Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Memories

I was having a conversation with my wife a week ago and we were reminiscing about our favorite Christmas memories. What struck me that night was something new. All of my Christmas memories were connected to family and relationships. I could remember some of the gifts I had received, but all of my greatest memories were tied to people. What has amazed me when I think about this is that this is the way it was supposed to be. I began thinking about Jesus coming to earth. He came for us. He came to redeem a people for Himself. His purposes were relational, He gave Himself. The one relationship you and I know we long for more than any other came on Christmas. God came to us, Isaiah the prophet said that His name would be Immanuel which means God with us. God came for his people and we get Him in a deep intimate relationship.

I challenge you to sit quietly and remember your favorite Christmas memories. As you remember those relationships, think about the greatest relationship we can experience because we have God with us. Jesus came and now it can all be made right. We can be released from the bondage of sin. We are His because He came for us. Praise be to our God that He does not quit and His relationship is so unbelievable. This Christmas season can be more relational than ever when you cherish the family and friends you have in light of how God has loved you and called you to love those around you.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

"if I had not come"

John 15:22

Gracious Christ, Lord and Savior, I stumble on your words, "If I had not come" and stunned by the realization of what I would not know and have if You had not come. Just to think about it sends a chill up my spine. And yet, each thought becomes a source of profound thanksgiving. You have exposed my need and met that need through Your life, death, and resurrection.

Thank You for revealing the true nature of grace. Through You I know about the width, length, depth, and height of love that passes understanding. Through Your teaching I know how to put first the kingdom and God's righteousness. In the cross I experience the forgiveness and cleansing of my sins. Your death defeated the power of death so I can be sure that this life is only a small part of eternity and that I shall live forever. You are reigning Lord of history and are able to take what I commit to You and bring Your best. You understand my confusion and give me calmness, You see my stress and give me serenity, You invade my perplexities and infuse Your peace. Praise You, Lord; I am a new person filed with the Spirit.

Guide me today as I think prayerfully about what life would be like. . . . if You had not come. Most of all, help me claim all that is mine because You came and continue to come.
CELEBRATE HIS COMING---JESUS IS THE REASON

Anonymous

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

All is calm all is bright.

Silent Night has always been a beautiful Christmas song with so much more to offer than just Christmas. I get so excited to hear the wonderful pictures of Jesus, holy infant. Holy infant can never be said of any other child. At the moment He was conceived by the Holy Spirit He was holy infant, then holy toddler and holy tween and holy teen then holy twenty something. Jesus is God and has always been. All is calm and all is bright. I cannot imagine this phrase speaking of that night but of the redemption that the holy infant brings. So much commotion with what it means to have a newborn, to be in a stable. This in my mind was not a calm moment but one with much hustle by Joseph to help his wife and to comfort a crying child. The promise of a messiah brings calm, the joy of a savior makes the world bright. I am in awe of our God who would do this for us. To know that a holy infant was the perfect redeeming love. Praise God that all is calm and all is bright.

Monday, December 15, 2008

The wonder of christmas...

Jesus came to save His people from there sins. (mission statement)

God with us. (word became flesh)

Kingdom will have no end. (He is God man and Will not quite)

Humble entry to the world. (position of servant from beginning)

The God of the universe came for us. He wants His people. He will not quit until He gets what He wants. God has a purpose for His son come to earth. God knows that to get His people back the most perfect sacrifice must be given. The most perfect sacrifice had to come as a baby. God knew what it takes to redeem people and he spared no expense. God knows. God cares. God judges. God loves. God will not be taken lightly, when we look at the wonderful thing which God did for us we should be moved. Our lives can not stay still we can't become complacent in our lifestyle God is worth way to much for apathy. God was not complacent or apathetic. Our God knows. so the question is do you still wonder at the story of Christmas?

Monday, December 8, 2008

salvation is here

Remembering that salvation is here will enable us to be ready at any moment to live out G2. God has sent His son to be our salvation. Jesus came as a baby helpless and yet He was salvation. The angel said it, Mary believed it, Joseph heard it, Elisabeth said it, John the baptist jumped in the womb, and then the angels came from heaven to proclaim it. Salvation is here and it came in the form of a baby. Jesus was born and lived a life that we could not live and then died the death we could not die. Jesus was the greatest gift ever given. Are we living our lives as if salvation is here? We have the greatest gift, does our lives reflect that? Salvation gives us an amazing perspective on what mission is all about. Jesus mission was simple to come and save His people from their sins. Our mission is simple to obey and observe all that Jesus command us to . The great commission and the great commandment, G2 lived out.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

G2 and Christmas

When i think about the great commission and the great commandment along side of the Christmas holiday I get excited. When we think about the purpose behind the coming of Christ it becomes clear that loving God, Neighbor and world can be played out with in this season.

Jesus example: when we see that Jesus took on human form and came in a humble manner and we look at how He describes His relationship with God the Father it becomes a wonderful example of how we are to live. When we see that He came on mission to save His people from there sins, He loved his neighbor, we should be on mission. When we look at how He gave His life sacrificially it is amazing to think that we should live the same way. Jesus was not just a baby but the messiah, the coming one who would change the world.

When Christmas loses the point of Jesus we have lost our way. I am not asking that we change the world, but what if we changed the Christians in the world? What would it look like to put our G2 lifestyle in to practice during Christmas when we can follow the example of the one we worship and celebrate. To truly remember that Christmas began with worship.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

volunteer letter 4

I hope you and your family had a wonderful thanksgiving. You and your teaching team were on my list of things I am thankful for. God has been very gracious to us as we spend time each week preparing for Sunday’s. I find great joy in knowing that the gospel is going out in your classrooms. God is moving in our ministry we are seeing new families coming to church because of you families and the children God is using in our classrooms.
As we are now in the midst of the Christmas season, let us be diligent to help the children in our rooms every Sunday remember the point of this celebration. That as John tells us in his first chapter the word became flesh. As often as you can for the next 3 weeks describe for your class the beauty of God coming to earth as a baby to live the life we could not live and to die the death we could not die. God has given us great opportunities to use the birth of our Savior to speak to the need for salvation. Jesus came to save His people from their sins. My prayer through this Christmas season is that God would use the beautiful story of Jesus birth to bring some of these little ones to saving faith.
Our ministry is fun, but our message is life changing. Please take time to stop and remember our why we teach and serve. The goal is the gospel and that as we plant seeds the Holy Spirit would take the truth of who Jesus is and move in hearts.

I hope that you personally have a wonderful Christmas celebration speaking and living with the words of the angel to Mary and Joseph that His name will be Emanuel, which means God with us. He is here with us and we have the greatest gift ever given in forgiveness of sins and communion with God.

Monday, December 1, 2008

God with us.

Last night during communion one of our pastors gave us the phrase "God with us" to reflect on. This phrase comes from the Christmas story. The direct part is from the angel talking and telling that Mary will have a son and His name shall be called Emanuel, which means God with us. When I began reflecting on that phrase I was caught by the fact that Jesus came as a baby and began the process of redemption in the most humble means. When I think about the fact that God is with us, it is very humbling. Jesus came and lived the perfect life I could not live and the death I could not die, He was with us in physical body. In the midst of explaining His death to the disciples He said that if He did not go then the comforter the Holy Spirit could not come, which Jesus said was better. The God of the universe in human form said that what was coming was better. You and I as believers have what Jesus said is better. The question I asked my self was, do I live in such away that would reflect that God is with me? Would others know that I have the Holy Spirit? As Christians we sometimes think that having Jesus with the us every day would makes us more spiritual or more devoted in our lives, but Jesus said what we have now is better. Do you live like that? Do we live like we have the best? What will we do with the fact that God is with us?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

not self motivating

G2 is not a self motivating lifestyle. Our ability to love beyond our capacity comes from Jesus first loving us( 1 john 4:19). Jesus said in John 14 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." He then adds that this is not to be on our own but that He will send another Helper, the Holy Spirit. In our lives when we are called to Love: God, neighbor, and world we need to be motivated by the love of Christ and through the call of the Holy spirit in us. The goal of G2 is dependence on God and allowing Him to move and guide us through our specific relationships. Our lives can be so busy so fast that we tend to think past the direction of the Holy spirit to our own conclusions. It is time to slow down and listen. Stop and pray. Think about what it is God is moving you towards in a G2 lifestyle.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Volunteer letter 3

What a wonderful first two months we have had. We have had so many great things happening it is truly God at work. I have been blessed to grow in relationship with you. I feel that God continues to grow our volunteer staff in like-mindedness. As I have had many chances to speak with some of you it is clear there is a thread of similarity. You have a goal of seeing Jesus made alive to these children. Your desire for the children in your classes to hear and know the gospel is infectious. As we continue to keep the main thing the main thing (the gospel), my prayer is that God would use this to awake this church for more of His purposes. As the children in our classrooms grab hold of the gospel in their lives it will spill over into their home lives and affect their families.
God has called us to speak boldly the truth of scripture. I pray that God will give you wisdom and confidence as you proclaim the God of scripture with passion and excitement. When we are passionate in our teaching and in our relationships with the children in our rooms it will allow them to see real people living out love for Jesus. It is easy for me to say that when I see you with your children, it is clear that you are doing this because of your love for Jesus not out of duty.
Continue to fight the fight. Pour out your heart in prayer for your class, ask God to use you. When we are in full dependency on the Holy Spirit it will radically change our time with these children. I am continuing to pray for you. My heart longs for us to see radical love for Jesus from the children on our campus. I am grateful for you. God has blessed me over and over in this first year of being in children’s ministry. I continue to see people and families who are committed to seeing the gospel go forth to the next generation. There is nothing greater than proclaiming Jesus to all who will hear. Enjoy the mission field God has placed you in ever Sunday.

Volunteer letter 2

God has amazed me this first month as we have been serving together. It was been wonderful to see God move in your classrooms. I have heard wonderful stories of children connecting to teachers and feeling loved and cared for. This is a beautiful picture of God working in you.
I am also excited to see your teaching teams come together. For some of you this is your first run at children’s ministries and that can be overwhelming. It has been great to see you take ownership of your classroom and for all of the teachers to come together as one unit. God is our unifying theme and we unite under the banner of the gospel.
I want to continue to say thank you for all you do. For the hours you spend each week preparing and the time in class with sometimes-large groups. God is using you to further His kingdom and to call children to follow Jesus. Please press on towards the goal, of making Jesus known on this campus that He might be made known in our dying world.
Our love for the Creator will cause us to love His creation. These children our His precious creation and God has graciously allowed us to teach them about His beauty and majesty and most importantly His son Jesus. Please continue to make Jesus the point of every week. Every story whispers His name; our purpose is to make Him known.
You are a blessing and a wonderful gift from God. Thank you again for your service. As you are in church on Sundays and in your small groups take the time to ask people to join you on your mission of loving the children of evbc. You are the greatest reason to serve in this ministry, because you love Jesus most of all.

Volunteer letter 1

I was so excited to see a large majority of you at the kickoff for the school year. I am so encourage by they way God has provided you to love and serve the children of evbc. I can’t wait to see how God will grow us as teachers by spending time with the children. God knows exactly what we need and where we need to be stretched and He will bring in the specific children who will do that.
I have been praying that Children’s Ministry will be a front door to evbc. My prayer is that God will use you as a shepherd to the children who come through your classroom door. We are the face of evbc to the children and some of the parents who come on this campus. God has called you to love, care and shepherd the hearts of these children. I know this can sound like a large task, and it is when we do things in our own strength. I want to challenge you to trust God as you walk in to your classroom. I want you to be spiritually dependent on Him to make your class a success. Success is not when the class goes smoothly it is when you know that God was in control of your heart when you were spending time with these kids. The greatest thing we can do as teachers is to come spiritually prepared. Spend time with your savior and be on your face in prayer for your own life, family, church, and your classroom. You will find great benefit in trusting God with your class and not trying to do things on your own.
I am so grateful for this ministry. God has blessed me tremendously in the last seven months. I have learned so much about what these children need. The need to hear the Gospel , and that most likely will not come from your lesson but from your life and actions towards them. I am asking God to do great things and make our volunteer staff a group of people who love God more than anything else in our lives, and in return our lives will be a place where love overflows for others.
I am praying for you and thankful to God for the gift He has provided to our church in you.

here we are

I have been thinking about G2 for a few months. It came out of a discussion on discipleship. What are we to do in the discipleship process, what is the end result? I began to think about the two main things we were left with by Jesus. Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) and Great Commandment (Matt 22:37-40). I began to think about how these two amazing things would fit in the discipleship process. I came to some conclusions through more discussion and dialogue that if we take these two commandments that they comprise a concise description of what the disciple is to be about.

So G2 comes from my thought process about how we are to Love God, Love People, and Love our World. Now the words and ideas come from discussions and books and are a compilation of thoughts on a specific direction I want to go with my life and my families. Obediently living a G2 lifestyle has become some what of a motto for me. I am excited because this has grown me and add an excitement to my daily walk with Jesus.