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