February 26, 2009

Birthday Boy...

Happy Birthday Jacob Vreeland! Hope your day is great! Thanks for your willingness to share on here what God has been doing in your life. Youve been an encouragement! Keep learning and growing!

February 23, 2009

The Power of the Cross

Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

Chorus:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Ev’ry bitter thought,
Ev’ry evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
“Finished!” the vict’ry cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

Final Chorus:
This, the pow’r of the cross:
Son of God— slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

(Stuart Townend)

February 22, 2009

Bringing a Birthday Greeting!

Happy 19th Birthday Erica! Thanks for being a part of the youth group. Youve been a blessing. May God richly bless you as you get to know Him even better in this next year of your life.

Happy Birthday wishes are in order....

Happy 19th Birthday Erin! We're so glad you guys have become a part of our youth group. Thanks for your sweet smile and fun-loving spirit. We'll continue to pray for you as you prepare for the future.

February 19, 2009

Been Justified. Being Sanctified. Will be Glorified.

February 17, 2009

The struggle against ungodliness

Last Sunday night pastor spoke on the topic of ungodliness, and to be honest i thought "aah, i'm fine. i have my devotions and i pray and im not going to nightclubs and all that bad stuff i dont really need to hear this message". But Pastor gave a definition of ungodliness that i had never heard before, here is his definition, "ungodliness: Living one's everyday life with little or no thought of God, or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependence on God". Once i heard that definition i said to myself "ouch!" because i was instantly convicted. In my personal life i have my devos and pray at every meal just like the typical christian. but if we don't even think about God other than that time we are being ungodly. To be painfully honest; other than devotions and praying at meals i don't even try to think about God, its not that i'm avoiding him it is just that i don't think about it. But we have a great God! He doesn't just 'wind up' the world and say "good luck!" he convicts us and is always showing us our short comings.

Erik

February 13, 2009

AMEN!!!!

Near, so near am I to God,
Nearer I cannot be;
For in the Person of His Son
I’m just as near as He.

February 11, 2009

Dare to Run!

The assembly of the faithful, surrounding, yet unseen
Is gathered as a witness to the race
And on the track, awaiting, are the runners of today
The call has come, for each to take his place.
The road ahead is narrow, the way is sometimes steep
And only the committed claim the prize

But standing at the finish, with arms out-stretched to greet us
Is the One who has endured the race, and paid the final price

Dare to run with our eyes fixed on Jesus
Following the footsteps of the One who's gone before us
Dare to run in the power of His Spirit
Called to be victors in a race already won, Dare to Run!

We must have our Savior's vision, compassion for the lost
Courage for the future, love at any cost

Dare to run with our eyes fixed on Jesus
Following the footsteps of the One who's gone before us
Dare to run in the power of His Spirit
Called to be victors in a race already won, Dare to Run
Dare to run in the power, the power of the Lord.

February 5, 2009

Dealing with Drawers...

I tried tugging open the top drawer of my dresser this morning but it only opened an inch. I tugged some more. It cracked open another centimeter. I wasn't getting anywhere fast. I needed to put the laundry away and get my school underway. I yanked it again. A millimeter this time. "I really should clean this drawer out" I thought to myself. "Maybe I'll get to it later today." In reality I knew that wouldn't happen. At the moment though I really just wanted to get my laundry put away so I could get on with my day. I stuck my hand in and tried to jostle some of the clothes around that were causing the drawer to stubbornly stick, in hopes that it would miraculously open. When this failed I decided to go ahead and just roll my neatly folded clothes up and try to squeeze them into the drawer. Let me tell you something. Trying to cram more clothes into a drawer that you already can't open because it’s so full isn't exactly going to solve or help the problem. However, with much maneuvering I managed to get my clothes into the drawer. Now to try and close it all the way. I pushed it shut, only to find an overflowing sock was keeping it from shutting. I pushed on the sock and it went in further. I tried shutting the drawer again. It almost worked. I bent down to see what was stopping it this time, and discovered more sock was sticking out on the left side. With my finger I managed to push it in, then I lifted the drawer a little and by jiggling it slightly from left to right, it slowly went the rest of the way in. I sighed in relief. My mission was accomplished.

I don't think I'll ever get that drawer open again.

We all have those kinds of drawers in our lives. Whether it be the odds and ends drawer that we stick everything, that we don't know what to do with, in, or whether it be the drawer with all the papers you told yourself you’d like to look at later or the sock drawer with all the mismatched socks from the last 18 years of our life. None of us really want to look in the drawer. We'd rather just stuff things into it and then leave them there. Those drawers scare us. We're cowards. Truly we are.

So...you're probably wondering why I'm teling you about my stupid, sock drawer dilemma. I'll clear up your confusion....

Somehow that incident this morning reminded me of more than just the fact that I am being extremely slothful when it comes to taking care of that drawer. Habits that we act out in our daily lives also mimic the habits we can live out in our heart. Often times when God convicts me of something, instead of properly taking care of it, I’d rather just stick it in the miscellaneous drawer to deal with later. Every time I add something else to that “drawer” I find myself more and more miserable and every time it gets harder and harder to try and deal with the problem. The only way to solve the problem is to take the drawer the whole way out, dump everything over, expose and go through it, piece by piece, deciding what is worth keeping and what should be thrown. Only then can things be put back in an orderly fashion and only then will the drawer operate like it’s supposed to and close with ease. The problem is… going through the drawer takes time. It takes effort. It takes a willingness to get rid of things you really don’t need but that you’d like to hang on to anyways. So instead, we just keep cramming things into our “drawers” to deal with later and as long as we can get the drawer shut so that nobody sees the mess inside, we can go on about our day without anyone being the wiser. The problem is…eventually the drawer is going to have to be dealt with.

After all, I’m going to have some mighty cold feet tomorrow if I don’t figure out how to get my drawer open by then.

Chrystal

Getting out into the Sun

Change in Christlikeness is not something we do to ourselves. It happens supernaturally through the working of the Holy Spirit when we expose ourselves to Gods Word and He reveals to us His glory. A fair-skinned man who is not tanned as much as he would like can do only one thing- spend more time in the sun. In fact, if a dark tan is truly important to him, he will not be watching the clock to see whether his "fifteen minutes" of time in the sun is up; he will be watching his skin to see whether it is the color he wants. If he wants a darker tan than his time in the sun today, he will look at what he has to do tomorrow to see whether he can postpone or eliminate anything in order to spend more time in the sun.

In the same way, a believer who is not manifesting godliness in some area of is life can do only thing- spend more time in the Word asking God to illuminate his mind and heart. Believers who have very little "tan" are revealing their limited exposure to the glory of God. If we aren't spending time "walking in the light" our "untanned" (unchanged) lives will show that our walk has been mostly in darkness. If we truly want more change in our lives, we will look at what is on our agenda today to see whether anything can be postponed or eliminated so that we can spend more time being exposed to the glory of God. We won't be watching the clock; we will be watching for the effect of the glory of God in our lives.

(Jim Berg)

February 3, 2009

Birthday Greetings!

Happy 18th Birthday Ryan Marrie! How does it feel to officially be an adult? ;) Thanks for being a part of the youth group. We'll be praying for you in the coming year as you graduate and seek to follow Gods leading for the future.

February 2, 2009

Handy Little Chart

God has a positive answer:

You say: "It's impossible" God says: All things are possible (Luke 18:27)

You say: "I'm too tired" God says: I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30)

You say: "Nobody really loves me" God says: I love you (John 3:1 6 & John 3:34 )

You say:
"I can't go on" God says: My grace is sufficient (II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15)

You say: "I can't figure things out" God says: I will direct your steps (Proverbs 3:5- 6)

You say: "I can't do it" God says: You can do all things (Philippians 4:13)

You say: "I'm not able" God says: I am able (II Corinthians 9:8)

You say: "It's not worth it" God says: It will be worth it (Roman 8:28 )

You say: "I can't forgive myself" God says: I Forgive you (I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1)

You say:
"I can't manage" God says: I will supply all your needs (Philippians 4:19)

You say: "I'm afraid" God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear (II Timothy 1:7)

You say: "I'm always worried and frustrated" God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)

You say: "I'm not smart enough" God says: I give you wisdom (I Corinthians 1:30)

You say:
"I feel all alone" God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)