Firstclaim Youth

At Bible Baptist Church, we believe that God has a specific role in his kingdom for everyone, including teenagers. We strive to instill in them the importance of granting God “first claim” on their lives instead of giving their best to the world and the remnants to God. We do this through the FirstClaim Youth, a Sunday school class and program that involves our young people by providing ministry opportunities and exciting activities. The attractions and temptations of the world draw many teenagers away from church. At BBC, we strive to show them that seeking God’s kingdom first is the only way to truly discover the abundant life that God has in mind for each young person. Our passion is to see our youth become all that God wants them to be, and we believe the first step to reaching that plane start with young people putting God first in each area of daily life.

Camp at the Bill Rice Ranch was an unforgettable experience this summer. The senior campers placed well in both music and sports contests, but the greatest trophy awarded to the teens was the highly respected sportsmanship trophy. Concerning spiritual matters, the teens heard dynamic, powerful messages from the speakers that resulted in many heartfelt decisions for Christ. The junior campers also experienced a tremendous week at camp. The messages, accompanied by well-constructed illustrations, left lasting impressions upon the young campers. We pray that the decisions made at camp will be long lasting decisions that develop the campers into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise the Lord for the safety in travel and the mighty working of His Word and Spirit in the lives of those that attended.

On Sunday, June 6, we enjoyed our annual Work and Bake Auction to raise money for summer camp at the Bill Rice Ranch.  We had a great time of fellowship and laughs, and over $4,600 was pledged.  Thank you to all who contributed this year!

Enjoy some pictures from the auction

On Friday, April 23, the FirstClaim Youth went to the Spaghetti Warehouse in Oklahoma City for this year’s Senior Banquet. The purpose of the evening was to honor this year’s graduates and celebrate their accomplishment of finishing high school. We enjoyed good food, lots of laughs, and a wonderful devotion by Bro. Tim Berg – a student from Heartland and friend of Bro. Rench. We gave away a lot of door prizes, played the “Guess The Baby” game, and gave out senior superlative awards. Sarah Brown was the winner of the 2010 FirstClaim Leadership Award. Here’s a list of the other awards that brought a bunch of laughs:

Sarah Brown
Most likely to run you down with her four wheeler…and go to prison*
Most likely to hack into Pastor Hardy’s computer…and go to prison*

*We’re not sure why we feel Sarah will go to prison, especially since she also won the FirstClaim Leadership Award!

Jordain Nickels
Most likely to eat a 72 ounce Big Texas steak in under 10 minutes
Most likely to text you before talking to you

Trevor Furrh
Most likely to sleep through his first day of college…and 2nd, 3rd, 4th…
Most likely to yell “Chace!!!” while getting his diploma

Whitney McKnight
Most likely to rule the world…or at least her own Wal-Mart
Most likely to text you and never talk to you

This year's seniors (Whitney McKnight, Jordain Nickels, Trevor Furrh, Sarah Brown)

Here is the first half of our epic battle night. See the previous post for the details.

If you do not see the videos, click here to go to the FirstClaim blog.

The Activities Building hosted an epic battle scene on Friday night.

Red vs. Blue. Good guys vs. bad guys, and not necessarily in that order.

The FirstClaim guys played some intense games all night. Bro. Jamie Jett (Bro. Jason’s father), Dean of Men at Heartland Baptist Bible College in OKC, OK, brought a couple of sessions on anger. The sessions seemed to help the guys’ tempers when they got the eggs smashed all over their heads!

Watch a video from that night. It says “Part Two” on it because “Part One” is having some difficulties. It will be up soon. For now, enjoy the egg jousting and other activities from the night!

The FirstClaim Youth hosted the first-ever April Fools Comedy Night for the church on Thursday. After a scrumptious taco salad meal, everyone enjoyed an evening of laughter as the teens did their very best to make fools of themselves! Mission accomplished.

We have most of the videos done and will get the rest up as soon as we can, so be sure to check back now and then to see if we have updated this post! Enjoy…

We recently took eleven of our young people to College Days at Heartland Baptist Bible College and had a great time!  Michael Jones, a pastor from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, was the main speaker and brought some challenging messages.  Jason Gaddis of Southwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City also preached and did a wonderful job. Some of the young men entered the music competitions, and Adam Ferguson, Daniel Hardy and Chace Howerton won the vocal group category as a trio. They were then chosen to sing in chapel on Friday morning. Way to go, guys!

We had a great time at our first Ignite activity last Tuesday, March 2. Almost forty teens came, along with five first time guests. Thank the Lord for hard-working young people who put in some great effort to bring friends to the activity! We enjoyed video games, ping-pong, darts, and refreshments. One young man made a decision for Christ after the devotion was brought. Praise the Lord!

We had quite a time with our recent Video Scavenger Hunt.  After heated discussion, a close score had the guys slightly edging the girls for this year’s Scavenger Hunting Crown! (There’s really not a crown, we just pretend there is to motivate the young people.)  The streets of Stillwater may never be the same!  Watch some clips of the silly happenings.

In spite of the NFL’s mistake in scheduling the Super Bowl the same night, there was a great showing for the Chili Cook Off camp fundraiser this year.  Approximately 150 church members attended and we made over $600!  The FirstClaim youth and all campers would like to express a sincere appreciation to those that participated this year in helping us get to summer camp.  Your involvement means a lot to us!

In addition, the judges had a tougher time than ever trying to choose the best chili.  In a close vote, Gina Ramsey edged out Sherry Rogers for the Cook Off title.  Congratulations!

Bro. Jett

PS – Below is the text from the letter sent to us by Roger Goodell of the NFL.  Thought you might want to read it with your own eyes so you didn’t think I was making it up…

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Bible Baptist Church,

It is with deep regret that we inform you of a conflict in scheduling that could not be avoided.  When we heard of the Chili Cook-Off on Sunday, February 7, 2010 we initially crossed that date off of our list as a possible date for the Super Bowl.  We had even bought the ingredients for our famous “Hail Mary Chili,” which has won numerous awards in chili cook-offs around the country.  However, not long after initializing plans to begin making the chili, we heard from the network who is airing the big game, CBS, that a contract was already in place and there was nothing they could do.  They were very apologetic and disappointed, because, they too (like us) had already bought ingredients to make their own special recipe (famous for once burning the tongue of Katie Couric, which makes us all smile just a little bit).  So, we (along with CBS) will have to miss the cook-off this year.  We realize that raising money for youth camp is eternally light years more important than a silly game of football that is more hype than substance, and we can’t imagine that anyone would miss something that truly matters if they actually had a choice.  Unfortunately, our situation is not flexible.  We will instead send a sizable donation, which is obviously what anyone with even a hint of a conscience would do if they chose to not attend the chili cook-off in order to watch the Super Bowl.  So, please pass this message on to the campers and members of Bible Baptist Church, all of whom we are sure will attend the cook-off on Sunday night and simply use modern technology like DVR or a VCR to record a game that they can watch after your event is over.  We all know the only reason to watch is for the commercials anyway!

Sincerely,

Roger Goodell

NFL Commissioner on behalf of the entire National Football League and CBS