Rhythm

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sunday, January 20th: We are moving Sunday night youth service to Sunday mornings @ 11 am. Once a month we will have a Sunday night youth event, such as bowling, putt-putt, Nerf war or some other fun activity.

THE MESSAGE (From xp3students.org)

One thing that I love to do is sing. I usually sing loud and proud, whether it is driving down the highway or singing in the shower. Although I believe I can sing okay, my sister-in-law Rachel swears on her life that I am tone deaf. I personally think she is just jealous. There is something that all good bands, choirs and singers have. This element in the music is rhythm. Most of us are unaware of rhythm when we listen to a song because all the instruments work together to create a unified sound or harmony. But when rhythm is missing it is very noticeable. Rhythm is the invisible quality that holds everything together.

Everything in life has rhythm. Take creation for example. In order for humans to survive they must have oxygen, therefore, plants emit oxygen for us to breathe. In order for plants to survive they must have carbon dioxide, therefore, when we exhale the oxygen plants give us we produce carbon dioxide. Creation interdependently works together to sustain life. We need food for fuel, such as vegetables. Veggies need water. Water relies on clouds and wind. Clouds are formed from the ocean and other bodies of water. Everything in life depends upon something else. Place your finger on your wrist. The pulse you feel is rhythm. Even relationships were created to have rhythm. There must be a balance of give and take. When our lives are out of rhythm life is difficult.

How did this great song begin? When did the rhythm come into existence? In Genesis 1:3-10 God begins to add the first beat into creation. He created the sun but to add rhythm he also made the night. He created the sea but also land, morning but also evening. Light had to have darkness to be light. The day had to have a morning for there to be an evening. God was just beginning. He then added a heartbeat in Genesis 2:7, man. Finally, he added animals in Genesis 2:19-20. One beat at a time God was creating a magnificent rhythm.

Then something tragic occurred. The song fell apart. In Genesis 3:6-7 Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. One little bite, one apparently “little” sin. The truth, though, is one sin never affects just one thing. It affects everything. One missed beat throws off the rhythm of the entire song. Sin is always bigger than it looks. Every time you compromise by looking at bad images, or listen to bad music, or lust, or sleep in when you should read your Bible it affects for more than just that one thing in your life and that one moment. It affects every area in your life and your future.

The amazing thing is that when Adam and Eve sinned and hid from God the first thing that God did was chase after them. God designed each of us to be a part of the rhythm to His song and even though we tend to get off beat at times He still pursues us chasing after us everyday. In Micah 6:8 it says that we were created to walk humbly with our God. God loves us so much that He simply wants us to walk to the beat of his step in rhythm with Him. It is the very reason why we were created.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

One of our goals at Southpoint in 2008 is to teach our young people to crave and read and obey God’s Word on their own. As the young people of this generation begin to do this they will begin to understand what it means to walk in rhythm with God. As a parent, you can significantly influence your child in this area by your encouragement and lifting up of God’s Word, whether it is memorizing scriptures together as a family, talking about stories in the Bible before going to bed, or setting goals, such as reading the Bible in a year.