All We Have to Offer is Jesus

Last Thursday I attended the Related Leaders Conference at Riverside Church in Peoria. http://www.riversidepeoria.com/calendar/related-leaders.asp The keynote speaker was author Leonard Sweet. http://www.leonardsweet.com/ He talked about the Gutenberg Church in a Google World. It really challenged me to think differently about how I put together lessons and prepare for sermons. The thought that has continued to stay with me is this, "all we have to offer is Jesus, but that is everything." That makes so much sense to me, yet many times we look for church to provide so many other things. At the heart of it all is Jesus. He is the son of God and the reason for our being here on earth.
Leonard continued on by speaking about how the church is still stuck in the 1950's, or the good ol' days. We are in the year 2009 and the church needs to catch up or the church will cease to exist. I know my students here at Grace are very technological and enjoy using tech stuff to accomplish tasks. The counter to that is I know that God's Word is amazing and it doesn't need flash and dash to teach the truth. There is a fine line between just using technology to get attention and using it effectively to preach the Gospel of Christ to our world.
The conference reinforced to me that the Bible has got to be our preaching tool and that the scriptures are the living word of God and all we need to do is present it. Our God will do the work in the heart's of those that listen.

Alabama we a comin

There are nine high school students from Grace heading to Bayou La Batre, Alabama this Saturday. Three adult leaders will also be accompanying them :) While there, the students will be assisting with Hurricane Katrina relief and doing neighborhood kids clubs. This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for them to grow spiritually. I really don't think they have any idea how this trip is going to impact their life. I am excited to see what I learn from it also. Getting out of your comfort zone can do so much to help you grow.
In preparation for Saturday, tonight at JOLT we will be studying Acts chapter 10. It is the amazing story of Cornelius and how he received a vision and sent for Peter. Peter also received a vision, about how he was to go to Cornelius. I guess God didn't want any miscommunication on this one. The moral of the story is how everyone is good enough to receive the Gospel. We as believers need to take it to all the world. It also challenges us not to take someones answer that they are religious. Cornelius was a religious man, but he didn't know the truth about Jesus. Our world needs to hear about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross.
Who can you tell about Jesus today? Go and do it!

Acts

On Wednesday nights at JOLT we are studying the Book of Acts. I am very excited about the coming weeks, because Acts is like a history book of the church. I love history, having taught it for the past ten years, this is a great chance to teach history again. Acts was written by Luke. The book picks up where the Book of Luke ended. Jesus has ascended into Heaven and now the disciples are left to continue on the message of Jesus Christ. God provided them with the Holy Spirit and now they have the power to go and spread the news.
This past week we read how the disciples filled the position left by Judas. We can learn how we need to make decisions for ourselves from this passage. They narrowed down the choices using certain criteria. They knew the man chosen needed to have been there since the beginning. There were two qualified men, and they didn't know which one should be selected. They prayed and asked God to show them which one should be chosen. God aswered their prayer and the men choses Matthias. We need to look to our God in prayer when we have a big decision to make too. He will guide us in the way he wants us to go. It is important for us to follow his lead and not resist what we are told.

What a Day!

Yesterday was quite a day around my home. First, I had the honor and pleasure of preaching at both Sunday services. I taught on John 20:19-31, the famous portion of scripture that tells us about Thomas's honest doubt. I have come to the conclusion that we all doubt, and have probably all doubted our faith at some time. Thomas teaches us that we can face those doubts and come out with a stronger more meaningful faith. It was a pleasure to study this scripture and put together a sermon based on what I learned from it.

Later that evening I had the opportunity to go and see Denver and the Mile High Orchestra. http://www.denvermho.com/ (check out the video on the front page) They are a modern day big band. The members are believers in Christ and the message intertwined throughout the concert was outstanding. Denver stressed that God has a plan for all of us, and we need to use the special gifts that we have to serve God. This is a great reminder to all of you students out there. You can't be someone that God hasn't made you, you can only be what God wants you to be. Whatever he has planned for you is amazing and more wondeful than you could ever imagine.

HE IS RISEN

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Yesterday we celebrated Easter. This is the day that celebrates our Lord and Savior Jesus Christs rise from the grave. His resurrection gives us all hope and the assurance of eternal life in Heaven. We can accept Jesus' free gift of salvation by acknowledging that we are sinners and asking for his forgiveness. What is so awesome is that Jesus can really save us because he is alive. All the other truth claims have "prophets" who are dead! Jesus is alive! This gives us confidence and assurance that what we believe is true.
Yesterday here at Grace, we had a sunrise service at 6:30 am . Now I realize that is really early, but it was a great service. The high school students read scripture and Chris put together some great videos that took the congregation through the Easter weekend. It was a very meaningful service and it was a joy to work with Chris and the students putting it all together.
This week, lets not forget that Christ is alive and we can have a relationship with him at anytime. Have a great week and I will have pictures added to this blog soon!

Tower of Babel

Genesis 11 tells us about the Tower of Babel. You see, after the flood, God told Noah and his family to populate the earth and scatter. The earth was becoming repopulated but the people were not scattering. The people decided to build a tower that would reach the Heavens. This would allow them to stay together and make a name for themselves. This was not what God wanted and this did not make him happy. God decided to come down and confuse their language so they would not be able to accomplish what they wanted.
On Wednesday night as we studied this, the students found this account very interesting. The Book of Genesis gives us great detail about creation, and the Tower of Babel is no different. Here we learn how the different languages of our world were created. Just like the earth, and everything on it, God created the languages we speak.
We closed our lesson time by asking our students to consider what their "towers" were. What are we putting up in front of God? Many students mentioned activities that they were involved in. These activities take the place of time with God, and give them their worth. God wants us to put him first and allow him to give us direction as to where we should go and what we should do.
Take some time this week and pray that God would help you to put your priorities in order, with Him at the top spot

Camp Man Comes to Town

Last Wednesday we had the opportunity to hear from Camp of Champions director Peter Lindell. He came and talked to our high school students about Camp and the staffing needs he has for this summer. Camp of Champions is a christian day camp located on Broadway Road here in Pekin. There are also locations in East Peoria, Eureka and Peoria. http://www.cocusa.org/.

Peter then led us through a lesson from 1 and 2 Kings. He pointed out a list of kings who were good kings, but they didn't really do all that God had wanted them to do. They didn't serve and look out for their fellow man. At the end of their lives, they suffered or died. However, one king came along who did more then just love God. He did what God asked and he served others. He was given 15 extra years of life. The lesson was a real challenge to our students to look to serve and minister to others. We are not here just to love God, but to show God's love to others. Hopefully some of our students will have the opportunity to serve others through service at Camp of Champions this summer.

Noah and the Flood

Wednesday night at JOLT we started studying Noah and the flood. The account of which can be found in the book of Genesis. It starts in chapter 6 and carries on into chapter 9. On Wednesday, we started the story of Noah. We learned that Noah was a man of God and that God decided to use Noah to carry out his will. The world had turned wicked, and God decided to blot out humankind. He was instructed to build an ark and God would send animals two of each kind to it. Upon completion, there would be a great flood and only those on the ark would survive.
God had a plan for Noah, and God has a plan for us too. We only need to follow and trust God to learn what that plan is. We are never to young or old to be used for God's work. As teenagers, I think it is important to realize that you are not to young! God can and will use you right where were you are. Remember, God can accomplish anything. What seems impossible to us, is no problem for God. Don't be discouraged, remember that God is in control and you can depend upon Him for strength and guidance.
Next week we will continue with Noah.

Temptation Message

Saturday night I had the opportunity to lead the Saturday night service here at the church. It was a great experience, except it was very clear that I am not qualified to lead singing. :) There was a great crowd there Saturday, which was a great help to me.
We studied Matthew 4:1-11, The Temptation of Jesus by Satan. On Wednesday nights, we have been studying Genesis, so I decided to compare the tempataion of Eve with the temptaion of Jesus. The 1st temptation was an appeal to the physical appetite. Eve was told she could eat the fruit, and Jesus was challenged to turn the stones into bread so he could eat. Remember Jesus had been fasting prior to these temptations. The 2nd temptation appealed to personal gain. Satan told Eve, she would not surely die if she ate of the fruit. Jesus was told that he would not be hurt if he hurled himself down, because the angels would come down to him and save him. The 3rd temptation appealed to power or glory. Eve was told that she would be like God. Satan told Jesus that he could have all the world's kingdoms if he would align himself with him.
All of Satan's temptations were going against God's Word. Satan wants nothing more than to see us go against God's Word and His will for our lives. How do we stay connected with God?
We need to spend time each day reading his word and having time in prayer with him. That way we will be ready to face the temptations of this world, and more importantly recognize when things are not jiving with God's will for us.

In the beginning...

On Wednesday nights we have been studying the book of Genesis. We have learned that God created the Heavens and the Earth. There were six days of creation, as God rested on the 7th day. This of course, is our example for today. Things were perfect in the beginning. However, when Adam and Eve took at bite of the fruit from the forbidden tree, things changed. Sin was brought into the world and Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

This brings us to our need for Jesus Christ. We as humans have all sinned and God's son Jesus is our road to salvation. As you can see, Adam and Eve's original sin is the reason we need Jesus!