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Staff Chat with Associate Pastor Josh Shell
59 Plays3 years ago
Staff Chat with Associate Pastor Josh Shell
Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Introduction to Growing in Grace
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Reflecting on New Testament Teachings
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome back to Growing in Grace. You know, as a parent of two daughters, I can resonate with what John wrote in two of his letters toward the end of the New Testament.
00:00:55
Speaker
John wrote these words. In 2 John, verse 4, he wrote, I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. And then again, in the next letter, 3 John, same verse, only a different letter, 3 John, verse 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Interview with Josh Gell
00:01:24
Speaker
You know, today I'm interviewing a man on my staff who partners with parents to help their children grow in grace and walk in truth. Our associate pastor and youth pastor, Josh Gell, is my guest today on Growing in Grace. Josh, welcome, brother. Hey, thanks, Victor. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to be on the podcast with you.
00:01:47
Speaker
Amen. Listen, man, I love you in Christ. I respect your walk with the Lord. And I'm so grateful that the Lord has called you to serve here at First Baptist Church in Columbus. Thanks, man. Yeah, it's been a really incredible journey. I love being here. I love being part of the church. And man, it's just an honor to serve alongside you as well, a man who's got so much experience and who leads by great humility.
00:02:16
Speaker
Well, it's just a joy to serve together, that's for sure. Why don't we begin the interview by just allowing me to ask you, why don't you just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you came from, how you came to Columbus, Texas?
00:02:32
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So I actually grew up in Georgia. I am one of four biological children. Then I have a younger stepbrother. So I have three older sisters, and like I said, a younger stepbrother. Yeah.
00:02:49
Speaker
Grew up in Georgia, went to school in Tennessee. I went to Union University to study youth ministry, which was something that I felt the Lord called me to going into my senior year of high school. I grew up in the Christian family, grew up in the, I mean, being from Georgia and the heart of the Southern Baptist Belt. Yeah, and just,
00:03:17
Speaker
Throughout my time, I knew that Jesus was Lord and just from growing up in a Christian household. But as a result of going throughout high school and going throughout my own experience, the Lord revealed Himself to me. I came to know Jesus my freshman year of high school after the death of my grandfather. And just kind of began that spiritual journey on my own from that point forward.
00:03:47
Speaker
Got the privilege of getting involved with a really great youth group there in Georgia I got to go on several different missions trips with that youth group and along the way just felt the call from the Lord to go into full-time ministry With the youth if it wasn't for the youth leaders that I had I would not be here today. And so I'm just very grateful very thankful for them for them leading and guiding me along the way and
00:04:14
Speaker
And then ultimately pointing me to Union. It was my small group leader at my church there in Georgia who actually graduated from Union, who encouraged me to apply and to go. And so that's how I ended up at Union. But as far as how I ended up here in Columbus, while I was at Union, I was applying for different summer camps to work at. And one of the summer camps that came to Union to recruit
00:04:42
Speaker
was Pine Cove Christian Camps, which is actually just up the road from us, about 15 minutes up the road. And so they came, recruited, I interviewed with them, got to interview with a really close friend of mine now, Jeff Lay, who was ultimately a member of our church while he was here in Columbus.
00:05:02
Speaker
And yeah, I just got to come work at Pine Cove as a summer staffer here in Columbus and work there for three years. And then throughout that time, just developed relationships with a lot of the full time staff here to when the time came for me to graduate from Union.
00:05:21
Speaker
an opportunity came about for me to come down to work full time here at Pineco. That's how the door opened for me to move from Georgia to Tennessee and then also from Tennessee to Columbus, Texas, and I've been here since. I came here January 2013, so going on 10 years. It's pretty crazy.
Philosophy of 412 Student Ministries
00:05:43
Speaker
That's incredible. I feel a little bit like Moses when he's standing there at the burning bush and God said, take your shoes off. I feel like whenever a man like yourself shares how God's worked in his life and changed his life, it makes me just want to respect that and take off my spiritual shoes and just say, Lord, how great you are.
00:06:05
Speaker
I'm so glad that God brought you to Columbus. I'm so glad you came through the ministry of Pine Cove, some great camps. And what did you do out there at Pine Cove right before we called you?
00:06:19
Speaker
Yeah, I actually came on as, uh, my title at the time was the assistant head Wrangler. So I worked with the horse program, uh, believe it or not. So I went to union with, uh, to study a degree in youth ministry and then ultimately went into ministry working with horses. Who would have thought, huh?
00:06:39
Speaker
Who would have thought that? Yes. But I can see some similarities there between wrangling horses and maybe wrangling youth. I don't know. You'll have to tell us more about that.
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah, there's some correlations there. I thought so, yes. Well, let me switch gears from talking about your life and your call, your salvation, and all of those kind of things to talking about your actual ministry that's here in Columbus.
Youth Programs: Devoted and Ignite
00:07:09
Speaker
Why don't you tell those who are listening to the podcast or the broadcast today a little bit about our youth ministry here at First Baptist and what kind of things are offered here at our church?
00:07:22
Speaker
Sure, I would love to. I would love to. So here at First Baptist, the Youth Ministry is called the 412 Student Ministries. This was something that was established back many years ago.
00:07:37
Speaker
even before I came to Columbus. But the 412, I get this question all the time, of what does the 412 stand for? Well, if you were to turn to 1 Timothy 4-12, there's Paul's writing a letter to a young pastor named Timothy who he's encouraging him of, hey, do not
00:07:59
Speaker
but do not let anyone despise you for your youth because but rather set the believer as an example in your youth and so that's the philosophy that's the mindset that we uh have established here in our youth group uh over the years is that we want to train and equip our students in our youth group not to uh feel like because of their youth they have no insight or have no wisdom or have no place in
00:08:28
Speaker
In the church or in god's kingdom or in his ministry, but rather to to strengthen them and to I mean to do exactly what paul is telling them if they have like hey But no one despises you for you to use but set the believers an example in your speech and your conduct and your faith and your and your purity Um, that's exactly what we want to try to achieve in our youth group So that's awesome. And that four twelve stands for yeah
00:08:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's so cool because I see that in you that I feel like you're trying to model what you want the students to do, how you want them to live, but also all of those members of the student ministry team, ministry team, they seem to really all model the right things, and now I can actually see
00:09:17
Speaker
the students in the youth ministry living it out, and it's just so exciting to see. Well, why don't you tell me about something called Devoted? I've heard that mentioned a lot. So what do you mean when you say that y'all have some kind of gathering called Devoted?
Studying the Sermon on the Mount
00:09:35
Speaker
Sure, absolutely. Yeah, so there's within the 412 student ministries umbrella, if you will. There's our Wednesday night program called Devoted. Devoted is our Wednesday night Bible studies that we have here at the Youth House. It's a time for us just to come together
00:09:54
Speaker
hang out, have some great fellowship, play games, but ultimately for us to dive into God's word together here at the Youth House. It's a time where it's
00:10:07
Speaker
Devoted is mainly the time for us to, it's more of an outreach time for our students to, for them to come, but also to invite their friends, for them to come and to learn the elementary principles of the gospel. So it's very much just the time for us to look at God's word, take the simple truths of God's word and how to apply them to our lives together. It's a really sweet time.
00:10:34
Speaker
So yeah, that's so awesome. Tell me what are y'all studying like this when we're recording this, this is actually a Wednesday. So what kind of things are y'all studying right now, like this month, this week, even tonight?
00:10:49
Speaker
Sure, yeah, we're actually in our final few weeks of working through the series on the Sermon on the Mount, which is a really incredible discourse that Jesus gives us in the book of Matthew and from Matthew 5 chapter 7 and what it means for us to live Christ's likeness in our daily lives and how we are to
00:11:13
Speaker
really just addressing the heart issues of how we are to live like Christ in our hearts and how that can overflow into our lives. And so it's been a really sweet time. Tonight, actually, we're looking at Matthew 7, verses 7 through 13, I believe, and where Jesus is saying, hey, for those of you guys who ask, seek, and knock, you will find. And so I'm really excited about that. But yeah, so that's just the series that we're walking through now.
00:11:42
Speaker
Amen. Now, your Wednesday night group that gathers, are they mainly church kids only, like Christian kids?
Inclusive Youth Participation
00:11:50
Speaker
No, this is a wide variety. This is a time for anybody in our community to come. So, I mean, a large portion of them are church kids, but at the same time, we have a good group of kids coming from the community. We have our students inviting their friends to come, so it's a really sweet time.
00:12:09
Speaker
That's so cool. And so if someone brings their teenager, their student over there, but they go to another church, is that okay by you? If their church doesn't have an active youth ministry on Wednesday nights, is that, are you okay with that? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Anyone is more than welcome to come where we will not shut the door on anybody.
00:12:32
Speaker
That's awesome. You know, I also hear you sometimes talk about something called Ignite.
Focus on Discipleship: Ignite Program
00:12:37
Speaker
Why don't you unpack that one for us? What do you mean by Ignite? Are y'all playing with matches over there? What's going on? No, no, no, no. Don't worry about that. No, Ignite is our Sunday night program. And so Ignite is designated for the students who have a relationship with Jesus and who ultimately want to go deeper.
00:12:57
Speaker
It's more of an intentional discipleship night. For example, with devoted, we've been walking through the Sermon on the Mount, taking the simple truths of Scripture and how we can apply in our daily lives. Whereas, at Ignite, we've actually been going through a series called Everyday Theology for Teams.
00:13:15
Speaker
And that's going in a little bit deeper, deeper into what it means for us and how we actually do apply God's word to our lives and ultimately, you know,
00:13:29
Speaker
You know, everyday theology, you hear that word theology and it's kind of intimidating, but the theology is a study of God's word. So it's us diving into God's word and pulling out the truths and going deeper with it. So it's a really sweet time. And I also want to just kind of plug this in there. The idea of devoted and ignite, it's not intentionally trying to separate the two, but rather what I would love to see in the ultimate goal is to take
00:13:57
Speaker
the students from devoted our Wednesday night program and once they establish that relationship with Jesus or even if they're just seeking to know more to funnel them through Ignite. So it's just this circular model where it's they're not just coming to Wednesday night or just coming to Sunday night but rather I want them there at both nights so that way they can learn and grow together as yeah as we go through each day. So
00:14:24
Speaker
I love that. I think that's so cool the way you have sort of like a bridge leading from one to the other and wanting to take the kids just as far as they want to go in following Christ. I know it's such a blessing for me as the pastor to see you as the associate pastor, as the youth pastor, deepening the roots of our students in Christ and in His Word.
Community Building Activities
00:14:47
Speaker
And I feel like through these gatherings of various sizes and so forth, you're giving them opportunities to develop their relationships with others, with other students, with other student ministry leaders.
00:15:02
Speaker
And I just think that is just way cool. And I just appreciate what y'all are doing. It reminds me a lot of how Jesus, it seemed like he had concentric circles that, you know, he had an inner core of like three men. He was definitely pouring his life out, but then there were 12, there were more. He called them disciples, but there were also all these different ones that were coming in.
00:15:27
Speaker
on a bigger scale, like sometimes even 5000 gathered and so forth. So anyway, I just really appreciate all that you're doing each week and so forth. But I wanted to ask an additional question about, I don't know the right terminology, but
00:15:45
Speaker
I know that there are seasonal things, there are special infrequent activities that take place within our youth ministry and youth program that I was also wondering if you had a few minutes just to tell us what other kind of things do you have other than, you know, the regular weekly gatherings that y'all have.
00:16:08
Speaker
Sure, absolutely. Yeah, we try to keep things on the schedule. Not too much, because you know in our community, our students are so actively involved in so many different things, whether it's after school activities or sports or whatever the case may be. But to go back to the dynamic of devoted and ignite and trying to
00:16:35
Speaker
Kind of create this fellowship and unity among our students that ultimately overflows into our community we try to. Place things on the calendar that will kind of bridge those gaps of sorts and so whether it's like we do movies on the lawn here at the youth house so we have this big inflatable movie screen that we blow up and.
00:16:55
Speaker
We go out there now there's daylight savings, it's perfect for it. The weather's starting to cool off. We watch these movies together. The movies themselves can be anything from watching the Grinch to actually watching movies that have spiritual influence like Woodlawn, which is about the football team in Alabama that
00:17:22
Speaker
that had the chaplain come in and they saw great revival in their community as a result. So we have those, the movies on the lawn, and then we also, in a couple weeks, we're actually going to be taking a break from Ignite for an evening. We're going to go play softball.
00:17:42
Speaker
We're going to go to the high school softball field and we're going to play softball. Again, that's not just for our youth group, but that's for anybody. I'm encouraging our students to invite people, to bring them there just to create those bonds of fellowship. The last one I was going to mention was the big one that all of our students, they always look forward to is our summer camp.
00:18:08
Speaker
I know summer camps are a big deal among the church circles. I know for us, we actually made a longer haul trip this past summer up to Jackson, Tennessee to Union University, our alma mater.
00:18:24
Speaker
We went up there to experience centrifuge for the first time and we absolutely loved it. Again, the stereotype there is that you have to be a member of the church to go to summer camp and that's not always the case. If there's anybody who's listening and wants to go to summer camp and they don't have an outlet or an avenue to do that and they would like to do it, come talk to me, I would love.
00:18:46
Speaker
to try to get them to go with us. Summer Camp is such a unique experience for you to get away, to experience God in a way that you're not used to in our community. It's a really sweet time. Those are just a couple of different things that we do to try to bridge the gaps between everything we do and try to keep the unity going strong. Wow.
00:19:14
Speaker
That really sounds
Details on Age Range and Venue
00:19:15
Speaker
great. It actually sounds fun. You know, if someone's thinking, well, I'm afraid that my student would think it's boring or whatever. When I come on Wednesday nights, I see you guys out there playing volleyball and then you go in, you have Bible study and there's sharing and so forth. You do these
00:19:33
Speaker
you know, softball games and you go to youth camp and all that. I just think it's all a home run because I think kids are looking for something that's got, you know, some kind of fun mixed in with the depth and you have just such a great mix with our students and I really appreciate it.
00:19:54
Speaker
Just for clarification too, whenever we say the student ministry, the 412 student ministry, what grade does it start and what grade does it stop? What's the age range there for the students? For sure. Yeah, that's a great question. Thanks for asking that. It's from 7th through 12th grade. So from middle school, 7th grade, all the way up to senior high and 12th grade.
00:20:19
Speaker
Awesome, okay, so that's clear. And then where y'all gather, I think is sort of unique. I'm not sure that every church is able to do this, but tell us about where y'all actually gather and meet. And someone just driving down Mollum Street in Columbus, Texas, how are they gonna know where you guys meet?
00:20:40
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. So, I mean, obviously the physical address of the church is 1700 Milam. I'm not 100% sure of what the address is for our youth house, but it's located right across the street from the church. There's a big
00:20:55
Speaker
metal sign out in front of our youth house that says it's our 412 logo. You can't miss it. And like you said, on Wednesday night, there's typically kids out there playing basketball. And so if you see a bunch of teenagers out there playing basketball or volleyball or football, you're probably in the right spot.
00:21:15
Speaker
Awesome. Well, I see that sign out there and it looks to me like a sign that would be at a ranch, maybe something like a Wrangler or some type of guy would put up for the kids to know where to come. Yeah, you gotta watch out for those Wranglers, man. You got to. That's
Closing Prayer and Gratitude
00:21:32
Speaker
right.
00:21:32
Speaker
Listen, I know you care about your students. I know you're getting ready. This is a Wednesday. And so you've probably got last minute things to do. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with me here on Growing in Grace. And I thought maybe we could close. I wanted to pray over the students along with you for Colossians 1.
00:21:54
Speaker
9 through 12. It's always been one of the standby passages that I pray for disciples, for church members, for family, and so forth. And perhaps some of our listeners may not have ever discovered that particular passage
00:22:11
Speaker
But it's one of the prayers that's recorded in God's word for us by the Apostle Paul. And he's saying what he was praying for a church that was located in a place called Colossae. So I'd like for us to close in prayer. If you will, Josh, let me say this prayer and just pray based on what is recorded for us in Colossians 1 verses 9 through 12. That's great. I would love it. OK.
00:22:42
Speaker
He says, for this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Father, we pray for these students that they might discern the will of God. You have a special plan for each one's life. So we just want to pray for them together right now that you would help them learn how
00:23:09
Speaker
to discern what you want them to do as they go through life. Lord, next, we also want to pray that they would attempt to please you in everything.
00:23:20
Speaker
Lord, in this passage, it says that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him. So that's a prayer. I know that young people today are torn in so many different directions. Who are they going to please? Who do they want acceptance from? I pray for the students over there tonight and every night, every day, that the driving force of their lives would be to glorify God, to please and honor you in all that they do.
00:23:49
Speaker
And Lord, next, I pray that you would genuinely make them fruitful. I really pray. It says being fruitful in every good work. I really pray that you would help our students to bear fruit for the kingdom of God, to bear fruit for your name and for your glory. So that's another thing that we just wanted to lift up to you.
00:24:11
Speaker
Lord, I guess the next thing is very important. It says increasing in the knowledge of God. Father, I just pray that each one of our students, boy, girl, whether they're a junior high student, senior high student, that they would always be increasing in the knowledge of God, that they would know you better
00:24:32
Speaker
this week more than they did last week. And I pray next week you would take new ground in them and just help them to realize more and more how faithful, how gracious, how good of a God that you are. I pray that also you would help them to access the power of God for your strength, O Lord. He says, strengthen with all might according to His glorious power.
00:24:59
Speaker
And so, Father, I pray that You would strengthen each one of our students as they are at Bible study this week, this night. I pray that You would make them strong in the Lord. Lord, I also know that they face things that are discouraging, just like those of us who are adults.
00:25:16
Speaker
And so I pray that they would avoid discouragement through a patient trust in your plan and a steadfast walk in your will. It says, For all patience and long suffering with joy.
00:25:31
Speaker
Lord, I really pray that there would be an attitude of gratitude for all that You have given to us in Christ that's available to them, as it says, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
00:25:50
Speaker
That's our prayer that Josh and I pray for the students that are being reached over there in the 412 ministry. Thank you for Josh. Thank you for his wife, Hannah. Thank you, Lord, for the team that serves alongside of them as they invest in these students. We give you all the praise and all the glory. It's for you, O Lord, that we serve. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Josh, I really want to thank you for joining us today on Growing in Grace.
00:26:20
Speaker
Absolutely. Thank you for having me. It was awesome. Yeah, I really believe that there are probably adults. They look across there and they see y'all shooting basketball, playing volleyball, and they're thinking, how come the students are the ones having fun over there? Why can't we do that kind of thing? Well, if they're interested in volunteering, let me know. Yeah, there you go. That's right. We'll get them to volunteer. Listen, man, you have a blessed night tonight. Thank you, Victor. Appreciate it.
00:26:49
Speaker
All right, God bless you. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milan Street, Columbus, Texas.