Out of my mind…

Another Monday means another week.  The big difference is that we have officially started the countdown to the junior high retreat. With just a few days left until we leave, this Sunday was an opportunity to set up the retreat, as well as the next few weeks of our Sunday morning class.

As the junior high turns its focus to the book of Ephesians, we started Sunday at the beginning.  As the book opens, Paul speaks of blessings and good deeds for the people of the church in Ephesus.  However, we put that description next to the words of caution for this same church the we find in Revelation chapter three.  Here it is described how the members of this church have “forsaken their first love” and walked away from what they know they should do.  We talked about how the book of Ephesians tells the people what they can do to live the life God calls them to live.  As we ourselves study this book, we will discuss how we can also do what we can to live a Christ-centered life. 

I just want to stress the the struggle the Ephesians faced is no different than our own.  They struggled with sticking to what they knew to be right.  They strayed from the lifestyle to which they were called.  We do the same thing.  We know right from wrong.  We know what we should do.  But it is so easy to stretch and bend the rules.  Before you know it, we have one foot in our life in Christ and one outside.  Starting on our retreat, we will be looking at how we can keep both feet inside.  We want to know how we can make a life in Christ something that comes naturally and is permanent.

I’m looking forward to this weekend and all the fun and discussion that comes out of it.  Be praying for us: that we may travel safely and seek out God as a community in Him.

It was great to be back in with my junior high class this Sunday.  Those kids are amazing.  This week we talked about Mr. Potato-Head.  Mr. Potato-Head is one of those toys that just seems to last forever.  Regardless of the advances in technology, Mr. Potato-Head is still one of the most popular and widely recognized toys in America.  He’s a fun guy because you can do whatever you want with him.  Eyes in his armpits?  Sure.  A nose on the top of his head?  No problem.  A huge mustache and thick-rimmed glasses?  What’s not to like about that?  And now, Mr. Potato-Head comes with 4 sets of everything.  In his little case you can find several different body part choices for his eyes, mouth, nose, ears, arms, mustache, hat, shoes, glasses…the sky is the limit.

Now, the parents of my junior highers are probably thrilled that their children were being educated in the anatomy of Mr. Potato-Head this Sunday.  I can assure you we dug deeper into the spiritual well than that.

As a church, we are examining a five-year vision.  We are looking at what we as a body can do to focus our ministry efforts and reach out to our community in the name of Jesus Christ.  Why should the junior high be any different.  This Sunday we looked as 1 Corinthians 12.  Beginning in verse twelve, the author begins to speak about how a body has many parts.  He elaborates that, in order to function to the best of its ability, the body requires all parts to contribute.  The eyes may be able to see, but, if you have no hand, how can you pick up what you observe?  He also says in verses 19-20:

“If they were all one part, where would the body be?  as it is, there are many parts, but one body.”

This was our focus on Sunday.  As we move forward with our vision for transforming our church and community, we must look at the roles we play.  If we all try to have the same function, will we get anywhere?  Mr. Potato-Head looks really funny when all he has is eyes.  He’s even more ridiculous when he is the proud owner of four sets of arms.  But a body cannot function practically without all the other parts.  We have each been blessed with talents and skills with which to serve God.  As we look at our own roles in this vision of outreach, it is important that we utilize each one of those skills to the fullest.

Even my junior highers understand this.  When we discussed the steps we should take to build a solid foundation for the youth group, the overwhelmingly popular answer was building community.  They wanted to get to know each other better. They wanted to become closer with themselves and the high schoolers.  These 6th, 7th, and 8th graders saw the importance of getting to know each other.  With that community comes the understanding of strengths and weaknesses.  And with that understanding comes the ability to work together to cover those weaknesses and function as a strong body.

I urge the parents reading this to talk to your kids this week about their strengths and values.  Encourage them to think about how they can use those strengths for God.  Finally, challenge them to actually do it.  Brainstorming is the easy part.  Implementation is the challenge.  Everyone can imagine a cure to a disease and how life would be easier.  It is finding and using the cure that actually improves the lives we live.

Let’s not settle for Mr. Potato-Head in our churches.  Let’s strive to use the unique abilities God has given us to praise Him and serve His kingdom.

What a weekend!  The junior high group was crazy busy this weekend.  It all kicked off Friday night with the Jars of Clay/Switchfoot/Third Day concert which was AWESOME!  Then we had a blast playing laser tag Saturday night.  I am so blessed to be working with such an amazing group of kids.

Sunday morning…where to start.  Well, we had a bit of an off week this week.  So, I really encourage any parents reading this to chat with your kids about it.  

We kicked it off by recapping the book of Exodus for the most part.  We talked about the Israelites in Egypt, their predicament of slavery and their complete hopelessness.  We briefly hit on the biography of Moses before getting to the good stuff.  As you may or may not know, we are talking about being God’s people by looking at examples from the past and application to our lives today.  This week we were focusing on how God saves his people.  We talked about how God worked to save his people from their plight and lead them to freedom.

And now the points I wish I had made more clear.  First of all, I think it is important to understand GOD STILL SAVES US.  No, it might not be in such a dramatic fashion as the exodus, but he saves us.  Another word that comes to mind is that he protects us.  When I think of God in this way, I tend to think of him as an umbrella.  Or maybe a shield.  I suppose a shield is a bit more dramatic, not to mention sturdy.  The image that sticks in my mind most from the actual exiting part of the Exodus story is the river closing in around the Egyptians after the Israelites reach dry land on the other side.  God protected his people from their pursuers.  He placed himself as a shield between his people and the harm that chased them.

It’s the same for us today.  We may not have a dramatic story, but He is there to protect us if we ask him.  I love Psalm 28 because it says exactly that (verses 6-9):

“Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.  The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.  Save your people and bless your inheritance; be there shepherd and carry them forever.”

Let’s be honest with ourselves.  Our kids face a lot of pressure.  Pressure from school to be the smartest.  Pressure from sports to be the fastest and strongest.  Pressure from parents to be the best.  Pressure from church to be the most pure.  Pressure from friends to be the most popular.  While it may seem easy, sometimes, we just need to be saved from whatever pressure is eating away at us today.  And that is when we should turn to God.  He is our shelter from the storm, our shield from flaming arrows.  All we have to do is call out to him.  And while this may seem sad and for situations of turmoil, it should be a message of hope.  We do not have to sit and darkness and face our troubles alone.  God is beside us to take the sting out of whatever pains us.  God is there to pick us up and hold us safe.  And we should find joy in that.

Next week, the lesson is about how God fights for us.  I know that sounds similar to the idea of God as a shield.  But in my mind, God, our shield, holds us steady while God, our champion to fight for us, goes out ahead of us and clears a path for us to follow.  I think it could be a great lesson and one that I’m already excited about.  I pray that everyone has a great week.  God bless.

I don’t even know where to begin today.  It’s Monday…morning.  That is always a tough realization for me.  But nevertheless, life goes on.  We keep plugging away.  We’ve got a busy week coming up:  Third Day/Switchfoot/Jars of Clay concert on Friday ($20-meet at WHCC, 5:00 pm) and laser tag for the junior high on Saturday (7:30 pm-meet at Laser Quest).  I’m really excited about everything going on.

Alright, what you’ve all been waiting for: SUNDAY.  Sunday’s class was an interesting one.  The kids and I had a heart-to-heart, cleared the air, and are all best friends!  This past Sunday was the first of a six-week series during which we will look at what it means to be God’s people.  We’re going to look at God’s people in the past, how He worked in their lives, and what that means for us as God’s people today.  I think that it is important to understand who we are as God’s people so we can then understand further our purpose and goals for this life as He has set for us.

This Sunday we found ourselves a little tight on time.  So, I strongly encourage you to bring some of this up if you get a chance.  Now, I’ll give a little bit of background on class.  The idea behind this first week is that we are God’s people because he created us to be that way.  The first couple chapters of Genesis chronicle the creation story and all that it entails.  Our story as God’s people begins on the fifth day.  God creates man in his own image, gives him a purpose and sets him in the world he created.  From the beginning, God nourishes and cares for his people.  When man is lonely, God created a companion for him, an equal to share life with.  And so we see the beginnings of the people of God.

This all seems pretty simple.  Everyone knows the creation story, right?  But this is the BEGINNING!  This is where everything we believe and the faith we hold on to begin.  It is in the moment God created Adam that our stories begin.  While we might not experience God in the same ways we read about in the Bible, God is still alive and active in our lives as he has been in the lives of His people for all of history.  It is our responsibility as His people of today to learn for the past and do everything we can to be people that honor God and reflect his love to the world.

The verse I keyed on in class this week is James 1:18.  I particularly like the wording in the New Living Translation.

“In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word.  And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.”

God has chose us to be his people.  He gave us His word and instruction to help explain what that means.  We are HIS.  And that’s what we are striving to understand and learn about over the next six weeks.  I am praying that over this time we (myself, the teens, and you as parents) can all take ownership of our identity as the people of God.  I pray that we will find an excitement in this call and a new outlook and commitment to living the way God desires his people to live.  Thank you for being examples of this to your children.  As I said in previous posts, the strongest example of faith for a teen is the parents and guardians they see each and every day.  This week be the men and women of God our teens need.  I’m praying for us all and can’t wait for next week!