Don't forget...

We meet Tuesday nights from 7-8 p.m. at Daily Grind on Airport Highway for a night of good coffee and good conversation! We will meet 12/8, 12/15 and then take a break for the holidays. We will resume 1/12 Hope to see you there!

Not only....

In 1 Thessalonians 2:8 Paul is talking to the Thessalonians when he says, "We loved you so much that we gave you not only God's Good News but our own lives, too."
As Christians at times it can be easy for us to try to do "drive-thru" evangelism where we talk to somebody, tell them a couple Bible verses, tell them why they need Jesus, and if they don't accept it we just move on to the next person. The more I have read and the more I have talked with people the more I realized that this is not going to bring anybody to Jesus. When we do this people are expressing their feelings how they feel like an "evangelism project" or another "notch" on our christian belts...things must change. I like that last part of that verse in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 it says that they not only gave them the Good News but their own lives. We must be willing to invest our lives into people. We have to be willing to move outside the church and build relationships with people in our communities and our surrounding neighborhoods. Think about your own life for a minute did someone just sharing the Good News with you bring to Jesus or did it also involve someone investing their own lives into you as well? May we have that same passion to not only share the Good News but to give our own lives as well.

Facing the Unknown

Starting this Tuesday at 7 p.m. we will be doing a 4 week study on a modern look at the life of Abraham titled Facing the Unknown by Mark Batterson. What unknowns are you facing in Life? There are so many questions we each face everyday come dig into this study with us as we take a look at God's Call, God's Covenant, God's Timing, and God's Provision. We will not have our Quest meeting on Tuesday, July 14th due to VBS.

What is important to you?

It doesn't take long to notice that the church as a whole has not done a great job of reaching out to young adults. I definitely don't say this as a slam on the church as I love the church (the people) very much. Actually I find it hard to love Jesus and not love the church. As a speaker I recently heard said, "That is like someone coming up to you and saying I think your cool, but your wife is really ugly." You would not want to be very cordial to that person after that. However, many young adults have been turned off from the church even though they might not be antagonistic towards Jesus. Unfortunately the church has not adapted very well to what young adults are looking for. For some reason churches at times have the mindset that what worked in 1950 should still work now...for that matter what worked in 1990 should still work now. As the book Lost and Found put it:
The bad news: The younger unchurched believe the church is too critical about lifestyle issues, full of hypocrites, and not necessary for spiritual development
The good news: The younger unchurched clearly indicate they are willing to dialogue about Christianity and Jesus
When you think of a ministry that is reaching out to people your age (18-30) what is important to you? How would you like to see the church go about doing this?
Don't forget about our on going study "Uprising" on Tuesday nights at the church at 7 p.m. Come discover how to have a revolution of the soul!

What good would it be?

In Matthew 16:26 it says, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" What does this mean to you? How does this verse affect our lives? I believe it can be very easy to get wrapped up in how much stuff we have? Who has the newest "toys"? Comparing what you have to what others have? Our greatest sense of peace is not in what we have but in who we have...Jesus. How have you seen this become a reality in your own life? The book uprising on page 35 points out clearly that we cannot follow Jesus and remain the same so how are you different? How is your life different than when before you came to know Jesus?

Our Goal...

In the book Uprising on page 9 it says, "The goal of the Christian journey cannot be the elimination of desire and passion since the scriptures teach that God created us in His image and likeness, and a part of this reflection of God is a heart designed for passionate living."
What have you been taught that it means to be a Christian? Have you been taught that to be a Christian it is all about conforming to look like all of the other Christians? How do you think God would view this? Many times in the scripture it tells us that we need to have a childlike faith what does that mean to you? It seems that when many people become Christians there is the underlying message that is sent that you must look a certain a way, say things a certain way, act a certain way...conform to look like every other Christian. Now understand before you jump to any conclusions I am not condoning living a lifestyle that is contrary to what God asks us to do. The scriptures are very clear that we are to live like Christ and not conform to the patterns of this world but, did God call for us to all look exactly the same?....I don't think so. God desires for us to live a passionate life not a boring, ritualistic, mundane life. Being a Christian is more than a list of rules of do's and don'ts it is life that it willing to step out of the crowd and live passionately for Christ. May we not be afraid of failing, of sticking out, of not having everyone like us. Stay close to God and listen to his whisper. Do what he would have you do. Be prepared to live a passionate life for him and other people not like it. What is a passion that God has put on your heart what are you doing with that?

Living vs. Existing

As we get ready to begin our Uprising...A Revolution of the Soul study I wanted to provide for you something to think about from the book Uprising by Erwin McManus. On page 5 it says, "This is how life is supposed to work. It's an adventure, a journey, a trek filled with uncertainty, excitement, and risk. One bad or painful experience can cause you to remain on the banks. But when you do, you neither move forward nor backwards; there you sit, just watching life go by. Yet I am convinced in all of us there is a voice crying out, a confession waiting to be declared without shame, "I want to live!" This journey requires many confessions and declarations, but this is a good place to begin. Sometimes this yearning has been neglected or even rejected. The longing to be alive is drowned by lesser ambitions. We just want to make it through the day, survive, make ends meet, go through the routine, and then exist rather than live. If you have conceded to this lesser form of humanity, let me invite you to hear the roar inside your own soul. You may be apprehensive at first but let the trembling turn into rumbling. If you would dare risk it, stop right now, stand up wherever you are, and declare without shame, "I want to live!"
What thoughts arose in you as you read that? What feelings arose in your heart or in your mind? Have you thought of life as being an adventure or a journey and what does that mean to you? Maybe you tried to stick your neck out a couple of times and you got hurt so you are tentative to do it again. Maybe you were always told to play it safe...to take the easy road...to not ruffle any feathers. Are you watching life go by? I am convinced there is so much more to life than graduating high school, going to college, getting a degree, getting a job to pay the bills, and having a family. Now those are all great things but is that living? Is that all God wants to see happen in our lives is getting a degree...or going into the work force after high school so we can get a job to pay bills or is there more? Is there a deeper yearning he calls us to? There is a quote from the movie Braveheart that says, "All men die few men ever really live." Do you want more than just to have a life but do you want to live? Do you want your life to be about more than just surviving the day? It is so easy to get caught up in the same routines day after day and not really live. Do you feel anything deep down in your soul that knows there is more to life than this? So are you willing to step out past the mundane, the easy, the comfortable and say with passion "I want to live!"

A new beginning...

As we seek to reach out the young adults in our church and our community what better way than using our very own blog...As a thought of the many different things that young adults go through and questions they deal with the word that came to mind was QUEST. What does it mean? I have attached the definition I got from Thesaurus.com So many of these match exactly what we as Christians deal with on an everyday basis in our faith. We are on a adventure, a chase, a voyage....a Quest! So as we start our new young adult ministry called Quest may this site be an encouragement to you in your journey...

Main Entry:	quest
Part of Speech:	noun
Definition:	search, exploration
Synonyms:	adventure, chase, crusade, delving, enterprise, examination, expedition, hunt, inquest, inquiry, inquisition, investigation, journey, mission, pilgrimmage, prey, probe, probing, pursual, pursuit, quarry, research, seeking, voyage