Baptism Night

Last Wednesday night at IMPACT we observed the ordinance of baptism together. It was an incredible night as 7 Junior High and High School students shared their testimony and were obedient to the calling of Christ to be baptized. Click here to check out pictures of the incredible night!

Advent Conspiracy Promo Video

Last night we challenged students to join the story and be a part of the Advent Conspiracy. The video explains more...




Students were given an opportunity to voluntarily select a card with a gift to purchase for various organizations (toys for the Dorcas House, baby items for New Beginnings, games for Our House or chickens, milk and other oversea needs for Samaritan's Purse). They were then encouraged to take those cards home to a parent or grandparent or any one who normally buys them a present for Christmas and ask to receive one less gift this year. And in place of that one gift to have their help purchasing a gift for someone else.

Students will have 2 weeks to gather their gift(s) and bring them December 15 where together we will present our gifts as an offering and worship the coming of Christ together!

Did you know it's estimated that Americans spend 450 billion dollars at Christmas every year?And it's been estimated that we could rid the world's problem of clean water for about 10 billion. One person can't do it alone...but one person can make a difference. Together we're joining a movement across America to change the way Christmas is being done. It's less about me...and what I want. And it's more about Christ...and the sacrifice that He showed us:

Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love All

Questions about the Advent Conspiracy? You can visit their website at www.adventconspiracy.org.

Student miss last night? Want to be involved in the Conspiracy at FBC but not sure how? Or just need questions answered about the Conspiracy? You can contact us at (501) 778 2271 or by emailing me at clay.cunningham@fbcbenton.org.

Merry Christmas!

Fall Retreat 2010

Hey gang!

Fall Retreat 2010 is right around the corner. November 5-7 are the dates and we will be headed back to The Shores @ Pine Cove Camp in Tyler, Texas! Bill Elliff, pastor of The Summit Church, in Little Rock will be preaching and The Jarrett Davis Band will be leading in worship.

Registration will kick off Wednesday, October 6! Registration packets are in the Upper Room and the Student Ministry Offices. Deadline to register is October 27.

Click here to check out the 1st Fall Retreat Promo video!

Mission Arlington

We've been at Mission Arlington all week, doing VBS in apartment complexes. God is doing great things in these kids! Thursday will be our last day. Pray for our groups to have patience with the kids and boldness to speak Gods truth. Pray that after we leave, that the seed we've planted will continue to grow and the kids will not forget the things they learned this week.

Here are a few pictures! Thursday after VBS we are all going to dinner together and Friday we'll spend the day at Hurricane Harbor and head home. Pray for safe travel! Miss you all at home!

Choir Tour: Last Day

Today was a relaxing day! We worshipped together and two of our students gave their lives over to Christ! It was an awesome morning, praise God!

This afternoon was free time. Unfortunately the weather kept us from swimming outside. Then tonight we went on our dinner cruise! It was a tight squeeze to get us on the boat, but we did it! The lake was beautiful!

After the cruise we headed back to our rooms for a bit and went to worship. Tonight was a powerful night. God's presence was definitely felt! It's hard to put into words just how amazing it was. Praise God!

After worship we all gathered together and played A Minute to Win it! One representative from each grade played. Jacob Parsons came in first and won a giant package of bouncy balls!

All week every person on the trip had what is called a secret pal. Everyone was responsible for doing nice things and getting their secret pals little gifts throughout the trip. Tonight we all revealed who are secret pals were. It was a fun time!

Tomorrow we head home! It will be bitter sweet. We've been gone from home a week now, so I'm sure everyone is a little home sick, and we are all getting tired! But it will be sad that choir tour 2010 is over. This has been an incredible trip. We have really seen God move in mighty ways. Thank you to everyone back home for the prayer support during and the months leading up to choir tour. The prayers were felt and were definitely appreciated. Please pray for our safety returning home tomorrow. Also pray that the things we learned on this trip will be applied to our lives when we get back home. Not just for a week, but for a lifetime.

Sorry for the delay! Here are some pictures from the Royals game we went to Saturday night.

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to First Baptist Church in Raytown, Missouri. We got to hear their choir sing, and we also sang in the service. Visiting their church was a great experience. Then we headed back out on the road for a hour or two and stopped at yet another mall for lunch time! Then it was back on the road to Sedalia for another concert at a smaller church. They were very kind and fed us some amazing tacos! It was our last concert, before the homecoming concert.

Then we headed out to Tan-Tar-A Resort for camp! Last night after we arrived we got settled in and then had Senior Night! It was a great time reflecting over the seniors' years with us. This morning we woke up a little later, (got to sleep in!) and had worship together. This afternoon seniors went out for senior lunch, some students just hung out around the resort and swam, and some went to the outlet mall here in Osage Beach. Tonight we have dinner here at the resort, worship, the talent show, and swimming at the indoor water park here. It will be a fun filled night!

Pray for the rest of our time here at camp. For fruitful conversations and the presence of the Lord to be felt while we are at worship. Thanks for all the prayer support back home, it is definitely felt here!

Choir Tour: Saturday

Today was a fun filled day! First we went to the Country Club Christian Church for our concert with God. It was a great time of worship! And it didn't hurt that the church was beautiful! There were stained glass windows everywhere!

Then we headed to lunch and some shopping at the Crown Center. A lot of the students ate at the Crayola Cafe where you could color while you ate!

After lunch we went to The Bickford House, another retirement center for a concert. The people there really enjoyed it, and we enjoyed visiting with them!

That afternoon we had free time to either shop or hang out at the hotel and nap or swim! We left for the Royals game after that. It was our lucky night: FREE BOBBLE HEAD NIGHT!!!!! Even though the Royals lost, the game was still a blast! Some of the group got on the big screen! Pictures from the Royals game to come next post!

Tomorrow will be an early start and a full day where we will end up at camp. Pray for safe travel and a fruitful time at camp! We miss you Benton.

Choir Tour Day 3

Friday was a great day of fun! The City Museum was probably one of the coolest places on earth! Everyone had a blast!

Here is a magnet wall...we left our mark!

Spontaneous concert in the middle of the museum:

Here's a group going down the roof top slide. Kathy King went down at least twenty times! She loved it...

There were plenty of places to crawl around in:

Some students hanging out waiting for lunch!

After the City Museum we headed to Kansas City. There we hung out at a shopping mall for a few hours and then headed to the hotel, where we will be for two nights. Saturday will be a fun day! In the morning we will have our concert with God. Pray that hearts will be in the right place and that the presence of God will be felt. Then we will head to another retirement center for a concert, and back to the hotel for an afternoon of naps, hang out time, or shopping. In the evening we'll head to the Kansas City Royals game! Hey, it's no Cardinals, but it will still be fun!

We miss you all back home! Be praying for our last few concerts. Also pray that we remember why we are on this trip and we act in a way that shows that at all times. Pray that our lights shine everywhere we go.

Day Two

Hey friends! Here are some pictures of the trip so far! Here is a picture recap from day one:

Some of the boys at the chruch getting ready to leave:

First stop, Marion Baptist Church:

Next stop, St. Louis:

From our hotel we have a great view of the Arch and Busch Stadium!

Next stop, Lake St. Charles Retirement Center...here's the parking lot:

After the concert, we got a chance to mingle with the folks at the retirement center.

After the concert at the retirement center, we spent two hours at the Nascar Speedpark, driving go-carts, rock climbing, playing laser tag, and putt putt! It was a blast!

This morning we ate a great breakfast at the hotel, and are about to be off for the City Museum, and then a long bus ride to Kansas City!

Hope you all are doing well! We are having a great time, but miss you all!

Choir Tour....Day One

Hey friends....

Choir Tour 2010...Day One....Success! What a great first day of Tour '10 as we were sent off from FBC Benton with so much support from family and friends! Our trip to Marion was smooth as our bus drivers, Robert and Louis, are taking good care of us. This is their 4th and 3rd tours, respectively, to drive us on. They are great!

FBC Marion is a growing church which has a strong emphasis in music and missions, especially with children and youth. It was a joy to have the opportunity to worship with them. Their worship pastor, Lee Barnett, and student pastor, Michael Lusk, were great to work with and made us feel right at home. After a light dinner together we geared up in our concert uniforms and prepared our hearts for worship. The students did an INCREDIBLE job! You could sense God's presence in a powerful way. "Shut de Door" was a crowd favorite as well as the last song of the evening, "Thou Oh Lord". After our time of worship together we had the opportunity to share some fellowship time with the students of FBC Marion in their gym and over some pizza!

We had a great nights sleep tonight and are ready to hit the road to St. Louis this morning. Tonight we will be singing at a retirement village in St. Charles, MO. Be praying for God to continue to reveal Himself to us as we seek Him. Pray specifically for conversations that our adult volunteers have as we seek to encourage students in their faith journey! Thanks for supporting, loving, and praying for Pure Energy during Choir Tour 2010.

cc

Summer Is Almost Here

Hey Gang....
Summer is almost here, and I'm pumped about all that is going in our church! The summer days are active ones for our Student Ministry. We will work hard to keep you updated on what God is doing on Choir Tour, Mission Trips, and other goings on as we update this blogsite! Feel free to leave encouraging comments and prayers on the comment section! Here is a list of weeks that we will be out this summer. Be praying that these are not just 'trips', but times where we meet with the Lord and have opportunities to proclaim Him!

June 2-9 Choir Tour 2010 (Memphis/St. Louis/Kansas City)
June 14-18 VBS
June 20-25 Mission Arlington
June 27-July 5 Senior High Mission Trip to The Bowery in NYC
July 12-20 Senior High Mission Trip to Cajamarca, Peru

BREAKAWAY 2010

Well Breakaway 2010 has come and gone, but the fruit from the week will last for eternity! God did some incredible things in our lives! Big THANKS go to Stephen Ray & Blake Ligon for leading us in worship all week! They did an amazing job! Click here to see pictures from the week! To God be the glory!

BREAKAWAY REGISTRATION KICKS OFF TONIGHT!

hey gang! sorry for the delay in posts! just a reminder that kick off for BREAKAWAY 2010 will kick off tonight! $75 will hold your spot for our annual Spring Break Beach Camp that will take us back to Orange Beach, Alabama for an incredible week of worship, Bible Study and fellowship. registration forms are available in the Student Ministry Offices and the Upper Room! Blake Ligon from Memphis, TN and Stephen Ray from Houston, TX will be leading our times of worship! it's going to be an awesome experience together. the total cost is $290 and there are some partial scholarships available...all you need to do is talk to Clay! don't miss out!

Camp Speaker

Blake Ligon

Camp Worship Leader:

Stephen Ray