Bottle Rockets

Rehab Week 3: Group Therapy

This week we re-entered Rehab for a little Group Therapy session. We looked at a group of people in Acts chapter 4 who had completely lost their minds.

All the believers were in one heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. Acts 4:32-35

Can you imagine what the church would look like with NO needy people? It won't happen with the perfect buget or a great program. The only way for this picture of the church to reemurge is for the body of believers to be of one heart and one mind soley focused on Christ. The closer we get to the heart of Jesus the more that the needs of others begin to trump our own wants and desires.

But ultimately, this process ends in us giving. The problem is that we hate to give. Sure we don't mind dropping coins in the offering plate or the occasional gift when when we have a little extra in our wallets, but giving till it hurts is something else. The key is to train our hearts to give. This week we challenged students to begin their training by tackeling a huge need, cereal. We asked the Food Pantry what their biggest need was and they quickly responded, "boxes of cereal." So next week when we walk into the gym our goal is for everyone to bring a box of whatever kind of cereal they eat. It may be a small request, but we are training our hearts so that we can be a people with no needs!

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I don't wanna go to Rehab, no. no. no.

Two weeks ago we launched into a new series called Rehab. As we begin our year diving into the book of Acts, the way the apostles saw the church was much more like a rehab center for addicts than a pretty building with perfect people.

Jake Edwards, one of our awesome volunteers kicked off the series talking about how church is really a place for the sick. It's a place where we are supposed to hear what we need to hear. It's a place where we should act more like shephards to new comers instead of wolves. It's a place where we should give ourselves.

Yesterday, I continued the series talking about how when we are truly rehabbed, we won't be able to be kept quite. Followed the story of Peter and looked at a man who went from being a normal, ordinary person to a leader that was willing to risk his life preaching the Gospel of Jesus.

It's been a really fun series so far. We also shot a little "documentary" called Rehab. You can check it all out on our podcast which is now up and running. Catch up on sermons, watch the videos. All you have to do is click on this link and open itunes. Subscribe for free and enjoy!

 

I don't wanna go to Rehab, no. no. no.

Two weeks ago we launched into a new series called Rehab. As we begin our year diving into the book of Acts, the way the apostles saw the church was much more like a rehab center for addicts than a pretty building with perfect people.

Jake Edwards, one of our awesome volunteers kicked off the series talking about how church is really a place for the sick. It's a place where we are supposed to hear what we need to hear. It's a place where we should act more like shephards to new comers instead of wolves. It's a place where we should give ourselves.

Yesterday, I continued the series talking about how when we are truly rehabbed, we won't be able to be kept quite. Followed the story of Peter and looked at a man who went from being a normal, ordinary person to a leader that was willing to risk his life preaching the Gospel of Jesus.

It's been a really fun series so far. We also shot a little "documentary" called Rehab. You can check it all out on our podcast which is now up and running. Catch up on sermons, watch the videos. All you have to do is click on this link and open itunes. Subscribe for free and enjoy!

 

No bones, just basketball

My new years resolution for basketball is simple this year, don't break anything. So far I'm already doing better than last year. I've played my first game and despite being horribly out of shape and a little sore, I managed to not break a bone. I guess that means I'm off to a good start. It didn't hurt to win the first game by a pretty comfortable margin. Don't worry, if you were thinking I might be the Michael Jordan of Youth Ministry, I assure you, it's all my team!

I hope it's a great season. I'm not the best on the court, but I love the game and I love to play. I had a great time on Sunday. I think it's a great league and can't wait to see what God uses it for in 2011. Here's to another championship!

How can you preach Acts in one week?

Okay, so technically I wasn't charged with preaching all of Acts in one week, but the goal was to some how setup an entire year in which we'll study the book of Acts. At first I thought we'd talk about all the locations, a sort of geography lesson of the early church, but let's face it, no one really loves geography. I thought we could do a character study on the major movers and shakers in the book like Paul and Peter. I thought it might be cool to study Luke, after all he is the author.

But after a few days of brainstorming I knew that God was leading us somewhere else. There was a theme in Acts that he had in mind. There was a central character that He wanted me to talk about and to be honest it scared me to death. I felt like God was asking me to spend one week and talk about the Holy Spirit.

Scripture has some great passages that tell us about the Holy Spirit.

1. He's Holy. It is part of his name after all. He's God. He's divine and a part of the Trinity.
2. He's Spirit. Some translations call Him the Holy Ghost. He isn't physical, but He is very real.
3. He's Omnipresent. Psalms 139:7 says
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”
4. He's Omnipoten. He's all powerful.  Take this verse for example. The Holy Spirit makes a virgin girl pregnant with the Son of God! If that's not power I don't know what it is. Luke 1:35
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
5. He's Omnicient. He knows everything. Our thoughts, feelings and heart. 1 Corinthians 2:10 says,
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.”

If that's who the Holy Spirit is, Jesus tells us what He's here to do in John 16:13,

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”

As we study Acts, we'll see the Holy Spirit show up a lot. In fact, anytime He's spoken of something crazy always seems to happen. Conversions, healings, death and resurection, you never know what to expect with the Holy Spirit. I think that's why we have such a hard time talking about Him. He's unpredictible, he's confusing and honestly a little scary. Teaching on the Spirit is one area where the church ranges from silent to crazy. I can't explain the Holy Spirit, but I don't think I'm supposed to. I believe that while I can't explain what or why He'll do, I know why He's doing it.

All through out Acts we see the Holy Spirit doing one common thing, advancing the Gospel. Every miracle was leading people to Christ. It shouldn't surprise us, that's exactly what Jesus said would happen right before he ascended into heaven.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 1:8

So as we study Acts I hope we slow down every time we see the Spirit moving and I pray that it leads us to not get hung up on this or that, but challenges us to advance the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Looking back at 2010 (don't worry, it's a video, you don't have to read anything)

 

Another notch on the wall

Every year my brother, sister and I would follow Dad down the stairs as he carried tape measure in pencil in hand. One by one we'd stand against the wall so he could mark the top of our head with a line and the date. I loved it. Measuring growth was a way of measuring our lives. I could see the year I passsed my Dad and the year that my brother closed the gap. Some years I grew like a weed and other years it seemed to screeched to a screaming stop.

I think that's one reason I like New Year's so much. It's a chance to slow down and measure the growth. This week at Awake we attempted to look back at 2010 and ask the hard question, how much have we grown? We asked a series of questions to guage what God had done in our lives in the past 12 months, but turned our focus on 2011 and where we hoped to see God move.

Yesterday we focused on one verse, Deuteronomy 6:5, the verse that Jesus called the most important commandment.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength.

We looked at the three ways we are called to love God, with our heart, our soul and our strength. My prayer is that as we enter 2012 we will be able to look back and say in 2011 I loved God with everything that I had.

This pic is my new iphone lock screen. Download and enjoy.