Rejoice In Your Chains

So I'm excited about studying Phillipians with you guys. I really think that if we stick with it, we'll all be blessed with something we can take with us out of this study. Last night, in case you missed it, we started diving into the first chapter of Phillipians in which we find a good case of Paul turning the worst for the best.
We can be inspired by Paul's example of servanthood through suffering and learn to turn the not-so-good parts of life into an example of Christ's love in us by the reaction we show to these aspects in life. From his jail cell, in one of the worst times in his life, Paul is able to be cheerful in his service to God and calls on the Phillipians to do the same. Paul also shows us that while he is a respected theologian and Biblical author, he has his struggles as well. He recognizes that it would be far better to die and be with Christ but that he is here on Earth for a purpose. He recognizes a lost world's need for Christ and stresses that "to live is Christ, but to die is gain." Paul concludes that in order to reach people here on Earth, we are called to be "children of heaven here on Earth." In order to reach people for Christ we need to strive to be like Christ, even as we are sinners in a sinful world. I encourage you to come out next week as we explore more in Phillipians and more about ourselves.

Until then,
God Bless.

Geoff

So you know what today is...

I know I'll see all of you at our service tonight, right? Just kidding but if your interested swing by for our College & Career Service in the sanctuary at 8. Tonight we'll dive into the third part of our patriotic series "Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness". (In actuality the title serves more as a springboard into the topic of free-will rather than be an actual patriotic service....come by you'll see) Following up our talk about God's greatest gift, freewill, from our lesson "Liberty" last week, this week we will examine America's obsession with "the Pursuit of Happiness". Hope to see you all there tonight for some good worship an bible study. And as always I'm sure we'll grab some food after. Later!

Geoff

Summer Update

Ok, I'll make you guys a deal. I'll post more if you guys take this and apply it. Deal? Deal. So first of all Fuge was great, as if that was ever in doubt. I've really taken a conviction to journal and other spiritual disciplines. I believe, this Fuge more than any other, was a time of submission rather than conviction. God really showed me the importance of being obedient to him daily and forming good habits in my relationship with him. In the end, it was a great time.

In other news our College Service on Wednesdays has been going on strong and I hope to see all of you guys there at 8 on Wednesdays in the sanctuary. You can check back here for updates on the series we are going through at the moment.

To end, I'm going to figure out how to post pics on this thing. Get ready for some funny stuff. Later guys.

Geoff

UPDATE: I've got it now. Here you go.
P.S. The guys are getting shaved because the kids reached a certain goal with their missions offering at camp.

"Who Is This?" they asked

Alright guys. Finally remembered my password for this thing. So as you all remember, we read Matt. 21:1-11 Sunday morning, which coincided with Palm Sunday. So I'll leave you the verses to study for today, Monday, and I'll be back tommorrow mornin with commentary on what we read tonight, and also with tommorrow's verses. So just check back every morning, all week and I hope you all enjoy the journey!

Today's verses are: Matt. 21:18-27 (you can read on through some parables if you'd like but as far as history/actions of the day we'll stick with these verses)

Have a good one guys!
Geoff

Nothing Means Nothing

"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it." - 1st Corinthians 10:13 -

Isn't it comforting to know that these words still ring as true for us today as the day they were first written? Though we may feel overwhelmed by situations, no matter what obstacle or temptation may cross our path, even though we may not be able to overcome it ourselves, if we ask for a guiding hand we will find that God is ready and available not only to help us through temptation but to bring us fully through it. There's nothing we can't overcome.
I read these verses to the youth group tonight and I posed them this question--how many of you would be willing to say that there are some temptations we can't resist. Many of them, along with myself, raised their hands; and they were right. No matter how much we want to fully be in control and in power of our lives, there are some things we are aren't strong enough to face ourselves.

"Christ is not weak in his dealings with you: he is a mighty power among you. Although he died on the cross in weakness, he now lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak, but we live in him and have God's power" - 2nd Corinthians 13:3 -

Unlike our friends (however well intentioned they are), whom we run to in tough times, Christ knows our situation exactly; he's knows what it is to feel vulnerable in the human sense. He's felt what we feel! But he is also there with his mighty power to help us when we get to the point of decision as to what will be our reaction to a given temptation. If we confide in Him, His answer will be mighty enough to squelch the temptaion everytime. Hope this encourages you as much as it does me. Until tomorrow...