Chi Rho: Sunday Evening Praise and Prayer

Worshiping with the whole Body of Christ is very important to us. But we also feel like it is healthy for the students to enjoy times of worship that are designed specifically for young people. Once a month during this semester, we have a Chi Rho Worship service from 4:45-6:00 Sunday evening.

Chi Rho (pronounced “kai row”) stands for “Christ Reigns.” During these worship services, we want to sing songs that specifically ascribe glory and greatness to Jesus Christ himself, and very often, we want to focus on his work on the Cross. For this reason, we will periodically participate in the Lord’s Supper together, though it will always be administered by a pastor or elder of our church.

The Chi Rho worship service is for both Middle School and High School students.

Discipleship Small Groups

Discipleship Small Groups meet on Wednesday night from 6:30-8:00 p.m., and are the heart of Grace Youth Ministries. High School Small Groups meet in varying locations, but Middle School Small Groups meet in the Faulkner Annex on the campus of Grace Baptist.

Discipleship Small Groups are for students who profess Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and who want to grow in their faith. While each small group goes through a book on Christian living, the main emphasis of the groups is not teaching or gaining information. Rather, the purpose of small groups is to encourage students to put on the character of Christ in every aspect of their lives, and to warn them not to neglect their faith. Small groups are intensely relational. We want the students to deal out their lives to one another, to hold one another accountable, to pray for one another, to confess their sins to one another, to strengthen and encourage one another, so that they persevere in their faith and do not lose heart.

For this reason, small groups are not really for students who have yet to make a decision about Jesus Christ, although no one who greatly desires to participate will be turned away!

Missions Trips, Spiritual Retreats, and Summer Camps

Every year, we do our best to organize mission trips, spiritual retreats, and summer camps. Past mission trips include Tecate, Mexico, and Inner-City Chicago. Our last spiritual retreat occurred on Spring Break and focused on Passion Week. Typically, we take our middle school to a summer Bible camp.

You may see some of the photos from last year's Mission Chicago 2005 in our photo album.

Random Acts of Grace

You’ve heard of Random Acts of Kindness, right? Well, this is Random Acts of Grace. Every now and then, the GYM students get together and plan a sponteous act of extreme grace. For instance, we once went into the Village Inn, ordered only water, and then left the waitress a $75 tip--along with a card that explained the wonderful grace of Jesus Christ.

Sunday Morning Bible Hour

Bible Hour is our primary means for teaching our students the Word of God. We believe that the best time for learning the truths of Holy Scripture is on the Lord’s Day, when God’s family is gathered together to worship.

There are Bible Hour classes for both Middle School and High School students, although we occassionally combine the groups on significant days of the Christian year (Easter and Christmas) or for a series on a special subject.