New Wednesday Night Series: When Boy Meets Girl

 
Have you ever had questions about dating?  Who should you date? What should your dating relationship look like?  Should I even be dating?  What does the Bible have to say about dating?  If you ave ever had any of these questions, then we encourage you to come out on Wednesday nights as we have a good time telling crazy stories, laughing about awkward dating experience and seeing what God has planned for us and our relationships.  Looking forward to seeing you there.

New Wednesday Nigh Series

We just started a new series called "Measuring the Differences Between Catholics and Evangelicals".  Last night was our first night which consisted of a question time.  We had a lot of great discussion and are looking forward to exploring the differences between what we believe and what the Catholic faith believes.  Come and check out this discussion on Wednesday nights at 7:00.

Wednesday Night Lesson Recap: The Masks We Wear

Most of us have felt rejected or unaccepted before.  It’s not a good feeling.  Actually, its one of the worst feelings in the world.  We as humans have a deep internal need to feel accepted and loved.  The feeling of love is critical to our survival at a young age.  If babies don’t receive love they become sick and can even die from it.  But as we grow up and develop into rational people, we still desire love but sometimes we begin to question the reasons why we are not loved.  Is it because I’m ugly, or my figure?  Perhaps we feel like the things that we have done, or things that have been done to us will not be accepted by others.

So, logically, if humans have an internal need to be loved and accepted, but don’t think that they will be because of some “thing” they have done or that has been done to them, what will logical people do?  They will try to hide that thing.  They will try to cover it up.  They put on a mask.

The nice thing about masks is that they disguise reality.  They present a picture to the world that is believable to those looking at it.  The mask says to the world, “see I’m ok and just like you and so you can accept me and love me.”  But we believe that we can’t be loved without it. 

Two problems with masks:

-       Masks make it hard to breathe.

o   When you are behind a mask, you can never breathe as well as without it.  Your face gets sweaty and you may even start to feel a little closed in.  Have you ever felt closed in and hard to breathe?  Its not a good place to be.

-       Masks only cover up, they don’t fix.

o   Masks are made to conceal, but they are not permanent.  They are temporary.  No matter how long you wear it, the same person is still behind the mask.  Masks don’t fix things, they hide things.

But God sees everything and he knows everything and he knows everyone.  Read these verses.  (Matthew 10:30  Psalm 139:4  Job 28:24)

We buy into the idea that the rest of the world is perfect and we are not.  The rest of the world is put together and we are not.  No one else has been through what I’ve been through, and so on. 

But God says to us “Hey, I see you.  I know you, and I can help.”  God says “I’ve seen what has happened to you and I love you.  I’ve seen what you’ve done and I love you despite that.”  When we accept that God loves us for who we are and that we don’t have to wear a mask around him, it is a relieving thing to know.

Jesus loves us and has provided a way for us to have life and to be healed from out hurts.  This is good news.

Two Things Jesus Does…

1.     Jesus accepts us as we are (Psalm 31 1-10, 21-24)

2.     Jesus restores life (John 10:10 and Psalm 23)

After we have dealt with our own masks, we then need to turn around and love those that are around us that are wearing masks.  They are everywhere.  They are in your schools, and at work, and even here at church.  Do you love those people and show them that they don’t have to hide from you because you won’t judge them because God didn’t judge you, he loved you?  Are we willing to help the hurting.

Youth Group Craziness: Video 1

I have begun to document some of the craziness that takes place in youth group and plan on create a video series that highlights these happenings.  Below is episode 1.  Enjoy.

Wednesday Night Lesson Recap: What Would You Ask For From God?

If you had the opportunity to stand before God for a moment and ask him for something, what would it be?  Lets say that this was the only thing, outside your own salvation that you could ask for, what would it be?  It’s a pretty tough question when you stop and think about it.  We live in a society where we ask for things all of the time.  We ask him for good health, for safety, for friends, for all kinds of things.

In Proverbs 30: 7-9 the author of the chapter asks God for two things.

1.     To keep falsehood and lies far from him.

2.     Give him only what he needs, not making him rich or poor.

The first request is important because we know that God hates liars. He calls Satan the father of lies.  We see in both Psalm 101:7 and Proverbs 6:16-19 that God hates liars and says they have no place in him. If we are deceitful than how are we supposed to be effective and useful examples of Christ.

If people can’t believe what we say about the everyday, how can we expect them to believe us when we talk about God?

The second piece to this is falsehood, which is connected to lying.  It is easy to be lead astray and sometimes it’s hard to know who to believe because the lie sounds almost better than the real deal.   If we listen the wrong teaching we quickly find ourselves being lead in a direction that is away from God.

The second request from the author was for God to not make him rich or poor but only give him his daily bread.  What does that mean?  What is the problem that the author says about being too rich?

The problem with being rich = forgetting about God and becoming prideful which leads to thinking only about myself.

The problem with being poor = becoming jealous of others and stealing what they have and then sinning against God.  Also thinking of myself with jealousy.

Being given what I need = understanding that what I have comes from God alone and not from my own doing. 

So if you notice if we have too much or too little our attention is only on ourselves and not on God.  The challenge is for us to live in such a way that we are in constant focus on God.

So How would you pray to God or what would you ask him for?  It’s challenging and sobering to ask God to give me only enough to survive.

Wednesday Night Lesson Recap: Watch Out For Bears

Polar bears are the largest land carnivore in the world.  They prey on seals in the arctic as their main way of survival.  Now there are really two ways strategies polar bears take when they are going to feast on a seal.  The first is that they swim under a seal’s fishing hole if it is close enough to the open water.  While under the water they create cause the seal to think they are a fish.  The seal jumps in and BAM! Dead seal.  The second way is for a polar bear to go and sit next to one of the seal’s many fishing holes.  A seal will have as many as 10 different ones they use at a time.  The bear figures he has a one in ten shot at get it right.  He sits for up to 8 hours waiting for a seal to come up through the hole and then BAM! Dead seal.

Satan is like that bear.  He knows where our “fishing holes” are at.  He knows what we like to do and what are weaknesses are.  For some, it's the mall, the movie theater, or in front of the television and/or computer. For others, it is with a group of close friends or perhaps with a boyfriend/girlfriend.  Some of these things are bad, but Satan can use them against us, especially as we grow in our faith. 

So here is the problem.  We are not unaware of Satan’s schemes, but we often are overconfident in ourselves.

So what do we do? 

Point 1.  Be aware.

Seals are always watching.  They are checking their shoulders and looking around. 

"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but

            the flesh is weak.”  Matthew 26:41

We need to keep a watchful eye open at all time and be aware of our surroundings in order to know of possible danger.  Many times when people that I talk to have messed up, when they look back on it they can see how Satan trapped them and then they are mad at themselves because they just weren’t paying attention.  PAY ATTENTION! 

-       Going to far with a boyfriend/girlfriend

-       Parties

-       Computer stuff

-       Stealing

Point 2.  Be Prepared.

It isn’t by mistake that seals have up to 10 fishing holes.  They are giving themselves options.  If they only had one place to come up for air they would be dead really quick.  They prepare for the worst.

Prepare yourself ahead of time for Satan’s attacks.  How are you going to be able to fight if you aren’t prepared ahead of time.  Think about the areas in which you struggle and figure out how can I avoid trouble here.  Identify relationship guidelines ahead of time, decide where you will and won’t go with people, establish how you will and won’t talk about others.

Point 3.  Run when necessary.

Ultimately a seal is probably going to come face to face with a bear at some point in its life.  And despite all of the holes it has made for itself it still me be caught, looking a bear straight in the eyes.  In that case, the seal runs like crazy.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Sometimes Satan has you, he just does.  But God says there is always a way out, and sometimes that way out may mean to just run like crazy.  It may mean making a really tough, unpopular decision to remove yourself physically from a situation or to quickly surround yourself with godly friends to help encourage you and get you on track.  Whatever it is, you don’t want to get yourself caught, staring at a bear and getting eaten.

Wednesday Night Lesson Recap: Attacking the New Year.

Welcome to a new year, 2012.  This is supposed to be a big year.  We have the presidential election that is taking place in November and then by December the Maya predict the end of the world, so that could be exciting.  This is the time of new year’s resolutions and parties and staying up until midnight watching really bad bands on TV.

In Numbers 13: 1-3, 25-33 (suggested reading) Moses and the Israelites have approached the land God promised them, Canaan.  Moses sends spies to check out the land and at the end of forty days they come back with a report.  The land is amazing!  It is rich and full of good ground!  But there is a problem, the people who are currently living there.

Now let's pause for a moment and think about new year resolutions.  Why make them on new year?  Perhaps it's because it's a great time for new beginnings.  People make new year resolutions all the time, but less than 20% of them actually follow through.  We chase them but can never catch them much like Wile Coyote from the cartoons.  He spends his life chasing that bird, but no matter how hard he tries he never catches him.  

Lesson 1: Chase after the Right Things.

So this new year what are you chasing?  Is your resolution to become more popular; to get that girlfriend or boyfriend.  Is it to get rich?  Many times we are chasing the wrong things, things that we will never catch and things that won't actually satisfy.   John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men of history, when asked the question, “how much money is enough?” he responded by saying, “just a little bit more.”  His net worth is estimated at $663.4 billion today. He never caught what he was chasing.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."(Matthew 6:33)  We need to be chasing after God and what he desires for us and our needs will be met.  

Now, going back to our story.  The Israelites had a chance for a fresh start, a new beginning in this new land.  But if you read Numbers 14:1-4 you see that they are scared of the foreign enemy and choose not to take the land God gave them.  

Lesson 2: Be Willing to Take the Risk.

God is not asking for empty resolutions makers; he asking for adventurous risk-takers.  The journey into the Promised Land would not be easy, but it was what God wanted.  The people were just unwilling to take the risk.  God rarely uses people who are only wanting to watch from the sidelines, he uses those who are willing to be a little uncomfortable in order to bring him glory. That risk could be sharing your faith, or it could be singing in church, praying out loud, ministering in some way.

But what if you find yourself this new year thinking, "I'm too far gone to be of any good to God."  "I've done too much wrong."  Or, perhaps, you have had a great deal of wrong done to you.  "I'm damaged goods" you say to yourself.  Well I'm here to tell you that Jesus makes all things new.

Lesson 3: Remember That Jesus Makes All Things New.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says "whoever is in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come."

Jesus is greater than any wrong, any sin and any injustice that you have done or that has been done to you.  He is able to take the broken pieces and not just tape them together, but to make it new again.  Allow God to heal you and then begin chasing, risking and becoming a new creation in Him this year.

Questions to Ponder.

Am I chasing after the right things?  Do I need to change course?

Am I willing to be a little risky in order to be used by Christ?

How can I step out to serve God this year in my church, school, or family?

Am I allowing Christ to continue to make me knew or am I holding on to the past even though he is willing to let it go?