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The Evangelical Free Church of Yacolt
509 W Cushman St., PO Box 175
Yacolt, WA 98675
360-686-3322

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The Rock Overview by Pastor Nathan Noorlun

The history of our church has been strongly influenced by a heart for youth. It has long been our desire that the students of our community and of our congregation become influencers of our culture rather than being influenced by it. To do this they need to become mature young men and young women in Christ. They need to grow more and more in becoming like Christ Jesus - growing in Christ-likeness.

Psalms 78 rings clear when thinking of youth ministry. “We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done...That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments...” (Psalms 78:4-8). Our desire is that through our ministry teens and their families will grow in Christ-likeness.

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OUR PURPOSE:
The Rock Student Ministries exists to serve and labor with teens and their families so that Christ is formed in them. Our hearts desire is to see students GROWING in Christ-like maturity through His Word, LIVING lives that are cross-centered and pleasing to God and SHARING the gospel of Jesus Christ to other students and families around them. (Galatians 4:19, Colossians 1:28; Ephesians 4:12-13, John 15:8).

OUR VALUES:
Christ-centered Gospel (Mark 1:15; Luke 24:46-47) - The gospel is the heart of Christianity. But the good news is not that God wants to meet people's felt needs or help them develop a healthier self-image. We have sinfully rebelled against our Creator and Judge. Yet He has graciously sent His Son to die the death we deserved for our sin, and he has credited Chirst's acquittal to those who repent of thier sins and believe in Jesus' death and resurrection. That is the good news! (from www.9marks.org)
Christ-centered Teaching and Preaching (Romans 10:14-17) - The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, and the final authority for our faith and lives. Our first priority is expositional teaching of the Word of God. Expository simply means taking a passage of Scripture and exposing what it says, explaining what it means, and applying the Whole Counsel of God (Acts 20:27). This is different from many youth ministries today who only teach on a few topics over and over again. Our desire is that teens learn to study and understand and apply the Word of God and allow the Word to shape their everyday decisions through humble obedience. The teaching is intentionally designed to challenge students to apply the truth of the Word.
Christ-centered Relationships (Philippians 3:17 & 1 Cor 11:1) - We desire to encourage discipleship and build Godly, relationships with the students of our youth ministry. Through small group interaction, 1-2-1 discipleship, KCOR group relationships and family mentoring opportunities, we will strive to build up and encourage students and families to follow the Master and Savior, Christ Jesus.

OUR DESIRES: Qualities we hope will be lived out by students and youth leaders alike
Intimacy with Jesus Christ (John 15:1-17) - Our youth ministry will begin and end with the importance of an intimate relationship with Jesus. We cannot separate our personal ministries about the gospel from our personal lives with the gospel. Our first priority in our ministry and as leaders will be intimacy with God, not programming about God.
Servant Leadership (1 Thessalonians 2:7-12) - Our youth ministry strive to foster a heart of servant leadership in our staff and in the students. Our prayer is that teens will be surrounded by brotherly love, challenged with truth and be encouraged to make choices to serve Christ. Our desire is that the students will in turn grow into leaders who serve other in their schools, homes and lives as young adults.
Spirit-Empowered Boldness (2 Timothy 1:7-10) - Our youth ministry will strive to foster bold, Holy Spirit empowered, spiritual audacity. Following Jesus and living the gospel will inevitably lead to persecution in this culture. We desire to to challenge teens, their families and the church to risk cultural comfort for the cause of Christ. We will teach the truth of the Word with boldness and will not water down issues teens face and will challenge them to follow Christ in the face of cultural resistance for the sake of the gospel.
Accountability (Heb 10:24-25; 12:1-13) - Our youth ministry will strive to foster accountability in our walk with Christ by small group interaction and opportunities to discuss their relationship with the Lord. These groups give students the opportunity to share their burdens, confess their sins and pray for one another as they pursue personal holiness in Christ alone.