Painting The Youth Room

This weekend was one of the highlights of Taylor and I's time with the youth at Harmony Community. We painted the youth room!

With 6 adults and about 10 or 12 youth, we got the room painted in 3 days. Thanks to all who came out and put some time in! It was awesome to get to spend some time together, and to work together to see a project be completed. I hope that this will help us see it as OUR youth room, and that it will be somewhere the students are excited to come and bring friends!

 

Here are some pictures of us working and the finished product!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Blazing. (The Week After Youth Camp.)

Last week we took our students to Fort Caswell in Oak Island, NC for Youth Camp. It was one of those awesome, turn you upside-down weekends. Worship was free, fellowship was fantastic, and the preaching was on fire. If you've ever been to youth camp, you know the kind of week I am talking about. It's kind of like a revival for teenagers, but at the beach. The kids were away and soaking in God's word for a whole week.

But, we're back and a big question we must answer is, "What now?"

We (yes, WE) are all on this spiritual mountain top and ready to set the world on fire for Jesus. But, that's how it is every year. We go to this awesome camp, we get emotional, and we come back committed to Jesus...for about two weeks. So, my question is, how can we make this year different? How can we fan the flame of our hearts for Christ, and not allow our selfishness or our surroundings to damper our enthusiasm for Christ?

 

"Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert."

-Isaiah 43:19

 

 

 

God wants this for us. I believe with all my heart He is wanting to do a new thing, and He is calling out a generation for it. But, we have to decide if we are going to get on board with God. God has a plan, and is calling us to take part in it. Will we be obedient? Will step out in faith and see God fill our hearts with passion for His name? Will we rise up as John's, or fall away like Judas?

 

Think today, what is one new thing that God is wanting to do in YOU? Maybe He is calling you to walk away from a sin, start reading the bible daily,

pray more for lost family, or start a relationship with a neighbor who doesn't know Christ. The possibilities are endless. What new thing is God wanting to do in and through you?

 

 



4 Parts of Effective Focus

Focus is important. What we focus on helps make us into who we are.

 

Here are 4 parts of the Christian walk that we need focus on to be effective members of the body of Christ.

 

 

 

1. Love Jesus:

"And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength."

Deut. 6:5

 

It all starts with us responding to His love with our love. Falling deeper and deeper in love with Jesus is what our entire Christian life is to come from. Without love from God and an increasing love for God, we will surely be a hotter mess than we already are.

 

 

2. Share Jesus:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria,

and to the ends of the earth."

Acts 1:8

 

When you fall in love, you can't keep it to yourself. When Taylor and I got engaged last September, I wanted to tell everyone. We ought to feel the same way when we experience God's love for us. How could we ever keep a love that saves a secret. We must focus on sharing Jesus and His love with our community and our world.

 

3. Make Disciples of Jesus:

"Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit."

Matthew 28:19

 

A love that saves is a love that changes. Focus on making an investment in the lives of others in order to see Jesus change them and make them more like Him. In the process, He'll be changing you too.

 

 

4. Celebrate Jesus Together:

"And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near"

Hebrews 10:25

 

A love that saves and changes ties those who have been saved and changed together. Focus on hanging out with other followers of Jesus to encourage each other and make much of Jesus. Don't get bogged down with routine. Just focus on Jesus and grow together. It's that simple.

 

 

See the common factor in all of these?

 

Jesus.

 

Focus on Jesus. He is Life, and our source for being who He has created and saved us to be. It's...

 

ALL ABOUT JESUS!



You Choose: Example or Excuse

It is easy to make excuses. I am a major mess-up, so I know all about them. They're easy to make when we sin. Others are easy to blame when things go sour. Its easy to expect much of people, but take no responsibility for/on ourselves.

 

I'm young and dumb. I come from a broken home. I grew up in a house where drug abuse and addiction played a big part. I have struggled to read. I go on stuttering rampages. I am not the coolest. I am a little ragtag. My pockets aren't usually full. I'm just all-around very good at making messes.

 

Those are some of the daily excuses that I battle, and my heart would usually love to use them. But, God says...

 

 

"NO!"

 

I'm chosen, blessed, adopted, forgiven, redeemed, and accepted by the one, true, living God of all creation. That gives a thumbs down to all excuses. That erases any ugly past, and any skeletons in your closet. His presence in us makes up for our stutters and stumbles. His grace empowers us to be more that young, dumb, and inexperienced. So, RISE UP. Rise up over your excuses. Rise up over your past. Rise up over your imperfections. Rise up over your surroundings. RISE UP! Christ did! And, haven't we been united with in His death and His resurrection? Rise up!

 

I believe that the Timothy of the bible had excuses. I believe Timothy had those who would look down upon him for his age and lack of experience. Why else would his mentor, Apostle Paul, say to him...

 

"Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity."

1 Tim 4:12 (NLT)

 

What will you be? Just another pile of excuses that point back to a broken and wasted life, or an example that leads others into the footprints of Christ? Will you continue to allow your downfalls to keep you down? Or, will you rise up in your new identity found in Christ Jesus? You are no longer to be an excuse. I believe those died on the cross too. Be an example today. The world needs Jesus. He has chosen you to show them His great love.