What do we do now?

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

Acts 4:31

********************************************

So here we go, Peter and John have just returned from being brought before the Sanhedrin for preaching the name of Jesus. They received many threats. So what did they do?

Three things:

1. They gathered with other believers.

This shows the importance of attending Church. Remember the book of Acts was the beginning of the new church. Matthew 18:20 says that "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

2. They Prayed.

They prayed. Read Acts 4:24-30. Prayer is the most important part of sharing our faith. We can't do anything on our own. Today would be a great day to pray for God to give you a divine encounter with someone that needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Then after you pray that, pray for Him to speak through you.

3. They set out again.

How many times have you backed down from sharing your faith because of the fear you might get made fun of or picked on? These men faced real fear, fear of being killed for their beliefs. Notice that the verse above doesn't just say they spoke the word of God, but they spoke it boldly. Meaning that they didn't back down or give in to peer pressure. They were willing to put everything on the line.

I hope that everyone has a blessed day. Keep your eyes open for those opportunities to show someone the love of Christ. See you Sunday!

Fast Paced World

So ive been doing a lot of thinking recently about the state of the world and how we interact with it. Without really realizing it we demand things to happen for us on absurdly short time lines. We live in the world of eight minute abs, of high speed internet where all the information in the world is readily available to the fingertips that know how and where to look. Then I was reading about some of Jesus's teachings and the way he taught and i realized that most of us would get incredibly annoyed with Jesus as a person. If Jesus walked up to us and didnt reveal who he was just started having a conversation where he speaks cryptically and never really gives a straightforward answer most people, the most devout christians included would get peeved very quickly. I blame this on the world we live in where everything is instantaneous and we demand that entertainment be afforded us twenty four seven. But we as a people are also to blame. We have stopped thinking and have become blinded by the conveniances that make our life so easy to live. So I would like to issue everyone a challenge as well. I challenge you to slow down this week, to spend a dinner with your family and just enjoy it rather than rush through it to make the tv show or the to play the video game. Go outside and look at the sky, take in the trees, feel the warmth of the sun splash down in rays upon your skin. Just take a moment to breath in this world that God made for us. Dont be in such a rush to get to the next thing because then you miss the beauty that is in that moment. I think that if we all tried to slow down just a little bit we would make big progress in our quest to be more like Christ, and after all that is the whole point of being who we are.

Back to School Challenge

By now everyone should be back in school. What a great time to reconnect with friends you haven't seen since the summer break started. As you talk with them, what are you going to talk about. Maybe you'll talk about sleeping in everyday, playing Xbox til 3 in the morning or watching as many movies as possible. What if you talked to them about what God did in your life this summer. Many of you went to things like camps and mission trips. Will you take the time to tell your friends about the changes God has made in your life?

I have two challenges for you this year.

Challenge #1: Tell as many people as you can about what God has done this summer. Whether it was how he helped you through a difficult time or how you served him through missions. We had several baptisms this summer, maybe someone you know needs to hear about how you came to that decision. Maybe you helped build a house or lead a kids club, did you help someone come to know Christ? These are all thing that your friends need to hear. So remember this, when your talking with your friends, bring God up or invite them to church. Everyone knows at least one person that needs to hear the Good News.

Challenge #2: Join me in reading through the New Testament. Take part in the New Testament Challenge and lets read it together. It only takes 20 minutes a day for 63 days. Most of my blogs from this point until the end of the NTC will be based on what God has shown me through the week's readings.

Have fun in school and I will see you this Sunday and next Wednesday.

Imitate Christ's Humility

Sorry for taking time away from the blog...things have been a little hectic after the mission trip (which was awesome).

So...when I was planning to blog last week it was August 12th....1 month before the Youth Service Project that we'll be doing September 12th (my b-day - woohoo!).

To help get everyone on the service mindset - I'd like for you guys to read Pastor Jeff's blog from last week:
http://www.jjohnsonlive.com/2009/08/his-name-was-james.html

So for those of you who don't know. The service project will be to provide breakfast bags - a sandwhich bicuit, tater tots, and juice - to homeless individuals in the downtown area. After reading Jeff's blog, it made me think of the importance of not just handing out bags of food to these folks, but letting them know they are loved. Have a conversation with someone. Find out their name. I challenge each of us to pray for these next few weeks about God preparing our hearts to see these people, that we will be serving, the way He sees them. To pray that any fears we may have will be pushed aside...so that we may imitate Christ's humility.

Here are some bible verses to help in this time to prepare for this service:
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 20:25-28
Hebrews 6:10
1 Peter 4:10-11