Hey guys!!! Yeah I know it’s been a while before we last wrote but guess what?? We’re back! So I’m just gonna start this thing back up with what we did this past Sunday the October 1st.
Sunday we talked about words. Words can be very powerful, life changing things. Do this for me, think of one word to describe yourself? What is it? Now, is this a positive or negative word to describe yourself? You see, this one word can show others how you view yourself which can also change your attitude towards yourself and others. You see how powerful words can be?
Right now I’m reading a book called “Slave” by JOhn MacArthur. This book deals with this one word, “slave.” We see this word in the Bible many times and for many people this word kinda gets under their skin because we hear this word and put it with all of its negative connotations but we see in the Bible that Paul refers to himself as a “slave of Christ” and a “slave of God.” We see these and think “well I don’t want to be a slave no matter what,” but I think Christians back in the time of Jesus saw this word in a different light. To be a “slave of Christ” was a great honor to them because they only served Christ and no one else. Now even translations of the Bible change the word slave to band servant or servant of God instead of slave. But when you look at the literal translation of it in the greek it is the word “doulos”, which directly translates to “slave.” But as we see in todays culture the word “slave” isn’t necessarily welcomed because of what it has come to mean and represent. To this John MacArthur writes, “So, to present the good news in terms of a slave/master relationship runs contrary to everything our culture holds dear. Such an approach in controversial, confrontational, and politically incorrect. Yet that is precisely the way the Bible speaks about what it means to follow Christ.”
In this we see the difference and impact one word has had over time. So much so that they use a different word when translating from the original language of the Bible.
But as we learned on Sunday there is only one Word that has changed all of History. It is the most powerful Word that has ever lived. And He is Jesus. John 1:1-5 says, “In the beginnig was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all thincgs were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus is the Word! He changed everything! And He has changed me! I would not be the same without Christ in my life guiding me every single day.
If you are reading this and have not accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior you can do that today. You can do that now. Contact one of your leaders and we will be glad to help and walk you through this or answer any other questions you may have. Please don’t be shy this is too important!
If you have already made the decision to follow Christ and you want to take the next step of baptism we will be having a huge prayer and baptism night at our new Central Campus on the hill on Sunday October 9th. If you would like to be baptized you can contact one of your leaders and we will pass the information onto Nick and we will get you signed up for that. For more info in this night you can go to reallife.org.
I don’t know that there is a single word that describes camp as a whole, much less the last night that we were all together. We got to witness walls come crashing down and students making decisions that will take them into eternity. There was a moment during worship on Thursday where we could see the Spirit move through the room from the center aisle, moving outward, and students listening to that still small voice, gathering with other students to pray for and with them… We were all in tears and just speechless.
I wanted to share some of the videos that Matt Singleton used that night during his message, challenging the students to live out their faith and to live a life radically changed by their relationship with Christ. Here’s one to get you started:
As you can tell, we finally have a wifi connection, so I will be able to update this more regularly now so keep checking back.
The trip to camp was full of laughs, stories, plenty of snacks, and great conversation. We all made it safely and were able to check into our dorms and get acclimated to our surroundings which, by the way, are absolutely amazing. (you can check them out here: http://forestglen.org/lakesideretreat.html ) There is just something about getting away from all the noise and the busy-ness that are in their lives that allows these students to let go and seem more “alive.” Aside from all the games: the blob, archery, gaga ball, mud kickball, swimming, basketball, just to name a few, we have also had wonderful worship and teaching sessions that have really challenged and stretched the students.
We are getting ready to head out to the pool, the blob, and the lake, so look for another update later… it’s time to play!!!
We’ve been here a little over 36 hours and we can already see God moving in mighty ways.
We have seen the teams formed, games have been played, great worship, and a touching, moving message at each session. The food is great, and we actually had thunderstorms last night and still have rain this morning… the team games are going to have an entirely different element with everything being wet… it’s going to be interesting!
Matt Singleton had another great message for our students this morning about God’s love for them, and now we are getting ready to go play some team games in the rain! I’m so proud of these students, and the way they are letting God use them so far… this has already been an amazing time at camp; I can’t wait to see how the rest of the week goes!
Last night students learned a little more about the 10 commandments and how they still influence and affect their lives today. It is important for the students to see that the lessons taught and the laws laid down in the Bible are not old and outdated here in the 21st century.
Wednesday nights are a big part of what the Hub ministry is all about. It is a time for kids to get connected, make friends, hear what God may be saying to them, and to make their faith their own. We love Wednesdays because the student has made a choice to actively participate in the ministry outside of Sunday morning service. We have seen amazing growth in Wednesday night participation, and the atmosphere, put out by students and leaders alike, is one of acceptance, excitement, and genuine love for each other! It’s an exciting thing to witness and we are so excited about what the upcoming Summer has in store for this ministry!
This past Sunday our students were challenged to take sharing their faith to a new level. We all know that it is an intimidating, and sometimes scary, thing to go and talk to someone about Jesus. We challenged our students to recognize the urgency and importance of sharing their faith with anyone they meet, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.
At the end of the sermon, we showed a video of Pen Jillette from Pen and Teller. Pen, being a committed Atheist, shared his opinion on evangelizing or “Proselytizing” as he puts it. This video is very moving as it challenges Christians to put their words into action. Watch the video for yourself and see if it challenges you as well.
On May 29th we will be recognizing all high school graduates in the 9:30 and 11:15 services in the main building. If you are interested in your student being recognized as a graduate please register by May 22! The link to register is below.
This last Wednesday night at The Hub we had nearly 80 students here learning about prayer! What an important message for us all! It was great to see so many students here engaging in what God may have to say to them!
As summer rapidly approaches we look forward to seeing how many new students join us on these wonderful summery Wednesday nights!
That’s right; we will be making the trek to beautiful Forest Glen Camp in Huntsville, TX for an amazing camp experience. We were blown away at how God opened the doors for us to be able to do our camp at Forest Glen this year. Here is a link for you to check out the camp: http://www.forestglen.org/ you don’t want your student to miss camp this summer. Just some of the things included are: canoeing, blob, gaga ball, paintball, BB, archery, high ropes course, low ropes course, and three zip lines; all of that for just $250 if you pre-register by May 15th, or $265 after.
Our theme for the year is THE WAY, where we are going to unpack what that means and what it looks like to live out a life radically changed by Christ. We will look specifically what it looks like to be convicted, devoted, and then unleashed.
We are so excited about this camp and the connections that are going to be made; we can’t wait to see students encounter God in ways they maybe never have.
