Devotional: Jesus is Bigger

One of my favorite passages in all of Scripture is Romans 8:31-39. Take a couple minutes to read through it, then come back here for some thoughts and comments.

What's amazing about this passage is verse 33, "It is God who justifies." We have an Enemy, someone trying to tell us that we aren't good enough. We make mistakes. We mess up. We all sin. Yet, it is God who justifies. God makes the ultimate decision on what's going to happen to us. Not you. Not me. Not your neighbor, Shirley. And not our Enemy, the devil.

It's because of Jesus that we are justified by God. What that means is that Jesus paid the penalty for us. When someone gets caught doing something wrong, breaking the law, there is a penalty for that action. Jesus has taken the penalty for us. He has already died for us. All of our sin, past, present, and future is hung on the cross. Jesus' death has satisfied God's anger towards sin.

Yet, we run away from God when we mess up. We run away from church when we are not living holy lives. But there is nothing that can separate us from God, this passage says.

I was at a conference yesterday, and the speaker said, "Jesus is bigger than any mistake." Those six words should transform us. Where do we turn when we mess up? It should be to God. And since the Church should be representing God here on earth, we should be able to turn to the Church with no condemnation, no fear of being "guilty," even though we all are. Jesus has taken care of it for us.

Read through the passage one more time. Spend some time reflecting on it. Think about the fact that God is FOR you, not against you. He has given everything for you. And He has given everything for everyone. For you. For me. For your neighbor...Shirley. For your teacher. For your family. For your enemy.

There are two steps to take in regards to this devotional:

1. Write out a prayer of thanksgiving to God for what you read in this passage. Thank him for something specific that is written. Make it at least a three sentence prayer.
2. Write out a prayer for the upcoming mission trip based on what you read in this passage. Pray for those who we will encounter to see the love of Jesus. Pray that our group will model this passage well.

I look forward to reading through your prayers.

-Norm

Devotion: The Greatest of All

I don't know about you, but for most of my life I've tried to be the best Christian I can. I have done many of the things a "good Christian" should do. But there are times that I have completely missed the point. Take a moment to read 1 Corinthians 13 (it's 13 verses long), then come back here for some thoughts and reflections.

This passage is one of the most popular wedding readings because it deals with love. If you think about a wedding, the couple getting married are entering into a covenant relationship where they are publicly showing their desire to live in unity with each other.

The thing that you will not hear in vows is, "I promise that we will never fight, never have a disagreement, and will, at all times, completely agree with one another." When we enter into a relationship with God, we are also entering into a covenant relationship with God's people, the Church. Paul was writing to a new church made up of diverse people who were used to fighting and brawls.

Go back and reread verses 4-7. This is the description of what love is and what love does. Love needs to be patient and kind because we are all people who have our own thoughts and ideas of how to live life. We will disagree. We will hurt one another. But if we live out verses 4-7, then we can figure out how to live in unity with one another even while having conflict. And that is far greater than the greatest miracle or gift that we could ever receive.

Here's how to respond to this post: Pick a description of love that you would like to work on from verse 4-7. Why did you pick that one? How will it help you in preparing for the mission trip? Write down your answers in the comments.

-Norm

Coping with Crisis: Part 2

If you haven't done yesterday's devotion, go do it now. Don't go on until you have done that one. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Yesterday you read about two guys who were going through some kind of crisis in their lives. One had a sick son, and the other was crippled. I asked for everyone to find one similarity and one difference. Here are some similarities I found:

1. Both people were facing problems they couldn't solve
2. Both had to take Jesus at his word
3. Both received help from Jesus in the form of healing

Here are some differences:

1. One person was in a respected position while the other wasn't
2. One had family, the other was alone
3. One person's problems were recent (sick son) while the other had problems for a long time

One of the biggest differences that I see is the social status each one was in. The royal official would have been respected by many around him, while the crippled man would have no respect. In fact, in that time, many people believed that crippled people had done something in their lives, or their parents had done something to anger God, therefore they were crippled.

So you have a respected guy and one who was not respected. You have a guy who had anything he wanted, and one who didn't even have anyone to help him into a pool. Yet both of them had a need that they couldn't satisfy. Both men had to trust Jesus, that He could make a difference in their situation.

We all have those times in our lives. We have things that we can't control. We have problems that we can't fix. But where do we turn? A lot of times we just try harder or we give up. Yet, Jesus is big enough to handle our situation. We may not get the answer we want, but we can know that He is there and He cares for us.

To respond to this devotion:

1. Write down something that you hope God will do for you, an issue you hope that He can resolve. You don't have to be super specific if the information is sensitive. Maybe it's some kind of guidance, or you have a sick friend or family member. Maybe it's that someone you know will receive Christ.
2. Write out a prayer in response to someone else's need, asking God to intervene or to make His answer clear in the situation.

Encountering Jesus: Coping with Crisis

All of us go through hard things in life. None of us are free from difficulty. But what do we do when we are going through a hard time? Where do we turn?

Read through John 4:43-54 and John 5:1-9. Both of these guys come from different places, different social classes, yet they are going through difficulties. For today, write in the comments at least one way in which these two stories are similar and one way that they are different. Don't read anyone else's answers until you have answered. We'll continue on with some application tomorrow.

Silent Auction

I've talked to a couple of people who have had trouble finding things to bring to the silent auction. Let me share with you what we are doing and some other ideas that you can borrow and adapt.

We are doing a "Get Well Gift Set". Tara found a recipe online where you put dry ingredients of soup in a jar and seal it. It's suppose to look good once it's all put in the jar. Then she is throwing in a small pack of Kleenex, cough drops, and a get well card. That will all be packaged together. Most of those things are things that we had laying around the house that we don't use.

Another set will be a woman's devotional basket. We found a woman's devotional booked, untouched, in our bookcase. Tara also had a nice fancy journal shes has never used. We are putting a nice coffee mug with a single serving of coffee, kind a "Get Your Morning Started Right" basket.

I mentioned that these were things that we already had, but they are also things that are brand new. They haven't been touched or messed with. They are as we got them. Everything that we sell should be nice. Here are some more ideas that you could take from:

• Date Night: Buy a bucket of popcorn (they sell microwave popcorn in the bucket at grocery stores), a move (keep in mind this is a mostly Christian crowd), a gift card for Subway (dinner), and a 2 liter of pop.
• Kids Craft Set: Coloring book, crayons, water colors, drawing paper, glue, construction paper, stickers, etc...
• Scrapbook: Scrapbook paper, craft scissors, stickers, stencils, scrapbook
• Beauty Basket: Lotion, soap, candle, loofa, beauty mask, etc...
• Summer Fun: Sidewalk chalk, jump rope, badminton, bubbles, frisbee 
• Cookie in a Jar: Get the dry ingredients for baking a cookie and put them in a jar (Click here for a link to see how it's done and to see other ingredient-in-jar ideas)
• Items from a business willing to donate items. We had someone who worked at Hoosier Tire that got a really nice blanket and a jacket. Your parents' may work somewhere willing to donate. You might be surprised. It gets their brand out while giving to a good cause.

Those are just some ideas to get you started. I would encourage you to Google some more ideas. It doesn't have to be complicated. I did mention baked goods before, but please make sure that they are baked GOODS (see what I did there). We don't want to be selling burnt cookies or poopy pie. 

If you plan on borrowing one of these ideas, please specify that in the comments. We don't need seven Date Night baskets. So make sure to check the comments to see if someone has already taken an idea.

Healing

It's interesting to think about God's plan for the world. According to Jeremiah 29:11, God has a plan, and His plan is for good. His plans always involve restoration (to bring back to the original condition). It doesn't take long to notice that this world is messed up, but God's plan is to give hope for the future.

As we go on our mission trip, our prayer is to bring the hope of Christ to those we encounter. I pray that the Gospel would go out from our group and heal the people around us. Gospel literally means good news. People in this world need some good news.

On the mission trip, the good news might mean that a families house is restored. It might mean that someone receives a warm meal. The good news is tangible. It is seen, felt, tasted. But there is more to this good news than that. We are bringing Jesus Christ. Even more than that, we are letting Jesus Christ lead us and showing others how He is working.

Take a moment to read Matthew 28:16-20, then come back here. OK, are you with me now? By sending out His disciples, Jesus is giving them authority. That has been passed down to us. We go with power. We go knowing that we are on God's side. Our mission should always point toward Christ because He's the reason we are doing this anyway.

And the encouragement for all of this is that we aren't alone. In case you passed over it, or didn't even read in the first place, go back and read verse 20.

Jesus doesn't promise that everything is going to be as we expected it. But He promises something even greater-His presence. No matter the circumstance, no matter what we run into in life, or on this mission trip, we can have peace knowing that Jesus is guiding us through it.

Here's how to respond to this:

1. Pray that God would begin to work in your heart, that He would give you courage and boldness so that you are able to proclaim that Jesus is our Leader, our Savior. Pray that He will show you how to teach others in your life about what He says, that your life would point to Him, the Gospel, the Good News.
2. Answer this question in the comments: How has Jesus shaped, changed, or flipped your life? How has following Jesus changed how you see the world, how you interact with others, how you see yourself?

The Good News about Jesus is that He changes everything. In whatever circumstance we find ourselves, we know that He is with us when we are proclaiming His name, and that gives me comfort. It changes how I see others, how I interact with others, and what I see as important.

I look forward to seeing your comments below. Remember that this Sunday you are to be at the church with your parents/guardians either after second service (10:30 am slow, 11:30 am fast) or before VIBE (5:00 pm slow, 6:00 pm fast) to sign the commitment forms. Bring your insurance card with you so we can make copies.

-Norm

Devotion: Worry

Are you a worrier? I don't typically worry, but certain things bring it out in me. I tend to worry more when I'm about go to a new place. For instance, I get pretty nervous when we are going to go to a school event at a school that we've never been to. How will I know which door to go in? Will I be able to find the gym/auditorium?

I know, that's kind of an unusual fear. But sometimes we just worry too much. Check out what Jesus says about worry in Matthew 6:25-34 (click the passage for a link to Bible Gateway).

Why was Jesus so concerned about what we worry about? I think it's because what we worry about shows what or who we put our trust in. If I worry about what I'm going to eat, then my trust is taken away from God and put on myself. I feel like it's up to me to figure out what I'm going to eat, that God can't help in the situation.

Re-read verse 33. What is a kingdom? A kingdom has a king. Each king has a set of rules, laws, or commands, and the people in the kingdom are expected to follow these. So Jesus is saying that if you seek God's Kingdom first, that the rest of these things will take care of themselves. It's not that they will magically happen, or that you will get everything you want, but when we are seeking to please God He makes it clear how we should live our lives and our needs are met through Him and His ways.

There's no promise about living a trouble free life. In fact, read verse 34 again. Jesus seems to say that you will always have trouble. But the question is, "What are you putting your trust in?" If we fully trust God to take care of us, then living His way should be our number one concern, and we don't have to worry about the other things so much.

Here are two ways to respond to this post (please complete both):

1. In the comments, describe something that you tend to worry about.
2. Reply to someone else's comment about what they worry about with a simple prayer. For instance, you might respond to my worry about going somewhere new with this prayer: "God, help Norm to know that you are with him no matter where he goes, that he doesn't need to worry so much about going to new places.

Make sure that you complete the first devotion as well if you haven't done that yet. I look forward to seeing the comments section blow up this week!

-Norm

No Trace Missions: Extended

Hey guys. We worked through some material yesterday that we called no trace missions. The idea is that we don't want to leave a trail of destruction behind us when we go on our mission trip. The only thing we want to leave behind is evidence that God was working in us and through us.

One thing that was brought several times yesterday is that it's important to be kind and loving with one another and those we come in contact with. Well, the Bible has a lot to say about love, what love looks like, and what love does.

Take a moment to read through Romans 12:9-21. If you are able to, print out that passage (click here if you're not sure where to look it up). Now, either in your Bible or printed copy of the Scripture, go back and underline every description of what love is or what it does (e.g. love must be sincere; honor one another). Seriously, go do that right now before you move on...I'll wait.

OK, now read through once more, but this time put your initials over the things that are easy for you, and circle those that are more challenging. Again, do that right now...I'll wait.

Now, think through some of the questions:

• What are some things those who love should do?
• What are some things those who love should not do?
• How will this help us in having a no trace mission trip?
• How might forgetting what Paul (the author of this part of the Bible) writes affect our trip negatively?

Take a minute to think through those questions, then follow the two steps listed below.

1. In the comments below, tell about at least one of the things you underlined, circled, or initialed. Why did you put that mark there? (e.g. I circled, "be patient in affliction" because when I'm going through a hard time I tend to lose patience and want easy answers).
2. In the same comment, write out your answer for one of the questions above.

Remember, completing these are required to go on the mission trip. If you fail to complete these exercises you may jeopardize your chances for going on this mission trip. I look forward to seeing your responses soon.

Oh, on last thing, don't forget to include your name somewhere in the comment. I'm not sure if you can type your name as the person commenting, so you may have to respond as a "guest" and write your name in the comments. Have fun!