His Work Endures

In yesterdays reading, this encouraged me:
During one part of Acts 5 the disciples are being persecuted and the authorities wanted to kill them for preaching in Jesus' name. One of the leaders stand up and reminds them that unless these men are doing God's work, they will fail-

"38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

Since so many people today know about God's love, obviously these men didn't fail. After they died, God raised up others to take their placing teaching the good news. The Bible is truth. If it wasn't, it wouldn't have lasted through history. There's been so many times when people have tried to completely destroy every Bible and kill every Christian, but yet we live on and so does God's Word. This reminded me of how powerful and everlasting God is. He's been faithful since the beginning. And despite our mistakes, He chooses to use us to pursue His Purpose.

Are you ready for some Youth Group???

How is everyone's summer going? Are you ready for a new year of spiritual growth? God will throw down some new challenges for all of us this year if we are listening and willing to pursue Him. Get your hearts and minds ready before you come Wednesday night. Pray for the speaker (Josh), and pray that God would speak something into your life! It is gonna be amazing, because God is amazing --- believe it!

Genesis

I had a quick question about a verse from the reading for a few days ago. In Genesis 3:22 talks about not allowing man to eat from the tree of life. My question is, why not? Is it because man is sinful, so God doesn't want him to live in that sin forever? Here are the verses:
"22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

Also yesterday I read a simple, but powerful verse that got me thinking:
Genesis 6:22- "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."
Wow! The guy is over 500 years old and God wants him to build a gigantic boat, gather 2 of every single animal, and trust that everything will be okay. And the surprising thing to me is Noah's response. The Bible doesn't say "Noah thought God was crazy, but did it anyway" or "Noah doubtfully obeyed what God told him". It doesn't say anything about Noah questioning what God was doing. It just says "Noah did everything just as God commanded him." He didn't complain, question, or doubt, he just did!

Just two things

Titus 3:1-2 says:

"1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men."

When I read this verse, it made me wonder what the world would look like if we actually did these things? Things would be so different if everyone worked on just these attributes and put them into practice! The funny thing is that all of the things listed here in Titus 3 fall under "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37) and "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39). These two things are what Jesus call the first and second greatest commandments (Matt. 22:38-39). If you are following and obeying the two greatest commandments, you will automatically be doing all the things God calls us, as Christians, to do. For example, if you love God, you know that He has positioned all authority, and naturally you will obey that authority. (I hope this makes sense) So there you go... you don't even have to work on 5 or 6 things, just the two major commandments. Everything else will fall into place.

Holy and Blameless

Colossians 1:22 says:
"Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault."
This verse is really amazing. When I read it today, it blew me away.
"He has brought you into his own presence" This part of the verse isn't as amazing unless you realize at least a little bit how awesome, powerful, holy, and righteous our God is! It's impossible to fully understand how incredible God is, but when you have at least a little glimpse of his amazing power, it's crazy to think about this part of the verse.
"you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault"!!!!!! The verse before this one talks about how before these people were far away from God and had evil thoughts and actions, but now they stand before God without a single fault! This is a great example of God's incredible grace that we don't deserve. How awesome!!

Good books to read...

Good books for guys 13 and up: "Young Man in the Mirror" by Pat Morley and "How to Ruin Your Life by 40" by Steve Farrar. They are about 130 pages and discuss guy stuff and how to live a Christian life in today's world. "Jesus Freaks" by DC Talk is a collection of short stories about Christians, ancient and modern day, who were martyred for their faith. It is a good read and very challenging.

Good books for anyone liking fiction: I have a number of books by Stephen Lawhead. He writes middle ages type fiction (think Lord of the Rings, but easier to read), sci-fi, and historical fiction. Some of his books are not too long, others are over 800 pages. They are all very allegorical about the Christian faith, and are often riveting and hard to put down. Ask me about these if you like exciting stories and I can loan some to you.

I'll stop for now...

In Christ

I know this is from several days ago, but in Galatians 6 there were 2 verses that stuck out to me. First was verse 14:

"14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

I like this verse, because it is a good reminder to me. Except for Christ, I have nothing worthwhile to boast about. I could achieve all these high standings and get acknowledged by all sorts of people, but it is still not really worthwhile. Maybe it'll seem worthwhile to people on earth, but when I get to heaven, it will no longer matter. What matters is my walk with God and if I am being faithful to Him.

The second verse that stuck out to me was verse 17:
"17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."

This one is really encouraging. It's great to know that we "bear... the marks of Jesus". No other marks are more powerful or more meaningful!! The New Living Translation says "For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus." As Christians, we belong to the Creator of the universe! How awesome is that!

July 16, 2009 Galatians 5

Posted by the 6th & 7th grade girls small group:  Today we were together as a small group and in doing our devotions we were again reminded in this chapter to "love your neighbor as yourself."  Thinking and talking about this scripture, what that looks like in our lives and how we can carry it out this summer, we put together a list of what we plan to do. The group thought it would be a good idea to also post it on the blog, just in case it prompts others to use any of these examples to serve others this summer.

Volunteer at church on Sunday in the nursery.

Everytime you walk into a store, into church, at home, hold the door open for the person/people coming in after you.

Help clean up around your house, ask Mom or Dad what it is you can do for them to make their day easier

Offer to do your siblings chores

Volunteer this summer and help out the two summer camps at McBIC.

Be Blessed! 

Tabi, Kris, Madeline, Danielle, Mandy and Megan (6th & 7th grade small group)

Be Prepared

First, I just wanted to say that I would love to see someone else post something :) It doesn't need to be anything profound... just what God is putting on your heart.
Secondly, in 2 Timothy 4, verse 2 stuck out to me:
"2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching."
I found it interesting that he said "whether the time is favorable or not". That reminded me that sometimes God's time table is different than ours, so we always need to be prepared to share the gospel whether we are sitting in church, in school/work, or just walking along the street. We need to be prepared for whatever comes our way. We're not always going to know when or where things are going to happen.

Questions

I had some questions about 1 Timothy 5. First, it seemed to be that verses 11-12 and 14 contradicted each other:
"11 As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry. 12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge."

"14 So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander."

It might seem like a weird verse to be asking about, but I was just confused because these verses didn't seem to match up.
Also, I didn't really understand what verse 22a was saying.

"22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands" It doesn't seem to go with the second part of the verse "and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure."

Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts let me know.

Someone who understands

Something that always stands out to me in the story of Jesus is that Jesus:
-was hated by the Pharisees
-betrayed by Judas
-denied by Peter
-left alone by his disciples when Jesus needed them most (26:65-68)
-unjustly accused
-beaten
-mocked
-seperated from his Father (27:46)
-killed for something He didn't do

Many of these things we have experienced in our own lives- betrayal, loneliness, being mocked to name a few. We all experiece these things in one form or another. The thing is that we have a God that does not just watch us suffer, but who understands what we are going through and has felt it Himself. He knows what we feel and walks through it with us. He shows us how to find joy and victory like He had in the resurrection! How awesome is that?

Matthew 22 & 23

Just a few quick thoughts on these two chapters:
Matthew 22:1-14 I was actually a little confused about this so if any one can explain that I would love to hear your thoughts!
In this chapter I also found it interesting that every time the Pharisees tried to "trap him in his words" Jesus always had an answer for them that was indisputable.
Matthew 23 is a pretty harsh chapter against the Pharisees. What sticks out to me the most though is when he says in verse 3 "you must obey them(meaning the Pharisees)... But do not do what they do". Obeying authority is important but if they are not believers in Christ then we shouldn't always follow their example or "do what they do" if they are sinning. I hope that makes sense.

Watch Your Words

Matthew 15:10-11 & 17-20 NLT
10 Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”

later He explains this further to his disciples:
17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

At the beginning of the chapter, the Pharisees begin asking Jesus why his disciples don't obey the old tradition of washing their hands before they eat. Jesus replies by saying that it's not what goes into their mouths that is the problem. It is their words that come out of their mouths. He goes on to say to his disciples that words come from the heart. We need to remember to be putting good, pure things into our heads and hearts, so that in return, good and pure things come out of our mouths.

Matthew 12:34b-35 also speaks on the subject:
"34b For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."

Rooted in God

There are a lot of great parables in Matthew 13! I think verses 20-22 do a good job explaining how easily we can fall away if we aren't deeply rooted into God's Word. The NLT words it well:

Matthew 13:20-22 NLT
20The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 21 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 22 The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.

These verses show how it is really important to "summer-proof" ourselves, or really proof ourselves for any time of the year. We need to make sure we are spending time with Him daily, so that he can give us the strength to get through the tough spots in life. It's encouraging to know however that if we listen to and obey God he will always provide a way out. When we slip, He will pick us up again and help us to endure

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NLT
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

Speaking Against the Holy Spirit

"Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

- Matthew 12:32

I love probing questions, and in this verse so much is implied through the Word of Christ. As Christians, we think of taking the Lord's name in vain and recognize it as a sin. But, Christ makes it a point to explain here that it IS pardonable. Why, then, do we continue to read in the latter half of this verse that it is unforgivable if one speaks against the Holy Spirit? What is the difference between speaking against the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit?

I'm looking forward to some wonderful thoughts. Just free right on this one... this is NOT an easy question!

Blessings,
Brandon

Identity

I was a little confused by verses 2&3 in chapter 11:
"2 When John [the Baptist] heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'"
Why did John ask that when in chapter 3 he seemed to show that he knew Jesus was the Christ?

Are you weary???

The promise Jesus gives us at the end of chapter 11 is amazing - "Anyone weary or have a heavy burden, come to Me and I will give you rest."

So often when I am stressin' about something,  part of the problem is that I haven't been spending enough time with Jesus.  When I enter His presence, the "big" things don't seem so monumental any more.  That doesn't mean life is always easy.  Its just that we know we have someone who is bigger than us and our problems coming along beside us.  

Why?

In the story about Jesus healing the blind men (Matt. 9:30-31), Jesus tells the men not to tell anyone that He healed them. Why does He do that? If I remember correctly, He also does it in several other stories. Why would He say that to some and not to everyone He heals?

What did He mean??

And so it was written,

"Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

- Matthew 8:22

What did Christ mean when He said this to the disciple who wanted to follow Him? From our perspective, wouldn't burying our father be something of importance? Then why, in this instance, was Christ so incessant on having this follower leave his dead father to be buried by others?

Solid Foundation

These were the verses that stood out to me today:
Matthew 7:24-28
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

This is a great reminder that if we follow God's direction, we can always be sure that we will be standing on a solid foundation. That doesn't mean that everything will be easy or that we will have no troubles in life, but when "the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against" us, we won't collapse, because we'll be in the arms of the Savior. This is sometimes hard for me to do. When the world is telling me one thing and the Lord is telling me another, sometimes it seems safer or easier to follow what the world is saying, but really we are building our house on a weak foundation and we will "collapse with a mighty crash".

I also included verses 28 and 29 because I find them interesting. We were discussing this some in an earlier post, but this again shows the difference between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the religious leaders.

Love In"deed"

"But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."

Matthew 6:3-4

I think of this verse often when I see the offering plate make its rounds on Sunday mornings. For quite a long time I gave out of fear that others might see my hand hesitate; that I may not be doing my "Christian" duty. I have since learned that God sees everything, and the vision of man is a naturally "skewed" perspective. Offering, like many other types of giving, can be seen from such a distorted vantage point. It is written, "ask and you shall receive." So very little does God ask of us, and yet we can so quickly become consumed in what others see us "doing." When we meditate on God's perspective... how He might perceive our deeds... we find that our motivations become in line with His.

When you give, do, or speak as a Christian, your reward is already had in the Love that Christ gives you through the Holy Spirit. I realize that there is scripture, which speaks to receiving seven times what is invested in the Kingdom. But, I would challenge you all to give without expectation; in thought and in deed. God loves the cheerful giver... and rewards with joy beyond measure.

Revenge vs. Forgiveness

Matthew 5:38-42 talks about not taking revenge on others. Our Sunday school class talked about this yesterday, and I thought it was pretty cool that it was in today's scripture reading. These verses are a reminder that we shouldn't harbor anger and then take revenge on someone who wrongs us. We need to forgive them, even when it's really tough. If we ask, God will help us to forgive.

Matthew 5:20

In Chapter 5 of Matthew, Jesus wrote:

"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5: 20

The Bible is specific and intentional about "italicizing" the words the righteousness when referencing the scribes and Pharisees. After reading this verse in the context of the entire chapter, what do you feel Jesus was trying to communicate? Do you believe He felt there was a difference between the righteousness of the "scribes and Pharisees" and those whom He called to follow Him? If so, what do you feel is the difference?

Take time to pray about this verse, and feel free to respond. We enjoy your thoughts!

Blessings,
Bran

Matthew 3

In chapter 3 I love verses 16 and 17 when it talks about the heavens opening up and the Spirit of God descending. That is a really amazing picture and I'm sure it was even more amazing to see in person. I also like John the Baptist. It's neat to me how he was such an essential part in preparing the way for Jesus.

Why Baptism?

Baptism was not a routine Jewish ritual.  Why do you think it was important for Jesus to be baptized?

What else stands out to you about chapter 3?

Not a kingly heritage

Reading the first chapter of Matthew, with the genealogy, may seem boring but it highlights where Jesus came from.  His ancestors were not all the most perfect, or most noble people.  He had the same weird, or crooked family members that we all have lurking somewhere in our family tree.  Jacob was a schemer, Judah helped sell his brother into slavery and conceived Perez by his daugter-in-law, and Solomon's dad was a murderer and adulterer.  Obed and several others had mothers who weren't even Israelites.  I think that part of the reason the genealogy was put in Matthew 1 was to show that Jesus was a human just like us, with relatives who had lots of flaws, just like ours do.  Sure he was from a royal lineage, with lots of kings in his heritage, but there were lots of kooks and sinners too.

Chapter 2 is where the story gets exciting, with lots of God-interventions.  Lots of dreams and drama.  I wonder how often our lives have this kind of drama in the spiritual realm, and we may not even recognize it.  God may be trying to intervene daily, but are we aware of it?   We think of our day to day existence as rather mundane, but could it be an epic adventure if we were tuned into God?

Summer Proof Yourself...

Senior & Junior girlz have organized a tubing trip down the Yellow Breeches to float and fellowship! Way to go gang! Stay connected in the Body of Christ!

Welcome!!

Welcome to the Lighthouse youth ministry blog!!!  This is a place for you to put your thoughts and questions related to the scripture reading.  You can put prayer requests and know that people  will be praying for you.  Also, we would love to hear the answers to prayer as God provides them.  This is your forum, a place for you to ask, answer, and grow closer to God individually and as a community.

With that, let's get started!!  Today's scripture is Matthew 1.

Blessings!!