Guess Who #2 -- Jesus as Savior

Tonight we talked about Jesus as Savior.  When I was growing up different people viewed me in different ways, and this changed how they treated me.  For instance if they saw me as the smart one they wanted to get help from me on school work.  If they saw me as the funny one they watned to spend time with me so they could laugh.  If they saw me as the fat one, they wanted to mock me.  I was still "Alex" the person God saw me as, since he sees us for who we really are.  But others viewed me in different ways and they made a judgment accordingly.

In Mark 8:27-29 Jesus asks his disciples who others thought he was and who they thought he was.  Others saw him as John the baptist, or Elijah, or even a different prophet that had come back from the grave.  But Peter says he is the Christ.  This is who Jesus really was.  Christ is the greek word which in Hebrew is messiah.  it is a title given to one that was foretold to come and be king, saving the people (they thought politically and militarily).  But Jesus being Christ meant that he was sent by God, that he was to be king over all that accepted him as such, and was to save his people (through his death and by forgving sins). 

People now think of Jesus is different ways.  Some say prophet, some say teachers, some say crazy man, some say a normal guy with good PR, some say he was just a myth.  But it really doesn't matter what people think about him, he is still "Jesus", who he really is deep down, and that means he is still christ.  He is sitll messeah now for all of us.  He is king and he is here to save people through his death by the forgiveness of sins.  And he wants to save you, but you have to decide to allow him to forgive and become your Lord.

Favorite Moment: A youth member getting saved
I give tonight: A+

Guess Who #1 -- Jesus as King

Tonight we started our new series called Guess Who.  During this two week series we are going to look at who people thought Jesus was.  Tonight we looked at who the Magi and King Herod thought Jesus was and how they reacted to that.  They both saw Jesus as king.  King Herod looked at that and saw a threat to his own power, because of this he did everything he could to rid Jesus from this planet.  The Magi saw a king to be worshipped and they reacted with surrender.  We too are faced with Jesus claiming kingship, because he is ultimately king regardless of how we react to that.  Some of us ar threatened by this and don't want to lose our power, some of us surrender seeing how messy our life is right now with us as kings.  Who do you say he is?

I give tonight: A-
Favorite Moment: Joel being voted king

Taboo #2 -- What Is So Bad About Playboy? -- 110911

Tonight we continued our Taboo series by asking the question what is so bad about playboy?  We started by looking at the symbols of various groups and showed that regardless of how various groups view that symbol and what it represents that there is always a real thing it represents.  For playboy it boils down to pornography is what it represents.  So what is porn?  It is any depiction that is intended to cause sexual arousal.  It could be a movie, a picture, a drawing, a story, a song, etc...  Porn isn't just a guy issue.  1/3 of all online porn usage is by females.  1 in 3 teens have seen sexual material online without trying to find it.  83% of programing on tv contains some sexual content.  It is in more things that you view than you think, pornography is everywhere.  Why is pornography bad?  First of all the Bible says it is (1st John 2:16, Matthew 5:28).  Secondly, it twists our view.  It turns people into objects to bring us pleasure.  Sex no longer becomes something good and pure, created by God for man and woman in marriage but instead an activiy to mearly bring pleasure to yourself whenever you can get it and with whoever you can get it from and in any form you can get it.  Because of this objectivication we harm our current and future relationships.  Thirdly, it exploits people.  Many who are involved in the industry are involved because they are poor and need the money to survive or pay for their addictions.  Some are abused and want to feel loved and the industry pounces on these people because to them it is all about the money not about the person.  Fourthly it causes addiction.  It becomes visual crack cocaine for people and then the mind gets bored and wants more.  Finally it is a gateway to worse things: sexual activity, molestation, rape, prostitution, etc...  So why is playboy so bad?  Supporting a symbol is supportint he meaning of that symbol and what it produces. 

The good news is this if youa re addicted youc an find freedom and forgiveness in Christ.  Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdended again by a yoke of slavery."  #1.  Admit the problem (to yourself, to God, to someone who can help you take the necessary steps).  #2.  Seperate from bad influences (places, computers, tv shows, movies, friends).  #3.  Fill your life with God (go to church, read the Bible, pray).  #4.  Find a person to walk with you through the battle (will pray for you, encourage you, keep you accountable).

I give tonight: A-
Favorite Moment: "The flag of England"

Taboo #1 -- How Far is Too Far? -- 110211

Tonight we kicked off our Taboo series by looking at how far is too far when it comes to sexuality.  We looked at what the Bible says and came up with 7 lines and a final verse.  i will be brief with this blog and just list those 7 and the final verse.

#1.  No sex before marriage (aka fornication) -- Sex is any activity in which there is pleasure brought to the human sexual organs, it doesn't only mean vaginal sex.

#2. No adultery (keep to your spuse only)

#3.  No divorce (keep to your spouse for life)

#4.  No bestiality (keep only to humans)

#5.  No bisexuality/homosexuality (keep to the opposite gender)

#6.  No non-Christians (keep to those of your faith)

#7.  No lust (it isn't just about the body but the mind too)

Ephesians 5:3 tells us that there isn't to be even a hint of sexual immorality.  Why?  Because it isn't proper for us as followers of Christ because we ar ecalled to be holy.

I give tonight: C-
Favorite moment: Too much unexpected mustache

The Farming Game: 102611

Tonight we talked about Luke 8:5-8, 11-15 which is a parable about a farmer planting seeds.  The seeds fall onto four different types of soil with different results.  The dirt of representative of people who have heard the gospel, the seed being the gospel.  The first type of dirt is Path Dirt, which is trampled and hard soil.  Birds come and eat the seeds so no plant is ever grown.  These are peple that come to church, have the chance to hear the good news and have thir life changed for the better by it but are distracted or just refuse to think about what they hear.  The second type of dirt is Rocky Dirt, which is dirt with a lot of rocks still in it.  Because of this the seed is planted but has no root, so when the sun comes out the plant withers.  These are those who hear God's word but don't stick with it.  They are pumpled up to follo God one minuted but when it becomes too difficult to stick with God they abandon the path.  They have never spent any time reading their bible or in prayer to build up their roots.  The thid type of dirt is Thorny Dirty, which is dirt that has weeds growing in it.  Because of this the seed grows but they never grow big enough to produce anything because they are choked by the weeds surrounding them.  These people have experenced life's worries, pleasures, and riches and follow after them instead of fully following God, thus they enver each others.  The final type of soil is Good Dirt.  This dirt takes in the seed, grows a plant, and produces a crop.  The bible gives 5 things that it does.  #1.  It had a noble and good heart.  #2.  It hears the word.  #3.  It retains the word. #4.  It perseveres.  #4.  It produces.  You can be good soil if you listen, retain, stick with it, and share the gospel.

I give tonight: A-
Favorite moment: I Broke Facebook Rap

BINGO! #3 -- 092111 -- 'N' GO!

Isaiah 6:1-10 tells the story of Isaiah who encounters God.  At the end of the story God asks for someone to send, and Isaiah responds by saing, "Here am I, send me."  We have been tlaking about believing that the lost are lost and their only way to salvaiton is through Jesus.  Then we talkeda bout being ignited by the Holy Spirit to evangelize.  Tonight is the last step, 'n' go!  Matthew 28:18-20 is the words Jesus spoke to his disciples shortly before leaving this earth and he states, "Therefore, Go".  Because he is in charge and can grant forgiveness we are to GO!  WE have spent the last couple of weeks trying to convince you that you have a calling, a job from God, and that job is to be a missionary.  That is somene who goes and tells others about Jesus.  According to this scirputre God enats you to GO!  Stop sitting around and GO!  Stop with the good intetions and GO!  Stop thinking missions is a good ide and GO!  Don't just throw money at it and GO!  You believe and are ignited so it is time to GO!  Romans 10:13-15 tells us that people can not belive if they are never told and they will never be told if no one is ever sent.  We set up an easy opportunity for you to go this coming week, by being missionaries in your school by handing out Life Books.  So we challenge you, how many of you, like Isaiah are willing to say, "here am I, send me?" 

I give tonight: A+
Favorite Moment: GO!...but not like Samuel

BINGO! #2: Ignite -- 091411

Tonight we continued our series called BINGO! by looking at the letter I for ignite.  We started by talking about there needing to be three things in order for ignition to take place: oxygen, fuel, and heat.  Once there is enough oxygen and heat they will ignite the fuel.  This causes a chain reaction in which the fuel now provides the heat to continue ignited more fuel, all it needs is oxygen and more fuel to continue burning.  Jesus, after he died and rose again, appeared to his disciples one last time before going back into heaven.  In Acts 1:8 he tells them that there job will be to evangelize the whole world after he is gone but they won't have to do it on their own because they will recieve power when the Holy Spirit comes on them, an event we call baptism in the Holy Spirit.  They are indeed baptized and the church jumps to over 3000 in one day.  They were the fuel,t he oxygen was their belief that they had a job and that people were lost without Jesus, all they needed was a spark, heat!  And they got that in the form of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.  The fuel was ignited and it burned brightly in their world, though not everyone was happy about it.  Later Peter and John, two of the disciples in charge of the church, were arrested for healing and speaking in the name of Jesus.  As they are brought back for judgement they are told they can't talk about Jesus any more, they reject this and go back to the other believers.  Tehy pray and are filled with the Holy Spirit and the bible says in acts 4:31 that after they were filled they went out speaking boldly (without fear!).  Why?  Because they had ignition, the Spirit had fille dhtme, he moved and compelled them to tell others. 

We need to reach our world with the gospel of Christ so that as many as are willing will be saved.  In order to do this we must:  #1.  Be the fuel, be willing to do the job God ahs called us to, to reach others for him.  #2.  Have oxygen, which is believeing that people are lost and that we have the one way of bringing them salvation.  #3.  Be ignited byt he heat source, the infilling of the Holy spirit.  You are the fuel, if you bleieve you have the oxygen, now you just need the heat applied so you can ignite!

I give tonight: A-
Favorite Moment: 20 minutes of small group time!

Bingo! #1: Believe -- 090711

Tonight we began our new series called Bingo!  in which we will discover our job to be missionaries to our world.  Tonight we started with Lacey speaking about how we have all be called to do a job, to spread the gospel in our world.  Then Pastor Alex jumped off this point by looking at Matthew 28:19 that states our job as going into the world to make disciples of Christ.  He then talked about the need to believe.  Our beliefs will alter our actions, and how much we bleive something will change the intesity of our actions.  We bleieve that Jesus is the only way to God and a realtionship with him.  We also believe that without Jesus a person is going to a place called hell after they die, which is not a good place but a place of eternal torment.  If we bleieve someone is going to hell, that hell is a horrible place, and that we have the only way to avoid it, what should we be doing?  We should be telling them about Jesus.  So how much do you believe?  And What are you going to do about it?

I give tonight: B
Favorite Moment: The introducation of the Life Book Saturation Week

Cranium #8 -- 083111: Communion

Tonight we finished off our summer long series called Cranium by looking at Communion.  Tonight was a group night, though we did a short sermon to start off with by looking at Ecclesiastes 3:1-11.  In this message we talke dabout how life is full of beginnings and endings but that the one constant is that Christ walks beside us.  We said a sad goodbye to our graduated seniors as they set off to a new beginning in their life. 

I give tonight: A+
Favorite Moment: Kicking Megan in the Shin

Cranium #7 -- Jesus Is Coming Back: 082411

Tonight we continued our cranium series of things that we believe by looking at the future. 

1.  Jesus will return, no one knows when, but he will.  Matthew 24:36 – ““No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

2.  Jesus will defeat evil, Revelation 19:11-21 tells us this.

3.  Jesus will return like he left.  Acts 1:11 – ““Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

4.  Everyone will know when it happens.  Luke 17:23-24 – “Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them.  For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.”

5.  The world will be judged and it is eternal, there is no change after death.  Matthew 25:46 – ““Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.””

6.  Extremely bad for those who don’t believe.  Matthew 13:42 – “They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

7.  We all choose our judgment by what we have chosen before we die.  Revelation 20:11-15

8.  God will hit the reset button.  When God originally created everything was perfect (no disease, no pain, no death, no fear)  Genesis 1:31 – “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”  When God re-creates it will restore everything to perfect.  Revelation 21:1-4

9.  It will be eternal, just as the lake of fire will be eternal.

10.  It isn’t completely understood.  2^nd Cor. 2:9 – “However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him””

2^nd Peter 3:11 – “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives”.  If Jesus is returning soon what should that change in how you live?

I give tonight: B+
Favorite Moment: Singing to Gungor