An Opportunity to Serve

Ministry Opportunity:

Our annual church yard sale will be held on December 2 at J&K in Dayton. We need to move the yard sale items from the church basement to the J&K store on Wednesday at 6:30 PM.

What: Moving stuff from the church to J&K
Where: meet at Westminster
When: Wednesday 6:30 PM
Who: you

Questions? Email or call a youth leader.

A Thanksgiving Tradition

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families this week. Be sure to not come to youth group because we won't be having it this week.

Here's an idea that we did last year:
For each person of your immediate family write down five things you are thankful for about them. Then give them that note. Feel free to write one to Jesus as well. This will be an easy and rewarding way to be thankful this Thanksgiving.

Prayer

Greetings youthlings....I wanted to let you know that Alison, Simon, Gracie, and I are doing well. We are praying for you this month as we are away from youth group. We pray that the Bryan College Worldview Team will be very influential in your lives.

Welcome Grace Olivia Wasser

Dear Friends and Family,

Grace Olivia Wasser was born at 12:57 PM October 30th 2006 after Alison pushing through three contractions starting at 12:51 PM. Gracie has all of her fingers and toes, weights 8 lbs 3 oz, and is 21 inches long. Alison is recovering well.

See pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jalwasser/GraceOliviaWasser?authkey=5lmh53ZKUjq6TBdcG2g_kLxDpo0


The Wassers

Bryan Center Seminar

If you're interested in a controversial clash of worldviews be sure to come to the free seminar on Bioethics and the Meaning of Man hosted by Bryan College in Rudd Auditorium November 10th-11th. As I mentioned in youth group Dr. Phillips will be speaking Friday night at 8:00 PM on the November 10th. His topic is entitled: "Boundaries and Thresholds: Some Biblical Reflections on Bioethics." Dr. Phillips and the other guest speakers will take on the tough issues of bioethics and how a biblical Christian worldview approaches issues of technology and biology.

For more information see: http://www.bryan.edu/bioethics_seminar.html.

The Best Homework Assignment Ever

For youth group this week we are going to spend some more time reviewing different media (songs, movies, tv shows, books, newspaper articles, etc.) in our culture to determine their worldview and truth implications. For example, last week we looked at the teaser to the Superman Returns movie and how it has the theme of a savior for the world by the only son (Superman) of a father from another world. We saw how this was theistic and what that means.

Your homework assignment is to come up with some ideas of some songs, movies, etc. and post them on this blog. Please post your idea to the blog so that everyone else knows not to choose that same piece. If you have a clip please bring it with you to youth group. Please limit your selections to less than 5 minutes and avoid any material that has explicit content.

Memory Verse for October 26, 2006

Romans 1:20 "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. " ESV

Memory Verse for October 19, 2006

Ecclesiastes 3:11 ESV

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."

Our memory verse for this week comes from a very controversial book of the Bible. Solomon was a man of great wisdom. He sought to explore every avenue of life to its fullest and found that every area of life is vanity (empty or meaningless). How can everything be meaningless? Solomon found that all of the activities of life apart from God are futile and empty. Yet he realized that even the most mundane things of life have everlasting consequences because God sees all that we do and will judge us for our deeds both good and evil (Ecclesiastes 12:13). God has given us food, drink, work, and all sorts of activities for our benefit and enjoyment (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13).

Amidst the wisdom of Solomon in Ecclesiastes is our memory verse which tells us that God has put in all of us a sense of eternity. Though we are mortal creatures, our spirits will exist for eternity. It is because of this innate knowledge that all men and women seek after something greater than themselves, even if it leads them to despair. It is our responsibility as Christians to live a life that illuminates the eternal God to our friends and family so they can escape the futility of life without God and instead fear God and live.

Memory Verse for Last Week

1 Peter 3:15

"But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."

Memory Verse for this Week

We have begun our memory verse challenge this week. Which team will win this week? You may need to remind your fellow team members that we are memorizing 2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV).

2 Corinthians 10:5

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”

Walk for Life and Kick Off

We had a great time at the Walk for Life and our Kick off Saturday morning. Twenty-two youth came to celebrate life and to start a new year at Garrison Baptist Church's gym. We'll need to remember to thank Garrison Baptist Church for letting us use their gym. Thursday begins our new study on worldview. We will see you at Westminster at 6:45 PM.

Here comes the "Bring your Bible to youth group..." speech again.

 

The Squircle

 

????

 

Where's the Baskin Chop?

 

All Star 9-square Evan Johnson

 

Trent's Ready Stance

 

What Form!

 

Do the Jay Walk

 

Caden

 

Bus Stop!

 

Set me up, Set me up! Awww.

 

Yes, you in the blue shirt.

 

9 Square?

 

Our Other Youth Leaders plus a Youthling in Training

 

Our Bandana Youth Leaders

 

Cute Picture of Simon Just for Fun

 

More on Service

Don't forget what we learned about service this week in youth group. Think about how you can serve the youth group next Thursday night at youth group.

Here's a question similar to what we talked about Thursday Night: what does it take for dinner to happen? (i.e. slaughter the cow, harvest the corn, etc.) Post your remarks along with whether or not it is something you can could/should do or something your parents could/should do.

Thursday Night Fellowship August 3, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship

August 3, 2006

Study of John

Order

1. Food and Fellowship – leaders serve refreshments

2. Music – Lord I Life Your Name, Thy Mercy My God

3. Lesson

4. Prayer

5. Game

Introduction

It has come to my attention that we have too many people sitting nice and quiet during our lesson time, so to help all of you join in with the rest of the group we're going to have everyone answer at least one question tonight. We're going to write you names on the board and then mark it off when you answered a question. I'll have all sorts of questions from easy to hard. Some questions will have multiple answers. Be sure to volunteer when you know the answer or you might get stuck, and I'll call on you.

(Setup whiteboard with everyone's names on it.)

Let's brainstorm here for a minute (easy question), what are some things that need to be done each week for youth group to happen? I need someone to write these down.

• Turn on A/C

• setup chairs

• turn down a/c after yg

• buy and setup snack

• prepare lesson

• teach lesson

• distribute snack

• distribute paper and pens

• pick out music

• pick out games

• set up games

• play games

• prayer time

• setup baby sitter

Has anybody here ever been to a foot washing service? What was it like? How did the feet look? Any polydacytly?

What book of the Bible are we studying right now?

What chapter did we study last week?

What book did we study before we started John?

Let's read tonight's passage: John 13:1-17 (reading counts as answering a question, but at least three verses)

OK Let's summarize what's going on here.

What time of day is it? Hint: see verse 2.

Who's in the scene? Jesus and his disciples.

What does Jesus do? Washes feet.

Who is specifically mentioned in this passage? What is noted about them?

Jesus and his disciples are about to have dinner. They are all reclining by the table. Judas is already planning on betraying Jesus, yet Jesus plans to wash his feet anyway. Jesus understands that he is the Son of God and the he was over everything. What would you do with all that power? Would you wash some dirty feet? Probably not. Jesus being the highest being of all stoops to wash the disciples feet.

Why?

1. It needed to be done. No one else would do it. (In Jewish culture, slaves were the ones to wash the feet. It was customary. It was offensive not to have someone was your guests feet. The disciples were too proud to do it since they did not have any slaves. So Jesus got up and met the need. This was a physical, hygienic need, and Jesus used it to teach an important lesson.)

2. It demonstrated his humility.

3. Jesus wanted to show his disciples how they ought to serve one another.

4. Jesus loved his disciples, and his love led him to wash their feet. Doing this demonstrated what true love did. True love acts, it serves, it gives.

So what's Peter's beef about this whole deal? Why doesn't he want Jesus to wash his feet?

Why does Jesus not need to wash Peter's head and hands? What is Jesus symbolizing by saying one who has been washed all over doesn't need to be washed again, but only to wash the feet?

Repentance. Jesus is saying that those who believe in and belong to him have already been washed all over and made clean meaning salvation. Now those who are Jesus' followers only need to be cleansed meaning repentance and forgiveness of current sins.

What does it mean to repent? To turn around, to change your mind. To say no to me and yes to God. To give up the sin I am holding on to. Godly sorrow over our sin. Not flippantly.

How often do we need to repent? Every time we sin.

What does that look like? Mom tells me to do something. I back talk. I realize what I did was wrong. I confess the attitude of pride and anger to God and ask him to forgive me and to make things right between us. Then I go and ask forgiveness from Mom and tell her I'm sorry. Sometimes it's just between you and God.

According to Jesus, what did he want the other disciples to do after he had finished washing their feet? For them to wash each other's feet.

Is Jesus speaking literally or figuratively? Yo. Yes and No. Jesus wants us to serve one another. If it means washing each other's feet then we ought to do so. For us in this time and culture it might mean something else.

What might that mean to you, a teenager in the US in 2006? (Have the list read from the beginning of the lesson.)

So we just listed all sorts of things that you can do to serve one another in our time and culture. What are you going to do about it?

Application: Where the rubber meets the road.

Practice repentance. If you are a child of God, a believer in Jesus Christ, you need to repent. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you sin in your heart. Read Psalm 139:23-24 Confess, repent. Move on. Repeat as necessary. Seek out help to overcome your areas of weakness: anger, pride, lust, selfishness, laziness, negative thoughts, gossip, hateful words, hardheartedness.

Serve one another. Volunteer at church, at youth group, at home. Do the things that no one else wants to do. Do the things that need to be done so that other people don't need to worry about it.

Let's pray for God to help us learn how to repent and how to serve.

Thursday Night Fellowship July 13, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship

July 13, 2006

Study of John

Order

1. Food and fellowship

2. Games

3. Stewardship Devotional

4. Lesson

5. Prayer

6. Leave

Introductory Stories

1. Oprah Winfrey and A Million Little Pieces

2. Emily Dickinson's Poem

Fame is a fickle food (1659) by Emily Dickinson

Fame is a fickle food
Upon a shifting plate
Whose table once a
Guest but not
The second time is set.

Whose crumbs the crows inspect
And with ironic caw
Flap past it to the Farmer's Corn –
Men eat of it and die.

Our Passage: John 12:12-19, Luke 19:28-40

Recap:

Jesus comes into Jerusalem during Passover. People cheer and wave palm branches and hail the King of Israel. The disciples are confused. The Pharisees are sarcastic.

When they say King of Israel what were they expecting?

They were expecting Jesus to come take over Israel and blast away the Romans. Something didn't fit quite right though. If you were expecting a king, what animal do you think he'd be riding? A horse.

Here's a picture of the President's Limo (show picture). Read description of President's Limo. If the president's motorcade was proceeding down the street with cop cars, motorcycles, fanfare, and then at the end you see a 98 blue dodge neon, with the president waving out the sunroof, you'd think something was out of place.

What was Jesus riding? Why was Jesus riding a donkey?

• To fulfill OT prophecy (Psalm 118:25-26; Zephaniah 3:15)

• To show his humility Zech (9:10)

• To symbolize peace

If Jesus was coming to conquer the Romans he would have rode a horse to symbolize war. Where in the Bible does Jesus come riding a horse? Revelation – when Jesus comes to finish taking over and wipe out his enemies. In John 12 Jesus has come to make peace. He makes peace between God and man through His sacrifice and not through the sword. Later he will bring his sword.

What's up with waving palm branches? Turn to 2 Maccabees 10:7....just kidding. The Maccabees are a apocryphal book that wasn't included in the protestant Bible. While it contains truth it is not Scripture. The Maccabees talk about when Judas Maccabeus cleansed the temple in the inter-testamental period. When he came into Jerusalem his followers waved palm branches to signify his victory.

We have three types of people:

1. Disciples

2. Crowds

3. Pharisees

Tell me something about each of them and if they are following Jesus or not:

1. Disciples: confused, following Jesus

2. Crowds: excited, following Jesus

3. Pharisees: angry, not following Jesus

The disciples and the crowds are following Jesus. That leaves the small group of the Pharisees left not following Jesus. It did look like the whole world was following Jesus. But what was that same crowd shouting just a few days later? Crucify Him!

What can we learn from these three people?

1. Disciples -they didn't quite understand the what was happening, but later did. They remained faithful and later understood why things happened like they did. We too may be in situations which don't make sense to us, but we can know that Jesus knows what's going on and he will do what is best. We can trust Jesus during times of uncertainty.

2. Crowds – The crowds praised Jesus with one voice and gave him the glory due to him. Let us as a youth group speak and live in such a way that praises Jesus and gives him glory. We can also learn about the fickleness of the crowd. Sometimes it's easy to follow Jesus when it's popular, but when it's difficult will you remain committed? Don't be a casual follower of Jesus Christ, because you could suddenly realize one day that you are on the wrong side.

3. Pharisees – Are you a skeptic or an unbeliever? See that Jesus fulfilled prophecy from hundreds of years ago. He did not rebuke the people for calling him the King of Israel, he who comes in the name of the Lord. Believe Jesus is who he says and demonstrates that he is.

Next week:

Read John 12:20-50 twice next week and see if you can figure out what Jesus is saying to the Greeks.

Prepare for Next Thursday

For next week's youth group please read John 12 three times and write down a summary of what is going on as best as you can understand. Also see if you can figure out which Mary was the Mary who poured oil on Jesus' feet.

Thursday Night Fellowship July 6 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship

July 6, 2006

Study of John

Order:

1. Food and Fellowship

2. Games

3. Lesson

4. Prayer

Introduction Theme-Lavishness:

Expensive Car

Expensive Dog Bowl

Expensive Toilet

Expensive Shoes

Read our passage together John 12:1-11

Who are the main characters?

Recap – Give me the shortest summary you can.

Jesus is at a dinner. Mary pours some expensive perfume on Jesus feet and wipes it with her hair. Judas reproaches her. Jesus reproaches Judas. Jesus praises Mary.

How much did the perfume cost? 300 denarii. One denarius=one day's way. Approx. a whole years salary. Yikes! Show picture of Clive's Perfume. If I came in here with this $2000 bottle of perfume, broke it and poured it out onto Alison's feet and then wiped it off with my hair, I think you would be a bit confused. What a waste! What could I have done with $2000? Lots of things. I could have fed a whole family for a few months on that and now it's just smelling up the carpet in this 200 year old building.

What can we learn from Judas?

Judas feigned concern for the poor, but really was interested in his own gain. While we can't judge others motives we surely can know the times when we play religious to better ourselves.

Be careful not to judge someone else's lavishness towards God. Let them give to God in their way and let God deal with their with hearts.

What can we learn from Mary?

She was willing to sacrifice so much. What are you willing to sacrifice? Time, money, inconvenience, security, fame, power, relationships, self-image?

What can we learn from Jesus?

Does Jesus care about the poor? Yes.

Should we as Christians fight to end poverty? Should we help people in poverty? Proverbs 14:31

Jesus is pleased by our acts of sacrifice, love, and commitment. He sees the big things and the little things we do and is happy.

What can we learn from Lazarus?

People wanted to kill Lazarus because of his testimony. We too may experience different levels of persecution because of our affiliation with Christ. II Timothy 3:12

Next Week: Read John 12 three times and write down a summary of what's going on as much as you can understand.

4th Week

This week is "4th" week at youth group. Come prepared to play some games and have a good time. (Dinner is not provided this time.) Our study of the gospel of John will resume the following Thursday.

Movie Night - June 11, 2006

We're having a movie night June 11, 2006, 7 PM at the Wassers. Bring a snack and come to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Preparation for TNF

Please be reading John 8:31-36 for this Thursday night. Think about the following two questions:

1. What is the truth Jesus is talking about?
2. What is the freedom Jesus is talking about?
   

We'll see you Thursday Night.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Stepheny Petitte and Andrew Davis on their recent graduations! Andrew Davis graduated from Chattanooga Christian School, and Stepheny Petitte graduated from Rhea County High school. Both Andrew and Stepheny are planning on going to Bryan College this fall. We wish them well as they transition to the next stage of their life.

4th Week

This week at youth group is a fourth week: games, food, fellowship, and games. Yes you read that right. We'll see you Thursday night.

Directions to the Raburns Property

North on 27 to the plant place

Left & go a half mile. When road forks, bear right.

Go 1 mile to a 4 way stop. At 4 way stop you're at the base of Evensville mtn & there's a rodeo there.

Take a left up the mountain.

Go to the top of the mountain (there's a cellphone tower). Bear right at that fork.

Go 4.6 miles & take a right at pine creek road (gravel). ½ mile to gate on left.

Cell phones:

Dawn 309-4498

Wayne 309-4837

More on the Da Vinci Code

Today at youth group we took a quick look at Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code. This book has become a best-seller across the world and tomorrow debuts as The Da Vinci Code the movie. The movie's tagline is "Seek the Truth." As we saw tonight in the short video clip by Lee Strobel, the truth is that this fictional book touted and accepted as mostly true is in fact false. We as Christians need to take advantage of this opportunity to study the history of our faith more so that we can accurately give a defense (apologetic) for what we believe. (See 1 Peter 3:15)

If you're interested in learning more about The Da Vinci Code here are some resources that might interest you:

• Lee Strobel's Website
• Midday Connection's Interview with Lee Strobel Part 1 (we listened to part of this tonight)
• Midday Connection's Interview with Lee Strobel Part 2
• Moody's Website on the Controversy
  

Camping Trip Documents

Here's the forms for the camping trip:

Camping Trip Information

Consent Form (Due Thursday May 18, 2006)

TNF - May 11, 2006 Lesson Notes

Thursday Night Fellowship

May 11, 2006

Study of the Gospel of John

Introductory Questions

1. How many of you have never been camping before?

2. How many of you have ever had a communion craving (spiritual or physical)?

3. Have you ever had a time when you missed an opportunity because of different reasons?

Studying John 6

Last week we studied John 6 where Jesus walked on water and specifically how Jesus meets us in our dire straits and can bring us through. We had a good time of prayer together praying for one another at a time when many of us were going through difficult times. Tonight we will be looking at John 6:22-71. Jesus has some tough things to say. Let's see what we can glean tonight. Turn to John 6:22.

Recall first that John 6:1-15 Jesus had fed the multitudes with just a few loaves of bread and some fish.

6:22-26

Here we see the people find out Jesus is missing and then go to follow him to where he went. What possible motives could these people have in following Jesus?

Sometimes we may not have all the right motives in following Jesus or doing spiritual things, but Jesus doesn't turn us away.

6:27

Jesus engages the people to get them to see past the mere physical needs of bread and food.

Often times our eyes are so dull that we can't see past the physical realm of our daily routine. Jesus makes opportunities to point out the eternal things to us through our circumstances, the Word, the Spirit, and other people (not necessarily believers).

6:28-34

The people just don't seem to be getting it do they. They seem to be slow to understand what Jesus is saying. What do you think Jesus is saying? If you were there would you have understood what Jesus was saying?

6:35-42

Unless the Father draws us, we won't even want to come. If he does draw us, we better come. We may not have another chance. If we were there at that time, we would have been able to understand at some level if the Father were drawing us to His Son.

6:43-52

What is Jesus talking about?

We can know now that Jesus is speaking about what we call communion. He was speaking to them on a different level, a spiritual level, but the people were not understanding.

Jesus still offers the bread of life to us today. Have you partaken?

Initially – salvation (justification)

Continually – communion (both physical and spiritual)

Jesus is speaking allegorically (define:allegory). The bread represents his body; the wine represents his blood.

Bread = life

No bread, no life

If I want to live I must eat bread, otherwise I will starve to death. Jesus' body and blood nourishes my soul unto eternal life.

6:53-59

Is Jesus talking about cannibalism here? Cannibalism was considered a very bad thing in Jewish culture (as in most). No. Jesus offers himself as the bread of eternal life. If we don't ingest him into our souls, we will die.

6:60-66

“This is hard to understand.” Read verse 60 in different versions.

It is the Spirit of God that gives eternal life. Without the Spirit's work in our hearts we cannot understand Jesus' call to eat his flesh and drink his blood.

If you don't understand why God is asking you to do something or allowing something to happen, don't give up. Don't walk away from Him like these disciples did. Seek and you will find. If you walk away from Jesus where else can you go for answers.

6:67-71

Peter understands that there is no where else to go in his bold proclamation in verses 68-69. These two verses are some of my favorites in the whole Bible. I know Peter couldn't have understood that Jesus was talking about the Lord's supper (communion), but at some level the Father was drawing Peter to Himself, and the Holy Spirit was revealing the words of Jesus to Peter, and Peter responded. My paraphrase: “If we leave you, where else can we go? I don't understand all the things you are teaching us, but I know that you speak the truth. And the words you speak give eternal life because you are the Holy One of God.”

I only hope that I would have been so bold to speak up like Peter and tell it how it is. Many disciples left Jesus because of his teaching here that day. How many more might have left if Peter didn't speak up.

There will be times in your life when you have the opportunity to open your mouth and speak the truth. You may be afraid of what people will think of you. Pray for courage and speak boldly. The consequences of not speaking may be worse than speaking, and you may not get another chance.

Let's Pray.

View the Presentation

False Posts

I'm sorry I keep posting tech news on the youth group website. I keep pushing the wrong button. I'll keep a better eye on those things.

Youth Group Announcement

We will be having a youth group camping night at the Raburn's cabin May 19th-20th. More details will be given soon. Please talk with your parents about this now so that you can reserve the date.

Youth Group Announcement: Ladies Only

Service Project for the Women's Care Center

When? Sunday, May 7^th 2pm 'til whenever (a few hours)

Who? All youth group girls & their moms are invited

Where? Meet at the care center

What? Organizing, counting, and receipting the baby bottle fundraiser

Updated Philippines Blog

I have updated the Philippines blog that I created for my missions trip with some pictures and some videos that you might enjoy.

4th Week

We will be having a 4th week this week at youth group. Please come hungry because dinner will be provided. We will also have some games and some live music. We'll see you Thursday night at 6:45 PM at WPC (no "a").

BetaNews | Microsoft Sends Windows Live to College

BetaNews | Microsoft Sends Windows Live to College

Microsoft is playing friendly to universities and colleges by offering free hosted email for their students. Google is also offering the same type of program. These companies and others realize the potential of getting into the culture of college students. If their brand and products are accepted as standard during their college years, they will expect the same standard when they arrive in the workplace where these companies really make their money.

Thursday Night Fellowship Lesson Notes - April 20, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship

April 20, 2006

Order

1. Food and Fellowship

2. Testify Drama

3. Games

4. Lesson

5. Prayer

Thoughts on Easter Sunday Church Service (mandolin, guitar, choir, etc.)

Thoughts on tonight's drama presentation (good, bad, indifferent)

There are many ways in which the gospel can be shared. Some ways are more effective with different people and in different settings. Some people like to worship God through thinking, others singing, still others in enjoying God's creation. Often times we limit worship to singing during church on Sunday, but there are many ways to worship the Lord. Psalm 19 tells us the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. The very mountains and clouds give glory to God because they are exactly what God created them to be.

Let's check out the passage from the drama tonight. Turn to Mark 5:1-20.

Do you believe in demons? Have you ever met any demon-possessed people?

A legion in the Roman army was 5,000 infantrymen.

What can we see from this passage about Jesus?

He has power and authority over all evil beings (vs. 13)

He has the power to enable you to resist the devil, his minions, and their evil schemes against us.

Jesus has the power to break our bondage to sin, both positionally and experientially.

What can we see from this passage about the demoniac?

Verse 18 – Jesus tells the man to go tell others about what Jesus has done for him and he obeys. We too should be telling others how Jesus has set us free. If you don't know if Jesus has set you free or what he has set you free from, then you should spend some time thinking about it. If you don't know, how can you tell others. 1 Peter 3:15-16 tells us to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us. Translated: always be ready to tell others what God has done for you. Your testimony sometimes is greatest apologetic defense you can give.

Next week: 4^th week. Come hungry.

A Special Drama

We will be having some special guests tomorrow night at Youth Group: Testify. Testify is a new Bryan College Practical Christian Involvement (PCI) ministry utilizing drama and mime to share the gospel.

A Thought from Today's Our Daily Bread

Here is a quote from my reading of today's devotional from Our Daily Bread.

"The gospel is sent to break hard hearts and heal the broken ones."

Thank the Lord today if the gospel has broken your hard heart and healed your broken heart. Pray for those you know whose hearts need to be broken. I also encourage you to check out Our Daily Bread if you currently do not have a devotional plan. It has a short passage, thought, poem, and anecdote for every day. In addition it has a Bible in One Year plan if you would like to take the next step and read a few chapters of the Bible each day.

YMCA Gym Night

Thanks to the youth and youth leaders who were able to come and coordinate the YMCA Family Gym Night on Saturday. I know we didn't have a whole lot of people come, but it was still a great success. I hope you all had a good time playing and leading the games. This was a great opportunity for us to serve the body of Christ in a practical way. We will continue to look for more ways that the youth group can serve and lead in our church and community. If you have any ideas for us, please feel free to share them with the youth leaders.

Thursday Night Fellowship Lesson Notes April 6, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship

Study of the Gospel of John

April 6, 2006

Order

• Snack and Fellowship

• Games

• Drama

• Lesson

• Video

• Prayer

Discussion Questions

1. What are some of the best excuses you have given to your parents?

2. From what you can remember of the four gospels, can you remember Jesus ever healing somebody who didn't want to be healed?

Drama Reading of John 5:1-9

Parts

• narrator

• blind person

• deaf person

• paralyzed person

• Jesus

Let's read John 5:1-6 and then we'll look at it.

May I have volunteers to read verse four in their different versions. It is true that some version do not have a John 5:4. What does this mean?

So were these sick people waiting to be healed or were they there just to beg or hang out?

Verse 7 tells us that they were there to get healed according to the response of the lame man.

So our main character here has been sick for 38 years. That is a long time to be sick. According to our passage Jesus sees the man and knows how long he has been sick. He asks the lame man, “Would you like to get well?”

Why does Jesus even ask the question? Isn't it obvious that the guy is lame?

There is a scene from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves where the Sheriff of Nottingham walks briskly into the witch's room, picks up the knife and starts stabbing the table. The witch replies, “Something vexes thee?” This is an example of understatement.

Was Jesus understating here when he asks the lame man if he would like to get well? I don't think so. Why doesn't Jesus just heal the man? Does Jesus ever heal people without their consent or desire?

You may have heard of the popular phrase, “God helps those who help themselves.” This isn't a true statement. Here is a true statement of Jesus: “Only the sick need a physician.”

The wise God-man knows that people must first acknowledge their need of divine intervention. A man who doesn't think he needs help will not accept it.

Salvation is a form of healing. Salvation is not merely fire insurance, but is a continual process of being healed by the Great Physician from emotion, physical and spiritual trauma that others and ourselves have afflicted upon us. Sometimes the effects of these wounds are very visible, but other times the pain is hidden deep within our souls and only manifests itself subconsciously through our behavior.

Turn to Isaiah 61:1-4

God promises to redeem us, to bring freedom, comfort, and good news. He promises to restore beauty and praise. He promises to rebuild broken lives and families.

Turn back to John 5

Look at the paralytic's response. Does he answer Jesus' question? No. He only gives excuses for why he is not well.

So let's break this down so we can draw some application from this.

How does the paralytic interact with Jesus:

• Makes excuses and dodges truth vs 7

• Obeys Jesus vs 7

We oftentimes respond with excuses when Jesus engages us instead of responding truthfully to him, but Jesus is faithful. He gives us second chances. The lame men then responds in obedience to Jesus' command to get up and walk. We too can respond to obedience to the word of the Lord even if we haven't in the past.

How does Jesus interact with the paralytic:

• Prompts the man with an engaging question to reveal his heart (vs. 6)

• brings physical healing(vs. 8)

• Gives words of truth of warning against sin and judgment (vs. 14)

Jesus knows how to speak to us exactly what we need to hear to move us to where we need to go. Not only that but Jesus does still perform miracles today. He still heals and redeems. But just like Jesus had more concern for this man beyond his physical healing, he also is very concerned with how we live our lives. He wants us to love him and to obey him. He will come again to judge both the living and the dead. We must live in the light of this truth.

Read John 5

We will be studying John 5 tomorrow night. Be sure to look it over before we meet together for Thursday night fellowship. Here's a question to think about: why does Jesus ask the paralytic if he wants to get well?

Remember:
Satuday Night Family Gym Night at the Dayton YMCA 6:30-9:30 PM
Youth arrive at 6:15 PM to help setup

Announcements

March 23rd - 4th Week - Return of the Fellowship of the Two Towers

March 31st

• Guys game night - Times to be announced
• Ladies slumber party - Times to be announced
  

April 8th - Church Gym night at the Dayton YMCA sponsored by the youth group
We will organize the games and plan the evening for the entire church.

Home School Publication Announcement

Nathan Johnson announced a forthcoming home school student publication that will be published monthly via email. The paper will cover sports, current events, politics, poetry, fashion, entertainment, and various other articles. For more information send Nathan an email.

In the Philippines

I'm in the Philippines! It's very good to be here and helping out the local missionaries. It provides such a fresh perspective on what it means to give oneself wholly to the Lord. I've started a new blog for my trip if you're interested at http://bfcphilippines.blogspot.com/.

Thursday Night Fellowship - February 23, 2006

Tonight we had a fouth week with Papa John's pizza and lots of games. We played around the world ping pong, the "dice game", and pew beach volleyball. We added a little change the the pew beach volleyball by adding "ushers" who acted like goalies. We had a great time hanging out, talking, and playing games together. Thanks to everyone who came out.

No Youth Group Tonight

We are cancelling youth group tonight due to sickness. A few of us are sick and instead of spreading it around some more we'll just take a night off. We will resume youth group next Thursday night.

February Announcements

Youth Events

Saturday, Feb 11^th Jessica Baskin's 13^th birthday party! All youth families are invited for ultimate frisbee at Bryan College soccer field at 3pm. 6 pm we'll head back to the Baskin's house for a cookout. Bring a side dish or dessert and a drink.

Thursday, Feb 16^th Parent's Night. All youth parents are invited to come and participate in our lesson on John and our game. This will be an opportunity to get to know Adam & Kristi Dyer better. They have joined us as youth leaders. You won't want to miss this night! Please bring a snack to share. (no under-age siblings please)

Friday, Feb 17^th Guys' & Girls' night.

• Guys will meet at the Dyer's home for games from 7-10pm. Bring a snack & a game.

• Girls will meet at the Wasser's home for a slumber party starting at 7pm. Please pick up your youth at 9 am (or I might put her to work!). Bring your sleeping bag, pillow, your favorite game, and a snack to share. We will have snacks on Friday night and breakfast in the morning. This will be a great time of fellowship!

Thursday, Feb 23^rd Fourth Week. Game night. Dinner will be provided.

TNF - February 2, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship
February 2, 2006


Play John Video Chapters 1-2

Introductory Questions
What year was Jesus born?

Possibly 3 B.C. The Jewish leader in our passage tonight said it took 46 years to build the temple. According to the history books this temple was started in 19 B.C. Which would put the completion date at 27 A.D. There is discussion on whether or not Jesus cleared out the temple at the beginning of his three year ministry or at the end.



What was the historical context? What was the big deal?

Passover – annual celebration held in Jerusalem, began with Moses and the 10th plague in Egypt

People would travel from their homes to Jerusalem during the Passover celebration. Part of the Passover celebration was the sacrificial lamb. Most families may not have been able to transport their animal all the way from home to Jerusalem. So these smart businessmen created a store where you could purchase your animal sacrifice, that is if you had the right currency (they didn't accept the Roman Express credit card). So they setup a partnership with the money changers. The money changers would take the people's money and give them the local currency minus a fee. Basically these businessmen were making profit off of the people who had travelled days to worship the Lord and participate in the Passover celebration. They weren't merely making a profit they were extorting the people and hindering their ability to worship the Lord. Does this sound bad to you? Bad enough to make a whip and start tearing up the place?

Here's what the situation might look like today:
You walk in to church next Sunday and you see people out front with hymnals for rent for the service. It costs $10 a hymnal for one church service. Then next to him there's a guy selling subscriptions to the church bulletin. It's $25 a month for one bulletin a week. It's $35 a month for two bulletins a week. I guess people will learn to share. When you get inside you see the pews are roped off. There's a lady standing in the narthex selling tickets for pew seats. $5 a person, $10 a couple, or $35 for a family pass. Children two and under can sit for free on a parent's lap. So now that you finally have your seat, bulletin, and your hymnal it's time for the offering. One of the men of the church get's up to pray, but there are no offering plates to pass out. You look down and see an ATM machine has been installed in the pew in front of you. You slide your ATM card and make your offering; of course there is a $2.50 fee for using the WPC ATM machines. So it could cost you up to $70 to come to church each week and another $2.50 if you give an offering. Something has gone wrong. I think people would stop coming to Westminster after the first week. Someone would probably eventually start getting upset. Maybe Dr. Masoner would come back from California to visit, see what's happening, and bust in throwing the pews all over the place!

Let's look at how Jesus related to the people in this passage.
First Jesus encountered the merchants, moneychangers, and the Jewish leaders. Jesus didn't deal too kindly with these people. Have you ever seen Jesus deal harshly or violently with anyone you know? Maybe even yourself? Sometimes for the sake of God's own glory and for the sake of his own children God will act in harsh ways. Sometimes we can be so steeped in sin that we need a wake up call from God. Jesus will do that because he loves us, but more importantly his name is at stake. Don't mess with God's children. Don't hinder them from serving the Lord.

* Sometimes Jesus doesn't act the way we think he will or should. We cannot understand him completely, but he will do what is best.
* Jesus' highest concern is for his own glory, as should be ours. (Our highest concern for be for Jesus's own glory.)
* Sometimes Jesus will use extreme measures to chastise us if our hearts become so hardened.
* We should be careful not to reject the words of Jesus when we don't understand them or if it doesn't make sense. We must all submit to Jesus' word as the final authority in our lives.


How does Jesus deal with the crowds of people in the last two verses of this chapter?
He doesn't entrust himself to them. They are all excited about these miracles, but yet Jesus doesn't trust them. Why? Because he knows how fickle people can be.

* Jesus knows what is in our hearts. He loves us in spite of and because of who we are.
* Jesus knew when not to trust people. It took great wisdom. These people believed in Jesus, but they had their own plans in mind. We too should be careful of whom we trust. Be wary of those who flatter and may want to use you for their own selfish purposes. Choose your friends carefully. Pray about your relationships.

Action Point:
Read John 3 thrice this week.
Spend some time this week praying about your friendships.

TNF - January 26, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship
January 26, 2006
Study of John


Introductory Questions
1. How many of you told your parents and a friend about Jesus in the last two weeks?
2. Has your mom ever asked you to do something that you didn't want to do?
3. What are some concepts about God that aren't clear to you or difficult to understand?
4. Which of these words describe Jesus?
- Loving, caring, meek, mild, divisive, confrontational, harsh, violent, passionate, purposeful, critical, gentle, name-calling, powerful, handsome, alive, loves to party, had to burp occasionally

Our Purpose for Studying John? To know Jesus better. To move Jesus from the Sunday school two-dimensional flannel graph figure to the God-man who lives and loves people like us.

Let's read our passage of John 2:1-12.

Let's list the main people in this passage:
* Jesus
* Jesus' mother
* Jesus' disciples

Will someone please summarize the story for us?

How does verse 2:4 sound to you? Let's read that in some different versions. To be honest, I have a hard time understanding why Jesus says this. What do you think he does?

Jesus' mother may have been being motherly and telling Jesus what to do. She knew that Jesus could have done something and so she told her son what to do. Well Jesus is more than just the son of Mary, he is the son of God the Father, and Jesus always does the will of the Father. While it was God's will that Jesus turn water into wine, Jesus may have been demonstrating to his mother that he will act according to the Holy Spirit.

The other option may be that Jesus didn't know that he was supposed to turn the water into wine and later the Holy Spirit revealed it to him. The story happens rather quickly in John 2, but it may not have happened that quickly at the celebration. Weddings were long and huge events back then. This is a harder explanation to understand, but at least we can ponder about it.

The focus of our study through John is on the relationships Jesus has with people. We want to look at how Jesus relates to people and how those people relate to Jesus. From these observations we can draw applications as to how Jesus relates to us and how we ought to relate to him.

First we can look at Jesus and his mother.
Mary believed that Jesus could do something about the problem of no wine, so she took the problem to him. In the same way we have problems in our lives that we can take to Jesus. In this passage the “problem” wasn't life-threatening, yet it concerned Mary. Likewise we may have concerns in our lives that aren't “huge” to others, but are still important to us. My pet worm may be sick and you don't care; but if it's important to me, it's important to Jesus, and he can do something about it.

How about how Jesus relates to Mary? It seems a bit harsh; it seems as if Jesus doesn't care. Have you ever had times when you felt like Jesus doesn't care about your concerns. We can see that He really does care, but sometimes our perceptions or motivations are incorrect. We can trust Jesus that He knows what is best and will do it. 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

Here's a tough question: Who did Jesus perform this miracle for?
See verse 11. Jesus turned the water into wine primarily for his disciples benefit. Although Jesus did turn water into wine for his mother, the party attendees, the bridegroom, even for Himself, His purpose was to reveal his glory to His disciples. Why did he reveal his glory his glory to his disciples? So that they would believe in Him. Did Jesus accomplish his purpose? Yes. Jesus always accomplishes his purpose.

What's a purpose Jesus has for you? Here's one of my favorites: Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Jesus promised to finished what He started in me. That is, he saved me, he will continue to save me, and he will ultimately save me and bring me to heaven where I will finally be like him.

Jesus reveals himself (his glory) to us so that we may believe in him more. How many of you hear are Jesus' disciples? All of you who put your faith in Jesus are his disciples. He wants you to believe in Him more. How will he do that? He will reveal himself to you through various ways, sometimes even miraculous ways.

Action Point:
* Read John 2:13-25 twice this week.
* Tell one parent and one friend about Jesus this week.

Coming Up Next Week

We will be talking about John 2 this week at youth group. Since we had a fourth week last time, you were graced with two weeks to do your "homework." Have you been able to tell your parent(s) about Jesus? How about a friend? Just tell them something you learned or something you already know about Jesus. Don't forget to read John 2 a couple of times before Thursday night.

P.S. How was last week's fourth week? What did you guys do?

TNF - January 12, 2006

Thursday Night Fellowship
January 12, 2006
Study of John

Order
1.Food and Fellowship
2.Games
3.Announcements
4.Lesson
5.Prayer

Announcements:
Youth Group Game Night
Blog www.freewebs.com/wpcayouth

Introduction
Play clip from Hell's Best Kept Secret (see http://www.livingwaters.com/learn/hellsbestkeptsecret.htm)

Lesson
We are resuming our study of the gospel of John. We are focusing on Jesus and how he relates to people he encounters.

Let's read our passage for tonight: John 1:35-51.

List all of the people mentioned in this passage:
Jesus
John the Baptist
Andrew
the other disciple (possibly John himself)
Peter
Philip
Nathanael
God
Joseph
God the Father

Now let's list all of the titles given to Jesus in this passage. This will show us more about who Jesus is.
Lamb of God – Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, the final Passover Lamb
Rabbi – means teacher
Messiah/Christ - “promised one” - think King
Son of Joseph (Perhaps Andrew didn't have all his facts straight.)
Son of God – has same status as God the Father
King of Israel – the promised King from the line of David
Son of Man - (Daniel 7:13-14)

Now let's look how the people in this story respond to Jesus.
First we have John the Baptist. He points to Jesus and tells his disciples that this is Jesus the Lamb of God. What is the result? Two of his disciples leave John the Baptist and follow Jesus. These two men must have been following John the Baptist for awhile and learning from him about this coming Messiah. He presented the truth to his disciples and then pointed them to Jesus. Their response was to follow Jesus and become his disciples.

Andrew is one of the guys who now becomes Jesus' disciple. According to this passage what was the first thing he did? He went and told his brother Simon about Jesus. Simon then listens to his brother and then comes to follow Jesus.

The next day Jesus and his three disciples go to Bethsaida. There Jesus finds Philip and tells him to follow him. Philip must have known who Jesus was to simply follow Jesus. If a man came up to me on a street and told me to leave my family, job, and home to follow him around, I wouldn't do it.

What does Philip do? He goes to find his friend Nathanael and tells him about Jesus. Nathanael is a bit skeptical of Philip's testimony of who Jesus is, but he comes anyway. Jesus already knows who Nathanael is. In fact he knew right where Nathanael was when Philip found him. This amazing sign is enough to prove to Nathanael that Jesus is the Son of God and the King of Israel.

What application(s) can we draw from this passage from the things we just covered? We have John the Baptist telling his two disciples about Jesus and they follow Jesus. We have Andrew telling Simon about Jesus and Simon follows Jesus. We have Philip telling Nathanael about Jesus and Nathanael believes and follows Jesus.

We need to be telling people about Jesus. Sometimes it takes a few words like Andrew with Simon. Sometimes it takes a bit more “convincing” or dialoguing like it did with Philip and Nathanael. Sometimes it takes a daily relationship with people telling them more and more about who Jesus is so that they will follow him. The point for us is that we need to be telling people about Jesus. Here's a question for thought: who was the last person you you talked with about Jesus? How long ago was that?

What is it that I am talking about? Evangelism. Someone please give us a simple definition of evangelism? Telling others about Jesus, specifically unbelievers. What's another word for it that Christians sometimes use? Witnessing.

It's not just unbelievers though. If we were to compare the people with what we experience, Nathanael would be an “unbeliever” but a truth-seeker. Simon could be compared to an unbeliever. However Andrew and the other disciple were already believers. They were just waiting for Jesus to come along. We could compare them to church people. The point is that we need to be telling people about Jesus, believers and unbelievers. Often times we are scared to talk to unbelievers about Jesus and how they need him. Often times we don't even know how. I have found that as a Christian I have a hard time telling other Christians about Jesus. It's uncomfortable. I wonder what they will think of me.

How can we tell others about Jesus? Here's an easy way: just tell them what Jesus has done for you and what he's been doing for you lately. Of course this assumes that we know who Jesus is in the first place. Hopefully through this study we will know more and more about who Jesus is, not merely what he did for us.

How does Jesus relate to the people in this passage?
He welcomes Andrew and the other disciple to follow him. He does not test them or initiate them. He simply welcomes them to follow him and even to stay with him.
What does that mean for me? He welcomes me when I choose to follow him. He allows me to be his friend.

Jesus speaks words of encouragement to Simon and renames him Cephas or Peter which means rock. Simon Peter was at times very wishy-washy. For Jesus to rename him Rock must have really meant a lot to Peter. Jesus knew what Peter was really like and that he would struggle in many ways, but Jesus also knew what was in his heart and what he would become.

What does this mean for me? Jesus speaks words of encouragement to me through his Holy Spirit, through the Word. He knows what's in my heart and sees what I will become someday. He has great plans for me.

Jesus dealt with each of these disciples uniquely. In particularly with Nathanael, he knew that Nathanael was a truth-seeker. He didn't understand everything, but he was willing to trust and to understand. So Jesus meets his need for a sign by telling Nathanael that he knew exactly where he was.

Jesus deals with me uniquely as well. He knows my heart. He knows that sometimes I doubt and need grace to believe and to follow Jesus. He knows and meets my individual needs.

Summary
We saw how Jesus related to these disciples in this passage on an individual basis meeting them right where they were to bring them where they needed to be. In turn these men told others about Jesus so that they can meet him and follow him as well. Let's make it our goal this week to know Jesus more by spending time with him and telling others about him.

Action Point
Read John chapter 2 three times this week.
Tell one parent about Jesus tonight.*
Tell one friend about Jesus this week.*

* This could be something you learned tonight or just something you know about Jesus.

Telling People about Jesus

Tonight we read through John 1:35-51 and discussed how John the Baptist, Andrew, and Philip told people they knew about Jesus. One of our goals this week is to read John chapter 2 three times this week (to get to know Jesus better). We also set a goal to tell one parent about Jesus tonight (Thursday) and to tell one friend about Jesus this week.

How did it go? Leave a comment on the blog and share with us how it went.

Youth Group Game Night...Revised

Updated:

The youth group game night will be combined at the Wasser's house tomorrow. Same time. If you need directions give us a call.

Youth Group Game Night

We're having a youth group game night this Friday, January 13, from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM.

The guys will be meeting at the Wassers' house and the ladies will be meeting at the Dyers' house.

Bring a snack.

For more information send us an email.

TNF Lesson Notes - January 5th, 2005

Thursday Night Fellowship
January 5, 2005

Introduction
So let's talk about everyone's Christmas. How was it?

Let's do this differently. We're going to communicate differently tonight. It has become apparent to the youth leaders that we aren't communicating well as a youth group. So our “activity” tonight will be to talk together about our Christmas in a more purposeful way.

I'll start us off by asking one specific person to tell us one aspect about their Christmas. This person will share about a special gift they received, a special gift they gave, or some other Christmas memory. When that person is done they will ask someone else to tell us about their Christmas. Here's how we are going to do it. When I ask someone, I want to communicate to that person that I am listening and care about what they say. So I will look them in the eyes, listen attentively, show interest with my eyes and by nodding my head. I will not interrupt, but will wait until they finish if I have a question. When it is your turn to ask, you should do the same.

When it is your turn to answer the question be courteous to those of us who are listening. Don't go on and on embellishing your story unnecessarily. We want to hear what you have to say, but it's not all about you.

The Forums and Communication

Often times when we talk to people we are too concerned with what we will say next than what the other person is saying. Or we try to draw attention to ourselves by what we say or the way we say it. This isn't how we ought to be. These types of attitudes stem from our proud hearts that say, “Look at me, I'm important.” “What I have to say is more important than me listening to you.” When I wrote this last night I thought about how we would handle our “activity” tonight and if we would be able to actually listen to one another. I even wondered if I would be able to do it. Sometimes I more concerned about saying something funny instead of really listening to what you have to say.

As most of you know we have youth group online forums where we can discuss things online. As most of you also know we shut down the forums today. We have shut down the forums for a number of reasons, and so we'd like to talk about those reasons tonight.

Reasons to take down the forum:
1. The forum is a privilege and has not been used responsibly, therefore we have decided to shut it down.
2. The overarching tone of the forum has been “look at me.”
3. Idle talk, harsh criticism of others
4. Anyone is allowed to post a topic & there are too many topics to be thoroughly monitored.

The forums were originally setup to allow us to communicate as a youth group outside of youth group nights and activities. At first it was slow and we didn't have that many people. We were able to get to know each other better. Then we began to have more people coming online and soon we had many topics with lots of activity. It was really exciting to have everyone jumping in. Unfortunately it seems that it soon became a lot of posts, almost too many. I couldn't keep up with them anymore, nor did I want to. There were too many people writing too many things. We soon needed to intervene with certain posts that were harsh or hurtful. We feel that the forums have gotten out of hand, and we admit that we are also at fault. We have not thought through all the implications of having an online discussion forum with the youth group. In addition we did not invest the time to ensure that the youth of the youth group knew how to communicate with one another in a public setting.

We have seen a lot of things that concern us such as idle talk, harsh criticism, spiteful words, and much of the posts are centered around a “look at me” attitude. People's talk, signatures, and avatars have been more designed around bringing attention to ourselves.

Another problem with the forums is that anyone is allowed to post a topic which has lead us down paths that we didn't intend to go. There are topics and issues that aren't to be dealt with on a public forum. It is inappropriate. There are other venues with which to talk about such issues. Apparently we don't all have that wisdom to discern what is appropriate and what is not.

What are the most common topics? What does this say about who we are?

The Purpose of Music topic under the debate section has 62 posts & 400 views
There are 16 “What are your favorite...” topics.

If an outsider looked at the forum, would he or she know we were Christians? maybe
What's different about this forum than a secular forum? Is there a strong difference. We may have a prayer request forum, but where are we focused according to the numbers? We are focused on general discussion.

Are all of these topics bad? No
Are all of the posts on the forum negative? No
But, there is an over-arching tone of “look at me”, “look what I have”, “look at what I can do”, “I can do ____ better than you”....

There have been good posts that have provided opportunity to discuss certain issues. There have been people who have shared Scripture, the Gospel, wisdom, and encouragement. We appreciate those of you who have done that. People have offered to pray for others & shared the desire to follow the Lord.



Let's look at some verses together about communication and about the heart.

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You know where a person's heart is by what they treasure.

Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Luke 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

We talk about what's most dear to our hearts. Jesus is warning us about our hearts and how they can be filled with things that aren't worthwhile. We can be so concerned about trivial things like movies, video games, entertainment, celebrities, ourselves, that we talk idly about them. Jesus reminds us that we will be judged for every word we speak.

Here are some more verses:
James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

James 3:13-18
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Proverbs 12:18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 14:23 In hard work there is always something gained, but idle talk leads only to poverty.

These verses from James and Proverbs remind us how important it is for us to communicate properly with one another. God has called us to be his holy people and that includes how we talk with one another.

I just think the forums represent that we all have a lot to learn about godly communication. We are far too concerned with our image and about the things of this world that are passing away. These things aren't evil necessarily, but I think our focus is off of what it needs to be.

Where do we go from here?
We have closed the forums, but not the blog. As I have said before I post my lesson notes on the blog every week. The blog as the capability for you to leave comments. If you have a thought or a question then you can post a comment on the blog. This form of communication will be more directed. You can respond to what is written on the blog. Unrelated comments will be deleted. It is our goal that this will help us talk about things that are deeper and more related to our faith and our youth group.

Our goal as a youth group is to grow up in Christ. We as leaders desire to train you and disciple you to be more like Christ. This goes well beyond the study of the word and prayer to our practical daily lives. We live day by day, and it is how we live that glorifies Christ and speaks truth to a needy world. Let's pray.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Years as well. I wonder what 2006 will have in store for us as a youth group and as Westminster Presbyterian Church. I wonder if we'll have our own church building before the end of the year, and maybe even our own youth room. Wouldn't that be nice?

What do you think we should put in our youth room if we have one in our new church building?