Recap 8/24/08

Hey guys! Today's services were awesome! I love when the Word of the Lord is preached with such anointing and power. The Word of God is able to transform our lives and we need to be reading it daily so that God can speak to us through His Word. James 1:25 speaks of someone who "is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts--that person will be blessed in what he does." I don't know about you, but I do not want to be a forgetful hearer. I want to take God's instruction and apply it to my life so that it can change my life, attitude and character. Tonight's message is so vitally important to our relationship with Jesus that I wanted to post the main points here so that we can remember them all throughout this week. The main theme is that Jesus must be Prophet, Priest and King of our lives.

As Prophet:
He convicts us of sin in our lives and calls us to repentance.

As Priest:
He provided our atonement for sin on the cross and is now the mediator of our covenent with God. Because He is our priest, we are able to approach a holy God through the blood of Jesus.

As King:
He is master and Lord over our lives. We must be completely surrendered to Jesus in every area of our lives. We are no longer in control, but we must invite Him to take control and work His will for our lives.

Have a great week!

SHIFT Young Adult Ministry

This past Thursday, the Freedom 7 Young Adults, newly named SHIFT, met to kick-off the ministry for this fall, headed up by Pastor Heath & Hayley. I took a few pictures, so here they are! :)

Brittany, Kayla, & Hayley

Alisha, Mallory, Chelsea, & Monica Jo, Zack, Josh, Josh, & Pastor Heath

Challenge

Tonight we were issued a challenge: Make the sacrifices necessary to go deeper with God so that we will see His promises fulfilled in our own lives and in the youth group. As I was reflecting back on tonight's service, it really got me thinking about what we make sacrifices for. I am reading a book right now by Kelly Minter called No Other Gods. In the book, she talks about how an idol is anything that you make sacrifices to/for, something that controls your life or determines your decisions. By that definition, idolatry can be anything that becomes more important in our life than God. I believe that it also means that worship requires sacrifice, whether it is to a false god or to the True God. We can choose to sacrifice our emotions and purity in a bad relationship, or our time to an unhealthy hobby. Sometimes the object of our worship isn't even a sinful thing, but if it becomes more important in our lives than God, it has just moved into idolatry. Friends, God is the only source of life. He is the only thing that will bring true fulfillment and satisfaction. If we are to worship Him, we will be required to make sacrifices. It may cost us relationships or popularity. We may have to fast some meals or miss hanging out on the weekends so that we can spend time in prayer, but the rewards are worth it. Any other god that we sacrifice to will leave us empty and broken, but our God gives life and joy and eternity in heaven. Tomorrow you will all be going back to school. Know that all of the staff will be praying for you. I hope have a great week.