Behind the Scenes

The past three weeks, we have been doing a series at The Rock called "Behind the Scenes". Pastor Ed Courtney has lead the series which has gone through the core doctrines of Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. Deacon Garrett Naufel will finish our series while speaking on Adoption this Saturday.

Each week we've had our own little "Behind the Scenes" video, highlighting a certain aspect of The Rock. Thought I would share a couple with you.

Note: These are not to be taken seriously!

Rock Fall Retreat 2010

Did I mention we had our annual Fall Retreat a couple weeks ago? I'm pretty sure I threw that in the last prayer letter. This tradition continues to be one of my favorites that The Rock does. Each year, we venture out to Cedar Crest Camp in Mexico, Missouri for an overnight retreat. We prayed for 130 students to come this year - and they did. We had 134 total, setting a record in attendance. That was reason enough to be thankful!

On Friday, we began the retreat with a giant Thanksgiving-style meal hosted all in the same room. I got to sit and visit with students I didn't know very well, which I always love. After the meal, we have our first session of three in an old chapel that we fill to capacity. Our speaker, Dave Megill, was excellent, speaking right to the heart of our identity in Christ.

After that, we had Canvas Group competitions which included bobbing for apples, a scavenger hunt and a pumpkin carving contest. Oh, I almost forgot, there was also a speed-eating contest involving an entire head of lettuce. Fun stuff.

From there, we spent the rest of the night playing Ultimate Frisbee, sitting by the campfire and playing games.

Saturday involved breakfast, our second session and an hour of personal reflection. Here, students were encouraged to seek the Lord, journal, pray, and read His Word. After having lunch together, we finished the retreat with a third session and baptisms at the pond. Eight people were baptized on Saturday!

The retreat finishes off our Fall Push. From here, we staff help spear-head the shift into building the foundation in relationships that we have initiated thus far. Evangelism continues to be a priority but we are now encouraging our leaders to invest in students who have been coming around, as we start to initiate small groups and individual discipleship. Our canvas group has had over 30 different people join us on any given Thursday Night. We push now to develop unity and deepen the roots of community within these groups. Please be praying for that!

Here are some pictures from the retreat!

Praying with the students who were baptized

Our guest speaker, Dave Megill

Yes, an entire head of lettuce.