Here are the Blogs in the Pastor Nathan - Youth News and Musings category.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
For God so Loved...do you??
Here is the video that I mentioned in the sermon this morning (4/18/10). This is what a popular atheist comedian, Penn Gillette, said about those who share the gospel. This is a 5 minute video that might surprise you. It’s worth watching!
This blog entry is the first of entries connected with my sermon series from the book of John. As i preach through the book I will post a blog with abreviated notes as well as discussion questions for your family worship time or small group discussions. I hope they are a blessing to you as you grow to see and savor Jesus Christ!
~Pastor Nathan
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Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ -- September 27, 2009 - John 1:10-18
The reason I chose to work through the book of John, and my prayer for us as we study this together, is that we see and savor Jesus Christ. Many people know about Jesus but they do not see him. It is what Jesus said in Matt 13:13 “seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Mt 13:13). They may see with their head but not with their heart. They may see portraits of Jesus or hear stories of Jesus but they do not see truth, beauty and the infinite value of Jesus. I also hope that we grow to savor Jesus. Savor means to treasure, cherish, admire, prize and pursue. So to help in that two fold aim, during the course of our study I will be providing you with some resources for your own growth and study. I firmly believe that if you are not reading you are not growing and if you are not growing…you are dead. So here are a few of the books that I am working through for our study:
• Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ - John Piper
• Vintage Jesus - Mark Driscoll
• What Jesus Demands from the World - John Piper
• Jesus Messiah - Donald Guthrie
• Christ: The Theme of the Bible - Norman Giseler
In John 1:10-18 there are 6 things that Jesus gives, grants, and reveals through his incarnation.
1) Adoption (v12-13)
2) The Shekinah Glory (v14)
3) The Fullness of God (v16)
4) Grace upon Grace (v 16)
5) Grace and Truth (v14, 17)
6) Reveals the Father (v18)
But we still need to address verse 10 and 11. And this is where we hear a shocking indictment. The world didn’t know Him and didn’t receive Him. The translation “The Message” puts it well… “He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him.” (Joh 1:10-11). Here comes the creator of the universe, the fullness of God, revealing grace upon grace, demonstrating grace and truth, revealing the Father, willing to grant adoption and regeneration but the world didn’t want him!!
• They wanted their religion - not Jesus
• They wanted their traditions - not Jesus
• They wanted their precious idols - not Jesus
In Mark Driscoll’s book “Vintage Jesus” he gives a list of questions to ask ourselves if we are worshiping Jesus or our idols; if we are knowing and receiving Jesus or our idols. Here is where it gets real practical.
• Who or what do I make sacrifices for?
• Who or what is most important to me?
• If I could have ant thing or experience I wanted, what would that be?
• Who or what makes me most happy?
• What is the one person or thing I could not live without?
• What do I spend my money on?
• Who or what do I dedicate my spare time to?
Don’t let the indictment of verses 10 and 11 be true of you! Know Jesus intimately, Receive Jesus fully. Know and experience him. See and Savor Him, his adopting you and regenerating you. See and Savor his Shekinah glory, his grace upon grace, his grace and truth…
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace!!
Family/Group Discussion Questions:
1. Discuss adoption (verse 12-13). What does adoption include? What would it feel like to be adopted? What is required on the part of the adopter?
2. Why is it the tendency of humanity to minimize the fullness of Jesus? Do we tend of overemphasize the humanity of Jesus or the Divinity of Jesus? What is the danger of overemphasizing either one?
3. What impact does Jesus being the fullness of God and receiving from His fullness have on your life?
4. Review the questions to help uncover possible idols. What is your first reaction to these questions? Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the idols in your life and the grace to repent and see and savor Jesus alone.
People sometimes wonder if the judgment of God is still active today. It is easy to read passages from the Old Testament about the immediate judgment of God on acts of sin and rebellion and say “well, that was the Old Testimate. We live in the age of grace!” But there are also passages in the New Testimate that cause us to pause such as:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…” (Romans 1:18)
“…and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:27b)
“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. (2Cor 5:11)
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31)
And others…
The temptation is to think that just because we don’t experience an immediate earthquake splitting open the ground and devouring the unrighteous, the judgment of God is dormant. This attitude, if left unchecked, is what diminishes the fear of the Lord in our lives. A lack of the fear of the Lord is the fertile soil for an unrepentant heart to grow hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Scriptures make it clear that the fear of the Lord is to hate all sin of every category. Whether it’s considered a culturally big sin or a culturally small sin; the fear of the Lord is to hate all evil. (Prov 8:13).
What is your attitude towards sin? Are you tolerating sin? Have you bought into the idea that the judgment of God is dormant and inactive?
Read this article from John Piper about the recent tornado in Minneapolis, MN. Pause and ask yourself if you are tolerating sin, of any category, in your life. Turn from the approval of sin and glory in the transforming grace of the cross of Christ!!
Thank you for allowing your child and/or children to be a part of Sunday morning J.A.M. (Jesus and me) Time! J.A.M. was engineered about 3 years ago by a couple parents who saw a need for their children to have a place to study God’s word on their own level, which would also enable them to concentrate on the sermon themselves. The CE committee has been working on defining the goals of J.A.M. to meet the needs of our congregation. The results of our meeting is to change the structure of the JAM time in two different ways
First, there will be a more focused age group for J.A.M.The ages will now include 1st through 5th graders with the 4th and 5th graders as potential leaders. Kindergartners will be upstairs with the pre-school kids and the 6th graders will worship with their families and the congregation. All grades mentioned are the grades the children will be attending in the fall. Of course, the J.A.M time and the pre-school church are opprotunities we provide for your family and your children are not required to attend.
Secondly, during the months of July and August all J.A.M. kids (1st through 5th grade) will start in the service with their families until they are dismissed right before the sermon.Kindergarteners will go upstairs for the entire service. There will be no J.A.M. the weekend of the church campout. Please contact Jo-anne Wiesenborne or myself (Kim Glassett) to schedule the Sunday during July and/or August you would like to supervise during the DVD for about 30 or 40 minutes.
This change doesn't come without a defined purpose. The CE Committee has identified 5 items that we consider the goals and vision behind this change. They are:
1) Allow families to worship together and begin teaching their children the value of the corporate worship service -- Coming into the adult corporate worship setting at 7th grade, having not experienced it at all before, is a big jump!! It would be really easy for the 7th grade students to tune out and check out of the service. Assuming they spend most of their young years in the full JAM time, all they know about church is really active music with motions, activities, games, crafts and a lesson (maybe even with a video). But when they hit 7th grade…WHAM…they are sitting and listening to scripture reading, the music is less active (without motions anyway) and they listen to a 30-45 minute sermon. Now, there is great value in the adult service! And there is great value in the JAM time too! Our goal is to provide the opportunity for the family to teach their children that both times are good and valuable. The adult time and the JAM time have great value and both contribute to the spiritual development of the children and family.
2) Allow the focus of the teaching to concentrate on a smaller age group because K-6th is a very wide range of ages -- We did some research and found that most churches offer children’s church for the ages of 1st - 5th grade. Kindergartners are often still too young and the 6th graders are feeling disconnected and burned out. Several of the volunteers helping with JAM have expressed both of these difficulties with the wide age range. Our goal is to focus the teaching to be more effective with the time we have.
3) Ease the burden on the time requirements for volunteer help and 4) allow our volunteer staff to worship together with the rest of the body - These two are really connected. Some of the volunteers give so much of their time and are away from the service so often that they are getting burned out. We are finding that fewer people are returning as volunteers because of the time demands and also because of the problems addressed in #2. We hope that volunteering can be refreshing and not draining for our people. Our goal in changing both the age range and the time format is to allow the volunteers to be a part of the corporate worship and to lesson the time demands of an extended kid’s service.
5) Allow and encourage parents to be a part of their children’s worship time. -- Children love music. And when taught what worship is, children love to worship! We desire to support and encourage children to learn and sing their own songs in JAM time! But we also desire to see children and families worshiping together to newer songs and also enjoying the timeless hymns. We want to encourage families to grow in worship together. Our goal is to create the opportunity for adults and families to become more active in training their children the value of worship in music.
If you have any questions you are welcome to contact Kim Glassett, Pastor Nathan or the CE committee.
Many of us have had those mornings! Sunday morning comes and we are not really up to going to church -- physically or spiritually.
What can we do to prepare our hearts, our minds and even our bodies for the service Sunday morning? How can we prepare ourselves to enter into the presence of God and be filled with His Spirit?
John Piper gives several ideas that are well worth reading. Take some time to read his article "Take Heed How You Hear!" by clicking on the link.
Taking some time to prepare your hearts will your time at the service to be more filled with the Spirit than filled with distractions.
Having a hard time finding time to read your Bible each day? Do you find yourself falling asleep as you read? Tired of just mindless music being pumped in your ears?
Then how about putting the Bible on your IPod?!? The Word of God gives life! The Word of God is the main way that you will grow in your relationship with Christ! But you don't have to only read it to take it in. You can read it and you can listen to it too!
I just came acroos the ESV Daily Bible Reading plan on ITunes!! You can go to the ITunes store search for the ESV Bible in the Podcasts and subscribe to the daily bible reading. Or you can pick the New or Old Testimate NIV Bible and download entire books of the Bible in one shot. Then just sync your IPod and you've got it! You can listen to the Word on your drive into town to and from work or school. Or you can end your day before bed with 10-15minutes of listening Scripture.
Just think of what your day would be like if you started and ended your day with the Word of God. Try it out. Read it! Listen to it! Get it! Got it! Good!
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)
Many of you have been affected in one way or another by this recession. Some close to us have been affected rather sevearly while others have been managing to stay afloat. Where ever you find yourselves, this recession has reached you.
So what is the purpose behind all this? God is sovereign over all things in this world. What is God's sovereign purpose in this recession?
John Piper recently addressed his congregation with this question in mind. This was a very encouraging and even motivating message regarding the purposes of our Lord in these times.
Please take about 45 minutes of your time to either watch, listen to or read this sermon. You can find it by clicking on this link.
May God grant us Macedonian grace in these times (2 Cor 8:1-2)
Fighting for our faith is a daily battle. It is a daily fight for joy, for truth, for grace as we battle against the enemy of our souls. I have been so encouraged by this message from John Piper! I have listened to it twice and plan on listening to it again soon! Every believer finds themselves in this fight and our only weapon is the Word!
Please take some time to download this message and listen to it. I pray you will be greatly encouraged by the Word and by the honesty of John Piper as he speaks of Fighting for Faith with the Word of God.
“Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." (Colossians 4:5-6) When it come to making the most of every opportunity to share the gospel some of us freeze up in fear. We don't know what to say, how to say it; we are afraid of rejection or being stumped by the hard question. During this morning's service I am talking about ways that we can make the most of every opportunity to share the gospel. One of the ways is to spend some time to prepare yourself for what you might be facing. Maybe you are not sure you can articulate the gospel well. Maybe your concerned about how to answer the questions of your Mormon co-worker or the neighbor who is a Jehovah’s Witness. Below are a few ideas to help you tool up to make the most of every opportunity.
Jesus said “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;” (John 8:31). He also said several times to abide (which means to linger and remain) in Him and His word in John chapters 14-16. What does it mean to abide in the Word of God? It means that Jesus' words come in and take root in us -- they find a home in us -- and bear the fruit of faith and holiness in our life.
At the beginning of 2009, I encourage you to abide in the Word of God! Do you have a regular practice of reading the Word, memorizing the Word -- abiding in the Word? If not I would like to suggest a daily reading plan to help you begin to abide in the life giving Word of God. Purpose to read through the Word of God in 2009.
But before I go on, let me defuse any source of guilt. All too often I hear of someone who purposed to read through the Bible and gave up because they missed too many days and were burdened with guilt. This is a tactic of the enemy to keep you from the Word of God. This is not meant to be a legalistic means of gaining God's approval! Remember, you already have God's approval because of the work of Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection!!
There are several plans that you can follow to help guide you in your quest to abide in the Word. The plan that I am following this year is to read through the Bible chronologically. This places all the events of biblical history and the Psalms and the prophets in chronological order. I am looking forward this year to tying all the events together throughout Scripture!
You can look at and print several different reading plans by visiting this website. Click here to view the reading plans. I would encourage you to pick a plan, print the one of your choice (click print on the right side of the web site), place the reading plan in your bible and begin to check off the days your have read. If you miss a day or two or a week, either pick up were you left off or just start again on the new date
Rather then burden yourself with a guilt laden task, let yourself become immersed in the life giving Word of God and let it bear the fruit of faith and holiness in your life as you abide in His Word
Do you have a vibrant, passionate, fruitful prayer life?
Prayer is often said to be a struggle for many believers. This is an unfortunate reality for many. But the truth is that prayer is a spiritual barometer like nothing else in our spiritual lives.
A few weeks ago I preached a sermon on prayer that was very encouraging to me as I studied for it. The title is "Continue Earnestly In Prayer." I wanted to share it with you and I pray that it will be an encouragement to you as well. You can listen to it by following the link below to our sermon page. You can also download it by right clicking the audio link and selecting "Save target as" or for Firefox users select "Save link as".
“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11-12) ~Pastor Nathan
WHAT? The Death of Christmas? Isn’t the message of Christmas about life and new birth?? Absolutely! I am using a slight play on words here for effect. What I am getting at is death is associated with Christmas. Christ’s death on the cross can never be separated from the message of the Christmas season and can never be separated from our daily lives. We cannot forget that Jesus came to die and to die is what we are called to do. Paul said it well, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20). Jesus came to give his life for us. Jesus now calls us to lose our lives for Him.
Our lives will be no better than our view of death. In Luke 9:23-25 Jesus spoke the following: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Jesus makes it clear; how we think about life and death will either save our lives or will waste them. We can waste our lives trying to save them, or we can find our lives striving to spend them for Christ.
This Christmas, with all the gifts and food and celebration of the season, remember the purpose of the birth of Christ. He came to die for us. If you have decided to follow Jesus this means you have decided to die as well. You have died to your old self and you are alive in Christ Jesus! What a gift!! New life is found in Him!! This new life was brought about by Christ’s birth, life and death on the cross. Is your life marked by the death of Christmas?
During this Christmas season, take some time to review the items below. These are marks of a saved or gloriously spent life. Read the Scriptures for each and take an honest, personal inventory. Pray that God, through the Holy Spirit, will reveal to you what areas you are marked by and how they can be used for His glory. May you be blessed and encouraged this year by the death of Christmas.
~Pastor Nathan
Do you have a “save my life” mentality or a mentality to spend your life for the Gospel? 3 Marks of a “Save my life” Mentality
• A lukewarm attitude of complacency (Rev 3:15-17)
• A paralyzed lifestyle of fear (Matt 25:24-28)
• A life satisfied by this world and the approval of man (2 Tim 4:10; John 12:42-43)
3 Marks of a Gloriously Spent Life for the Gospel
• A constant readiness to risk for the Gospel of Jesus (Acts 20:23-24)
• A relentless passion to be used by Jesus in power and love (2 Tim 1:7)
• A satisfaction in the service of Christ (Gal 1:10)
We started the first segment of the Gospel Journey series from Dare 2 Share Ministries with the first letter in the acrostic G O S P E L. Here is a quick summary of what we talked about. I would love to hear your comments!! Feel free to post your thoughts, questions, doubts, or other ideas into the comments sections. I would love to have you join us in the Gospel Journey!
G=God created us to be with Him. (Gen 1-2)
Think about that...God, eternally existing, spoke creation into being! Think about the wonders of the universe, the beauty of the sea and the mountains and the animals around us! The theory of evolution says that everything happened randomly over time almost as if by accident. The Bible says that it was intentionally created by a God who is all wise, all powerful and eternally existing. One way to think about it is to look at a watch. There are many tiny parts inside a watch. Let's say I took all the tiny parts to a watch and put them in a paper bag and began shaking the bag. How long do you think I would have to shake until a working watch was "created"? FOREVER wouldn't be long enough!! I could never make a watch that way!! But by looking at a watch I can know that there was a watch maker. By looking at a painter I can know that there is a painter...and by looking at creation I can know that there is a creator!! What do you think? Accident or Intention?
The Bible also says that He created us. Unlike all the rest of creation which he spoke into existence, God, formed us and breathed life into us (Genesis 2:7). God created us in a unique way for a unique purpose...to be with Him. God's plan was not purposeless or accidental. When God saw that Adam was alone He performed the first surgery and took a rib from Adam's side and with it he formed a woman, Eve. God made a companion for a relationship with Adam. He then walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. He created them and us for an intimate relationship with Him that was perfect. But as we know, soon something came in called sin that wrecked the perfect relationship...we will talk about that next time.
The Gospel means "Good News." The good news is that through Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, we can have that relationship restored and find hope and life when we place trust and life in Jesus as our Lord and Savior...but more on that next time.
Let me know what you think. Is there only one God or many god's or...? Did what we see in the world around us come from an accident or was it intentionally created? How does the idea of being created for a purpose make you feel versus being an accident of random chance? Feel free to post your thoughts or questions and join us on this spiritual journey of exploring the Gospel of Jesus Christ! ~Pastor Nathan
Hello guys,
I woke up this morning praying for you college students and wanted to let you know that God has out you on my heart.
Be looking unto Him this semester. He will never leave you nor forsake you and will, by the power of the Holy Spirit within you, guide you into all truth. (John 16)
I have just posted some pictures of the 2008 VBS. Go to www.yefc.org and click on The Rock Student Ministries on the left then click on galleries and select 2008 VBS...or just click on this link There will be more pictures coming of our trip to Proebstel when they arrive. ~Nathan
School is back and you guys are heading back into the classrooms! Often the classrooms are more than just a place to learn about reading, writing and arithmetic! you often learn about how others view the world around you. Your peers in school have all kinds of different ideas about religion, spirituality and Christianity. Sometimes their opinion of Christianity is based more on bad news and bad experiences than the simple truth of Jesus. Have you ever felt if someone asked you about your faith you would have a hard time clearly explaining the gospel? Starting September 9th we are going to host a new DVD based series called the Gospel Journey. The gospel journey is about what happens when you bring together seven unlikely strangers, throw them right in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and take them on a journey through the gospel message as it unfolds throughout the story of the Bible. This reality series unleashes seven very different students on one unforgettable quest, to understand the gospel message straight from the pages of Scripture.
I am praying this series will accomplish two goals. 1) You will learn in a simple and straight forward way what the gospel is and how to communicate it to your friends. 2) we are hoping you will take the flyers and blitz the town and your schools with invitations to come and be a part of this 8 week series. Even if your friends have been to youth group and thought it was boring and lame…invite them to come back just for the next 8 weeks!!! Even if they think that being a Christian is a joke…invite them to come and interact and share their opinions in the discussion. We will not be cramming a religion down their throat!! But WE WILL BE sharing what the gospel really is in a way that will be fun and interactive with the whole group…LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING YOU JOIN US ON THE GOSPEL JOURNEY!!
Each week I will be posting a short summary of the topic for discussion. I hope that you will join in by posting your comments and giving us some feedback about what you think of and where you are at in the gospel journey...even if you disagree with what is being said I would love to dialog about it here on the blog.
It is hard during the school year to be reading anything but textbooks! I can remember carrying the bags of books to WSU and wondering how I will ever have time to read anything else! Well, now summer is here!! The text books are gone!! BUT…don’t let that be an excuse to let your brain get mushy over the summer with endless hours of video games!Libraries and other groups have developed summer reading programs to encourage us to continue learning but too often these books smell of humanistic agendas or just like plain ol’ school. So, I would like to encourage you to do some reading this summer on matters of your faith. Use this time to take advantage of the break from textbooks and get your nose into some books that will build up your faith and encourage you in your daily walk with Christ your Savior. Here is a summer reading list of books that I would recommend you take along on your vacations or leave near the hammock this summer:
Don’t Waste Your Life - John Piper. This little book is a tremendous encouragement to not let your life slip by without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things. This book will help you live out Philippians 1:21 - “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
The Pursuit of Holiness -Jerry Bridges What does holiness look like? Well, it doesn't look anything like perfection! Bridges takes holiness out of the realm of the impossible and brings it into the real world of your daily life and decisions and will challenge you to obey God's command of holiness in your life.
The Practice of Godliness- Jerry Bridges What makes a Christian godly? In this encouraging book, Bridges examines what it means to grow in Christian character and opens our eyes to see how character formation truly affects the way we relate to God, to ourselves, and to others.
The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan Thisis theallegorical tale of Christian the pilgrim on his journey to the CelestialCity. Along the way, Christian encounters both worthy companions and dreadful adversaries. This stirring spiritual narrative still bears the power to challenge and encourage readers on their own spiritual journeys. A must read for all believers!
This Present Darkness - Frank Peretti This is my fiction recommendation for the summer. Although a fast paced fiction, this books gives a keen insight into spiritual warfare and the necessity of prayer! This book and its companion volume Piercing the Darkness will awaken you to the reality of spiritual warfare and encourage your prayer life! By the way…I don’t recommend the other Peretti books…it seems he moved from the reality of spiritual warfare to “Christian horror” which I don’t appreciate.
The Atonement Child - Francine Rivers This is Jamie’s fiction recommendation for young ladies to read. This novel boldly addresses the issue of abortion and brings to light the significance of God’s sovereignty and grace. It’s a decision that can push faith to its limits and a decision that will change more lives than we could ever imagine!
What do you hope for? Is it a good job, a nice car, some cash, good health, popularity? These are some of the things that people put their hope in but I hate to break it to you…they are all fleeting. In other words, they all will go away. You might have a good job but it will end or you might get laid off. The nice car will begin to rust and break down. The cash never stays long and is all left behind at the gas pump. Good health and long life are not a guarantee. Popularity? Well, someone else who is “cooler” will show up and you will be yesterday’s cool person and today’s “average Joe”.
So often we put our hope in things that are not going to last, in things that don’t really satisfy and in things that are temporary. We also tend to put our hope in things that cause us to compromise just to keep a hold of them. How many corporate executives placed their hope on the golden parachute only to realize that their compromise to achieve that hope took it all away?
We need to put our hope in something that doesn’t disappoint. We need to put our hope in something that is permanent and that never changes.
Hope is what keeps us going when things are tough. Without hope many people simply give up, don’t care and waste away their life in an aimless pursuit of nothing. Hope is an important part of your launch pad. Without hope that is founded in something secure your adult life will be full of despair. Let’s face it, tough times, even devastating times will come. Where you place your hope will determine where you come out on the other side.
Here are some observations about hope that we see in the Scriptures.
Hope in the Bible is a reality not yet realized- The lottery is not a reality for all but a dream for all but one. The promises of the Scriptures are a reality for all who put their trust in Him. “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20) Lotto does not promise you will win (they make very sure you know that in the fine print). The Bible promises all who place their trust in Christ will win “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57). Our hope is a reality that we just have not yet physically realized. There is nothing in this world you can hope for that can claim that truth!
Hope is defined by the Scriptures - Our hope is defined by the Scriptures. All of Scriptures were given to us so that we might have hope. We don’t have to guess what to place our hope in. The Bible is there to define our hope. “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4).
Hope is contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ - The gospel of Jesus Christ includes and contains our hope. The Gospel is the good news that the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, is sufficient for our full atonement for our sins and that new life has been given us in Christ Jesus. This gospel contains our hope. This is why we preach the gospel…“because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel” (Colossians 1:5)
So what is our hope?In a nutshell…OUR GLORY!! Our hope is our being forevermore in the presence of God where we will dwell in His glory! Nor more battle with sin, no more pain, no more heartache but enjoying the presence of Jesus Christ forever!! Paul summarizes it well when he said of the Colossian church that they were “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27). Eternal Glory! Can you imagine that? Nothing else we might ever hope for in this world could compare with this glory. This is an indescribable glory, a pure, beautiful, exciting glory. Why do we cast our hope on things so fleeting as the material stuff around us when the Scriptures say our hope is eternal Glory?
This hope of glory is also a living hope. Not a hope that perishes or fades away but a hope that will last. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,” (1 Peter 1:3-4). What is our hope? Our hope is our glory! Our inheritance! Our being forever joined with God in all His glory!! What a glorious hope! This is why Paul was able to say, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). This is the kind of hope that brings comfort in hard times. This is the kind of hope that keeps us persevering for the sake of Christ and the hope of glory!
So how do I have hope?Maybe your sensing by the prompting of the Holy Spirit that your hope is misplaced or has been repeatedly disappointed? Do you want to have a hope that lasts and doesn’t disappoint even when things get really, really ugly? Here is what the Bible says to do.
1) Hope is gained by placing your trust in the source of all hope…Jesus Christ. This was Paul’s heart cry for presenting the gospel. His prayer was that “…the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians 1:18). You see, without Christ you have no hope. NONE. There is no hope for you for anything without Jesus Christ. “remember that you were at that time separate from Christ…having no hope.” (Ephesians 2:12). Going to church gives no hope. Doing good things and being a good person gives no hope. Only placing your trust in Christ Jesus gives hope.
I have used before the illustration of a chair to describe trust and faith. You can look at the chair and say that you trust in it. You can say that you believe it will hold you up. But until you sit in it you haven’t really trusted in the chair. It’s a good illustration and it serves it’s purpose…but it falls short. The problem is you don’t have to take the chair with you wherever you go. You can sit in the chair, say you trusted it and then get up and leave it there. Then, whenever anyone asks, you can say you trusted in the chair. Unfortunately, many people do that with Jesus. They say they have sat in the chair but they left him behind.
No, trusting in Jesus is more like a parachute. Let’s say you have boarded a plane and when you are 35,000 feet in the air the Captain says “good afternoon, ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. I wanted to inform you that at some unpredictable moment during this flight, all the engines will fail and you will have to jump for your lives. I strongly recommend that you put on your parachute and keep it on until the jump.” If you believed the Captain, you would put on the parachute. You wouldn’t care if you thought it was uncomfortable or if others were laughing at you. You would put it on a keep it on. That is what trusting in Jesus is like. It is putting Him on because you know that only He can save you from the jump into judgment that we all are going to make. To have any hope at all you need to put Him on and keep Him on. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Romans 13:14)
2) Hope is made sure by abiding in Christ. To follow up on the previous point of putting on Jesus Christ we must remain with Him. That is what abiding means. To abide is to remain. Jesus calls us to abide with Him because without Him we can do nothing (John 15:1-5). When we remain with Christ we have confidence in Him and can do and face all things through Him. This confidence give us assurance, it helps build our hope. It also helps remove the threat of shame and doubt. “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” (1 John 2:28) Abide with Christ. Live, remain, dwell with Christ in all things and fix your hope and your confidence on Him.
3) Hope is gained by expectation. It goes without saying that hoping for something that is visible is silly. Why would I hope for something that I already have? The very definition of the word indicates that hope is for the unseen and thereby requires expectation. We are instructed to live with expectation as we are “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,” (Titus 2:13). We are to be looking for it! What is interesting about this passage from Titus is the whole context instructs us to live a life pursuing holiness while we are looking for the blessed hope. Now read the entire verse in its context. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Titus 2:11-14) Did you catch that? We are to live a life pursuing holiness and godliness in this present age AND be looking, not to this world and the stuff in it, but for the blessed hope which is the appearing of the glory of Christ! Hope is gained by expectation.
4) Hope is grown by trials.Hope is gown by trials for the simple reason we want to be rid of them. Pressure (which is the meaning of the word “tribulation”) pushes us closer and makes us long for our hope. And this hope will not disappoint us. “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5) Persevere in whatever tribulations you may be facing for the cause of Christ. Let it grow the hope within you.
5) Hope purifies - Where you place your hope tends to indicate the direction you’re traveling. For example, it would be silly to hope to arrive in Chicago as you are boarding a plane headed for L.A.! Where you fix your hope indicates your goals and your direction in life. This is true as a believer in Christ. If you have fixed your hope on Christ you ought to be heading toward Him in all things. This is what the Apostle John meant when he said, “and everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:3). In the same way it would be wrong to hope to end up in Chicago while boarding a plane going to L.A., it is wrong for us to claim to hope in Christ while living in a way that is going in a direction away from Him. A hope in Christ purifies itself and aligns itself with Christ in all of life. A hope fixed on Christ purifies.
So what do you have to hope for? Stuff? Popularity? Leading a “normal life” (whatever that means!)? Not ending up like your parents? Having a good job? If that’s all your hope is fixed on then your future looks rather bleak!
Instead fix your hope on Christ and pursue the hope of glory with Jesus Christ. Let all of your life be concentrated on that hope! Dare to live a radically different life transformed by this hope! Look expectantly to the glory of Jesus Christ!
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)
When we went to the Do Hard Things conference they mentioned that the teen years are like the launch pad to life. It’s like the space shuttle here. Without that launch pad being firmly in place and operating correctly the whole launch would be disastrous!! If the launch pad was incomplete or if it malfunctioned and let go of the shuttle too early the result would be a massive explosion and a complete disaster. Unfortunately, I have seen many adult lives blow up because of “launch pad” malfunctions. Too often the teen years are put together with wrong information or with malfunctioning equipment and the “launch” into adulthood is a disaster.
Over the next several weeks at youth group we will be studying areas that are vital to your foundation, your launch pad. At first glance you might think “how does this apply to me?” But in reality, each area is a vital part of the launch pad, a vital part for a successful launch.
Grace in the believers life - the unmerited desire and power to do God’s will Hope in the believers life - the eternal perspective Power in the believers life - the equipping of the Holy Spirit Endurance in the believers life - God’s grace to carry on Joy in the believer’s life - delight and pleasure in God Battles in the believers life - the fight against the flesh Priorities in the believers life - being kingdom minded
My prayer is that a we focus our attention on the Word of God and His “launch sequence” we can hear each student say…“Houston, we are go for launch!” Pastor Nathan
Each week I will be posting a blog on the new series we are doing at youth group. I would love to hear your comments! Just click on "Submit your comment" below this article. Let us know if you have been encouraged by these posts. ~Blessings!
What is Grace? A good way to begin to describe grace is to describe mercy. Mercy is not getting what I justly deserve. Grace is receiving something that I do not deserve. In other words, Grace is unmerited favor and kindness. For example, I stole a Ford Fiesta and was caught. I was brought before the judge to be sentenced. But because someone else already paid the fine, I was justified and shown mercy…no judgment was passed onto me. That's mercy! And then the judge gave me a brand new Porsche!! That’s grace!! That's undeserved favor and kindness!! Spiritually, grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor and kindness of God in our lives that empowers us to do His will. The power and desire to do God’s will is nothing of us but solely of grace.
So why is grace important for my life? Why is this an important part of my foundation? Let’s look at a few reasons why.
Our Salvation is by God’s grace alone- God lavished (dumped) tons of grace upon us!! Not only did he place our punishment on Jesus Christ but he also welcomes us home to dwell in His presence! “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight” (Ephesians 1:7-8). (also see Eph 2:4-9).
Our Power is by God’s grace alone - Our ability, our power to live and share Christ with others comes by God’s grace. “And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Also we see that the apostles were given power to share Christ by the grace of God (see Acts 4:33 and 6:8).
Our Sufficiency is by God’s grace alone - The space shuttle has no sufficiency on its own. It can do nothing just because it wants to. It takes the launch pad to hold it and hundreds of technicians and workers to get it ready for launch. It is the same with us. We can do nothing of ourselves. It is only by grace we stand. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;” (2 Corinthians 9:8). We have all sufficiency, all that we need, to live according to God’s will - by His grace (see also Rom 5:2; 1 Cor 15:10).
Our Gifts are by God’s grace alone - Did you know that God has granted each and every true believer gifts? These gifts are to equip and empower us to do God’s will and to serve one another and share the gospel! “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift… “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;” (Ephesians 4:7, 11-12) “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly…" (Romans 12:6)
So what am I to do with God’s grace? If my very salvation, my power, my sufficiency, and my gifts are by God’s grace, a gift from God, what does he want me to do with it? There are two specific things Scriptures tell us to do with God’s grace.
Grow in it - “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18). We are to grow in the grace of our Lord. Well how do I do that?
Be in the Word - Paul said his final goodbyes to the leaders of the church of the Ephesians and he told them to dwell in God’s word. “"And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up…” (Acts 20:32). We are built up, we grow by being in the Word of grace - the Scriptures.
Abide with Jesus Christ - the word abide means “to remain” It is like if you came over to my house but didn’t leave for another week. You would have been abiding in my house. Jesus said to remain, to abide in Him. It is through Him we receive the grace of God. “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16). So abide in Him, dwell with Him in all your thoughts, actions and goals in life. He will cause you to grow in grace.
Be strong in it - Paul tells Timothy, “you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:1). Let grace have a strong part of your life. Let it consume you. Always be thinking about God’s grace. Always be thanking God for His grace. Look at all of life through the eyeglasses of grace. Depend on grace. Pray for and with grace. Sing about God’s grace. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
So what is the evidence of grace in my life? What if I don’t see much evidence of God’s grace in my life? The following areas are evidences of God’s grace actively at work in your life. No, this isn’t about perfection but it is about your life being changed and transformed by the grace of God. He, by His grace is continually sanctifying us and changing us. That is what we mean by evidences of grace. So take a quick test by answering "Yes" or "No" to the following statements:
You sense God’s power over sin in your life (Rom 6:1-14)
You have the strength and ability to walk in holiness and righteousness in this world (Titus 2:11-14)
You share Christ with confidence & boldness (Acts 1:8; 4:31)
You have the confidence to live life in Christ’s power (2 Cor 12:9)
You have a hunger for the Word and are growing in it (1 Peter 2:2-3)
If you honestly answered no to some of these questions then you may not be seeing the evidences of grace in your life. The Scriptures give a few reasons why that may be. But before you read these, I would encourage you to take a moment and pray to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal which of these may be true in your life.
You may not be saved by grace to begin with - you may have never truly given your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Being saved isn’t just raising your hand or walking forward or saying a sample prayer. Being saved by God’s grace includes surrendering to the will and desire of God, yielding your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and being transformed. This is what it means to be truly born again…it is being changed. “He (God) saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5). Regeneration is the act of taking something that is old and making it new and different. The Bible says that when someone is made new and different the evidences of grace come with that change. So maybe the first thing you need to do is “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
You may be proud - pride is the fastest grace killer out there. Pride puts itself above grace. Pride doesn’t need grace because it is self-sufficient. The Bible gives a strong warning against pride. “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."” (James 4:6). Did you catch that? God is opposed, resists, blocks the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. Perhaps the reason why you are not seeing the evidences of grace in your life is because a root of pride is remaining is your life. Humble yourself before God and ask Him to reveal where you are being prideful and confess the sin and God will give grace.
You have not been drawing near to God in confidence - too often we lack confidence and treat God like a lucky charm. Our prayers are feeble, weak and full of doubt. The bible tells us to come to God and “ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:6-8). Again…did you catch that…the one who doubts shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord!! Instead we are to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16). Do not doubt or be weary when you approach God. Instead, by faith in the sufficient work of Christ, draw near with confidence and find grace to help in time of need.
The grace of God is indeed a wonderful and precious gift. In the words of the classic hymn...
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt! Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured, there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that will pardon and cleanse within; grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all our sin!
May Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Peter 1:2) Pastor Nathan
People sometimes wonder if the judgment of God is still active today. It is easy to read passages from the Old Testament about the immediate judgment of God on acts of sin and rebellion and say “well, that was the Old Testimate. We live in the age of grace!” But there are also passages in the New Testimate that cause us to pause such as:
Many of us have had those mornings! Sunday morning comes and we are not really up to going to church -- physically or spiritually.
Having a hard time finding time to read your Bible each day? Do you find yourself falling asleep as you read? Tired of just mindless music being pumped in your ears? 
Many of you have been affected in one way or another by this recession. Some close to us have been affected rather sevearly while others have been managing to stay afloat. Where ever you find yourselves, this recession has reached you. 
We started the first segment of the Gospel Journey series from Dare 2 Share Ministries with the first letter in the acrostic G O S P E L. Here is a quick summary of what we talked about. I would love to hear your comments!! Feel free to post your thoughts, questions, doubts, or other ideas into the comments sections. I would love to have you join us in the Gospel Journey!
School is back and you guys are heading back into the classrooms! Often the classrooms are more than just a place to learn about reading, writing and arithmetic! you often learn about how others view the world around you. Your peers in school have all kinds of different ideas about religion, spirituality and Christianity. Sometimes their opinion of Christianity is based more on bad news and bad experiences than the simple truth of Jesus. Have you ever felt if someone asked you about your faith you would have a hard time clearly explaining the gospel?
What do you hope for?
