17 posts tagged “bible”
Tonight was awesome, there was just something special happening tonight. I was standing in this room full of teenagers and we were singing songs of praise to God. When all of a sudden i stopped singing and just sat down and listened. I lost my breath, because as i just sat and listened I could hear ALL and i really mean all of the teens singing. It wasn't a group of teens mouthing the words, it was a group of believes pouring their hearts out to their Savior. I was in awe! Truly in awe of the Lord and what He was doing in this place. I have been in large groups of teens singing praises, but i had never seen so many hearts open to the Lord singing with every fiber of their being. It was truly an amazing moment. I only wish you could have been there to see and feel it. Almost indescribable.
After our Christ centered worship time we continued in our study on doubt. Here is what Dan taught on:
Bottom Line: Faith grows when you learn how to view doubt through both what you know and what you’ve been through.
So what do you do when a doubt is too big? How do you handle a doubt that you just can’t seem to move past? You look back. You draw on the things you do know, the things that God has shown you. The things you have learned about Him in the past, both through information and experience. And you hang on to those things you do know, even when you’re left with questions about the things you don’t. Once we are able to see what God has done and is doing through both our experience and our knowledge, we are better equipped to manage the doubt.
Scripture:
Psalms 13:1-2 & 5-6
Psalms 71:16-17
It was an amazing night and I had a great time with my small group we went about a half an hour of time while discussing this topic. It really hit home to my girls and they had a lot to say and ask. They are awesome. Each and every week I have just grown deeper and deeper in love with these teens and this awesome ministry!
Tonight was Sienna's first night at AWANA. If you don't know what AWANA is here is a brief description:
Equipping Churches and Parents to Raise Christ-Following Kids for Life
Awana helps churches and parents worldwide raise children and youth to know, love and serve Christ! We do this through:
- Fully integrated programs for ages 2 to 18
- The best evangelism tools to reach unsaved children, youth and families
- Teaching that builds an enduring biblical faith
- Resources bringing churches and parents together to disciple the next generation
- Initial and ongoing volunteer training
- Healthy mentor and peer relationships
- Dynamic fun for children, teens and adults alike!
Daniel took her tonight and stayed to see how she would do. While I got to stay home and rest. Which was a blessing because i needed the rest, however i missed being able to be a part of this very big first in Sienna's life. However when Sienna got home tonight, she came running to me, wanting to tell me all about her night. I am looking forward to seeing what God does with Sienna in AWANA. I am super excited about her memorizing scripture and and digging deeper into knowing Christ as her personal Savior.
If you have a small child you need to check out if there is a AWANA club near you. You and your child will be blessed through it.
If you want encouragement, study and time well spent? Then get on http://thenines.leadnet.org/ they are putting on "Conference" like event today on their website. There are hundreds of pastors and leaders who will be speaking for nine minutes each. They are equipping leaders with real and tangible ideas and encouragement. Being a new leader in a new church, this has been beyond helpful and insightful. I have spent most of my morning listening to great speakers and pastors. I have been extraordinarily blessed in just a few hours. So get out your bible and note book and start taking down notes. Check it out today, even if you only can sit and watch one. But i would challenge you to cut out some time to learn more about what God has planned for you as a leader in HIS church.
Thanks Pastor Todd Clark for getting the word out about this event. I know this is how i will be spending most of my day, well at least until i go to Youth Group tonight :).
For our "God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:29
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24
This is the sunset i saw tonight. It's stunning with it's bright colors, the sad thing is the colors come from the wild fires we are experiencing here in Southern California. Makes you wonder how can something so beautiful come from something so destructive?
Then these verses came to my mind. How God is a all consuming fire, yet He is the most stunning thing in all the world. And then i read a article about how sometimes our hillsides need to burn in order to purify the ground and bring about new growth. And although it's destructive, it's a good thing. Now don't get me wrong, it's not ok for people's houses to burn down, that's horrible and sad. I'm just saying that fires only purpose isn't just destruction but purification.
Isn't that how God makes us grow? It seems that we have to walk through the fire to become the person God meant us to be. That we have to go through rough times or difficult situations to see what God's purpose for our lives is. I am feeling like i can look back at the past year and see that God had me walk through the fire for a purpose and that i am on the other side, stronger in my faith and closer to Him. I also see where God wants me to be. Although being tested and walking through the fire is hard, upsetting and a struggle. You end up on the other side the person who God meant you to be. Praise the Lord for His lessons and His plans.
Today I am reminded of one of my favorite sayings, "I would rather walk with God in the dark than go alone in the light. " Mary Gardiner Brainard. Spend some time talking to God today and praise Him for the fires you have had to walk through.
Daniel and I are reading through "One Month to Live: Thirty days to a no-regrets life". We are also going to a small group study using this book with my sister Dawn and her husband. I read the first chapter today and it really got me thinking, "Why do i live my life the way i do?" and "What would I change if i knew i only had a month to live?". The verses for today are:
"Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should." Psalm 90:12
"Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes" James 4:14
I have three Challenges for today:
Challenge #1
Make a list of five things I'd change about my life if i knew i only had a month to live.
1. Have more alone time with Daniel (my husband) and just love him the way he should be loved
2. Take Sienna to the park or outside everyday to play and run and laugh
3. Spend one on one time with each of my youth group kids
4. Make special lasting memories with each of my sisters and my mom
5. Write a letter to all the people who have encouraged me and inspired me to be the person I am today. Thank them for the time and energy they put into my life. Let them know they made a difference.
Challenge #2
What do I want my life to look like at the end of this study?
I want to be refreshed and excited about what God has in store for the days He has given me. I want to feel energized by the Holy Spirit and ready to met the challenges ahead. I want my family to know how deeply i love them and how much I want to glorify the Lord in all i do. I want the fire back that has been smothered by resent events. I want to live each day with a purpose and shine brightly for my Savior!
Challenge #3
Tell someone about what I am doing...
This challenge is the main reason I am writing this on my blog today. I could have written it in a journal and told one of my family members, but instead I am taking a leap and letting the blogging world know what I am doing. I will also be posting this in several groups to tons of people will know and maybe keep me accountable. Please feel free to ask me questions or find out more on my progress. I hope to write something whenever I feel lead. If you are at a point in your life where you wonder, "What am I doing here?" Please check this book out at your library or buy it, along with a bible. I think it's going to do great things in my life, maybe it can light a fire in yours.
Before we did our lesson I had a little game for all of us to play. It's called the human knot, however my version has a little twist. I had two of the kids leave the room, mean while everyone else formed a circle and the held hands with two differnt people across from them, forming a human knot that they needed to get out of. Now here is my twist the two kids who were out of the room return, it is their job to tell the group how to get out of the knot, however one of them would be telling them the right way to get out and the other will be trying to make the knot worse. The group had to deside who to listen to and sometimes it was really hard to figure out who was trying to lead you astray. The kids loved the game and we played it at least 3 times, each time changing the people who gave directions. This game went really well with what we were reading in Ecclesiastes 7, about who we listen to. Satan want to lead us in the wrong direction, it is our job to seek and find God's voice. To listen to HIm as He guilds us the way He wants us to go. Each and every week we are digging deeper into the book of Ecclesiastes and I have to say I am getting a lot out of it. And it is amazing how much the kids are getting out of it and the great questions they are asking. The Lord is good and is blessing all of us as we study His word. Take sometime day and read along with us!
Today we had a much smaller group then usual, the super bowl strikes again! Nonetheless we had a great time in worship and studying God's word. We did a fun "game" called, Two hands & One pen. The kids had to pair off and were given one piece of paper, and one pen. Then they were told to both hold the pen and draw something, Daniel was in charge of choosing what they drew (i.e. dog, church, race car, flower, etc.) Oh! And no one was aloud to talk or give any kind of hand signals. It was interesting to watch, and even more interesting to be part of a pair. after each drawing we traded partners, and before we were done everyone had be each others partner. I was a ringer, being the one who found the game and knew the lesson behind it, i purposely made it very hard for who ever i had partnered with.hehe! After the "game" we talked about how hard it was and what they had learned. They said by the end they had figured out that someone needed to lead while the other person just went a long for the ride. That way they would end up with a good looking picture. We talked about how hard it was to want to do something and have no control of the out come.
I was super excited about Youth Group tonight because Daniel and I had planned to have Youth Group outside and have a camp fire. Well while Daniel was trying to build the fire the winds picked up, and the wood wouldn't stay lite. I was kind of bummed, because I had told all the kids about the camp fire and I had bought everything for S'mores. Since i don't like to disappoint people, i thought really hard about what i could do. So i went searching in my office to find something that could work, and there in one of the closets i found bags and bags of Christmas lights. I plugged them in and put them in the fire pit and wallah! Instant FIRE! Well not really a fire but it set the mood. So we stayed inside, turned the lights off and had our lesson by "fire" light. Instead of breaking into groups like we usually do, we stayed together and read Ecclesiastes chapter 3 together and discussed it. My favorite time in the evening was when I asked the kids, "How has God made all things beautiful in His time" in your own life. It was wonderful to hear how God had worked in their lives, I think everyone enjoyed hearing the stories and being inspired by our amazing God! We also enjoyed an extra long worship time singing around our little "fire" and then i microwaved some S'more, not the most classic of technecs but it worked. However some of the kids tried to roast marshmellows over some candles, it really didn't work that well. hehe!Nonetheless the kids had a great time and enjoyed our little camp out, even if it was inside.
I am always in amazement of how much these teenagers understand and how much they enjoy learning new things from God's word. This week we read chapter 2 of Ecclesiastes, and although some of the kids thought it was rather repetitive, they were really getting the point of this book. And although I have already done several studies of Ecclesiastes, I am learning new things and rediscovering God's purpose for my life. The bible is an amazing thing, no matter how many times you read it, you learn new things, discover new things about yourself. I am really in need of reading Ecclesiastes, I need to remember who i am working for, and that is the Lord. I felt refreshed and renewed after the lesson, and i was teaching it! hehe! That is one of the greatest things about working in Youth Ministries is although i am teaching, I am learning right along side them.
I am so looking forward to next week, chapter three is my favorite part of the book. I really hope the kids are ready to understand and learn from what we will be reading next week. I really think that the Lord is going to do some great things over the next few weeks, so PLEASE pray for us. Because we can't do this on our own, we need your prayers and the Lords guidance to make things happen. Thanks for all the prayers!
Right now Daniel and I are making a lot of very important decisions, that will affect our life in a BIG way. My family is the most important thing to me. And I want to make sure that the decisions that we make right now are the right ones for all three of us. I will post later in more detail. But if you could pray for us, that we would do what God wants us to do. And that the Lord will be glorified in the choices that we make. Thank you.
Here are some verse that are giving me encouragement:
"My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
"In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37
"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we
ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be
the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever
and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21
"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
"Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation." Psalm 68:19
"Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God." Psalm 42:11
"Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD." Psalm 31:24
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28
"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from
the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you
are doing and will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct
your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ." 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5
"Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me."John 14:1
