It's time to go bananas!

It's a Build Your Own Banana Split party! This Saturday night you are the master of your own sweet icy treat destiny! You choose your ice cream flavors. You choose your toppings -- will it be hot fudge, caramel, strawberry? Do you want whipped cream on that? Cherry on top, or no cherry? And no one can tell you whether to split your banana lengthwise or in slices, because YOU are the MASTER ARCHITECT of your own banana split! Can you feel the exhilaration already? Can you feel the anticipation building?
We will also have an amazing array of other toppings to choose from, including Dr. Pepper cherry dessert topper, Orange Crush orange and vanilla cream dessert topper, A&W Root Beer Float dessert topper, Heath toffee and chocolate topping, marshmallow topping, and more. Special guest Mr. Sprinkles will be joining our party in both chocolate and rainbow form. It'll be a childhood dream come true!

So save some room for dessert when you eat supper Saturday, and then mosey on over to CCVT's campus house about 7pm and we'll play a few games, make some new friends, and exercise our culinary creativity seeing what kind of banana split masterpieces we can conjure up.

As always, feel free to bring a friend.

For a map and simple directions to CCVT's campus house only one block from Lee Hall, just look on the top right side of your screen. If you live off campus and ride the bus, we are only 100 yards from the bus stop on Washington Street.

So that's Saturday at 7pm.

Hope you can make it. It's gonna be a lot of fun.
Steve

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and a Small Group Bible Study just for Guys

Hey guys,
Hope your first week of classes is going well.

I mentioned in a previous post that we have a weekly small group Bible study just for guys, but we had not set a day for it yet. That day has now been set.

We will meet at 7:15pm on Thursdays at our campus house.

Our Guys' Bible study has two main thrusts:
One is to study God's word and learn from it, of course.
The second is to make some really good friends who will support us and help us to live a life that pleases God.

Sometimes we have friends but faith really isn't at the center of our friendship, so they really don't do anything to help us stay strong in the faith. Or maybe they even do the opposite. Other times we study the Bible and learn more stuff about it, but we really aren't putting much of it into practice because we don't have anybody to help us know how or to give us moral support.

Our Guys' Bible Study is designed to bring these two crucial pieces together to give us the support we need to live out the truths we learn from God's word.

When you put chocolate and peanut butter together you end up with a really great dessert. But when you put God's word and Christian fellowship together, you end up with something even better. You end up with the church functioning the way God intended, and transformed lives that reflect the character of Christ. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity.

Feel free to bring a friend with you. Just remember this is for guys only. (The girls have their own group, too.) 

If you need directions to our campus house, a map and simple directions are right over on the right side of your screen. We're only one block from Lee Hall.

That's Thursday nights at 7:15.

Hope you can make it tonight.

Thanks.
Steve

Free Spaghetti Dinner and Oasis Bible Study

So how are you feeling about classes now that you have probably been to all of them at least once? Hopefully you are feeling pretty good about them, but if you are feeling at all intimidated, try to remember that what looks like an insurmountable mountain of assignments early in the semester usually turns out not to be so bad when you just take a deep breath and start chipping away at it bit by bit, with perseverance. At the end of the semester you look back and stand amazed at how much you were able to get done. Pray for God's help and trust him to answer your prayer and you will probably do even better, and have a lot less anxiety in the meantime.

Trusting God and doing your best is key to success not only in academics, but in life in general. And part of trusting God is not putting him on a shelf, or on the back burner of your life, but keeping him front and center -- the top priority in your life. I hope you will do that throughout your college career. If you will, not only your academics, but your whole life will be much more blessed.

I believe that is why God invented the Church. He knew that in order for us to keep him at the center of our lives, we all would need to spend time with other believers often, to learn God's ways and to enjoy the support of good friends. That is what Christ's Church at VT campus ministry (CCVT for short) is here to do. I hope you will take advantage of it.

One of the main ways we do that is through our main weekly meeting every Wednesday night at 7:15pm which we call "Oasis". It's a place to come for spiritual refreshing. Oasis includes Bible Study, group discussion, sharing with friends, and prayer.

This week we have an extra special treat, to kickoff the new school year. We are going to have a free homemade spaghetti dinner before Oasis, complete with meat sauce (or meatless marinara sauce if you prefer), garlic bread, salad, drinks and dessert. Our own Joe Starr is the star chef, and I have tasted his spaghetti before, so I can promise you it is very good. Please arrive about 6pm.

The dinner and Oasis will both be at our campus house, only one block from Lee Hall. For a map and simple directions just look on the right side of your screen. 

Whether this will be your first time here, or you've been to CCVT before, I really hope you can make it.

Feel free to bring a friend or two with you.

Recap:
6pm Spaghetti Dinner
7:15pm Oasis Bible Study
(Wednesday, August 29)

Looking forward to seeing you Wednesday night.

God bless you.
Steve

Syrup -- Saturday -- 11am

Flapjacks, griddle cakes, hotcakes, or pancakes -- call them what you will, but we will have them homemade, hot off the griddle, and in abundance Saturday morning, complete with pretty much whatever you might want for on top -- strawberry syrup, blueberry syrup, boysenberry syrup, butter pecan syrup, honey creme syrup, and oh ya, maple syrup. Almost forgot. We'll have sausage and juice and stuff like that, too, of course.

Come on over and make some new friends at Tech. And feel free to bring a friend.

We'll eat at our campus house right on the edge of campus, just one block from Lee Hall. For a map and simple directions just look on the right side of your screen.

Hope to see you there at 11am.

Steve

Food, Fun, Worship and Prayer, More Food and Fellowship, Bible Study and Friends, and the List Goes On

If you are new to VT, we want you to know you are welcome to make CCVT campus ministry your home away from home, just like so many students have before you. You see, CCVT is more than just another student organization, or place to go to church. For years, CCVT has been a place where students build some of the best friendships they have ever had with other Christian students, and in the process get the support we all need to make the adjustment to college life and get the most out of our college years. We don't just "clock-in, and clock-out" of church. We take the time to really care about each other and build one another up in the faith and in our walk with God. We want to do that for you, too, and we hope you will be a good friend to us, as well.

Since that is such a big part of what we are all about, we do a lot of fun events together, especially at the beginning of the school year, so we can all meet each other and get to know one another. Below is a list of the events we have planned for the beginning of the fall semester. Please make a note of these on your calendar and make plans to join us. We are really looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you.

Also, don't forget to join us Wednesday nights at 7:15pm at our campus house for our main weekly meeting called "Oasis".

Hope to see you soon. Here's what's coming up. (All these events are FREE and happen at our campus house unless stated otherwise.)

F Aug. 24, 4pm -- Pizza Party -- with homemade desserts, and soda, of course. We also have some games planned: We'll have the volleyball net up, ladder ball, boche, and some new twists on some old games to make things really interesting. We don't want to ruin the surprise, but just as an example, one of the games involves a tennis ball, a sheet, and one of the aforementioned games. But no special athletic ability is required.

Sat. Aug. 25, 11am -- Pancake Brunch -- complete with sausage, fruit, and more. 

Sun. Aug. 26, 10:15am -- Come to church with us! We'll meet at our campus house and carpool to Belmont Christian Church about 10:25am. We'll even have some fruit and donuts for you to snack on while we wait for everyone to arrive. Bring some lunch money along, too, if you want to go out to eat for lunch with us. We'll drop you off on campus if you'd rather eat on campus or just go back to your dorm. 

Wed. Aug. 29, 6:15pm -- Spaghetti Dinner before Oasis -- complete with garlic bread, dessert, etc.

Wed. Aug. 29, 7:15pm -- Oasis Bible Study -- our main weekly meeting!

Sat. Sept. 1, 7pm -- Build Your Own Banana Split night -- Be the architect of your own edible masterpiece! Besides the food, we'll also play some really fun, unique games.

Sun. Sept. 2, 10:15am -- Fresh fruit and donuts at the campus house again, then carpool to Belmont Christian Church about 10:25am. We will go out for lunch together again for those who are interested.

Mon. Sept. 3, 8pm -- Those without tickets to the Georgia Tech vs. VT football game are invited to watch the game at the campus house on our large projection screen.

Wed. Sept. 5, 7:15pm -- Oasis Bible Study -- our main weekly meeting, remember?

Fri. Sept. 7, 7pm -- Squirrel Day! -- The unusual story behind this mysterious name will be revealed at this creative event in memory of our fallen comrade of the tree tops. Plans include a squirrel scavenger hunt, other games, dessert, and drinks.

We also have small group Bible studies during the week. The meeting times for those are yet to be determined based on which nights work best for the most people, but we will be starting those the first or second week of classes. If you would like to let us know which nights work for you, please do! Your choices are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday, probably sometime around 7pm. Girls, please email Stacey at WOWgirlVT@gmail.com. Guys, email Steve at CHRISTatVT@vt.edu. 

Thanks, and hope to see you soon! 
Steve