Sunday night was awesome! We had tons of young people come out to the water balloon war. Thank you for reminding your children to invite their friends. We began the night with our normal praise and worship service along with the message, followed by dodging, launching, ducking and running for our lives. Below is the list of our next big events and the message spoken Sunday night.
SCHEDULE:
Friday, October 26th: Guys Nerf War! 6:30pm – 10:30pm
When we did this event in Texas when Pastor Eric was my Jr. High pastor it was my favorite event. This is not just shooting Nerf guns at each other. It is top secret missions with obstacles and barriers, trying to get by flying bullets to capture the enemy’s flag, to get the “president” to safety and more.
Sunday, October 28th: October Bash! 6:00pm – 9:00pm.
Bring a covered dish and some friends. Awards to most original super hero costume!!
Wednesday, October 31st: Fall Festival! 6:00pm – 9:00pm.
This Week: Last week to sell car raffle tickets!
NOTE: All these events are perfect for your children to invite their friends to because they are filled with fun. We could really make a huge impact this month.
THE MESSAGE
James Series: Part 1
I began the message reading James 1:22 which says to not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves but do what it says. I explained that we as Christians sometimes come to church and hear the truth that we should read our Bibles everyday, pray constantly and place God first. But we go home, get busy, and God is set on the back burner. We know the truth. We know what we should do but we don’t do it.
After this we showed a short clip from the Matrix which shows Cypher choosing to betray his friends and join the bad guys and go back to being a “battery” so that he could fulfill his selfish desires. I then explained that Cypher knew the truth, but he decided to do the wrong thing. How could someone like Cypher know the truth and still do the wrong thing?
How do we relate to Cypher? I explained that we too are faced with a choice (James 1:22): obeying God’s Word verses desires of the flesh. On a white board I wrote obeying God vs. desires of flesh. I went around the room asking people what are some examples of having a relationship with God. People responded with reading the Bible, praying, being kind, obeying God, witnessing, etc. I wrote these down and then did the same with Desires of the Flesh. I received answers such as video games, computer, shopping and sports.
I then asked the question, “How often should we read our Bibles? Is it okay to place the computer, video games, practice, or homework above God for any reason?” Everyone said “NO!” We know the truth but, like Cypher, choose to not do what God’s Word says. How is it that we all know that we should place God first but when it comes to getting on the computer, going to practice and playing video games, reading the Bible and having a relationship with God is placed on the back burner?
Some of us may be saying, “I don’t play video games. I don’t even hang out with friends. I am just too busy with school and working.” The problem is not being too busy. How do I know this? To answer this question I asked, “Who usually eats something every day? Drinks a little water? Okay, who usually eats everything in sight when you get home from school because you are starving?” Everyone yelled, “Me!” WHY? Why do you do this? Your body craves food. If you don’t have it you will die. Therefore, you want it and NEVER fail to eat it.
The problem is we don’t crave God’s Word. If you craved God’s Word like you do food and oxygen, then you would devour it like you do food and oxygen. You would never miss a day because you crave it so much. You can’t live without it. If you don’t read the Bible, pray, and obey it, it is because you don’t crave it.
Why is there this craving for these (circled desires of flesh: computers, etc.) and no craving for this (X through relationship with God)? Examining Cypher we find out. Cypher trained himself to ignore the truth that he would be giving his life away for this delusion. Like people that are anorexic, who train their minds to ignore their body’s needs. We do the same thing. We train ourselves to not crave/desire God. How do we do this? We train ourselves by starving our spiritual desires and feeding ourselves the desires of our flesh.
We must, therefore, train ourselves by feeding ourselves spiritually. Halo 3, computers, and sports cannot feed our souls the healthy food we need. It is going to be hard at first to feed ourselves the spiritual food God wants us to eat; just like going from eating donuts all your life to eating broccoli. But what happens when we do this (circling relationship with God) over this (X through fleshly desires) and decide, “I’m not going to feed my flesh?” James 1:25 says, “The man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” We will experience the blessings of God and walk in the incredible destiny that God planned for us before we were born.
In closing, I asked the class who has been struggling with doing the Word of God rather than just hearing it. I prayed that God would help each of us to place him first and become doers of His Word.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
For the next 5 weeks we are continuing the book of James series. It would be great if you could have your child start reading James. If you are also reading James this would be even more effective. You could talk to your child about specific verses in James every so often asking them what they think the verse means or how they are applying it to their life. For this week the ultimate goal of this message was for these young men and women to understand the most important thing in their lives is having a relationship with Jesus. This comes by reading God’s Word everyday and seeking his face before anything else; even school, computers and sports. If they learn to place God first now, they will succeed later on in life in school and their future career.
