How to Be Hero #4: Follow Your Destiny -- 020112

Tonight we finished our how to be a hero series by looking at the final thing we need to commit to: following our destiny.  We started by reading from Psalm 139:13-16.  From it we learned for important things.  #1.  God made you!  God doesn't make mistakes, people do, but God doesn't.  The Bible continually tells us that God created all things, including us.  If those two things are true that means that you were made by God and that you are no mistake, He wants you here on this earth.  #2.  God made you wonderful!  This doesn't mean that you are made without a flaw, but that He crated you the way He wanted you.  When a man and a woman havea  baby together there are 10 to the 200 possible combinations of their genes, thust hat many possible different babies that could be concieved.  You are literally one in billions.  But it was no accident that you were the one that was born, God chose you to be how you are, flaws and all.  #3.  God knew you before you were born!  God had you in mind at creation, knowing you would one day come along.  God had you in mind when he was on the cross, knowing you would need salvation.  God knew you while you were in the womb and loved you.  You might have been a surprise or accident to your parents, but not to God.  #4.  God has a destiny for each person!  You may feel like your life is pointless and without a destiny, but when God looks at you, He sees a person created with a destiny in this life.  He created you to be a hero, with specific things to accomplish, and he will walk besie you as you do so.  God has a destiny for you.  Are you willing to follow that destiny?

I give tonight: A
Favorite moment: Called to McDonalds

How to Be a Hero #3: Solid Character -- 012512

Tonight we continued our series on what we need in order to be a hero.  Tonight we discussed the need to have good solid character.  Character is moral or ethical traits that makes up a person or group of people.  Why is having good character so necessary to being a hero?  In Luke 6:43-45 Jesus gives an example of a tree.  He says that a good tree produces good fruit but that a bad tree can only produce bad fruit.  If you have bad character you can't produce goodness (heroic actions) and if you have good character you can't help but produce goodness.  Where does that character of goodness come from?  (hint: not from yourself)  First we have to have an intial clean up by the Holy Spirit.  Next we have to see who Jesus is and what he acts like and then mimick those things.  Finally we have to make repeated good decisions, which are often difficult to do.  In Luke 6:46-49 Jesus goes on to an example of building a house on sand or a soild rock, one will crumble and the other will stand firm even itn eh worst of stomrs.  A man or woman of good character has a foundation of Christlikeness (the rock, not the sand) that they have build their life and decisions upon.  A man or woman of good character builds thier choices off that foundation.  A man or woman of good character isn't good just inwardly, but outwardly too.  Finally a man or woman of good character stands firm even when the decisions are difficult to make.  Are you willing ot start making the difficult decions when confronted with choices?  Are you ready to be a hero by developing good character in your life?

I give tonight: C+
Favorite moment: Josh Fender being discribed as a person of bad character.

Hero #2 -- 011112

Tonight we continued our series on how to be a hero.  We all have the ability to be a hero but in order to be one we have to love God (last week's message), love others (tonight's message), have soild character, and follow your destiny.  Matthew 22:35-40 tells us that we are to love your neighbor as our self.  Jesus in a nother place makes the point that our neighbor is any other human.  But the ability to love even our enemies doesn't come naturally.  Do you want to change the world?  Heroes change the world!  Loving others has the end result of changing the world for good.  If you love others you can change the world!  But only God can give you that love for the unlovable or even love those who have hurt us.  In order for us to love like God we have to: #1.  Allow him to change your heart to be like his.  #2.  Allow him to take away your wounds that others have inflicted on you.  #3.  Act on that love, the more you do it the more natural it becomes.  It is time to change the world and be a hero by loving our neighbor.

I give tonight: A-
Favorite moment: The second round of STL giving (go army men!)

How to Be a Hero #1 -- 010412

Tonight we began a series about how to be hero.  What exactly is a hero?  It is a legendary figure given great strength or ability, who shows great courage and is amdired for his or her achievements or noble qualities.  We all have the ability to be a hero but in order to be one, we have to commit to four things: loving God, loving others, having character, and following our destiny.  In Matthew 22:35-38 Jesus tells us the great commandment is to love God with everything in us (heart, soul, mind).  It is the greatest command because if we love God we are obyeing his commands, which means we will love others, we will have a solid character, and we will follow what he has called us to do.  How does a person love God?  By committing to loving him first and foremost, but maintaining their relationship with him instead of letting it slip, a by growing that relationship by getting to know him through the bible, prayer, and other experiences with him.  Loving God makes us a hero because we start on that path, it is him who gives us the strength, ability, and courage to acheieve greatness hand have nobel qualities, he also gives us a destiny to live and die for.  Do you want to be a hero?

I give tonight: C-
Favorite moment: Attendance awards

Heroes #3 -- Change Your World -- October 28th, 2009

Tonight we finished our series entitled Heroes. We started off by talking about a man named Mordecai Hamm (pictured above). He was born in 1877 and at the age of 8 felt like God had called him to preach but instead ended up in the photo enlargement business until 1900 when he felt God calling him to use his superpower of preaching and became an evangelist in 1901. In 1934 he went to Charlottesville, North Carolina and preached at a revival for 12 weeks. He continued preaching until 1961, the year that he died. He used his superpower. Not really known by him at the time but in the 1934 revival a 16 year old boy that cared nothing about God showed up and got saved. The boy grew up to be voted the #7 most admired person of the 21st Centure, advised 12 presidents, preached to somwhere aruond 2.2 billion people (more than anyone else that has ever lived), and has seen 2.5 million people accept Jesus under his preaching. His name....Billy Graham. One man used his superpower in the middle of nowhere and because he was willing to use the gifting and talent and passion God gave him he was able to change the world.

Every superhero finds out: What their power is; where thier power came from, and what their weaknesses are. The next thing they do is use their superpowers to do something. You have a superpower, the passions and talents God has placed in your life. What will you do with them? You have a chance to make a difference with those powers and God has a plan for them. Are you willing to do something with them?

Matthew 25:14-30 tells us a parable of talents (money) being used or hidden by servants. And we can treat our talents (passion and talents) the same way. We can use it for evil, we can hide it, or we can use it however God wants us to.

No matter what your superpower you have it can be used ot change the world, if you give it to God and use it!

I give tonight: C

Favorite Moment: Worship

Heroes #2 -- Wednesday, October 21st

Tonight we continued our series about being Heroes. Last week we discussed how every hero has a superpower and there is a need to discover what it is and how we got it. We decided our superpowers are our talents/passions and we get them from God, so they should be directed by Him. The next step in all superhero stories is they find out what their weakness is.

We all have weaknesses, things that consistently get in between you and God. Your enemy knows what your weaknesses are and will use it. And it can be more than one thing. We read from Mark 9:43-47 in which Jesus tells us to gid rid of anything that causes us to sin, no matter how important it is to us (he doesn't mean literally to gouge out your eyes). So we came up witha 5 step plan to help you overcome your weaknesses.

#1 -- Admit it (actually admit to yourself and God that you have a weakness and what it is)

#2 -- Give it (to God to handle and forgive)

#3 -- Leave it (get rid of whatever is causing you to get entangled in it. Which means if it is porn, get rid of the internet, if it is partying with a friend, stop hanging out with that friend)

#4 -- Show it (tell others what your weakness is so that they can encourage and pray for you)

#5 -- Repeat #1-#4 as necessary

Make sure you go and check out our picture website for pictures of youth that dressed up as superheroes tonight! Find it at: http://thetabyouth.spaces.live.com/

I give tonight: A

Favorite Moment: Joshua Justman Stripping

Heroes #1: Know Your Powers -- Wednesday, October 14th

We started our three week series called Heroes tonight. The focus of this evening was finding out about our superpowers. We began with the story of a girl named Agnes who was born to small upper-middle class family. At the age of 8 her father died, leaving their family in extreme poverty. Yet during this time they continued to go to church. At the age of 12 she decided that she was called to be a missionary and at the age of 18 she left. She worked in the country of India for 20 years as a missionary. Then one day while riding a train she had a vision of Jesus telling her to go after her passion, which was the same as his, the poor, hurting, and unloved. She dedicated the next 49 years of her life going after that passion, reaching out to lepers, the homeless, widows, and the extremely poor. God used her passion, her past, and even her stature (she was 4'10") to change many lives and help many people. Her name was changed and she became known as Mother Teresa.

Every comic book hero in their first book has to find out two things: What is their secret power and how did they get their secret power. We have been giving superpowers by God, each and every one of us. What is your superpower? It is made of three parts: 1. Who you are (character, past, personality). 2. Your talents and God-given gifts. These can be something that you are born with, something God enhances, or something God adds later on. 3. Your passion, that is the things that you care about the most. Once you know your superpower you have to figure out how you got it. The answer for real humans is simple: 1. You were born with it, 2. You grew up into it, and 3. God gave it to you. Since God is the one that gave you the power, it means that the best use of your power is wherever God directs it and however he directs you to use it.

I give tonight: A-
Favorite Moment: The story of Agnes