The River Youth

RIOT Forum: Forgiveness

2010-01-19T08:57:00.001-06:00

RIOT Forum: Forgiveness:

Comments:
• My Family is unforgiving.
• I can forgive, or I try, but forgetting can be dangerous.
• Forgiveness is harder to forgive than it is to stay mad.
• I have a hard time forgiving.
• Jesus forgave our sins.
• Forgiveness is my greatest fear.
• I believe forgiveness is a big part of faith.
• It’s hard to forgive.
• It’s easier for me to forgive someone, than to accept forgiveness.
• Sometimes it’s hard to be forgiven and let it go (Like Jim’s Sermon).

Questions:
• Are there ever times where you shouldn’t forgive?
o I can’t really think of a situation where it would be inappropriate to forgive. There are situations when it is harder than it is other times. But since forgiveness comes from a place of understanding how much we are forgiven and the sacrifice Jesus made to forgive us from our sins, there could be no greater forgiveness, so we should forgive radically as well.
• How do I get over my biggest fear, forgiveness?
o I think exploring what forgiveness really is, why we do it, and how much we are forgiven will help. What would happen if Jesus was afraid of forgiving us? After all, we burn him over and over and over. And his forgiveness was much more radical than ours can ever be.
• Why did Jesus have to pay in blood?
-There’s no greater punishment for sin than death. Since sin is a complete rebellion against ourselves, God, and others…it deserves the greatest punishment. After all, each act of sin is a huge spit wad in the face of Jesus. The Jew’s had a sacrificial system with animals to atone (pay for) their sins…which is why Jesus is called the lamb…cause a pure lamb was often thought of as the best form of sacrifice. The best sacrifice is only thing worth to remove the sin of the entire world since it’s inception until the time Jesus returns. Think about it…do you think jail time for Jesus would have been a sufficient punishment to atone for the sin of all of humanity?
• When should you forgive someone?
o When has God forgiven you? I know that seems extreme, but if we understand how much we are forgiven, why wouldn’t give just as freely?
• How many times does God forgive?
o As many times as we ask. However, the fact that God is forgiving is not a free pass to sin. The person that we don’t want to forgive is that person…the person we are reluctant to forgive because they continually hurt us. Why would we want to be that person? God is gracious to forgive even when we are not…Paul says in Romans 6:1-4, “What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
• Do you really have to forgive AND forget?
o We will most likely never forget a sin committed against us. But we must examine what real forgiveness is. There is a difference between forgetting and keeping no record of wrongs. If you prefer the phase, “you should forgive and keep no record of wrongs” then think of it that way. Say someone hurts you and you forgive them. Later when things are not going so well you say, well two months ago you did this….then you have not forgiven them. If you have forgiven …let it go and do not hold it against that person any longer.
• How can you forgive someone who has done something unforgivable?
o It seems like you’ve answered your own question. You basically said that there are things that should not be forgiven. Once again, this comes back to understanding the sins for which you’ve been forgiven. If you are unwilling to forgive it makes me think that you don’t see yourself as needing forgiveness. This person is much worse than you ever have been or will be and therefore don’t deserve forgiveness. The definition of Grace is a gift that we do not deserve and mercy is the taking away of a consequence we do deserve. God’s gave mercy when he chose not to hang us on the cross. His grace was given through Jesus when he was put in our place…a gift we do not deserve.
• When you forgive someone, is it always better to tell them or can you forgive them in your heart? Say it was something that happened years
ago.
-I would say it depends on your relationship with that person. Often times, those who have hurt us have since moved on. Forgiveness is just as much for us as it is for them. We need to be free of that burden. Forgiving them in your heart is great. Now if its someone close to you and the relationship is suffering as a result…speaking the forgiveness to them could do much for your relationship.
• Does God really forgive all?
o Yep!
o 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness
• How do you know if someone has fully forgiven you for something you did?
o Not sure that you can… if someone else is unwilling to forgive…know that if you earnestly seek forgiveness…your father has already forgiven you. That is the most important thing.
• Why is it so hard to forgive?
o Because our pride is at stake. If you remember the lifeboat game we played last semester…we said that when someone wrongs us we feel like they are telling us we don’t matter or that we’re insignificant. So having the ability to forgive or not forgive is a power we like to have over them. Really, it’s a testament to insecurity…we are just as much a slave to the lack of forgiveness as the one we are withholding it from…if not more.
• How does God forgive so easily?
o Because he knows the image of God that each person is created with…its worth it to him to restore that relationship…which is what forgiveness is all about. I wouldn’t say it was easy though. I mean, he had to give up his son for it. A son who has done absolutely no wrong. Can you imagine a perfect person…say that perfect person happened to be your child. Now imagine sacrificing them so that you could have a better relationship with some man named will who lives in Japan. Yeah, not easy…but good…because God is good, he gave this incredible gift.
• How do you forgive someone after they have done something bad?
o Refer to earlier question.
• Is there over a ever a time when not to forgive someone?
o Refer to earlier question
• Why should we forgive someone who always comes back and hurts you?
o God can relate: refer to eelier question
• Should you forgive someone if they continuously hurt you?
o God can relate: refer to earlier question.
• What is it that we the youth can do in order to be able to show forgiveness towards other people or to God?
o Understand the ferocity with which you’ve been forgiven…accept God’s gift and let that change the way you respond to people in this life, in this broken world.
• Why is forgiveness not easy?
o Pride: We have power over that person to withhold forgiveness: Refer to earlier question.

Great Leadership-Great Responsibility:1/17/2010

2010-01-14T17:13:00.002-06:00

Activity: Lost at Sea (separate sheet)
• How were decisions made?
• Who influenced the decisions?
• How?
• How could better decisions have been made?
• Did people listen to each other? If not, why?
• How was conflict managed?
• What kind of behavior helped or hindered the group?
• How did people feel about the decisions?

Lesson:

-Leadership often just kind of happens. Some people are absolutely born to lead…they are wired that way and they often just naturally take control.
-You can see that the first question deals with who takes control.
-The questions in the middle dealt with the quality of the leadership.
-The last question deals with how other people feel about that.

-This is the three step process we’ll talk about throughout the course of our time together tonight.

What is a Leader: Who Leads?
-Basically a leader is anyone who is followed by another.
-When we think of leaders we think of powerful, influential people who take control over large portions of people and intricate situations.

Who are some of the leaders you are thinking of?
-The president, pastors, CEOs, Pro athletes, Principals, Doctors, Lawyers, Celebs.
-No doubt these people are leaders with large responsibilities.

-These are definitely people we put our trust in. The people we follow are often those we look up to and trust.
-I trust doctors…maybe too much. Doctor man, what you say is why I believe
cause I have no idea what is inside me or what its doing there…if it isn’t
working…I’m depending on you to fix it!
-Lawyers…hopefully I won’t need one…but if I did…yeah
-The President: I don’t even watch the news…I’m glad someone cares…
ya know.

-Its darn near impossible not to betray someone’s trust when there are so many people looking to you for guidance, assistance, or in my case with doctors…to just completely run the show.
-Sometimes, most times, there is a lot at stake emotionally, physically, or even spiritually.
Quick View: Get a group of three together and share your experience with Leaders. When was a time when your trust was betrayed? What did that leader do? What did you do?

-Return to the large group and share one thing from your small group.

-The contrast is interesting to me. You notice that I follow pretty blindly in some situations. Like the doctor situation…he could that in order to get over a cold I needed to take up smoking and I would be like…”whatever you say doc”.

-That simple fact may be why some people want to lead. It’s a means by which they can push their own agenda. These are the leaders that most often cause us pain…and hurt many people in the process of their leadership.

Who are some of these leaders in our world?
-Sadam Hussein, Hitler, Bank folks and business people who launder money.

-These people don’t understand that power and leadership equals responsibility.

Video Clip: X Men:
In the beginning we have two men with great power…they are both great leaders. Somewhere along the lines, their philosophies of leadership and power take separate turns. One man believes that mutants have a responsibility to help people and to control their power. While the other believes that mutants should have full usage of their powers and take over society as a superior race. This scene depicts a climax of the conflict when one of the most powerful mutants either of them has ever seen is trying to decide which philosophy of leadership and power to buy into.

Chapter 10:

-X men, Last Stand. With great power comes great responsibility.
-Here we have a classic Angel on one shoulder, devil on the other shoulder situation.
-The Angel is attempting to help gene understand her power and how she can best use it for others and for herself.
-The devil wants to convince her that she should use the power for herself.

-Gene Says, “I have no home”. Hard to understand our power or leadership without the context of where our home is or who our home is with.

-Devil Says, “He wants to control you” about God.

-God says, “I want to help you”.

-Gene Says, “What’s wrong with me?”

-Devil Says, “Nothing.”

-God Says, “ Look at me!”

-Jesus is our example of leadership and what to do with our power/Leadership. When we take our eyes of off him, we not only forget where our home is but we also forget that being a servant is the purpose of our being.

Scripture: Matthew 20:20-28

V22: You don’t know what you’re asking.
-The most prominent Biblical examples of leaders are stories about people who would just assume not fulfill the requests of God.
-Moses, Jonah, Balaam, Jeremiah
-They knew what God was asking and what such leadership would
entail.
-Moses-Had to put up with a bunch of whiners and enter into
dangerous or unknown situations so the people wouldn’t have to.
-People-give us this…without fully understanding what was
happening.
-Jonah wanted to fulfill his own agenda and let everyone die…not
God’s agenda.
-Jeremiah was the weeping prophet…everyone thought he was crazy.
-“Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
-Jesus is asking? So you want power? You want to be a leader? Well do you want the kind of leadership that I have? Do you want to make the sacrifices that I make?
-If that’s what you want…that’s what you’ll get.
V25: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them.”
-Jesus is saying, you know what kind of leaders those who don’t know God
have. You know their idea’s of leadership and power. They use it for
personal gain.
V26: Not so with you…
-This isn’t the way it works in my kingdom.
-If you want to be a leader…you have to follow my example.
-If you want to be great, be a servant.
-If you want to be first, be a slave.
V28: Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
-Because I am the standard of leadership…and no one has ever been more of
a servant than me.

So if you want to be a great leader…you must be a great follower of the best leader ever and give of yourself.
-I’ve shared a couple characteristics of a great leader so far…we’re going to talk about that a little bit more in your small groups.

Small Group: (bring back to large group top three characteristics and why)

-What are the characteristics’ of a great leader?
-great follower, give of self, humility, good listener, not quick to assume
or make assessment of others, not judgmental, inclusive, gives up
immediate needs to fulfill the needs of another, etc.

-Why are these characteristics important?

-Who is someone you think embodies great leadership?

-Why would you follow them?

-In what ways are you a leader?
-I’m a big bro/sis, I’m a high school athlete with younger kids looking up to
me, I’m the only Christian in my family, people at school know I’m a Christian
look to me for what a Christian is, I stick up for outcasts at school, etc.

-What Characteristics of a leader do you see in someone in the group? What are they? Encourage that person right now by telling them what you see in them.

Large Group: What were your top three characteristics of a leader and why? Alternate groups sharing one at a time.

-The last couple questions focused on your ability to lead as well as the qualities you see in others around you.

-I believe that we are all called to lead.

-Earlier we said that a leader is anyone that people follow. The truth is, that every one of us has at least one follower. It may be friends at school or a sibling. But we all have someone who follows us. People are always watching.

-This is no mistake…God made you someone with influence…we are a relational people…in close proximity, and so a people with responsibility. We are also a curious people, we watch others so that we know what is right and how we should act. Which is one reason why Paul says in Colossians 3:17: “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

-This is not easy: Look at Celebrities. They have many people watching them…and they don’t understand the leadership and power they have…and they use it for themselves instead of for the gain of others.

-We all have the opportunity to take the power we have and use it for our own good. Or we can lay down what we have and become a servant. Philippians 2:2-4 is a great passage about leadership. It basically describes Jesus’ leadership. “The make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and in purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

-No Leader But God is perfect. Earlier we talked about leaders that have hurt us, betrayed our trust. I promise leaders will screw up…and I promise that you as a leader will mess up a time or two…

-One of the Characteristics of a good leader we mentioned is humility. Good leaders will admit when they’re wrong, ask for forgiveness, and do the best they can to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

-One of the questions in the forum was what type of leadership are you looking for in us, the youth? This is the type of leader I’m looking for. Someone who wants to learn from the best leader ever…will build each other up, admit when they’re wrong, and do everything they can to think of others before they think of themselves.

-The first step in this is to acknowledge that you are a leader, and that you have much to learn. Gary gave everyone a note card with Matthew 20:26-27. On the back of that card I want you to write one characteristic of a great leader you do not yet have, or you want to work on. Be in prayer this week over this verse and over that characteristic. Maybe even ask a friend to pray for you as well.

Closing Blessing:

The Lord Bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. This to him who is able to keep you from falling to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen

2010-01-14T17:12:00.002-06:00

2010....is.......HERE!!!!

2010-01-06T13:32:00.001-06:00

Hey Everyone,

Welcome to the 10’s…i like em. I’ve been working on the schedule for the entire 10 and I have to say that I’m pretty excited about this year! I won’t burden you with knowledge of the whole year just yet…but i’ll share with you the general gist on Sunday…I think you’ll like it too!

Let’s not get too terribly far ahead of ourselves…let’s start by talking about this week….yeah that’s a good idea.

Today…the first Wednesday in 2010 (6th): GIRLS Real Group is meeting at Berri Blends at 6pm. Guys will start up NEXT WEEK.

Sunday (10th): REBELution @ Hubenak Elementary…behind the Wal Mart and near J man’s house. The address is below. Be there from 6-730.

-Hubenak is 11344 Rancho Bella Parkway, Richmond, TX 77406

LOOKIN AHEAD: 30th our First SNL, Feb 12th: Junior High Exclusive, Feb 27th: First Hands of Christ…Homeless Shelter…..

Oh yeah, I can only imagine the excitement bubbling up as you read this email…no need to contain it! See you Soon!

Adam

2009-12-04T21:16:00.000-06:00

We made it everyone!

UPRISING UPDATE 4:24 pm

2009-12-04T16:24:00.002-06:00

Hey Guys!

Great news, just got off the phone with the people in Columbus and the sun is shining there! Actually they didn't see any precipitation all day! It looks like at any moment the sun will pop out here as well! The hour by hour forecast is clear there and now it is only 10% precipitation and 36% degrees for our departure time! Pack warmly, bring a sleeping bag and a lunch...we'll have coolers and ice to keep things cold!

WE ARE GOING TO LEAVE AT THE ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED TIME. If you need to have your liability release form notarized, please arrive at 7pm so that Kendra or Holly can notarize it. If not, please arrive no later than 715pm so that we can load up, pray, and be on our way by 730pm at the latest.

I will post another message here when we have arrived at Pine Cove Outback so that you will know we made it safely. I anticipate our arrival at 9pm. Thanks! and see you soon!

Adam

UPRISING 2009 Updates

2009-12-04T12:42:00.003-06:00

Hey Parents,

I have been closely monitoring the weather both here and in Columbus (where we are heading). We will not cancel Uprising but it is a possibility that we will hold off our departure till 8am tomorrow morning. Please refer to this blog for futher updates as a decision will be rendered by 5pm.

-The current forecast is for 30% chance of precipitation in Katy at 7pm tonight, and 10% at 8pm. So the worst of the storm is now. I've been on the phone a few times with our contact in Columbus and she said they haven't seen any precipitation at all and the forecast is 0% precipitation by 5pm in Columbus. So please let this blog be your primary information station regarding future updates...as it is difficult to communicate with everyone via phone. Thanks!

Adam

The Faith of Jesus: 11/15/09

2009-11-12T14:53:00.001-06:00

Activity: Copycat: One person leaves the room and the group selects a leader. The group stands in a circle and the one who has left the room stands in the middle of the circle. The leader performs an action and the rest of the group follows. The goal is for the person in the middle to be unable to identify the leader. They get three guesses.

-What do you think of when you hear the word Discipleship?

-What is a disciple? (One who follows closely to another)

-Who were “the disciples”? (Blind Followers)

-What kind of people were they? (Screw Ups, Not Good enoughs)

-We often have elevated views of everyone and everything in this book. One of the best quotes that I’ve heard is from my mentor in Kentucky. “These people are people like you and me, they just happened to be around when the Bible got wrote.” Nice grammar eh? These people are not special, as a matter of fact they are anything but “special” in comparison with others in their culture. That’s what made Jesus’ relationship with them so special. And that’s why the lessons Jesus taught them are so applicable to us.

Nooma Video: Dust “May You Be Covered in the Dust of your Rabbi.” 15:31

-Why were the disciples so eager to drop their nets and follow Jesus?
-You can do what I do. Of course they drop their nets.

-Jesus chose those that weren’t good enough by the standards of the world…the religious of the day. The JV team, the not good enoughs.
-What message was Jesus sending to us by not choosing the best of the best?

1 Corinthians 1:26-29: “Brothers and Sisters, think of what you were when you were called.”

Small Group Discussion:
-Have you ever thought about Jesus as your Rabbi? Why or why not?

-Would you consider yourself a disciple? Why or why not?

-Why did Peter ask Jesus to tell him to come out to him? (He wanted to do what the Rabbi did…wanted to follow him).

Rob Says, “Now I always assumed that Peter doubts Jesus. But Jesus isn’t sinking.”
-Who does Peter doubt? (He doubts himself) Rob Says, “He loses faith in himself that he can actually be like his rabbi.”

-How big of a role do your insecurities play in your life?
-Do they affect your faith?

-In what way is Jesus saying to you “You can do what I do”?

-How is the way you view your walk with God changed in light of Jesus saying “you can do what I do…or else I wouldn’t have called you”.

Read this Blessing and Close in prayer: May you believe in God. But may you come to see that God believes in you. May you have faith in Jesus. But may you come to see that Jesus has faith that you can be like him. A person of forgiveness, and peace, and grace, and joy, and hope. And may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, Jesus.

Surviving the Lifeboat: 10/25/09

2009-10-20T15:50:00.001-05:00

Review: 2 Corinthians 5: 1-5
Key Scriptures: Romans 5:6-11, Luke 6:32-36, 1 Samuel 16:7
Activity: Life Boat Experiment (male lawyer, female doctor, a crippled Child, a stay at home mom, and a garbage man.) Break up into 5 groups and come up with an argument for why your life should be preserved and someone else’s shouldn’t. (Round 1: Each group makes their claim for why they should get to stay on the lifeboat. Round 2: Each group makes a claim for the group they think should be thrown out! Round 3: The groups receiving votes to leave plead for their lives one last time. Round 4: We vote on who leaves)

-How did it feel to argue for your own life?

-How did you feel when/if someone else thought you should be the one to die?

-How did you respond?

-What kind of cases are these people going to make for their lives to be spared?
-Gong to feel passionately about being good people because if they aren’t perceived that way they will die.
-There is something at stake if they are not valued.

2.-What are some ways we determine who has value? Our Culture? What do we value?
(Write one thing that you value most on sheet of paper: now find two other people that have something similar to you: discuss why you value that thing most: Each group report back to the large group.)
-Athleticism, Good looks, Intelligence, wealth, Rightness,
Athletes: Dunking a ball...only worth is because they are judged that way by peers. There is a hidden commodity that coaches and players…even fans are vying for…you only get a ring if you win…can always buy that…searching for value…being better at something than others.

Rightness: How many times have you gotten into an argument and eventually you were just trying to win the argument rather than coming up with a good answer. Often, you end up not speaking to the person until someone breaks down and realizes how dumb the whole thing is.
-Often Run to those who support our rightness…anyone who disagrees is an enemy.
-Who’s side are you on anyway?
-Could be the stupidest thing ever: Enchiladas are gross!
-We surround ourselves with people who reinforce our rightness.
-Cliques, Goth, Democrat, Republican,
-Real group discussing Youtube videos. People just want to feel right. Not about actually being right…as long as people support our rightness.
-Descrimination: Think about one of the biggest issues in our world today: Racism, Sexism, Religious wars: If you’re in a lifeboat why would it benefit you to be a racist? A sexist? A religious persecutor? If you establish your race, sex, or religion is better than you’re immediately better than 30%, 50% better than others in the lifeboat. They may be better at sports, richer, better looking…but none of that matters anymore because they are black, they’re women, they’re muslim. See how the major problems of our world make sense if we’re living life in a lifeboat fighting for our lives.

(lets look at this from yet another angle)
-What makes you the most angry? Why? (Write one thing down on a sheet of paper: Now find two people that wrote similar things: Now as a group report back to the main group why that makes you the most angry)

-Road Rage Something that makes me really angry is when someone cuts me off in the road. I feel like they are disrespecting me; telling me that their time is more important than mine. But I’m really not losing much time if any at all. The real issue is that they are telling me they are more valuable than me. Their time is more important. I feel less valued and I don’t like it.

-A lot of things like that. What are some more examples of things that upset you because you feel disrespected or undervalued in some way?

-Don’t get called back.
-Don’t get paid back.
-Roommate doesn’t do the dishes or is noisy (you wouldn’t do that to them).
-Big one! Someone doesn’t say thank you when you hold the door, pay for their dinner…do anything for them.

-We say…its not a big deal…it’s the principle of it.

-We want to be valued and respected…any sign that we are not…we get upset.

3.
-What do you think didn’t happen in the lifeboat? (Write it down on your paper)
-Honesty, sin sharing…
-In our minds these things reduce our value. Isn’t it weird how we all have them?

-Just because you don’t share doesn’t mean you don’t have them..either means, you think you’re better than everyone else and don’t sin and have flaws or you think they’re so bad no one can love you if they knew. (you would lose value…you would die, be thrown from the lifeboat)

-So we go through life fighting for our lives, jockeying for position on the lifeboat, searching for value anywhere we can find it and at any cost to our own health or to the lives of others.
-Maybe our attempts at position in the lifeboat keep us from receiving something our hearts really desire.
-In hiding our pains, our weaknesses, our sins, people don’t really know us.
-Do you think that you can really be loved without being fully known?
-Is it really love if someone only sees the good things about you?
-When we allow someone to see who we really are…we give them the chance to love us.
Romans 5:6-11: This is love, that God knew our sin and still sent his son to die. Who does that? Who dies for an enemy? It doesn’t happen. It sure doesn’t happen in the lifeboat. Those who do wrong…we’d rather use their sin against them and for us…if they sin that means that we’re looking better in the lifeboat. Not the way of God.
Luke 6:32-36: Talking about loving our enemies. Loving people who cannot or will not repay us. This is what makes us different. This is the gospel. The world wants us to live in a lifeboat of competition and self promotion…but that’s so tired!!!! God’s way is a way of peace and rest.

-It’s scary to be fully known…to have someone really see us. At the same time its hard to really see the dark places in others.
1 Samuel 16:7. God doesn’t look at the things man looks at…God sees the heart rather than outward appearance…the main point of this is seeing what we are created for as children of God…the gifts and characteristics that make everyone uniquely beautiful. Sometimes in seeing the heart we see things in that are not good or beautiful.

-This is true of me…I have impurities that I don’t want people to see…this is why his love means so much to me…this is how we are called to love because this is how I am treated by God… I love the Bible because it’s my story…I can see how God treats people who have impure hearts

-What are some Biblical examples of how God treats people with impure hearts?
-Rich Young Ruler, Zacceus, David, woman in adultery, Pretty much everyone Jesus meets, woman at the well.

Small Group Discussion: In the Shoes of the Unlovable (Girls: Read John 8:3-11)(Guys: Read Luke 19:1-10) Girls: you are the woman caught in adultery; guys, you are Zacchaeus. Be prepared to share your testimony (as either Zacchaeus or the woman caught in adultery) to the group.

-What is your position in the lifeboat?

-How do you feel about this position?

-Why are you not loved by others?

-The word love brings nothing but pain…you feel absent of it. What are some feelings you experience since you know others would just assume you died?

-How does Jesus show you your value?

-How do you feel knowing that you have sinned, others are willing to have you dead…and Jesus gives you meaning, value, and new life?

Back in Large Group: Each group share their testimony as either Zacchaeus or the woman caught in adultery.

Conclusion
-The thing about the lifeboat is that its tiring…its hard always trying to convince people that you are worthy of their affection and attention.

-Jesus says “come to me ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you peace.

-I used to be so scared of what people thought of me that I ran for class president and student council president and top notch teens, and PALS, and OHC leadership…It wore me out. I put myself in the public eye because that’s what was valuable…then I had to work really hard to maintain my good image. I was terrified that people might think I wasn’t as good as I looked.

-I wish that I could have seen how Jesus wanted to speak his love into my life then and give me peace. I wish I could have received my value from him.

-He really knows me…He sees it all…and somehow he still loves me more than I could ever possibly fathom. That’s real love, its love you can’t earn. Until you let God love you unconditionally, you won’t know who you are…

Prayer and Song to close: Time for reflection. (Chris Tomlin: Unfailing Love)

Naked and Unashamed 10/18/09

2009-10-14T11:31:00.001-05:00

Review: Receiving (Isaiah 50:10-11): Nature of God (Genesis 1:26-28)
Key Scriptures: Genesis 2:25, Genesis 3:7-21, Matthew 6:25-34
Activity: Funky Function Trivia: There are two categories (Animals and Nature) Question levels are from 100 points to 500 points. Ten Questions in total with “Final Function” at the end.

-Why do we wear Clothing?
-Evolution can explain how we came from apes but it can’t explain when or why we started wearing clothes.

-The Bible is so cool, often times what we look for when it comes to things that are significant are the things that stand out…the things that are out of place.

-Genesis 2:21-25:

-Anything seem out of place to you? (What happened before this passage? After?)

-What is the only thing we know about Adam and Eve’s life together prior to their sinning?
-Here we have Adam naming the animals which would have taken hundreds of years.
-There are between 10 million and 100 million species of animals…if you believe in evolution, that means there were between 1 million and 50 million species. It would have
taken Adam over a year to name just the different species of snakes.
-So lets say 100 years from time of creation to the creation of Eve, then immediately we
have the fall. I’m guessing quite a large portion of time passed between Eve’s creation and the Fall. After all, Adam lived to be 930 years old.
-He had a son named Seth when he was 130…and he had Cain and Able after that. The story of a grown up Cain and Abel comes in Chapter 4 of Genesis.

-So the characteristic that Moses chose to describe all of humanity from the time spanning from Eve’s creation to the fall of humanity was that they were “Naked and Unashamed.”

-Why is that so significant?

-Do you remember running around naked as a kid?
-I don’t but there are pictures to prove that I did that! What is it about kids that allows them to be naked yet unashamed? (How do they get their food? How do they know when its time to go to bed? How do they get dressed?)
-They aren’t self aware!! They aren’t worried about how other people see them…they just are! They receive all that they need from their parents…they don’t have a care in the
world.

Have any of you ever been depantsed before? What did you immediately do?
Pulled my pants right back up?
Why didn’t you yell at the person who did it before you pulled your pants back up?
When you are naked the only thing you can think about is the fact that you’re naked. Everything else just kind of takes a back seat…even getting mad at a person who has just seriously embarrassed you…although I guess running after that person with your pants around your ankles wouldn’t be real productive anyway!
-Funny explanation…you go to the store and you’re naked and looking for barbecue sauce…chances are you aren’t going to look for the stuff that’s on sale, you’re going to grap the first one you see and bolt!

-Have you ever noticed that when a kid falls down they rarely start crying right away? When do they usually start crying?
-They wait and see the response of the adults around them and they respond accordingly.
-If they fall over and their mom freaks out..that kid is going to start bawling! If the mom just helps them up and dusts them off with a smile…that kid is likely to smile back!
-Kids aren’t self aware…they receive their identity, their needs, even how they should feel from their parents.

-So why did Moses make such a big deal out of Adam and Eve being Naked and Unashamed?

-This is how it was with Adam and Eve. They weren’t really aware of themselves. They didn’t need to be. God was plenty aware of them. They had perfect communion with him and he gave them everything they needed. God’s glory shone in them and through them.
-The relationship they were created for in God’s image was perfect. There was no need for self-preservation, self-esteem, self-anything. They were completely for each other, and God was completely for them…not against them.

“Here’s what I think Moses was saying: Man is wired so he gets his glory (his security, his understanding of value, his feeling of purpose, his feeling of rightness with his Maker, his security for eternity) from God, and this relationship is so strong, and God’s love is so pure, that Adam and Eve felt no insecurity at all, so much so that they walked around naked and didn’t even realize they were naked.”

-Can you imagine how it would be to feel that safe..that secure?

Then what happened?
Genesis 3:7-21:
v7: What is the first thing that they notice once they have sinned? They are Naked
-What do they do? Why? Cover themselves, ashamed, self aware…can’t think of anything but the fact that they are naked. Taking care of their own need becomes immediately the most important thing they can think of to do.

“ But when that relationship was broken, they knew it instantly. All of their glory, the glory that came from God, was gone. It wouldn’t be unlike being in love and having somebody love you and then all of the sudden that person is gone, like a kid lost in the store. All of the insecurity rises the instant you realize you are alone. No insecurity is felt when the person who loved you was around, but in his absence, it instantly comes to the surface. In this way, Adam and Eve were naked and weren’t ashamed when God was around, but the second the relationship was broken, they realized it and were ashamed. And that is just the beginning.”

v11: God’s response here tells us much about the point Moses is trying to make. He says, “Who Told you you were naked?” What is the answer to that? –They did, they noticed for themselves. Rather than receiving their everything from God, they were starting to look elsewhere for meaning.
v12&13: So what do both Adam and Eve do when their sin is exposed? Blame it on someone else. Self-Preservation.

v19: The consequence of all consequences. Death. Adam and Eve will return to dust.
-They say there is no time in Heaven. Eternity is eternity, a thousand years seems like a second. It make sense when you don’t have a care in the world. When you are completely cared fro without an insecurity looming or a question of self-worth. But constantly worrying about my self, covering my nakedness. That makes a second seem like a thousand years. Death is the consequence for sin and we get so upset when someone close to us dies. We say that their in a better place while wishing that they were still here with us. God knew how painful it would be to be separated from him…so death seems more like a gracious act of God. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to live forever in this world…not after the fall. Adam lived to be 930…There’s no way I could handle that. Much of that time must have seemed like a blink of an eye in the presence of God but I can’t imagine living the rest of my life fully aware of what I had lost. Adam and Eve had to live life knowing what it was like living daily in the presence of God..they must have wished for bodily death.

-Luckily for them and luckily for us…that wasn’t the end of the story.

v21: God make garments for them and sent them from the garden.
-What is the significance of God clothing them? What were they wearing before? Do you think this was a step up?

-What was the clothing made out of? And Where does that come from?
-Something died for their clothing. An animal died to cover Adam and Eve’s shame.
-God who always was provider…who everything we ever needed came from…once again, even after this sin was committed still provides.
-I think this is God’s way of saying to all of creation…I’m not done here.

-Story of circle: everyone’s naked. Everyone is so focused on their own nakedness that they don’t even notice the nakedness of the other people in the circle. The person beside you is someone that you love very much…maybe it’s a sibling or a significant other or a wife, or a husband or a best friend. Finally this person comes to grip with the fact that they must become naked…so they take their clothes off. You, loving that person like you do…know how difficult it is and the fear they feel…so you step in front of them…protecting them from the shame that their nakedness causes. You want for them to be naked and unashamed…even if increasing your shame is the cost of taking theirs away.

-The clothes didn’t completely take the shame away. Adam and Eve were still very self aware…the clothes just eased the shame a bit…but God promised to take it all away someday…and he did so when he sent his son Jesus to die…NAKED on a cross…to finally restore a connection with God where we receive all we need from him.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5: Imperfect Earthly Tent…perfect heavenly eternal building. Long for heavenly clothes because we don’t want to be found naked like Adam and Eve were in the garden. They were not clothed with God..or with leaves or animal skins…they were just naked..God covered them and they were only partially naked…but we long to be fully clothed completely covered by the glory of God.

Small Group:

Matthew 6:25-34:

-What is something that causes shame?

-Why don’t kids experience this kind of shame?

-Why does our generation find it necessary to mature so quickly?

-What things cause you to worry?

-What are some other things in nature God provides for?

-Why do focus more on physical rather than the spiritual?

-What would be like to be completely clothed by God (have your self-worth found in God)?
-How do the bird feel? How do the lilies?

Large Group: Share answers and Pray

Faithful Father 10/4/09

2009-10-02T13:54:00.001-05:00

Review: Genesis 1:26-28: Describe the image we are created in. What is the analogy I used for this? (Marriage and Creating a family…Child is a product of the loving relationship between father and mother…much like we are a product of the loving relationship within the trinity!)
Key Scriptures: 2 Samuel 7:1-16, Hebrews 10:22-23
Activity: Scene 17 in “The Prestige”. Secrets are my life. How to build a lack of trust and faithfulness. The trick becomes his life. His own wife doesn’t even know who he really is. Wears the beard in public to maintain the image. Keeps more secrets than he reveals till he makes the all encompassing statement that secrets are his life. Make reference to telling his wife that he loves her and her ability to tell whether or not its true. Describe how she feels when its true or untrue.

-What kind of impact does “Freddy’s” changing have on his wife? Why?

-The continued performance of Alfred hurts his wife. Why is that? Deceit, secrets, misunderstanding.
-Wants to know about his bad day but he can’t even tell her that.

-How does Sara feel at the end of the scene?

Small Group #1: Pass out the survey sheets. Instruct the students to rate the likely hood they would trust these events to happen on a scale of 1 (not happening) to 10 (definitely happening).

-The Sun will rise in the morning.
-Your car (or parents’ car) will start when you turn the key.
-Your alarm will go off in the morning.
-A friend will hang out with you when you ask them to.
-A parent will pick you up on time.
-A friend will keep a promise.
-Your favorite sports team will win a game.
-Your friend’s movie recommendation will be accurate.
-You buy a new CD from your favorite band without ever hearing on of the songs on it.

-Which of these did you rank a ten? Why?

-Which did you rank the lowest? Why?

-What makes one of these occurrences more trustworthy? (They’ve happened again and again…never failed or have failed very infrequently.)

-Which of these is the most risky to trust in? Why? (Some have a higher cost to trust in…cost you money in the cd is bad, make you late if your alarm fails or car doesn’t start, costs us pain and disappointment if a parent or friend lets us down, cost life if the sun doesn’t rise)

Back in Large Group: Ask for some of the responses.
-We have a hard time trusting in things that have burned us before. If every time a friend suggests a movie, you hate it, you aren’t going to take the recommendations. If you’ve been late a few times because your alarm didn’t go off…you are going to be paranoid and check it 10 times before you let yourself relax and fall asleep.
-In the same way, if something is proven true, we are more likely to trust in it. If your favorite band has put out 4 great albums, you’ll likely buy the fifth whether you’ve heard a song or not. They faithfully produce good music.
-There are also things that are more risky to trust in. I have a friend who almost always says no when I ask him to do something. He almost always has other plans or just doesn’t feel like it. I know what you’re thinking…he doesn’t want to even be friends with me…but he does. He invites me to hang out with him which I accept. But for some reason its almost always inconvenient for him when I ask…so what do I do? Stop asking…sometimes its hard being rejected. So do I stop asking because it’s a waste of time or because it hurts wondering why he never wants to hang out when I ask him?
-In the same way, trusting in the promise of a friend or parent has risks. They could end up not keeping their promise which makes us feel low or uncared about. So many of us have stopped trusting in promises of friends, parents, pastors, etc.

-How many of you have seen a TV show or movie where the main character has just come out of a poor relationship and meets a new person. Even though this new person has done nothing wrong, the main character does not trust them. The story continues as the main character tries to let go of past hurts and learn to trust again. Usually, the new person gets fed up trying to win their trust and gives up. The story almost always ends when the main character learns the errors of their ways and grovels at the feet of their new love, professing that they trust them and that they are sorry for holding the sins of their former love against the new.

-It’s a classic story. It’s behind almost everything. Everyone pays for broken promises. Someone who claims to be worthy of trust is usually someone we run from because we just haven’t seen it in our own lives.

-This is probably why God as a faithful father is emphasized throughout scripture.
-One of the reasons I love the Bible so much is because there are people like me in the Bible. The Bible is not a bunch of people who live lofty lives void of sin and insecurity. David is a great example. He is someone who is described as “after God’s own heart”. Yet we know he made a serious mistake in having an affair. He also had some serious insecurities. Lets look at a story of a house to discover the faithfulness of God.

Small Group #2: 2 Samuel 7: 1-16:
V3: Wants to build a house for God. Didn’t make sense to have a nice place when God didn’t.
-V7Israelites were a mobile people. The purpose of the tent was so that God could be with the people. God was mobile too!
V9: Look at what I’ve already done from you…took you as a shepherd and made you a king.
-Gone with you wherever you’ve gone.
-Cut off all your enemies.
-Classic Covenant: Same form (Identifying himself as the God who blessed David…just like prior to the ten commandments God said, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt.)as the ten commandments when God made a covenant with Moses. God is making a new covenant with David.
V11: Lord will establish a house for you! Not you for me…
V14: I will be his Father and he will be my Son.
-I will punish when he does wrong
V15: but my love will never be taken from him.
V16: Your house and your kingdom will endure forever.

-What are some reasons why David would want to build a house for God based on what we know from this passage?

-What was the point of God’s dwelling being in a tent? Did that scare David? Why?

-How did God remind David of his faithfulness?

-How do you think David felt about God’s promise?

-After this speech, what number 1-10 would David give based on the likelihood it would be kept?

- I feel like maybe David is a little scared as to whether or not God will stay with him. Building a house for God may be what God deserves. But I think there’s a bit of an ulterior motive here. David feels like building God a permanent structure will ensure that he’ll never leave.

-God sees this insecurity and makes a covenant with David. He says in more words that he’ll never leave David. Funny, that’s God’s response to a building project. God says “what are you worried for? I’m not going anywhere”. Not only was God not going anywhere but he had major plans to prosper David and his family. Through that blessing came Jesus, and Jesus of course is a blessing to all humanity!

-Key Phrase: “I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. But my love will never be taken away from him.”

-I know this doesn’t flow too well..but this is an overwhelming theme in our lives and I feel like I’d be doing disservice not to mention it. We have such a hard time trusting in God because we’ve been so burned by people. And we have a hard time seeing God as a faithful father, because our earthly fathers have been anything but faithful. When God says, “I’ll never leave you!” We say, “I’m not sure about that…I’ve been left before.”

-Just like the typical movie a mentioned earlier…we are the main character and God is that other person that has to pay for the mistakes of the former love. We ascribe to him, so many traits that are not his. His nature is a faithful father…and he reveals that throughout the scriptures. And here through David.

-God sees the insecurity of David and he reveals his faithfulness. He asks David, “When have I ever failed you?”

-Let’s look at David’s response to God’s promise: 2 Samuel 7:18-29: 28=Trustworthy.

-Sounds like a Psalm doesn’t it. Here is a psalm. Psalm 145:10-14.

-Unlike Freddy in the Movie Clip, God doesn’t change. Unlike others in our lives, he will never leave us and he always keeps his promises. He is our Faithful Father.

-Watch this clip “Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus”: Write or Drawl what your thinking or feeling during this video…or simply close your eyes and pray. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km63bQinoJk&feature=related

The Time Between the Eternities :9/27/09

2009-10-02T13:27:00.003-05:00

Hey, Last week was a difficult one to write out. So there are no formal notes but I thought I'd take a minute to update you on what we talked about last week.
-We discussed three pretty difficult topics. 1) eternity 2)the trinity 3) the problem of evil/purpose of creation.
1) Eternity: when we think of eternity we think of eternal life after we die. However, eternity suggests that there is no beginning just like there is no end. So for the sake of a better description, eternity is forever in the past and forever in the future with no end.
2) trinity. No one can wrap their minds around the trinity. We worship one God yet in three persons. When described in terms of material, it makes absolutely no sense. The best description seems to be the illustration of an egg. The egg has three parts and yet is one egg. However, if you remove the yoke...do you still have a full egg? No!! Nor is the yoke itself fully the egg. This is why understanding a Triune God in terms of material is useless. For we know that Jesus was fully man and fully God. He was not just part of God but all God. So we have three parts that are fully God yet distinct. The best way to describe the trinity is through relationship. In summary, there is no misunderstanding in the trinity, each glorifies the other rather than self. This type of relationship hinders competitiveness or insecure self-promotion. When God said "Let us create man in OUR image", this is the image he was talking about. The image of relationship...the image that is the nature of God.
3) Problem of evil. The problem is that we profess God is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere at all times. If this is the case, he should be able to stop evil. If he is able, which we claim he is, and does not stop evil...then he cannot be good. First, we know that if God stops evil, that would mean putting an end to the world which he does in fact promise to do. He clearly has not yet done that but we trust that he will. When he does all impurity will be wiped from the Earth. Removing all impurity from the world means destroying the bodies of many of the people who profess this problem with evil.
Second, if God is all powerful, all knowing, and everywhere always, then he had to have known that evil would enter the world. Some claim that this is another proof that God cannot be Good. However, I see this as a proof that he's better than we're capable of even understanding. We already described what the relationship of the Trinity was before the world began...it was perfect! It was in fact Heaven! It was so good that God wanted to share it...so he said "let us create others to share in this perfect love with us!"
-Now, God had to have known evil would enter the world. He created anyway, because his love is so great so massive and is available for all eternity. The thing that people claim should have kept him from creating is not eternal (evil). So God actually knew that we would suffer a little bit but that if we could just catch a glimpse of how awesome his love is, we would gladly suffer thousands of lifetimes more for an eternal perfect love relationship for which we were created.
-The analogy I used is that of a marriage. Why do a man and a wife decide to have children? Their love is so great that they want to create a family. The love between them is so great that they want to have a child to share that love with. You see God gives us the opportunity to create, and to understand why he did. Often, the same people who are mad at God for "creating a world of suffering" have children of their own. Did they not know that their child would enter a world of pain and suffering? Then are they not guilty of the same offense they are accusing God of committing?
-In Genesis 1:28 God said "Be fruitful and Multiply..." he said this because the more that share in his love the better. When we have a child we are not just creating a material being...God is allowing us to decide whether we will bring yet another spiritual being into the world to share in his perfect eternal love. And its worth it. Look at this life in the scheme of eternity that never began and will never end...its so so so so small. How many of these lifetimes would you endure for the sake of a never ending perfect relationship that God has promised. He never breaks his promises and he never will. When this world is over and we finally see the fullness of God's love, we'll understand how small our suffering was and we would volunteer to suffer it a thousand times more if it would mean resting in the love that is the purpose of our creation.
-When I think about having children of my own...i get excited. And honestly the thing that makes me tear up when I think about it is that I'll look at that baby. and I'll be able to see his/her mother in her. To be able to say, "you've got your mother's eyes", or "you've got your mother's smile" blows me away. We have children because the love we have with our spouse is so good...we want to share it. When God the Father looks at us...I know he sees Jesus...and that makes him so so happy. No matter how bad we mess things up, we will always be his children, we will always be in his image. He did not create us to suffer. He created us to rest in his love. His love which is so great that suffering is worth it. He did not create us to suffer. He created us in spite of suffering.

"How Great is the love the father has lavished upon us that we should be called the children of God and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, but what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when we see him we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is."

-We long for that day, when we see him as he is: the fullness of his love...and all suffering becomes sand that blows away in light of him.

Service Opportunities!

2009-09-16T18:02:00.002-05:00

Hey Parents!
Last week was an exciting one! Our 1st Annual River Grand Prix and our First ever RIOT were both big hits! This week we have an opportunity to go to Smith Point and serve with the church on a roofing job. The trip is on Saturday. Contact Jim or myself for more information.
-Also on Friday, the McNeil event has been rescheduled for 6-8pm on the 18th. We can still use some help. The connections committee has more information on the help needed, but youth and parents are invited to be involved in meeting new people. Hope to see you there!
-Other than that, we will have REBELution on Sunday as usual at the Lakemont Clubhouse from 6-730pm. The lesson notes are in the previous post! Thanks for your interest and involvement in the youth ministry!

-Have a great week!

Incomprehensible Vastness: 9/20/09

2009-09-16T18:01:00.000-05:00

Prayer:
Activity: Form 4 groups. Each group should look at the tree I have brought and describe its qualities both visible and invisible. What good is this tree? What can it do? (10 mins)
-Example: Provide shade, make a fan out of the leaves, provide lumber for lodging or transportation, make pencils and paper, food for insects and animals, purifies the air by providing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide, provides lodging for animals, chlorophyll.
-Now look at this tree to discern the invisible qualities of God.
-knows what we need, provider of shelter, oxygen, food, communication.
-most answers gets to eat the snack first!

Introduction: Read Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
-We get so frustrated because we feel like we haven’t seen God. We wish that he would just magically appear in front of us or audibly speak into our brains what he wants us to do. God longs to reveal himself to us, but do we really long to see him. His nature is in fact revealed in all things that are created. That means in you, in me, in that tree, and in everything.
-Quite a stir right now over the unknown in regard to our existence. So I want you to watch this video about the vastness of our universe and be thinking about all the invisible qualities of God that he reveals through the beauty of what he’s created.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr7wNQw12l8&feature=related

Small Group #1: Break up into groups and discuss the qualities of God revealed in his creation (specifically in the video). Come back to the larger group in 10 mins to share your responses.

-What were some of the invisible qualities of God revealed in our universe? (Leaders take time to discuss each one mentioned: force them to think: This will be the majority of the 10 mins)

-What does this mean for you? How does it impact your life or the way you view God?

Back in Main Group: (Ask each group for their best answers to the questions)

-One thing that I really see throughout this video is the Vastness of God. Not only is he big himself, but everything about him is big. As we talk about the nature of God, I believe one of the keys to his nature is love.

-1 John 4:7-12: “Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live though him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for out sins. Dear Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

-It makes sense that if Love is the most central characteristic to who God is, that it would be the most attacked. I think its pretty safe to say that love is one of the most misunderstood concepts in our culture. So many sources are trying to convince us of what love is. And they all seem to confuse us more and more.
-This is not a talk necessarily about love itself but rather about the vastness of God’s love. The video we watched described the universe as incomprehensibly vast. How could we ever know what the Universe looks like if it would take us 10 billion years of traveling at 186,000 miles/second just to view it.
-I’m convinced that God’s love for us is at least as vast.

Ephesians 3:16-21: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power though his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts though faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen.”

-Key phrase here is “and to know this love that surpasses knowledge”. What Paul is literally saying is that he prays that you will know this unknowable love. He seems pretty excited about a love that can’t even be known! Maybe that’s not the end of the story.

1 John 3:1-3: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called Children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”

-We talked for the first few weeks about the importance of receiving love. Another way of saying it could be seeing love. In this passage John says that we know we are children of God and that we are loved. But the fullness of what we will be we do not yet know. This seems to line up with what Paul was saying about knowing a love that’s unknowable. Paul prays that we will be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. And John claims that we will not know completely what we will become until we see God as he is.
-I’ve mentioned that I feel like when you come in contact with real love, you cannot help but be changed. This is what both John and Paul are talking about. The Love of God is vast and the fullness of it is unknowable. And we know that we will be completely filled on the day we see Jesus as he really is. This is when we completely see his full nature, when we can finally grasp the fullness of his love. When we grasp the fullness of his love, we become like him. We become love.
-This is another proof that we are in a process. It doesn’t matter how big your grasp of God’s love is right now. Because his love is vast enough that you can learn something new every minute of everyday as long as you live and his love will still be far greater than you’ve been able to dream up. This overwhelms me. God loves me that much!

-The video speaks of light years…this is kinda like “love years”. You can travel 186,000 miles per hour for 10 billion years and maybe then grasp the full view of the universe…maybe this is the invisible quality of God the universe conveys. You could learn of God’s love for you at this pace for 10 billion years…and still not fully comprehend. But there will be a day when you come face to face with Love…and in that moment, you’ll become love fully, because you’ll see love as He really is. How many “love years” would it take to grasp the incomprehensible vastness of God’s love?

-There are a couple truths about God’s love that I’ve learned over the years that I want to share with you. So lets break up into small groups one last time and I want you to interact with these truths. We’ll come back to the large group after to pray together and be dismissed.

Small Group #2: Explain the 5 Truths of God’s Love for us and then ask the questions.

1) How He Loves Us: I Care about you and I want what’s best for you no matter what.
- Jesus does not make us love Him; that is our choice. Not only did He die for our good, but He did so knowing that many would never turn to Him or love him back even when He gave such a precious gift. He did so knowing that even those who did turn back to him would spit in the face of his love on a regular basis by relying on themselves and choosing idols over him. If only I could grasp this love! If only I could love like that!

2) How He Loves Us: You are so precious to me and I hold you in my heart. I don’t have to matter to you for you to matter to me.
Christ’s love for us is so pure and so precious that He continues to hold us in his heart even when we run from him violently. He doesn’t have to matter to us for us to matter to Him. Some have suggested that God could not love because to love is to be vulnerable. This would mean that in order for God to love us, there would have to be a possibility for us to affect him. And we do. Not only did He endure the pain of the cross because of His love for us, but He endures the pain of our rejection. We are precious to him even when He doesn’t matter to us. If only I could grasp this love! If only I could love like that!

3) How He Loves Us: I don’t want you to avoid being honest with me. Tell me how you feel…you cannot change the way I look at you.
Relationships are most difficult when people are not communicating well; when they are not honest with each other. God knows that things aren’t always easy and that we are not always happy with Him. God loves us enough to hear our doubts. He wants us to share our hearts with Him. That means the praises and the hardships. God is big enough to bear our burdens. If we want to experience his love, we must we willing to express to him the pains of our heart. His love for us doesn’t change. We are still as precious as ever. If only I could grasp this love! If only I could love like that!

4) How He Loves Us: Why is it so hard for you to be with me? I want you to be in my presence.
When things aren’t going well or we have screwed up in some fashion we decide that we are not right to worship God. So we avoid the worship setting and we avoid prayer. We avoid God altogether. I can’t help but feel like God longs to draw us into His presence. I feel like when He looks into our eyes He’s so overjoyed to be with us that our sin is lost in his love. If only I could grasp this love! If only I could love like that!

5) How He Loves Us: I want you to know me. I want you to see my heart for you. Don’t just assume you know; search me out and I will show you just how much I love you.
We so often work on assumptions. We think that we know how God is responding in our situation but we haven’t actually sought His heart on the issue. He doesn’t want us to just claim to know Him, He wants us to search Him out just like we want to be sought out by a significant other. We don’t just assume we know our husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend. We seek out their hearts and we long to know every last detail. God longs to reveal his heart for us. He will show us His love if we just search Him out. If we just desire to know Him. If we ask for a puddle, He will give us an ocean. If we ask for an inch, He will give us a mile. If only I could grasp this love! If only I could love like that!

-Which of these points have you failed to recognize in the past?
-Which of these points is most relevant to you?
-What would it mean if you could actually grasp the love God has for you?
-What would it mean if we could love like that?

Wrap Up: Re-ask the last two questions from the small group.
-This is what Paul and John are talking about. Paul wants us to grasp God’s love and John is saying we are becoming love. Imagine the impact this love can have upon God’s creation. Upon his people who long to see his face. His invisible qualities can be made known in you. This is real love. You can and will experience it if you want to see and experience it!

Prayer Time: Close in a circle prayer…each say a sentence of thanks for God’s invisible qualities and incomprehensible love.

RACE WEEK!!!!! 9/7-9/13

2009-09-08T08:54:00.002-05:00

Here's what's going on this week:

9/9: REAL groups. Guys are at Verde Lakemont Apartments #416 @ 630pm-8pm. Girls are at Berri Blends @6pm-730pm.

9/11: We are celebrating along with McNeil Elementary in Lakemont for their achievement as "Exemplary Campus 08-09". The block party is at the school from 6-8pm. The Youth job is to be there wearing River t-shirts and greeting people throughout the evening.

9/12: The RIVER GRAND PRIX: the night we've all been waiting for!!!!! The RC car race and pool party at the Negron Household (10915 Menaggio Ct, Richmond) @ 6-10pm. There will be food, prizes, and of course the release of THE REBELution SOUNDTRACK!!! Missing would just be bad....

9/13: The First RIOT ever! We are meeting at the Lakemont clubhouse as usual but our event will be a bit unusual. We'll have a testimony from an adult and then we will celebrate that testimony with games and food! "Human Bop-It" was a big hit...you're not going to want to miss the next great ADAM HAWKS game INVENTION called "Tic-Tac-Toe".....oh its not at all what you expect!!!! Be there at 6pm...Stay till 730pm.

Hope to see you all this week! I'm excited! Have a great week!

Adam

RIOT 9/13/09

2009-09-08T08:46:00.003-05:00

Hey Parents!

We have completed the first series of our Curriculum and are celebrating with what we call a RIOT! We will have a testimony from an adult that relates well with the topic we've been discussing over the past few weeks. We will then celebrate that testimony by playing some games and enjoying some food and fellowship together. This is always a great Sunday for students to bring friends for the first time or to come for the first time themselves. This is a relaxed atmosphere where we will be once again sharing the purpose for the youth ministry. We are testimony based because we learn much by hearing the journey and story of others. Hopefully our leaders sharing their stories will help students see the importance of learning their own story. We desire community and to be in the process of transformation together. This time of celebration is meant to reflect upon the portion of the process we've traveled in the past few weeks and to build excitement for the next portion!

Youth Happenings 9/2-and beyond!!!!!!!

2009-09-02T15:51:00.002-05:00

Hey Parents!!!

Here are some things to keep in mind for the next couple weeks.

1)tonight 2nd: REAL groups. Girls are at Berri Blends at 6pm-730pm. Guys are at Verde Lakemont Apartments #416 (Adam's Place).

2)Sunday Night 6th: REBELution from 6-730PM at The Lakemont Clubhouse. Address is: 21021 Lakemont Bend, Richmond.

3)Friday 11th: The youth have been asked by the connections people to be at McNeil Elementary from 6-8pm. We are sponsoring a block party for the school which was recognized as exemplary campus.

4)Saturday 12th: THE RIVER GRAND PRIX!!!! We are having a remote control car race tournament and pool party at the Negron House from 6-10pm. Address 10915 Menaggio Ct., Richmond. We will have good food, prizes and we'll be unveiling the REBELution soundtrack!

5) Sunday 13th: RIOT at the Lakemont clubhouse: At the end of each teaching series we are having an adult from the church come and give a testimony. We are then going to spend the rest of the night reflecting on what we've learned throughout the series and celebrate the testimony that person shared with food and games! We'll also introduce the next series.

-That is all! Thanks for your support parents! Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. ajhawks43@gmail.com

A Not So Mighty Fortress: 9/6/09

2009-09-02T15:45:00.003-05:00

A Not So Mighty Fortress 9/6/09

Review: Isaiah 50:10-11 and ask someone to explain.
Key Verses: Proverbs 4:20-27, Psalm 24, Matthew 19:16-24
Activity: Matching defense mechanisms with a certain animal. Break up into 4 teams. Give each team a description of the defense mechanism and they match it with the creature hung on the wall. Winning team gets some prize.

Skunk: Spray stinky musk that can cause temporary blindness.
Opossum: They can play dead by placing themselves in a semi-comatose state which removes all excitement of a kill for the predator. They can also foam at the mouth and emit a green stinky fluid.
Potato Beetle: They cover themselves with their own poop to avoid being eaten.
Malaysian Ant: Flexes abdomen and explodes releasing poison from a special gland.
Sea Cucumber: Can turn into a liquid or a solid: A liquid to squeeze into tight spots for protection. Once there they turn into a solid to avoid being extracted.
Hagfish: Excretes a suffocating slime that engulfs predator. Unfortunately they often engulf themselves as well.
Hairy Frog: Breaks its own legs to turn out a wicked set of catlike claws with which to defend itself.
Bombardier Beetle: Sprays boiling hot and chemically toxic bodily fluids at its predator.
Horned Lizard: Pressures its own sinus cavity until blood vessels burst and then spays attacker with blood from its own eyes.
Activity Discussion:

What is a defense mechanism?

Which one of the defense mechanisms above were the craziest? Grossest? Coolest? Most effective? Least effective?

Do the defense mechanisms these creatures use protect them completely? Or are they still injured themselves?

What do you think about the fact that their defense mechanisms hurt sometimes kill themselves?

-I thought the coolest and most effective was the sea cucumber. The ability of the sea cucumber to survive depended upon the structure it hid within. It was transformed and became like the rock it hid within. All the others relied upon themselves for survival but most of them can only temporarily fend the enemy off. And almost all of them seriously injure themselves in the process. But I see no possible way that the sea cucumber can be killed as long as it remains a part of the rock.

-We have a similar opportunity. Humans use all kinds of defense mechanisms…but the most effective is to run to Jesus, be transformed and remain in him. There is no way that the enemy can defeat us as long as we remain a part of the rock.
-I’m a psychology guy so I looked up some human defense mechanisms also. Some of them hit really close to home…and the damage I’ve done to myself as a result was disturbing as well.

-Defense Mechanism- are psychological strategies brought into play by various entities to cope with reality and to maintain self-image.
-is to protect the self from anxiety, social sanctions or to provide a refuge from a situation with which one cannot currently cope.

Examples:
Denial: Refusal to accept external reality because it is too threatening; arguing against an anxiety-provoking stimulus by stating it doesn't exist; resolution of emotional conflict and reduction of anxiety by refusing to perceive or consciously acknowledge the more unpleasant aspects of external reality.
Fantasy: Tendency to retreat into fantasy in order to resolve inner and outer conflicts.
Projection: attributing one's own unacknowledged unacceptable/unwanted thoughts and emotions to another; prejudice, jealousy.
Somatization: The transformation of negative feelings towards others into negative feelings toward self, pain, illness, and anxiety.
Acting out: Direct expression of an unconscious wish or impulse in action, without conscious awareness of the emotion that drives that expressive behavior.
Idealization: Unconsciously choosing to perceive another individual as having more positive qualities than he or she may actually have.
Displacement: redirecting emotion to a safer outlet; in order to avoid dealing with what is frightening or threatening.
Reaction Formation: behavior that is completely the opposite of what one really wants or feels; taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety.
Suppression: The conscious process of pushing thoughts into the preconscious; the conscious decision to delay paying attention to an emotion or need in order to cope with the present reality; making it possible to later access uncomfortable or distressing emotions while accepting them.

Altruism: Constructive service to others that brings pleasure and personal satisfaction

-Like I said, some of these really hit close to home (Altruism/Denial). I always wondered why I didn’t have any close friends. I didn’t even realize that I surrounded myself with people that I could help rather than those who could speak into the aspects of my life that needed to change. In order to fix the problem that I was denying existed, I helped people.

-Projection is another that I use. I just recently understood the phrase, Judge not lest ye be judged. Yeah its God talking about those who withhold mercy, they will be judged harshly. But also I noticed that I’m quick to notice a fault in someone else that I myself have! I know what it looks like in me so I can quickly see it in someone else.

-Fantasy: I used to play video games a lot…I could be the champ…recent struggle with wanting television to cure my loneliness.

-Countless examples: Suppression, displacement, Idealization, acting out.

All of these may have helped me short term, but I didn’t realize that I was really hurting myself.

Each defense mechanism became a brick in the wall I was building to keep people out. As it turned out I was keeping God out too.

Biblical Example: Matthew 19:16-24: The Rich Young Ruler.

V20: Righteous according to the standards of the law: Noticed there was still something missing..He didn’t fell safe for some reason…defense mechanism of wealth wasn’t strong enough. He asked, “What do I still lack?”

V21-22: Couldn’t give all his wealth away and follow Jesus. His mind was with Jesus, he knew that’s what he needed…but he was unwilling to allow his wall of safety to be dismantled. He was unwilling to give Jesus his heart and rely on him.

-I don’t think this is necessarily about money, I think its about an inability to give trust in Jesus with all we are. I’m this man. Its too risky to trust Jesus with all I am. I’d rather trust in myself and do the right things.
-Talking to a friend a couple nights ago. He was telling me about a conversation with his brother. His brother was struggling with Christianity. He had a problem with a God who would send good people to hell, like Buddhists who are doing good. The problem is that they are not good…they have bricks, they have built walls to keep God and others out…Heaven is not about riches and earthly satisfaction its about connection to God…radical removal of all walls that stand between us and God. A Buddhist who “does good” doesn’t understand what Heaven is even about…just like this rich young ruler.
-Jesus actually answers this question.
V16-17: The man addresses Jesus as “good teacher”. Jesus say, “why do you ask me about what is good.” There is only one who is good.
-It doesn’t matter how “good” a person is…Jesus is the answer. Giving him your heart is the answer.

-Its hard when you come to this realization…I found myself sitting in my car and all I could see was this huge wall that I’d built over the course of 23 years…I had absolutely no idea how to get rid of it, how to have a relationship with Jesus or anyone else.

SONG: Then this song hit me hard…I want you to listen to it. Many of you have heard it in worship services. Its called He Loves Us:

“He is jealous for me, loves like a hurricane. I am a tree bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. When all of the sudden, I’m unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, and I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me.

oh how he loves us so, oh how he loves us, how he loves us so.

He is our portion and we are his prize. Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes and if grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking. So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest. I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way…

He Loves us, oh how he loves us, oh how he loves us, oh how he loves…”

Explanation: I realized that my fear was a result of not knowing God’s love. I had a human perspective of love…I conditional perspective. God’s love is pure and powerful.

Small Group:

1st Verse:
-What are the characteristics of a hurricane? Get a couple good descriptions. Maybe ask everyone in the group to give one or two characteristics.

-Can you imagine being a palm tree in the middle of a hurricane? What would that feel like?

-How is God’s love like a hurricane? (Feel free to read the lyrics to them again)

-What does this lyric line mean? “All of the sudden, I’m unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory. And I realize just how beautiful you are and how great your affections are for me.”
(My interpretation: God’s goodness and beauty is great enough to overcome any fear or struggle. If we see just how much he loves us…why would we fear?)

2nd Verse:
-What would you consider a great prize?

-Have you thought about being Jesus’ prize? How does it make you feel that he values you in that way? He longs for you?

-What does this lyric mean? “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way he loves us.”
(My Interpretation: God’s love is SOOOO Good, that having regret is a waste of time. Instead we should just run to him! and let him relieve our fear. be our defense.)

-Make sure you affirm the answers and willingness to answer and draw all students back together for closing.

Conclusion:
I finally realized that yeah, I had constructed a huge wall, but that my wall was no match for the love of God. All I had to do was turn it over to him.
-The song helped me realize that the love of God would destroy every brick that I had built as a defense against God and against people.
-And I wouldn’t have to be “afflicted” anymore because if I just looked at Jesus, his glory and beauty would totally overcome all the fear and the mess that I’d made of my life. And if I understood how great his affection is for me…then I would realize that this jealous God just wants my heart.
-The second verse was just as powerful. It is incredible to think that I’m God’s prize. Not only that but Jesus is my portion…the gift God has given me. Then I thought about how Jesus looks at me. I’m drawn to be different (drawn to redemption) by the grace in his eyes…just by the way he looks at me, I can see his love and know that turning it over to him is what I want.
-I’m fighter. The picture of an ocean being God’s grace is interesting. And I think I found myself fighting to stay above the surface rather than just letting myself sink in God’s grace. There’s something peaceful about just sinking in an ocean of God’s grace. Allowing it to pour over every last ounce of me and cleanse every impurity.
-I’d built up such a huge wall that I couldn’t feel God at all…feelings are not the most important thing but I do think that God wants to be felt. This was the first time I ever felt my heart turn violently inside of my chest…I’d kept it so tightly protected.

-But what I now understood was that God’s love is the real love, its pure, its unconditional. Its not based on whether or not a deserve it. Its based on the fact that his love is like a hurricane. Powerful to concur anything. I’m his prize. My heart is what he wants. Just like the rich young ruler…that’s what Jesus asked for.
-To be the defense mechanism we cling to. The sea cucumber has it together. It knows that hurting itself is not the way to save its own life…the only way to save its own life is to clime into a rock and cling to it…allow transformation to happen. We too need to let transformation happen, allow yourself to be impacted by the crazy crazy powerful love of Jesus.

Looking Ahead: This is the end of our first section. Next week we are going to RIOT and celebrate what God has started here. We’re also going to celebrate a testimony. Then the following week, we will dive into the nature of God which is love.

Personal Processing: Give everyone a chance to draw or write something that God is teaching or challenging them with.

Prayer and Dismissal:

Youth News For 8/26-8-30 & FUTURE!!!!!

2009-08-26T10:26:00.001-05:00

In the not so distant future:

-There will be a completed Youth Events Calendar handed out probably by Sunday the 6th.

-The youth REAL groups will begin a week from today on Wednesday the 2nd of September. Guys will be at Adam’s place (7115 S Mason Road Apt 416…Richmond) @ 630-8PM. And the Girls will be at Berri Blends at 6-730pm with Kendra and Melanie. Sign up by this Sunday the 30th so that we can purchase the books on Experiencing God. Cost is $10.

-Be prepared to help out at the Community night on September 11th at the Elementary School in Lakemont from 6-8PM. Our job is to be there talking to youth aged people.

RIGHT NOW!!!!!

-Nathalie will have a promised land helpers meeting immediately following church in the hallway behind where Promised land meets. If you want to help with Promised land you MUST BE THERE!!! You will no longer be permitted to be at Promised land without attending this meeting. It will last approximately 20 minutes. We will hang at her house following Labor day!

-Finally…we will be meeting at the Cortes Residence this Sunday night instead of the Lakehouse. We will still be meeting from 6-730pm.

Get In The Water : 8/30/09

2009-08-26T10:25:00.000-05:00

Review: Read John 13:12-17 and explain what we talked about last week.
Key Verses: Psalm 33:20-22, Isaiah 50:10-11, Matthew 14:22-36
Activity: Low Ropes Challenge. All individuals…but you can do whatever you need to do to get to the other side.
Activity Discussion:
-What were your feelings when you heard the task? Overwhelmed, impossible?
-How did you go about deciding what to do?
-What did you do? Did it work? Why or why not?
-Were there other options you decided against? What were they?

Twist
-What if I took away one of the planks? Could you do it?
-What if I took away two? Or all of them? What then?

Loophole:
-What if I told you that all you had to do was walk around?
-Would you have done it? Why or why not?
Main Point:
-Walking around seems like a good enough answer…but you do it alone and there’s a lot you miss out on by walking around.
-What did you learn by attempting the task? Or what would you have missed out on by simply walking around?
-missed out on community, missed out on seeing a miracle, being used by God. Walking around required nothing more than your own strength…see God’s strength when we really rely on him.

My Story:
Background Info:
-Told you that much of what I am teaching comes from what God has done in me over the past couple of years.
-One of the things God did during that time was he took everything I understood of him and removed it. And then he began to teach me all over.
-This is a reason why I talk a lot about the difference between religion and the gospel. Because I believe that Jesus took away my religion so that I could really experience him.
-One of the ways he did that was through my girlfriend at the time.
-Really respected her, trusted in what God was doing in and through her…but we experienced God in very different ways. The way she saw God was really powerful, and mysterious. It convicted me and made me feel like maybe I was doing it wrong. So I explored the idea of doing it her way…I talked with some pastors that were over charismatic congregations, I went to healing conferences with her, I spoke with her often and explored the gift of tongues among other things.
-It never seemed to click with me for whatever reason.
-When we broke up, the easy thing to do was to search for all the negatives in the way she experienced God. So I tried to convince myself that there was something wrong with her. And that my way was right. This was the only way to feel better about the whole situation.
-I was really starting to feel like I had no idea who God was.

The Dream:
-Then one night I had a dream that embodied pretty much everything I was dealing with.
-The story.
-The Interpretation.
-Isaiah 50:10-11
-Crabb Quote: p.112 “But behind…” -To- p.113 “Where is our confidence…”

“God dealt with one expression of my fire-lighting passion the way he often does, by deepening the darkness. He allowed my confusion to get so think that I was faced with only two options: Trust God or sink into despair.” P.114

Conclusion:
-I don’t want to be someone who relies on myself. I have seen where that leads and it leads to “despair” as Crabb puts it and “destruction” as Isaiah puts it.
-The lakes will get bigger and the darkness will get darker as God leads you to deeper and deeper places of questioning.
-If you don’t learn to trust in his name with the smaller lakes…the bigger lakes will destroy you.
-But if you place your trust in God, and just get into the water. You’ll see him move in enormous ways!
-As you see him move, your trust will grow, you’ll learn even more, and he’ll minister through you!

Small Group:

-Read Matthew 14:25-32

-Do you think that Peter was surprised when Jesus actually asked him to step out? Think he was joking?

-How would you feel if you were in Peter’s shoes and Jesus asked you to step out of the boat?

-How do you think Peter felt after obeying Jesus and walking on the water? Even if it was for just a short time?

-TOUGH QUESTION: How is God challenging you to get out of the boat?
-Leaders could provide some examples: and/or share an answer of their own.
(-i.e. talk to outcasts in your school, sit with someone new at lunch, share your
Faith, give up something…bad habit, surrender control.)

-Peter had enough faith to get out of the boat…you would think that would be the hard part. Even once Peter obeyed God’s call and got out of the boat…the waves and wind continued. It was easy to doubt that everything was going to be ok and that God had a plan.

-What are some key elements of staying on the water? To avoid turning back or sinking?
-(i.e. community…other disciples get out of the boat too!, trust in uncertainties, prayer,
Talking to someone about the difficulties, sharing your story.)
-Leaders: Pray for your group and make yourself available to pray for students individually.

2009-08-19T12:08:00.002-05:00

Here is What we have going on this week!

Sunday (Aug 23rd) 5pm: Parents meeting to discuss the direction of the youth ministry!
Sunday (Aug 23rd) 6-730pm: Youth Back to School Kick off!
-Both Events are held at the Lakemont Clubhouse:21021 Lakemont Bend Dr
Richmond, 77407

Lesson for Aug 23rd: Vulnerability/Receiving:

-We will start with an activity where our task is to serve others. The conflict arises when everyone is so focused on serving that they are unwilling to receive.

-The teaching point comes from John 13:1-17 When Jesus washes the disciples' feet.
-The point is that if you want to be a true leader/servant, you must be willing to humble yourself and receive. In receiving from God, we see his face and understand not only him better, but ourselves, servant hood, and the world we live in as well.

-Verses for further study on the topic: Matthew 20:25-28 & 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

John 13:1-17:

V1: Full extent of his love.

-What is the Passover? What is it’s significance?

V3: Knew God had given all power so he did the logical thing and…
V4-5: Washed his disciples’ feet.

-Power to Serve: Hold Something over Someone Else
-Have you ever felt manipulated by someone in power over you?
-In Churches, Offices, Politics, Relationships
-So hard for us to receive.
-Jesus showed us how to receive also. Heard from God. His service was surrender.
-Show the full extent of his love…Passover…giving his life.
-This is the service that comes from God…completely for you…no manipulation.

V6: “You’re going to wash my feet?” –Peter (not how it works…you’re God!)
V7: Don’t realize.

-Takes Some Trust… “well, when will I understand?”
-Jesus just says you will understand.

V8: Thought he was being righteous…denying Jesus’ gift…(religion…missing God himself)
-no part with me…I must pour into you!
-Peter must be humble receiver if he is going to be a humble servant.

V9: Not just my feet but hands and head as well.

V10: Not another one of your religious rituals…I’m showing you my face…my heart. Let your Brain take a rest and receive this with your heart!

V12: Do you understand what I have done for you? (Broken paradigm…blew their minds)
V13-16: Set an example.
V17: Blessed if you do them…hmmm.

-What would Peter have missed if he wouldn’t have let Jesus wash his feet?
-About Jesus?
-About himself?
-About the world?
-About servanthood?

-What does Peter’s reaction tell you about Peter’s religion?
-What does Jesus’ response tell you about the Gospel?
-Was Peter able to recognize God?

Conclusion:
-Maybe you’ve heard me say that sometimes something touches you in your inner being…deeper than anything but pure truth can touch. This is why this message is such a blessing. We see who God is. We are created in his image…you cannot just learn about how to serve…Jesus could have said… “Go wash people’s feet!” Instead He knew that if they were really going to understand who God is, what they were created for, what leadership is, what servant hood is …they would have to humble themselves, trust in a source higher than themselves and first be served.

-So contrary to how the world works. We are taught to not need anyone or anything. The strong don’t receive from anyone…they are the givers. My heart was tired of serving…I used a ton of energy to “love” others but it meant little to me or to anyone else because I didn’t understand servant hood…I served so I could “be a good person” not because I really wanted to love that person. If I was going to truly understand servant hood and what God wanted for my life…I would have to give up on “power” and allow God to wash my feet. Now I understand what love is…and it’s that I’m Judas…I killed Jesus with my sin…yet he sat at my dirty, sinful, murderous feet…and cleansed me…I’ve been humbled…and now I know who God is and what servant hood is. I see God’s face and it has an impact on my life…He is not a concept.

We will then conclude by breaking up into small groups!
Next Week Invite:
-Next week will be mainly a story about How God really turned my world upside-down. How He called me to deeper trust in him.
-But before we shift our focus to next week…let’s take this a bit further.
Small Group Intro: (Separate by Sr/Jr High and Male/Female)
Video Intro: Complete Marathon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBjR1-0GVkI)
The Title of this song is: "My Redeemer Lives".
A Son asked his father, "Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?" The father who, despite having a heart condition, says "Yes". They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons. The father always saying "Yes" to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, "Dad, let's join the Ironman together."

To which, his father said "Yes".

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island.
-Father and son went on to complete the race together!
-What do you take from this video? What are your reactions?

-What was touched you most about the video?

-Do you see yourself anywhere?

-What do you see?

-There are two people in this video…which one reminds you more of yourself? Why?

-How is God challenging you through this video?

Leader: Share your reaction. Is God challenging you in any particular way through this video?

-Allow the remainder of the time for students to express what they learned or what God is challenging them with through art. (Drawing, Writing…paper pens, colored pencils provided)

-Also make yourself available to pray with them individually or as a group.

-End time with prayer and release students.

-Students should remain quiet and respectful during this activity…and afterwards until all groups are finished.

2009-08-19T12:05:00.003-05:00

Here is another quote and Scripture passage that we used last week that was not included in the blog.

Mark 7:6-8 "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

Quote: “LOVE IS DANGEROUS!!!!!! Which is why we run from that which is the most loving....that which would change our lives if we allowed it to reach the deepest places of our hearts...but we keep love at a safe distance...at a simple definition...in a place where we can talk about it and feel warm but remain unchanged. Dangerous love reaches your inmost being and leaves you craving purity and transformation. It destroys everything you were and leaves you with all that He is. Anything short of transformation is not the love that comes from God but a love that comes from a culture afraid of losing the comfort of control.”

2009-08-13T15:45:00.002-05:00

Hey parents! Here's some information regarding Saturday (Aug 15th) Night's lesson.
-Don't forget we'll meet at IL Primo @ 5pm and be back by 830!

-We are leading into a curriculum on experiencing God.
-The lesson tonight is our final introduction before leading into our main topics beginning Sunday the 23rd.

-Tonight's topic is on the difference between Religion and the Gospel.
Key Quote: "Religions are a man’s search for God. The Gospel is God’s search for Man."
Key Scriptures: John 1:10-13: (Summary: God entered the world and lived among those he created...and they did not recognize him.)

-We will begin with an activity involving RED and GREEN paper. The task is to get to know the Youth Leaders. Good way to engage your student is to ask them about this activity!

-The RED sheet will have multiple questions on it that the students can ask the leaders. Each question will have a "cost" attached to it...such as 10 push ups. In order to get their answer, they will have to "pay the price". They will be given everything they need to complete the task.
-The Green sheet will simply have the youth leaders' names on it. These students will be responsible for coming up with questions on their own. However, they will be allowed to ask others for help and to generate questions with their friends.

-Following the activity we will turn to the passage in John. It states that the world was created through Jesus but The world did not recognize him.

-These were a religious people that failed to recognize the God they claimed to worship whole heartedly. The pharisees followed every letter of the law (religion) but yet did not recognize GOD when he was standing right in front of them. Not only did they not recognize him, but the message He brought, threatened the religion they were worshiping instead of God himself. So the religious people, the people God called his chosen nation, killed their God because his message...his life threatened their religion. In essence, what they practiced had became more important than seeking the face of God himself.

-Don't get me wrong. Religion is good to a degree. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. See the pharisees got so used to the routine that obeying God became just another concept instead of something that enabled them to experience the love of God. Jesus was without sin, and it wasn't because he worshiped the law but rather because he sought the face of the Father.

-Application: The RED Sheet had some good questions on it. If we just keep asking the questions and performing the tasks...what we know about God is limited to those tasks and questions. Most of us have asked the questions and done the tasks for so long that we no longer really care what the answers are or why we're doing the tasks. Our faith has become a concept rather than something we experience. If we aren't careful we will have such a distorted view of who God is that he could be standing right in front of us and we wouldn't even recognize him (Just like the pharisees). Hopefully we would never get to the point where who God really is becomes so threatening to who we are that we want to kill him.

-Casting Crowns wrote a song called "While You Were Sleeping"... the first verse discusses how Jesus was born in Bethlehem and few noticed that God had just encased himself and flesh and entered the world. The second verse describes a scene where Jesus, the King of Kings is crucified in Jerusalem because the world he came to save did not recognize him. The third verse is a challenge to the religious...who are trapped by their philosophies and may in fact miss God when He returns for his Bride. Bethlehem was sleeping, Jerusalem was sleeping, "Will We be sleeping?" is the challenge Casting Crowns makes.

-See the Green sheet is harder...there are no questions laid out for you...and there are no simple steps by which you can go and receive what you seek. But we have the promise that when we seek with all of our hearts...we will find God! God is not a concept...We can experience him. He longs to reveal himself...we don't have all the right answers..or questions for that matter...but like the green sheet, we're not walking alone and what we can learn is limitless! We can seek out his heart together. When one of us is low and needs help asking the right questions, we band together. When someone finds an exciting answer, we share it with our community. Because seeking the face of God is meant to be a group process! Together we will seek his face and be changed by the very sight of the one who pursues us with his love! His gospel is the story of God becoming a man so that the world would know the face of God. He was crucified so that we would know the depth of his love...this my friends is a face worth seeking!

-Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks! ajhawks43@gmail.com

2009-08-11T15:55:00.002-05:00

Hey Parents! This is my second week with you and I'm already very excited about what the Lord is doing.

One very important detail when building anything is to lay the foundation stones prior to installing siding or any other kind of decoration. This is why I would like to invite you to a parents' meeting on Sunday August 23rd @ 5pm at the Lakemont Clubhouse directly preceding Youth. I hope that this time will be an opportunity to get to know each other better as well as an opportunity to discuss the vision for the youth ministry.

My goal is that parents and youth leaders will continually equip each other to effectively minister to our youth in ways that are life changing. One key is laying the foundation of good communication. I hope that the meeting will at least begin the process of laying the right foundation to build a strong ministry not only to youth but to families also! I know that you have busy schedules which is why it would really mean a lot to me and to the ministry if you would make every effort to be there! Thanks so much! I look forward to our time together!

If you have any questions, please email me at ajhawks43@gmail.com

2009-08-01T20:30:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! My name is Adam Hawks and I’m the new Youth Director at The River UMC. I moved to Richmond from Lexington, KY on Wednesday and have been spending the past couple days getting settled in. It was great to meet those of you I’ve already met and I look forward to meeting those to whom I’ve not yet been introduced.

It is the goal of this blog to keep parents regularly informed in regard to the youth ministry. A huge part of my job is to provide myself as a resource. Although I hope to have a significant influence upon your youth, it is my perspective that parents have the best opportunity to minister to their own kids. My goal is to post the lesson plan for the following week which will give parents the opportunity to engage their youth in regard to the topic of discussion. I hope it will also encourage parents to challenge their students to think more deeply upon the subject matter.

Now that I have discussed my intention for this site, allow me to better introduce myself. I believe that the ministry God has given me is who I am. Trying to be something I’m not doesn’t bring glory to God. I’ve tried to live in such a way that would impress others. That life was painful for me and for those I fooled. I’ve tried to have all the answers. What I found was that I had God tightly bound in a box of my own understanding. What I’ve come to learn is that God is a beautiful mystery. Seeking his face is the adventure that Christians should delight in. Turns out that it happens to be the adventure that most scares us. I’ve decided to trust in God for who he has made me to be and who he has called me to be. There are many things I don’t yet know or understand but admitting that deficiency provides Christ a pathway to reveal his strength in my weakness! I believe that the most significant ministry I will have revolves not around the words I say or how I say them but rather around the process of Christ’s transforming work in my life. He is STRONG and he has changed me!! And he continues to change me! I hope that all who look will see this process and God will be glorified!

Many people tell us how to live…but few are willing to show us how to live. People who have it all together are of no use to those who experience pain and weakness. Christ showed us how to live and how to persevere in weakness. Hebrews 4:15 says “for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” It was the strength of God that allowed Jesus to resist temptation. It was the weakness of his flesh that allowed him to be tempted in the first place. In allowing us to see the process of his temptation and resistance of Satan, Jesus taught us how to trust in the lord and to lean not on our own strength or understanding! This is a process we are all in and must have the strength of the Lord to endure! The glory belongs to God!

I look forward to the journey that lies ahead. I thank God for the opportunity to share in his love with each of you. I pray that he will draw us closer to himself. I pray that as he draws us closer to himself that he will draw us closer to one another so that we, as his hands and feet can reveal his grace and love to this community!

I’m very excited…God is so good, he is in control, and he loves us beyond measure!

Blessings!

Adam