Last Sunday morning, 9/23/07, I went over with the jr. and sr. high groups what we will be doing for the next couple of months. Foundations of our faith series will go over two broad topics. 1) Who Jesus is and 2) What that means for us as Christians today.
The first half we will study the character of Jesus. His teachings and miracles. How He is part of the Holy Trinity. The crucifixion and resurrection. Was He really who He claimed to be? Was He crazy? It won't nearly be an exhaustive study of Jesus, but will cover quite a bit of ground on who He was and is.
The second half we will apply what being a Christian means today. We will go over the importance of things like prayer and learning God's Word. Also, what is fellowship? How is service part of being a Christian?
I may send some readings ahead of time for the youth to go over before class. Please try and go over these ahead of time! It won't be a lot of reading. And it will make the class go much more smoothly. Also, pray about the sr. high helping to teach the jr. high. This will be beneficial in multiple ways.
I am quite excited about this new series coming up and I pray it will deepen all of our faith. blessings
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
the foundation of Dots and skewers
On Friday, 9/21/07, we had a large gathering as everyone was at the church for the celebration. So we did an activity on foundations, that's very analagous to what we will be doing on Sunday mornings.
We divided up into 3 groups and each group got a bunch of Dots candy and skewers. The goal? To create the highest structure that could stand on its own for 30 seconds. After 5 minutes of planning, supplies were given out.
Group dynamics were interesting, as I intentionally divided up some friends who wanted to be in the same group. I gave them 20 minutes to build. See pictures for results. Group 3 clearly came out on top.
After the activity, we had a devotional on our foundation. In I Kings 6:11-13, God speaks to Solomon, who is in charge of building this magnificent temple for the Lord. Up until that point, the Israelites were not settled in one spot and used more portable, less than stellar places for worship. Obviously, the foundation of a structure is the most important part. If that is not solid, the building will most likely fall. On top of that, God makes a promise to Solomon that He will not abandon His people if Solomon keeps the commandments and regulations. Basically, obedience is the key.
We find this to be just as true in the New Testament. One of the most popular passsages on this is found in Luke 6:46-49. Hearing Jesus' words and putting them into practice is obedience to God for us as Christians.
I said earlier that this is analagous to what we will be doing on Sunday mornings because we are about to start a series on foundations of our faith. More details on that later.
We divided up into 3 groups and each group got a bunch of Dots candy and skewers. The goal? To create the highest structure that could stand on its own for 30 seconds. After 5 minutes of planning, supplies were given out.
Group dynamics were interesting, as I intentionally divided up some friends who wanted to be in the same group. I gave them 20 minutes to build. See pictures for results. Group 3 clearly came out on top.
After the activity, we had a devotional on our foundation. In I Kings 6:11-13, God speaks to Solomon, who is in charge of building this magnificent temple for the Lord. Up until that point, the Israelites were not settled in one spot and used more portable, less than stellar places for worship. Obviously, the foundation of a structure is the most important part. If that is not solid, the building will most likely fall. On top of that, God makes a promise to Solomon that He will not abandon His people if Solomon keeps the commandments and regulations. Basically, obedience is the key.
We find this to be just as true in the New Testament. One of the most popular passsages on this is found in Luke 6:46-49. Hearing Jesus' words and putting them into practice is obedience to God for us as Christians.
I said earlier that this is analagous to what we will be doing on Sunday mornings because we are about to start a series on foundations of our faith. More details on that later.
practice day
On Sunday, 9/16/07 we worked on a skit and songs for the 30th Anniversary celebration for the church. We didn't end up doing the skit, but we sang some nice worship songs. such as "Come Now is the Time to Worship" and "One Pure and Holy Passion".
an age thing
On Friday 9/14/07 we watched Rocky Balboa. This character resembles a biblical character named Caleb a lot. Here's how...
There's a point in the movie where everybody is questioning why Rocky wants to come back and do a boxing match. Among the reasons, Rocky says there is something more in him, "in his basement," that he needs to get out. "What? You haven't peaked yet?" asks Paulie. At first, it sounds a bit weird and maybe childish. But let's compare him to a biblical character named Caleb:
10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said." (Joshua 14:10-12)
Mark Gorman, a speaker I like very much, talked about this passage once. Basically, he opened up saying, "Here's a guy, 85, willing to pick a fight." Despite the differences, I see two men here with very similar hearts- Rocky and Caleb. Rocky, in his late 50s (pushing 60 shortly) wanting to get back into the ring. Caleb, not weary from battles and just plain wandering around in the desert for 40 years, at age 80, ready for battle.
I always tell people that age is a mental state of being. And that I would not tell people I feel old until I'm atleast 80. Well now with Caleb in the picture it looks like I have to wait until I'm atleast 85. When my friends tell me they are getting old I just laugh at them because it's ridiculous! 45 years since he surveyed the land, Caleb claims he is still as strong and ready to fight for it.
So what's in your basement? The day you quit battling for something, you're dead. So what should you fight for? Find what you are passionate about. Find wherever God wants you to serve and whatever God wants you to fight for. Because when you stop fighting, you might as well "lie down and pick out what flowers you want," as Mark Gorman says. Don't settle for mediocrity or status quo. Learn who you are, what you are called to do, and fight for it.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
finishing up Jacob (finally) and starting Joseph
We're just going right down to the next generation. Joseph is one of Jacob's kids that he had with Rachel. Before we get to him though, we went through the last pivotal scene where Jacob finally meets up with Esau again after 20+ years, starting in Genesis 33.
Now Jacob, understandably so, thinks Esau is still angry with him. So he "butters him up" so to speak by sending his workers with some of his flock ahead of him to give as gifts to Esau. When he approaches Esau, he bows to the ground seven times before meeting him as a sign of respect and asking for forgiveness. And what does Esau do? He embraces Jacob! It's reunion. A time of redemption for the relationship between the two brothers. Time has a way of healing hurts. It certainly does for me. For the average hurt, all I need is a good night sleep to calm me down and forgive the other person. How does time work for you?
After eating and spending the night together, Jacob's family and Esau's family parted ways, and that's the last we hear of them together. So it's on to Joseph. We started this off by watching the first half of the VeggieTales episode "The Ballad of Little Joe," which is based on Joseph's life. Despite changing details around to gear it more towards kids, it follows the biblical account very well, as do the other VeggieTales videos. Jacob loves Joseph more than his other children and gives him a richly ornamented robe. His brothers get jealous and sell him into slavery and trick their father, Jacob, into thinking Joseph is dead.
Horrible. It seems like none of the siblings can get along. But as we shall see, God will use this for good...
Now Jacob, understandably so, thinks Esau is still angry with him. So he "butters him up" so to speak by sending his workers with some of his flock ahead of him to give as gifts to Esau. When he approaches Esau, he bows to the ground seven times before meeting him as a sign of respect and asking for forgiveness. And what does Esau do? He embraces Jacob! It's reunion. A time of redemption for the relationship between the two brothers. Time has a way of healing hurts. It certainly does for me. For the average hurt, all I need is a good night sleep to calm me down and forgive the other person. How does time work for you?
After eating and spending the night together, Jacob's family and Esau's family parted ways, and that's the last we hear of them together. So it's on to Joseph. We started this off by watching the first half of the VeggieTales episode "The Ballad of Little Joe," which is based on Joseph's life. Despite changing details around to gear it more towards kids, it follows the biblical account very well, as do the other VeggieTales videos. Jacob loves Joseph more than his other children and gives him a richly ornamented robe. His brothers get jealous and sell him into slavery and trick their father, Jacob, into thinking Joseph is dead.
Horrible. It seems like none of the siblings can get along. But as we shall see, God will use this for good...
Wisdom
Many lessons, bible studies, and discussions can be spent on wisdom. We just scratched the surface based on a passage in I Corinthians. This was our bible study/devotional for Friday, September 7, 2007.
If you look in I Corinthians 2:6-16, it goes into the differences between the wisdom of the age and the wisdom of the Spirit. Earthly vs. spiritual wisdom. We first started with a brief discussion about earthly wisdom, and how this wisdom ends up on some popular slogans. Phrases like "just do it" from Nike and "be all you can be" from the Army are well-known. But about other ones, such as in corporate America? We hear that it's very cutthroat. "Look out for #1." Stuff like that. How does that compare with wisdom of the Spirit?
Well first off, the wisdom of the Spirit is a secret! Unknown until after Christ's death and resurrection. And that secret? That God's love and salvation would be opened up to the Gentiles also. That's why it says in verse 8 that if the Roman and Jewish leaders understood it at the time, they would not have crucified Him. This is a big concept to take in. I definitely encourage meditating on this verse.
And finally, what is the feeling you get from verse 9? Hopefully it's a big refreshing feeling. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ now, and you cannot even imagine the outcome- it will be that great. My prayer is that we learn to love and trust the Lord more everyday.
blessings
If you look in I Corinthians 2:6-16, it goes into the differences between the wisdom of the age and the wisdom of the Spirit. Earthly vs. spiritual wisdom. We first started with a brief discussion about earthly wisdom, and how this wisdom ends up on some popular slogans. Phrases like "just do it" from Nike and "be all you can be" from the Army are well-known. But about other ones, such as in corporate America? We hear that it's very cutthroat. "Look out for #1." Stuff like that. How does that compare with wisdom of the Spirit?
Well first off, the wisdom of the Spirit is a secret! Unknown until after Christ's death and resurrection. And that secret? That God's love and salvation would be opened up to the Gentiles also. That's why it says in verse 8 that if the Roman and Jewish leaders understood it at the time, they would not have crucified Him. This is a big concept to take in. I definitely encourage meditating on this verse.
And finally, what is the feeling you get from verse 9? Hopefully it's a big refreshing feeling. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ now, and you cannot even imagine the outcome- it will be that great. My prayer is that we learn to love and trust the Lord more everyday.
blessings
Friday, September 7, 2007
Jacob and Esau part 3
Just trying to plow through more of this story. I think it's interesting to see where biblical characters end up during their faith journeys. We went through Genesis 29-31 that Sunday morning, 9/2/07.
At the beginning of Genesis 29 we find Jacob arriving in Paddan Aram. He finds his mother, Rebekah's, brother, Laban, first by finding his daughter, Rachel. Jacob stays and works for Laban for Rachel's hand in marriage. Usually a husband provides a substantial financial gift to the bride's family for taking her out of her parents' home. Since Jacob doesn't have much money, he decides to work for 7 years instead. Here's the trick: after the 7 years, Jacob asks for Rachel's hand in marriage, but somehow, Laban secretly gives him his older daughter, Leah, in marriage. How this happens and Jacob doesn't know is a mystery. Maybe Jacob was too drunk too realize. We don't know. So Jacob decides to work another 7 years for Rachel's hand in marriage. It's funny that the man who deceived so well earlier in his life, is now being deceived by his uncle.
After that is the bearing children competition between Leah and Rachel. Jacob simply loved Rachel right from the start. But when Leah started having children and not Rachel, she got jealous. So after multiple children with 3 mothers: Leah, her maidservant Zilpah, and Rachel's maidservant, Bilhah, God finally granted children to Rachel. There is a lesson we can learn here. Rachel got jealous over Leah when she started bearing children. But Jacob's love and devotion to Rachel did not depend on her having children. Jacob just loved her. Similarly, God just loves us as we are, regardless of our abilities and good deeds.
Then Jacob decides to leave Laban. The Lord blessed Laban while Jacob was around by greatly increasing his flock. Jacob made an arrangement with Laban to take the spotted or speckled goats and dark-colored lambs. He also did some nonsense trick that the last offspring born before Jacob left would be streaked, spotted, or speckled. He only did this with the strong animals. The point is that the Lord was with Jacob and provided him a strong flock.
In Genesis 31, Jacob flees with his family and livestock. Laban pursues him. After finally meeting up and talking about it, they made peace. They ate together, spent the night, and then parted ways.
At the beginning of Genesis 29 we find Jacob arriving in Paddan Aram. He finds his mother, Rebekah's, brother, Laban, first by finding his daughter, Rachel. Jacob stays and works for Laban for Rachel's hand in marriage. Usually a husband provides a substantial financial gift to the bride's family for taking her out of her parents' home. Since Jacob doesn't have much money, he decides to work for 7 years instead. Here's the trick: after the 7 years, Jacob asks for Rachel's hand in marriage, but somehow, Laban secretly gives him his older daughter, Leah, in marriage. How this happens and Jacob doesn't know is a mystery. Maybe Jacob was too drunk too realize. We don't know. So Jacob decides to work another 7 years for Rachel's hand in marriage. It's funny that the man who deceived so well earlier in his life, is now being deceived by his uncle.
After that is the bearing children competition between Leah and Rachel. Jacob simply loved Rachel right from the start. But when Leah started having children and not Rachel, she got jealous. So after multiple children with 3 mothers: Leah, her maidservant Zilpah, and Rachel's maidservant, Bilhah, God finally granted children to Rachel. There is a lesson we can learn here. Rachel got jealous over Leah when she started bearing children. But Jacob's love and devotion to Rachel did not depend on her having children. Jacob just loved her. Similarly, God just loves us as we are, regardless of our abilities and good deeds.
Then Jacob decides to leave Laban. The Lord blessed Laban while Jacob was around by greatly increasing his flock. Jacob made an arrangement with Laban to take the spotted or speckled goats and dark-colored lambs. He also did some nonsense trick that the last offspring born before Jacob left would be streaked, spotted, or speckled. He only did this with the strong animals. The point is that the Lord was with Jacob and provided him a strong flock.
In Genesis 31, Jacob flees with his family and livestock. Laban pursues him. After finally meeting up and talking about it, they made peace. They ate together, spent the night, and then parted ways.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Salt Films
One of my youth pastors in high school lived in the West Bank in Palestine with his wife for about 3 1/2 years. They got to know a lot of the Christians living in this pre-dominantly Muslim area. As a result, a documentary film was made with 10 different 15-20 minute segments. We watched one of these segments for our film discussion on Sunday 9/2/07. I encourage everyone to check out the website when they can for Salt Films. I hope the link works. I'm having trouble going to the website today but it usually works fine. Just let me know if you'd like me to send you the student guide sheet that went along with this segment.
The segment we watched is called "The Way." Here we see a college student named Sylvia and the struggles she goes through to travel back and forth from school to home. She also talks about being the minority Christian student in her classes. It's a great lesson in perseverance after hearing the struggles she goes through to travel to school. It would ordinarily take 20 minutes to drive but because of the blockades the Israeli army has set up, they have to take long, winding trips through mountains. It can take as long as 5-7 hours! And sometimes they cannot get through depending on the soldiers' very inconsistent rules.
Being part of a Christian minority also has its difficulties, but they did not seem as bad as the struggles with the blockades. She has a Muslim roommate and they get along fine. She's one of the few Christians in her college, and definitely the only one in the class the video showed.
Now read Hebrews 12:1-3. If you face struggles and are a minority, you should not feel like you are alone. God is with you and you are surrounded by "a cloud of witnesses." Take comfort that there are thousands of people who have gone before you and have felt what you feel. Continue to run the race!
I encourage everyone to pray for the Christians in the world who are a minority in their community. Especially the ones who are in danger for their beliefs. This is something that is rarely experienced as a Christian in the U.S.
The segment we watched is called "The Way." Here we see a college student named Sylvia and the struggles she goes through to travel back and forth from school to home. She also talks about being the minority Christian student in her classes. It's a great lesson in perseverance after hearing the struggles she goes through to travel to school. It would ordinarily take 20 minutes to drive but because of the blockades the Israeli army has set up, they have to take long, winding trips through mountains. It can take as long as 5-7 hours! And sometimes they cannot get through depending on the soldiers' very inconsistent rules.
Being part of a Christian minority also has its difficulties, but they did not seem as bad as the struggles with the blockades. She has a Muslim roommate and they get along fine. She's one of the few Christians in her college, and definitely the only one in the class the video showed.
Now read Hebrews 12:1-3. If you face struggles and are a minority, you should not feel like you are alone. God is with you and you are surrounded by "a cloud of witnesses." Take comfort that there are thousands of people who have gone before you and have felt what you feel. Continue to run the race!
I encourage everyone to pray for the Christians in the world who are a minority in their community. Especially the ones who are in danger for their beliefs. This is something that is rarely experienced as a Christian in the U.S.
Sin discussion
Last Friday (8/31/07) we had a general talk of what sin is. It's all over the Bible. This is a topic that could be studied for several weeks. But we just focused on a few points on what sin is and how we should deal with it in our lives today.
We jumped around a bit. The first Scripture we looked at is in I John 1:8-9. First, we have to admit there's a problem. If we think we don't have sin in us then we're just fooling ourselves. It also says we make 'him" (Jesus) to be a liar. We must accept the truth that sin is in everyone. We must recognize that and confess it to God.
Proverbs 28:13 continues what it says in part in the first Scripture. We cannot try and hide our sins from God. That's human nature to make a mistake and try to hide it. Plus we cannot hide them from God. He knows them anyway. We must confess them to God and ask for forgiveness. That way, we can take steps to avoid doing them again. Otherwise, we won't make any progress overcoming our sins and avoiding them with Christ's help.
The great thing about confessing our sins is that God wants to forgive us! And when He does, He forgets about them! Incredible. He does not hold a grudge against us which is a very big human tendency. We then listened to a song that speaks exactly about this. The song is called "Ocean Floor" and it's by Audio Adrenaline, who unfortunately just recently retired.
Proverbs 5:22-23 offers more great wisdom regarding sin. If we are not careful, sin can take a strong hold on us and capture us. It will lead us to our deaths. We will no longer be productive Christians here on this earth as Satan will have a hold on us, and therefore, no longer worried about us bringing glory to God and spreading the Good News.
This is a battle. Romans 7:15-25 makes that clear. We want to do good. Our spirit wants to do good. But our flesh is weak and gives way to sin. Just as we do good, it is the Holy Spirit in us doing good- all glory to God. But when we do wrong, it is the sin in us doing it and we must battle against it.
We jumped around a bit. The first Scripture we looked at is in I John 1:8-9. First, we have to admit there's a problem. If we think we don't have sin in us then we're just fooling ourselves. It also says we make 'him" (Jesus) to be a liar. We must accept the truth that sin is in everyone. We must recognize that and confess it to God.
Proverbs 28:13 continues what it says in part in the first Scripture. We cannot try and hide our sins from God. That's human nature to make a mistake and try to hide it. Plus we cannot hide them from God. He knows them anyway. We must confess them to God and ask for forgiveness. That way, we can take steps to avoid doing them again. Otherwise, we won't make any progress overcoming our sins and avoiding them with Christ's help.
The great thing about confessing our sins is that God wants to forgive us! And when He does, He forgets about them! Incredible. He does not hold a grudge against us which is a very big human tendency. We then listened to a song that speaks exactly about this. The song is called "Ocean Floor" and it's by Audio Adrenaline, who unfortunately just recently retired.
Proverbs 5:22-23 offers more great wisdom regarding sin. If we are not careful, sin can take a strong hold on us and capture us. It will lead us to our deaths. We will no longer be productive Christians here on this earth as Satan will have a hold on us, and therefore, no longer worried about us bringing glory to God and spreading the Good News.
This is a battle. Romans 7:15-25 makes that clear. We want to do good. Our spirit wants to do good. But our flesh is weak and gives way to sin. Just as we do good, it is the Holy Spirit in us doing good- all glory to God. But when we do wrong, it is the sin in us doing it and we must battle against it.
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