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“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever. He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.”
-Psalm 111:2-8
God is abundantly good, and He is so faithful. As I've been reflecting on this summer and all that God did in our ministry, I was reminded of Psalm 111. I can't help but step back and just delight in the works of the Lord. God really showed off this summer. He did everything we were asking Him to do, and He's set us up for another year of ministering to these teens. I'm really excited to tell you guys about what all has been going on, and some things we're looking forward to!
CTF CAMP!
CTF Camp was absolutely amazing. Between CTF Wylie, CTF Garland, and all of our adult volunteers, we took about 100 people to Sacramento, New Mexico for a week of worship, fellowship, learning, and a lot of fun. Camp is always the highlight of our year, and yet every year heading into camp I find myself wondering if God is going to show up and work like He has every other year. Spoiler alert, he always does, and He did it again this year.
Our theme this year was God is With Us. We wanted to communicate to our teens that our God is relational, that He wants us to know Him, that He loves us, that He’s given us His Spirit, and that He is always with us. It was really neat getting to have conversations with multiple teens about the truth that God is with us, loves us, and died for us even when we were at our worst as sinners (Romans 5:8).
I could write you a 10 page paper about everything God did at camp. He just showed up in really big ways. But there were two really cool moments at camp that I want to share with you all. On the second to last night of camp, during our worship time, we prompted the students to listen to the Spirit as He might be nudging them, and to be obedient to Him. The next ten minutes were some of the sweetest moments that I’ve experienced in youth ministry. I got to watch some of my guys repent and ask for forgiveness, apologize and seek reconciliation in fractured relationships, confess sin to one another, pray for each other, encourage each other, and so much more. Some of the conversations that I had that night were the beginning of a new life for a few guys. It was a beautiful time, full of the grace and power of God.
One of the conversations that I got to have that night was with a young man named Tyler. I’ve known Tyler since he was in 2nd grade, and he just graduated high school. For the last two and a half years, I’ve gotten to study the Bible with Tyler, help him learn about who Jesus is, and what it means to be His disciple. That night at camp Tyler told me that he wanted to give his life to Jesus and he asked me to baptize him, and it was my absolute honor to get to do so the next day.
The coolest part about camp is always what happens after it. In the last month or so it has been so cool to see these teens build on the foundation that was laid that week. These teens have sought out mentorship and accountability, continued to fellowship with one another, plugged into the church, and been on mission with Jesus by inviting their friends and families to church and CTF. It really is amazing to watch! I’m so thankful for how God moved and worked at camp this year. Thank you all for so diligently praying for camp! Our prayers were answered. Praise God!
Wrapping Up the Summer
As the summer was coming to an end, we focused our Wednesday night themes on what we felt like were the most important topics for the students before they went back to school. The last three weeks before school we talked about Being Invitational, Making and Keeping Commitments, and Godly Friendships. Most Wednesday nights after the sermon we’ll split into small groups to reflect on what was preached that night. It was really cool during those weeks to hear students share about how excited they were to take what they were learning back to school.
The last week of the summer we kicked off our Fish For People Initiative. I got to preach out of Matthew 4 when Jesus called his first disciples. In that passage he says “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. We encouraged our teens to start their school years on mission with Jesus. Our first initiative was for each teen to meet and get to know a new person in every class on the first day of school. Then the next week our initiative was for them to invite their new friends to CTF. Our teens absolutely crushed it! We had an awesome turnout for our school year kickoff, and there were quite a few new students that our teens met at school.
CTF Nights This Fall
Our plan for this fall is to switch off every other week having CTF Nights with everyone at the church, and then what we call JT Groups. JT stands for Jesus Together, and they’re our gender specific small groups. A couple weeks ago, we kicked off our sermon series for the Fall. Our series is titled There’s a Better Way. Each sermon will tackle a different topic or struggle that is relevant to teens, and address how Jesus offers us true life and a better way. Then, the following week in JT Groups, we get to dive deeper into that topic and discuss it further. I’m really excited to see how this sermon series, and our JT Group discussions go this Fall! I think God’s going to use this series to bring freedom, healing, and life to our teens. Please be praying for it!
Youth Leader Team
One of the most vital aspects of the way we do ministry is having a strong, dedicated team of adult volunteers who serve our teens by being at CTF Nights and JT Groups, and helping mentor and study the Bible with teens. One of our goals this year is for our team to really be a community for each other. One of the ways we’ve committed to making that happen is by starting our own CTF Youth Leader small group. We’ve been meeting on Monday nights for the last few weeks, and I can already tell that it’s going to be such a fun and encouraging time for our team.
Supporter Connection
Earlier today, I received an email from one of my supporters who I love and appreciate a lot. To make a long story short, through our interaction I realized that I haven’t gotten to connect with most of you as much as I would like to. Every single one of you who supports me through prayer and financial donations means the world to me. Your generosity and willingness to pray for me and this ministry are big deals to me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Usually at the end of my ministry updates I say something like “"Please reach out to me for anything! If you have a question, idea, comment, or you just wanna catch up and hear more about what I'm doing, text, call, or email me!" Or "Please reach out if you ever want to talk more about CTF and what we're doing, or have any questions.” I put those things in my ministry updates because I genuinely care about each of you, and want to hear from you! You all commit to praying for me and caring about what I’m doing, and I want to do the same for you! I’d really love it if each of you who are reading this would either text, email, or call me in the next week or so and tell me how you’re doing, what’s going on in your life, and if there’s anything I can be praying for you. Love you all and thank you so much!
Prayer Requests
-Pray for our students as they’re settling into their school schedules. Pray that they would be bold ambassadors for Jesus to their friends, classmates, teachers, and coaches. Pray that they would resist the temptations of the world that they encounter every day, and continue to pursue Jesus above everything.
-Our Wednesday Nights. Pray for our sermon series this fall. That each speaker would preach only what the Spirit wants to speak to our teens. That God would use these sermons and our JT Groups to show these teens that Jesus offers a better way than what the world is offering them.
-Our youth leaders. Pray for our adult youth leader volunteers. They are a crucial part of this ministry, and they have such a huge impact on our teens. Pray that God would bless them, strengthen them, and encourage them to continue serving these teens. Pray that our small group would be a time of spiritual growth and community building for our team.
-Pray for all the young men that I get to mentor and study the Bible with: Aiden, Cole, Kole, Hudson, Tucker, Connor C, Connor W, Jacob G, and Jacob H.
-Our partnership with Bridge 2913. Ask God to open doors in the schools, and provide opportunities for us to start outreaching small groups in the Wylie schools.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
-Philippians 4:4-8
William Royal
972-979-6722
william@ctfwylie.org
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