Folks…the summer is here! We kicked everything off with a mystery trip to Artesian Springs Resort and now it’s the middle of VBS. Tomorrow night is QT…Bourne Again…The Jason Bourne Trilogy. It all starts at 6PM in the Upper Deck. You will find that all of the summer dates can be found on the summer calendar in the “downloads” section of this website.
Be sure to join us this summer…you won’t soon forget it!
Have you ever doubted someone, or just plain been in doubt about something? You know, there was this time I was in the fifth grade and my friend, just outta the blue called me up and said, “I don’t wanna be friends with you anymore” and hung up. I didn’t hear much else from him for a while. We’re friends now, but back then it was a big deal. Turns out he just wanted to be friends with this kid that didn’t like me. You know how that goes.
It’s not the only time something like that has happened. It’s really bad with girls. Girls usually take a while to make up, and they get harsh. But there are times like that, right? It could be worse…or maybe a loved one died or a best/only friend moves away, a pet dies. Maybe you find out a you have a disease. You find out you can never walk again, never do certain things, you’ll never be the same as you used to, physically or mentally. A drunk driver hits your car on the way home, smashes your leg! Something horrible happens and you just can’t stop thinking, “why me God, why would you let this happen to me? Do you even have the power to stop this from happening, ARE YOU EVEN REAL?”
An experience like that is hard. Hard to recover from. It’ll affect you for the rest of your life. Every time you look back on this event you’ll only think of what you were thinking: “God, why me, are you even real?” There’s a passage about Peter found in Matthew 14: 22-33:
Jesus just finished up feeding the 5000 or so…Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the seas. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “ye of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
You know, you could be Peter. You could have just spent a wonderful weekend with a loved one, or fighting with them, and they are taken from you just days later. You could be trying to do what God told you to do, by reaching out to the kid that sits alone at lunch, or a new kid, and you find out they started spreading rumors about you that could ruin your reputation horribly. You might be doing something God told you to do and something bad happens; you slip, and start to sink in the water. In the middle of and ocean, with nothing to grab onto. If you continue to doubt, you will drown. The only person that can save you is God. You might be able to survive a little longer with something that makes you feel good. Drugs, alcohol, and addiction. But that will only keep you alive temporarily. You will still sink. Without God, you will not survive. You need to call out to him, “Lord, save me!” and grab his hand. There’s a song that I’ve heard, Voices by House of Heroes. While the band is still playing, he stops and gives a speech…”your greatest sin, is not the abortion that you’ve asked forgiveness for, or the adultery, or whatever it is that you did in your life, in a past that you’re ashamed of, that keeps hounding you… your greatest sin is not that, your greatest sin in not believing God’s word when god says you’re forgiven! Your greatest sin is unbelief. You want to repent of something, friend? Stop repenting of sins you’ve already repented of, and repent of your unbelief.”
He’s almost saying the same thing. He’s saying don’t doubt that you’ve been forgiven when you ask for forgiveness, and repent. You have to call out for God, grasp his hand, and repent, “I’m sorry Lord, for not believing in You. For doubting you.” Are you gunna sink, or swim?
Jonathan Gray
I was talking to a friend the other day about relationships and I got a small nugget of wisdom from him. I was asking him what his opinion was on dating, and he told me that in order to know who the right guys are for me, i should bury myself in the Lord so that if a guy wants to get to me…he has to get to God first. It totally made my day because I had been needing this advice for a while! It made me realize what i should be doing- not focusing on getting a boyfriend or a prom date, but giving my heart and soul to Jesus!
Lauren Childress
Enjoy the break! No youth ministry at all this week. We will be back on March 24, with Big Night! Don’t miss it! The band has a little somethin special planned for all of you. Great music, student of the week, food, laughs, stupid human tricks, but most importantly…the Word.
The day began with some much needed sleep in time. Worship began at 11 and it featured Tim Timmons, Rick Lawrence, and Doug Fields. Doug challenged us to Lead Strong and to Love Stronger…this would lead to an amazing legacy. It was powerful.
We took off for downtown for a visit to Millennium Park and a little shopping. We got back to the hotel and chilled for the rest of the evening.
We flew home today and now I’m sitting in my recliner in my warm house while writing this update. It was an amazing conference but I’m so glad to be home.
The day began with worship and Jeanne Mayo, the youth pastor’s youth pastor. This woman is 60 years old and has been in youth ministry 39 years and still going strong. She talked about us living a legacy in the present…very encouraging!
I attended the half track on evangelism lead by Derwin Gray and Greg Steir, of Dare to Share. Man…what a class! Great tips on friendship evangelism and living witness faith. The class was very good.
The evening worship was lead by The Skit Guys. They handled everything but the music. I’ve never laughed so hard…these guys are brilliant! The message was incredible and they created such an amazing visual with baggage…it blew us away. We were challenged to let go of our excess baggage in order to be used by God.
We topped off the evening with a movie, Cop Out. It was funny but not that great.
Day 2 started out with worship with Tim Timmons, Rick Lawrence, and Bo Boshers. I went to Small Groups with Jeanne Mayo and Student Leadership with Doug Franklin. The seminars were very good.
Tonight’s session was led by James Ward, worship leader and Derwin Gray, the evangelism linebacker, brought the word. Incredible!
We ended the evening with a great dinner at McCormick and Schmick’s, a swanky steak and seafood place, down from the Hyatt.
I’m really excited about the new strategies I’ve learned but I’m even more stocked about the spiritual renewal I’m experiencing. The guys I’m with; Keith Nash from DABC, Dave Vandergriff from Kelty’s, Jimmy Ramsey from LFA, and Chris Fleniken and John Terry, both from FBC, are so awesome. I’m so proud of John Terry. As many of you know, John surrendered to full-time youth ministry at Wake-Up Weekend. Pray for him as he begins this exciting new journey.
Thanks for checking in!
The conference officially began last night with a great opening session. Not too crazy about the first worship band…hard to describe but they weren’t that good. Duffy Robins spoke on Passion. Some noteworthy sayings from his talk; Jesus doesn’t need us to die for Him but rather He needs us to live for Him and youth ministry isn’t rational it’s passional.
The first statement reminds me of a message I preached about a year ago at revolve. The text was taken from Romans 12 where Paul tells us we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices for this is our spiritual act of worship. I asked the students what good is a dead sacrifice? It has given me a lot to think about.
The conference is amazing! Check back often for more updates.
Could you use just a bit more teaching? Have you been sitting around thinking to yourself, “Man, I sure could listen to one of Clay’s or Chris’ sermons right about now!” Well, we thought so! Beginning March 3, you will be able to download IOSM sermons. That’s not all! Sometimes we might throw just a random show in there for fun. Isn’t that soooo cool?! Yeah, you love it!
