Message Notes From One I Never Gave

I had a message planned for Sunday, but I blew out my back and was unable to deliver it.  Still, I feel like the preparation and the content were Holy Spirit driven, so I want to share my notes with you anyways.  Here are the notes for “LIFE HAS A PURPOSE – Grow In Faith.”

Intro

QUESTION TO ASK EACH OTHER:

Do you have a spot in your house (like a door frame) where your parents measure how tall you are? 

When I hit a growth spurt as a kid, I’d want to measure my height almost every day.  Growth is exciting.

When I was a kid I would only eat chicken nuggets.  On our last cruise I tried everything on every menu.  Growth is exciting.

There have been moments in my life when I’d literally *gasp* while reading my Bible.  Growth is exciting.

In KirkYouth, we want you to grow in your faith because it is an exciting journey.  A lot of you have told me how much you like Mid-High because we don’t treat you like little kids – we don’t teach you like little kids.  That’s because as you grow, your faith should grow.

So today, I’m going to unpack our last purpose: GROW IN FAITH

 

Acts 17:24-28 (NIV; page 772) ²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

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Talk Notes

Description: “Doesn’t Live In Temples Built By Human Hands” 

²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.

If you want to grow in faith, you can’t box God in or block Him out. 

Illustration:  Not confined to a church building or a church meeting

• JV AWANA – I was a memorizing machine
• School basketball – I was a mouth with legs
• Growth means you understand that Jesus is with you everywhere you go.  (Not just @ Night of Impact, but on the bus back from Night of Impact

Application:  Growth becomes a rhythm.  Daily life

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Description: “Gives Life And Breath And Everything Else” 

²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

If you want to grow in faith, recognize that you can’t do it on your own.

Illustration:  Adam didn’t create the Garden, God gave that to him.

But Adam was given the responsibility to make it grow

Gardening – prep the soil, water, fertilize, prevent pests– and I can do ALL of that and still get no growth.  God is the one that causes all things to grow.

Application:  Faith itself is a gift from God.  When I put seeds in my garden bed, I expect them to grow and produce fruit.  God is the same way.  When he gives you the gift of faith in Him, he wants to see it grow.

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Description: “Appointed Times in History” 

²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  

If you want to grow in faith, understand God’s plan for you. 

Illustration:  God knows where you are and what you’re facing

BUSY - “I don’t have time to read my Bible” – finals – state – family vacation (My excuses – tv shows)

DISTRACTED - Or you say “I don’t know how.”  Maybe you don’t know how because you’re distracted while I’m trying to tell you how.  You don’t need a new high score right at this moment.  Some of you need to put your phones away and use an actual paper bible.

HURT – “You don’t know what’s happening at home.”  Your parents might be getting a divorce – you know a friend that’s being abused – you have a friend who’s moving – it all sucks, and it’s all distracting.

Application:  Growth happens in the struggle.  God put you at this time in history on purpose.  The easy thing is to stay bored, give in to laziness, or let the hurt that we feel consume us.  But we sing all the time about how God lays brokenness aside and makes it beautiful.  Do you really believe that?

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Description: “In Him We Live, And Move, And Have Our Being” 

²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

If you want to grow in faith, make Jesus your one and only source of life. 

Illustration:  The opposite is we die, and stagnate, and have no purpose.

Drinking Rio Grande rain puddles – dead water – took our lives in our hands that day

Application:  Is Jesus one of many things you pursue?  Or is Jesus the one and only thing you pursue?  All of life comes down to our connection to the True Vine.

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Description: “Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing” 

John 15:5 ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

If you want to grow in faith, stay connected to Jesus. 

Illustration:  abide/remain – stay connected to grow

Apart –

• Nothing of eternal purpose “Our greatest fear in life should not be of failure but of succeeding at something that doesn’t matter.” – Francis Chan
  • Brock to Pearse after winning a tourney (well…this will be in my attic in a few years)
  • Nothing to save yourself “While we still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” – Romans 5:6 “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
  • Nothing to experience the fullness of joy: just look at Apple’s production rate:
    • iPhone:
      • Jun ‘07
        • 16GB Feb ’08 (we need a bigger one!)
        • 3G Jul ‘08
        • 3GS Jun ‘09 (16 & 32GB)
          • released an 8GB in Jun ’10 (nope, we need a smaller one!)
        • 4 Jun ‘10
          • and a white one in April ‘11
          • and an 8GB in Oct ‘11
        • 4S 10 days later
        • 5 Sep ‘12
        • then overlay all of that with the iPads…

Application:  If you want to grow in faith, stay connected to Jesus.  Our trinkets won’t matter much when we see Him face to face.

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 [ title slide ] How Do We Respond To This?

Life has a purpose.  And that purpose is to grow in faith.

And if you want to grow in faith, it all comes down to Jesus.  What do you think about Jesus?  How are you spending time with Jesus?  Are you trying to act like Jesus?  Are you around other people who love Jesus?  Are you making disciples who also love Jesus?

Or are you bored?  Or too busy?  Or too content?

Life has a purpose.  And we grow in faith when we honor God in all that we do.

We grow in faith when we make significant connections.

We grow in faith when we reach out to our friends.

Because when we do these things, this puts what you learn in here into practice out there.  It’s the proof.

Wouldn’t it be great to know your life has purpose?  Then let Christ work in your hearts so these things become a rhythm of your life.

Aren’t your curious to know what a life lived on purpose feels like?

Anything For Acceptance

Hipsters have some meme-worthy social quirks, but they highlight a deep need in all of us: belonging.  Many of us will march under the banner of “accept me for who I am” but we’ll settle for “you can also accept me for who I’m not.”  I want to be cool and accepted, and if that means perpetuating a lie, as long as you buy it and keep me close I’ll keep doing it.

These bands don’t exist.  These fans act like they so totally do.  Why?  Even when you intentionally ostracize yourself, you want to control how far that goes.  You keep the mainstream at arm’s length, but you can’t remove yourself from the orbit of belonging.  But it makes sense.

You’re at Coachella.  You kind of have to be a music fan.  If there’s even a whiff that you may not know every band playing (real or not) you may be ousted.  Your community crumbles.  Your identity with it.  So you perpetuate the lie.  And if the lie is the only thing keeping you connected, it’s time to rethink your relationships.

I believe we were made to desire connection with one another.  Some of us will do anything for acceptance because we don’t want to be alone.

Now here’s the switch: the Church is not a weekend festival.  You don’t have to know dress codes, code words, postures, practices, or pretend like you do (at least the Church I read about in the Bible).  You belong.  You don’t measure up to a certain status of attendance because none of us do.  And that is why you belong.  It’s why I belong.  Jesus himself is our peace.  He destroyed the dividing wall of hostility.  He made it possible for us to come just as we are.  Especially if we don’t know the difference between Premillennialism, Amillennialism, Postmillenialism, antidisestablishmentarianism, aspheterism, tuism, tychism, or sarcasm.

You shouldn’t oblige the impulse to fake-it-till-you-make-it in the Church.  You belong.  You don’t have to forge your way into an acceptable caste.  Because my sin is just as offensive, my religion is just as exhausting, and my need for Jesus is just as desperate as anyone I’ve ever met.

You belong.

According to 3rd Hesitations 1:99.

Discipleship (In Pictures)

I borrowed the following images from the Verge Network’s “Napkin Theology.”  I used them to talk about DISCIPLESHIP in our Confirmation class yesterday.

Free Stuff To Help The “Feel” of Your Youth Ministry

I ran across this website today while looking for some good motion backs for ProPresenter.  They’re really good, and really free (really).  Check out:

http://creative.newlifechurch.tv/downloads/backgrounds

And if you’re not much of a music junkie (like I’m not), might I suggest the following Spotify playlist for some great ambient music for your youth ministry:

Night of Impact

Have a good Wednesday!

Win an iPad Mini and Support Global Missions

My friend Regina Park is raffling off an iPad Mini to help pay for her summer mission trips! If you want to buy some tickets, let me know ASAP!  $20 for the first ticket you buy, $10 for each one after that.

Life Has A Purpose :: Series Arc

 

The first question of the Westminster Catechism asks What is the chief and highest end of man?  Answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

Mark Twain has said “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Our next KirkYouth Mid-High series is going to look not only at the purpose of life, but how your life can have purpose.  We’re going to explore what God has to say about why you’re here, why you matter, and what He wants you to do.  Here’s a breakdown of what we’ll be talking about:

April 14: Honoring God In All That You Do
April 21: Making Significant Connections
April 28: Reaching Out To Your Friends
May 5: Serving in Ministry
May 12: Growing In Your Faith

So, if you’re callous towards Jesus or the church, curious about Jesus or the church, or committed to Jesus and the church, you’re invited to connect with all of us at 9:30am on Sunday mornings.  The church is at 4102 E 61st St., Tulsa, OK, 74136.

Why Go To Church?

I was scrolling through a certain social media outlet and saw this post:

“Going to church in polka dot PJs is 100% okay.”

Yes.  It is.  ”Church clothes” have always been a mystery to me.  So you want to go in your jammies?  Cool!

But it involves actually going.  Etymologically, “church” is a gathering of God’s people (see Strong’s # 1577– ekklesia, particularly “A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly.”)  If you watch a sermon on your laptop, did you really go to church?  Or did you just watch a sermon?

Consuming Bible teaching isn’t quite the same thing as worshiping together, as an assembly of the called out ones.

Now, technology is great because it does allow us to, in some sense, stay connected if we have to be gone.  I record my sermons so students can watch them if they’re on vacation or at a tournament.  And though I’m quick to upload and share the link, I’m even quicker to teach them the importance of coming to church, being connected in church, and living as the church.

Jared Wilson tweeted this a few weeks ago:

Community group! None of us is as strong as all of us.—
  (@jaredcwilson) March 20, 2013

That really resonated with me.  American Christianity suffers from an individualistic, private-faith complex.  I’m not sure Jesus “gave Himself up for the church” so we could consume knowledge in isolation.  Community is a big deal.  And it’s hard.  So if your small group is you, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, great.  Jesus was alone some in Scripture, too.  But none of us is as strong as all of us.  Don’t rob yourself of the joy of community.  Don’t stunt your spiritual growth by trying to do it all on your own.  Don’t marinate in the mire of sin because you don’t have faithful men and/or women in your life to hold you accountable and spur you on toward love and good deeds.

If you have the flu, stay at home.  Watch a sermon.  Listen to a podcast.  Read.

If you want to come to church in your jammies, please do.  (If khaki pants equates to “giving God your best” we have a lot more to talk about.)

But guard yourself against the deception that church was ever meant to be an isolated individual discipline when in fact it is a public community of worshipers.