only be weekend warriors at TFB--that's where the madness comes into play for me. I'm sure it'll be OK, but while I'm separated from them, it gives me more time to get to know you. So once March hits, I'll be there ready to go and available to hang out. Give me a few weeks to get up to speed with the ministry, and before you know it, we'll be doing some exciting things and creating some amazing memories. Summer is fast approaching and with it a great chance to bring new friends to camp, Six Flags and who knows what else we'll dream up. Pray for TFB Student Ministries as we look to get ready for months to come. Keep praying for my family as we prepare our house to rent as well as for someone to rent it.

Blessings!

Pastor Jay

Pray For The Junior Highers

The JH leave for camp this weekend so let's be in prayer for them as they go. They won't be leaving until after school which means they will have to fight traffic that the HS group missed. The weather report says they have a chance of snow but otherwise it will be cold and clear. But more important than praying for light traffic or good weather is praying that their time with God and His Word would significantly impact their lives.

I heard their speaker Chris speak at camp two years ago and he is wonderful. Here's a guy with cerebral palsy (CP) who, despite some physical limitiations, is able to really speak from a position of experience on how faithful God is. I look forward for the stories the students will have to share when they get back. Hopefully, they will get some great pics too for our blog.

We Have A New Youth Pastor!

In case you hadn't heard the good news, Jay Cordova was unanimously approved as our new Pastor of Student Ministries here at TFB. He will be starting his new position in just a few weeks, on March 1 and we will be looking forward to his arrival. Be in prayer for him and his family as they make the transition from Bakersfield to Torrance (Teresa and the kids won't be moving down the semester's over, though) and also as they begin their ministry with us. If you heard him in one of Saturday's sessions or perhaps even this morning, then you know that he is passionate about helping students develop a vibrant relationship with Christ, equipping them to transform their world for Jesus.

Stay tuned for a posting from the man himself as soon as we get him up to speed on our blog.

Come Meet Our Youth Pastor Candidate

In case you haven't heard, this Saturday (February 9th) we will get a chance to interact with Jay, our youth pastor candidate. The College-aged students will meet him for lunch while High School and Junior High students will get their turn during dinner at 5:30pm. Come bring your questions and be prepared to listen to the guy who will be, God willing, our next Youth Pastor. There are also some sessions for parents to come (without you) so if they didn't get the info letter, they should call the church office.

See ya Saturday!

The Warrior Within

Hey Students! We're just now back from a great weekend of High School Winter Camp up at Thousand Pines Christian Conference Center. It was an incredible time of worship and play, God-focus and snow fun. This was the most snow we have ever seen at Thousand Pines and despite the cold and wet, we had soooo much fun playing Kajabi Kan Kan, flag football, sledding and having snowball fights. Some even played paintball and went off roading (although most in our group was satisfied by hanging out at the Malt Shop or the Undergroung Coffee). The musical worship was led by Israel Escamilla and Band while our speaker was Matt Radley. Our theme for the weekend, as mentioned in the title of this post, was The Warrior Within and our Biblical passage was taken from 2 Corinithians chapters 3 & 4. Throughout our chapel times we were encouraged by Matt to remember that

"We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.)

Through the Scripture and also the stories he shared about his life, he reminded us that God gives us His incredible power and presence to overcome the difficulties we often face.

If you were one who was able to be there this weekend, I pray that the things we've heard and done will stay with us even now as we have come off the mountain. If you were unable to go, I suggest that you ask someone who did about how God spoke to them this weekend. Follow the flickr link on this page and see some of the action.