Time with God...

Thursday, March 04, 2010

John 19:13-25

Paraphrase the account.

John continues his story of the blind man who was healed by Jesus. The people in the community who had seen this miracle go and bring the Pharisees to the formally blind man. The Pharisees hear the man’s story and immediately attack Jesus’ character (b/c Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath). They even call on the blind man’s parents to make sure the man was even blind to begin with. The parents confirm their son’s story and again the blind man is questioned. He just tells what happened to him, because that’s all he really knows.

How can I apply this to my life?

Ø Do not be like the Pharisees who completely missed the miracle of Jesus because they were so wrapped up in their religion. When miracles happen praise God, do not question Him or judge whether He did something good or not (in your eyes; b/c everything God does is good).

o When God does do something awesome do you miss it b/c you are too busy? Do the circumstances of your life shadow the mercies that God pours out on you daily? FOCUS ON CHRIST & BRING HIM GLORY!

Ø As Christians we need to be like the (formally) blind man. He did not understand the whole picture but he knew that Jesus has healed him, and he told others his story. We may not understand everything about God and His plan but we are called to tell others of how God miraculously saved us from our sin (and death).

o Have you told your story to someone this week? Are you excited about your story or ashamed (Rom. 1:16)?

Youth Pastor Summit Recap

I just got back from my first youth ministry conference and got to hear some amazing speakers talk about ministry. Speakers included Ed Stetzer, David Ferguson, Darren Whitehead, Brent Crowe, & Eric Geiger. The event was two days held in Orlando, FL. I also was able to connect with other youth pastors from all over the place. I just want to share with you some of the things that I learned and recap the two days for you!

The thing that I really enjoyed about this conference is that everything was focused on Christ. Ed Stetzer said that, "if you are the face of your ministry then you need to repent or resign! Christ should be the face of your ministry." David Ferguson encouraged us to stop telling our students what they can and cannot do (a list of do's and don'ts), and to instead teach Jesus and see them make the right choices. Whether it was our personal life or our ministry life we were encouraged to love and focus on Christ.

Other things I learned:

1. The dropout rate of students after high school is not as high if they are deeply rooted in the Bible. This means that we have to teach the Bible and think about what we want our students to look like when they leave our ministry. Ed Stetzer gave three components of depth - The pastor / preaching - small groups - and personal devotion & Bible study. We need to connect students to Christ, the Bible, and godly leaders.
2. We were challenged to rethink our view of Christ. In John 14:15 Jesus declares, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. " What do you think Jesus' demeanor was when He said that. Do you see Him with an inspecting / disappointed attitude? David Ferguson showed us that this statement was a promise from a loving Savior who is excited to have a relationship with us. He also explained that Jesus characteristics include sensitive, approachable, patient, gentile, & kind. He showed us that Jesus comforts those who are hurting, He pursues those who are falling, He prays for us, He provides for us, He welcomes us, and that all our hope can be found in Him. This is important because, as a Christian, our identity is found in Christ.
3. We learned that a disciple of Christ is more than someone who just knows more or does more than someone else. A true disciple has those qualities but also lovingly relates to God and others. We have to make students disciples of Christ by showing them that they belong in God's plan (they are a part of His big picture) and by encouraging them that they can change the world (Darren Whitehead). We were also taught to stay away from complexity and stay on mission so we don't drift away (Eric Geiger). We must have a clear process to simplify, deepen, expect, and multiply (Ed Stetzer).

It was an encouraging time that has made me rethink why we do the things we do for our students at Petra and what do we need to add so that students catch Christ's vision for their lives.

I'll close with a great question Brent Crowe asked. "When was the last time you rested your head in the chest of your Father (Christ) and knew you were at home?

Where did God come from??

Every once and I while this semester I'll share with you what I'm teaching our youth on Wednesday nights. This Wednesday night (1/27) I'll be teaching on the topic: "Where did God come from?" As I was studying God's Word and some of the Trek materials (that our youth use) I came up with what I thought was a decent illustration:

We think of time as being linear; left and right (past and future). God is not part of the linear time line He is all around it. Meaning God can go up, down, and all around because He is not bound to time. Physics shows us that time came into existence because matter came into existence. And God created matter, meaning that before there was anything there was no time, but there was God (Genesis 1:1)

I think the fundamental problem is the question itself. It is like asking, "What does the color blue smell like?" If someone asked this question you would look at them as if they were dumb! But do not take my word for it, always look to God's Word for the answers to tough question. Blogs, ideas, thoughts, and conversations are all good but we always must Go back to God's Word for the final answer. So check out these verses to see that the Bible states that God has always been! (Psalm 77:19, 90:2-3, 93:2, Job 36:26 - just as a few good verses).

If God is over time and space then He is over everything else too! Matthew 28:18 states that Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and in earth! This means that God exercises His sovereignty over everything! This is a crazy cool concept (that the God we serve has unlimited power everywhere)!! This has been encouraging to me and I hope it encourages our youth as well.

If you have any other thought please feel free to leave your comments. If you have any cool illustrations, Scripture, or any thoughts on this topic let me know! Thanks Everyone!!

Beach Blessings #2

Another great weekend for our church this weekend!! First off Saturday night was awesome at the McCrary's! We had a blast at our fall festival!! There was great food, fellowship, and fun (just as promised)! We had a great turnout and I got to meet a lot of people that I had never meet before! Special thanks to all the McCrary's for letting us use their property and cleaning up after us! It was AWESOME!

Also we went back to the beach this past Sunday night to baptize one of our young ones! The really cool thing is that both times that we have been out there there has been another church out there baptizing too! It has just been really cool to see God's children follow Him in obedience in a public setting like the beach! Just as a thought anytime someone gets baptized in your church make sure you go out there and support them! It's a great time for the body of Christ (the church) to come together and rejoice with one another!

Youth Sunday & Other Events

Sunday morning November 8th our youth will take over the 10:30 am service! That's right we will be having youth Sunday that morning as youth run the show. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be asking (and encouraging) students in our ministry to run the sound equipment, read Scripture, sing, do motions, and other tasks to help serve that morning. I'll also have the awesome opportunity to preach from God's Word that morning.

I really want to encourage you and your youth to be there that Sunday morning and participate in this fun and exciting service!

Other events coming soon:

1.This Saturday is our churches Fall Festival at the McCrary's house! This is a great time for fun, food , and fellowship! We'll have all kinds of games for the youth, a bon fire, a hayride, and other exciting things. The event starts at 6:30pm and ends around 9:30pm. Directions can be found on our church's website at www.petrabaptist.com. Hope to see you there!

2. Beach Baptism service - Sunday night October 25th at 6:00 we will meet down at Mickler's Landing and have another beach baptism service! Please let me know if you or your youth would like to be baptized! Come down and support our brothers and sisters in Christ as we welcome them into the family of Christ!

3. Crazy Hat Night - Wednesday night October 28th our student ministry is shaking up the normal schedule with another theme night. We are encouraging students to come that night with some kind of crazy hat. They will be voted on based on creativity, size, color, and WOW factor. The best hat will receive a prize at the end of the night!

4. Prayer walk - Thursday night October 29th at 6:30pm our church will go out into the community and pray for people in neighborhoods around us. Meet at the church and be prepared to have God work in your life as you pray for other!

5. Thanksgiving dinner on church grounds - Sunday afternoon November 15th our church will sit down with each other and celebrate Thanksgiving by eating and fellowshiping together! More information to come soon!

6. Last night for Wednesday activities - Wednesday November 18th will be the last night of our church-wide activities (including youth programs and awanna programs) until early January. Take this time to enjoy the holiday's by spending extra time with your family and in God's Word! See you in January!

For any questions about our upcoming events please email me at Josh@petrabaptist.com or visit our website at www.petrabaptist.com.

Petra Parents!!

Hey Parents! Just wanted to let you know that you should receive our monthly newsletter tomorrow at your home (the same one that you have received via email)! Just to echo what the newsletter says I am trying to compile an email list for all of you so that once a month I can send you the newsletter via email. The cost and the time it took to send a hard copy out to everyone was massive and this would help me out a lot. If you do not wish to give out your email address that is fine just let me know and I'll send you a hard copy every month. Thanks for helping me out in this way, if you do not receive emails from me please let me know what your email address is so I can add you to my list! Thanks everyone!

American Culture & Effective Leadership

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that I have planned out two topics to talk about in depth over the next couple of months on my blog. I will be working hard to update these topics once a week, the topics include the following:

1. American Culture - I'm gonna spend some time talking about the culture here in America. Because I'm a youth pastor I'll talk a lot about youth culture but I do want to focus on other age groups as well. Some people just write off the concept of church and culture but I happen to believe that as the culture changes the way you do things as a church have to change as well. The good thing is that some thing never changes (even in the midst of cultural change) and that includes the Word of God and God's character! I'm excited to share some of these things with you in the next couple of months!

2. I had lunch with a great friend in ministry a couple weeks ago and he gave me a book full of useful leadership tips all of which are backed by Scripture. So I'll pick out my favorites and share them with you and I may even add a few of my own. These leadership tips will help you as you lead out in your church or as you lead people in the business world!

Be sure to comment on these posts if you have any questions, thoughts, or maybe a differing opinion and we'll talk about those in the weeks to come! I'm really looking forward to sharing things that are on my mind with all of you for the next couple of months!