The title of this message is CIRCUMSTANTIAL FAITH. it's the last message in our series called THE REAL DEAL. This series is all about what it means to have authentic faith in God.
The last 2 weeks, we talked about how and why we can trust God by going over a pledge from God's Word that we called, THE EDGE PLEDGE. It goes like this.
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ.
This week, we talked about living this pledge out or actually believing these sayings to be true to the point that it changes the way you live.
The hardest time to ever trust God is when the world around you comes crashing down, or when things are not going well.
Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Our own understand of THE EDGE PLEDGE is much different than God's understanding.
Job's Example: Job is the best example of someone who experienced terrible tragedy in his life and never lost his faith in God.
God's word never says that we will have an easy, problem free, stress free life filled with wealth, health, and success in everything we do. That's just not true. However, it doesn't matter what happens in our lives, we have to hold onto the truth of God's Word which we stated in THE EDGE PLEDGE.
This sums up what I spoke on last night.
If you ever want to know more or have questions, you can find the full talk on itunes if you search "Edge Talk Podcast." Also, let me know if you have more questions to follow up.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Real Deal (part 2)
The Real Deal series continued last night with the last 2 parts of the Edge Pledge. As a reminder, the first 2 portions of The Edge Pledge from last week are...
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
The next part is what we talked about last night...
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ.
The Real Deal series is based on believing that God is someone we can trust. It's only then that we can be the kind of authentic Christian that God wants us to be. We broke down each of these statements last night.
Last week we talked about the fact that God is who He says He is and can do what says He can do. If we truly believe this than we have to believe what God has to say in His word about who we are.
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM
Who does God say that we are if we know Christ?
1 John 3:1
Ephesians 1:3-8
We are blessed, chosen, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven.
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST
Philippians 4:13
It means that we only do things through His strength. The only way we can accomplish anything is by his power, by his strength, and by his love.
We will experience fear and failure, but we can never let those things define us because only God is the one who tells us the truth about who we are if we know Him as Savior.
THE EDGE PLEDGE
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ.
For the full audio of my talk, you can download it on itunes. It's called "Edge Talks"
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
The next part is what we talked about last night...
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ.
The Real Deal series is based on believing that God is someone we can trust. It's only then that we can be the kind of authentic Christian that God wants us to be. We broke down each of these statements last night.
Last week we talked about the fact that God is who He says He is and can do what says He can do. If we truly believe this than we have to believe what God has to say in His word about who we are.
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM
Who does God say that we are if we know Christ?
1 John 3:1
Ephesians 1:3-8
We are blessed, chosen, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven.
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST
Philippians 4:13
It means that we only do things through His strength. The only way we can accomplish anything is by his power, by his strength, and by his love.
We will experience fear and failure, but we can never let those things define us because only God is the one who tells us the truth about who we are if we know Him as Savior.
THE EDGE PLEDGE
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ.
For the full audio of my talk, you can download it on itunes. It's called "Edge Talks"
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The REAL DEAL--Part 1
Last night, we dove into our series called, THE REAL DEAL. This series is based on the idea that God is someone who we can trust...He is THE REAL DEAL. Not only that, but it's only when we believe that God is THE REAL DEAL that we become the THE REAL DEAL ourselves...the kind of person who lives out their faith. Here are a few highlights from last night.
The next couple weeks are dedicated to helping students know through Scritpure that God is someone they can trust with their lives. We are doing this by saying THE EDGE PLEDGE. The first 2 statements of THE EDGE PLEDGE are as follows...
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
Here is a brief breakdown of what we talked about with each of these statements...
1. God is who He says He is.
All over Scripture, God makes claims about who He is. Those claims are so powerful that we have to either believe everything He says about Himself or we have to believe everything He says is a lie. It's all or nothing.
In Scripture, every time God is about to do something for His people, He reminds them of who He is. (I am the Lord, I am God Almighty, I Am who I Am, etc.). Then He always goes on to do something powerful in and through his people (Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.).
2. God can do what He says He can do.
If God is who He says He is then He will have to do what He says He will do. What God can do is a direct result of who He is. Example: God is called a Savior because He saves.
Matthew 16:13-18
Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" and Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Because Peter trusted Christ and knew the truth about Him, He went on to be the rock that Christ's church was built on.
The point is that trusting that God is The Real Deal will change your life. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Peter is the same God we serve today.
He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do.
We will finish out the Edge Pledge with 2 more important statements next week.
I am who God says I am.
I can do all things through Christ.
The next couple weeks are dedicated to helping students know through Scritpure that God is someone they can trust with their lives. We are doing this by saying THE EDGE PLEDGE. The first 2 statements of THE EDGE PLEDGE are as follows...
1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
Here is a brief breakdown of what we talked about with each of these statements...
1. God is who He says He is.
All over Scripture, God makes claims about who He is. Those claims are so powerful that we have to either believe everything He says about Himself or we have to believe everything He says is a lie. It's all or nothing.
In Scripture, every time God is about to do something for His people, He reminds them of who He is. (I am the Lord, I am God Almighty, I Am who I Am, etc.). Then He always goes on to do something powerful in and through his people (Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.).
2. God can do what He says He can do.
If God is who He says He is then He will have to do what He says He will do. What God can do is a direct result of who He is. Example: God is called a Savior because He saves.
Matthew 16:13-18
Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" and Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Because Peter trusted Christ and knew the truth about Him, He went on to be the rock that Christ's church was built on.
The point is that trusting that God is The Real Deal will change your life. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Peter is the same God we serve today.
He is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do.
We will finish out the Edge Pledge with 2 more important statements next week.
I am who God says I am.
I can do all things through Christ.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Real Deal (intro)
This week, we started our brand news series called THE REAL DEAL. The theme of this series is authentic faith. So often, students make decisions for Christ, but their lives don't really reflect the decision they have made. The reason for this is that students don't really trust that God is THE REAL DEAL.
KEY PHRASE FOR THIS SERIES: If we don't believe that God is THE REAL DEAL, then we will never be THE REAL DEAL!
Here are a couple key points from the talk last night.
1. People are looking to follow a god who backs up his words with action. Our God has done just that. HE is the REAL DEAL.
We serve a God that can be trusted to do what He says He is going to do. He claimed to love us more than anything else in the world and he backed up those words with action...sending His son to die for our sins.
2. If we don't trust that God is the Real Deal, we are going to have a hard time being The Real Deal ourselves.
Being a Christian who others call THE REAL DEAL (someone who backs up their words with actions) starts with believing that God is someone who can be trusted.
3. KEY VERSE for this series: Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
We finished by breaking into groups with different leaders and breaking down these verses. Leaders asked students about ways in their life right now that they are having trouble trusting God.
This whole month, we will continue this series, and I challenged students that by the end of this month, I would love to hear people say Edge students are THE REAL DEAL.
KEY PHRASE FOR THIS SERIES: If we don't believe that God is THE REAL DEAL, then we will never be THE REAL DEAL!
Here are a couple key points from the talk last night.
1. People are looking to follow a god who backs up his words with action. Our God has done just that. HE is the REAL DEAL.
We serve a God that can be trusted to do what He says He is going to do. He claimed to love us more than anything else in the world and he backed up those words with action...sending His son to die for our sins.
2. If we don't trust that God is the Real Deal, we are going to have a hard time being The Real Deal ourselves.
Being a Christian who others call THE REAL DEAL (someone who backs up their words with actions) starts with believing that God is someone who can be trusted.
3. KEY VERSE for this series: Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
We finished by breaking into groups with different leaders and breaking down these verses. Leaders asked students about ways in their life right now that they are having trouble trusting God.
This whole month, we will continue this series, and I challenged students that by the end of this month, I would love to hear people say Edge students are THE REAL DEAL.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Prayers of the broken...
Last week, in Edge, we finished our night with giving students an opportunity to respond to the message by writing a prayer to God. Part of their challenge was to ask forgiveness from the brokenness in their lives, realizing that Christ took it on the cross. Here is a list of some of the brokenness in the lives of middle school students...
difficulty with school work, trouble growing up, parent's divorces, lust, pornography, masturbation, identity, people teasing them, relationship trouble, bad friendships, living in fear, gossip, lying, cheating, and hating, and not caring.
This is just a glimpse of the brokenness that exists in the lives of students in our ministry...if this is what they admitted, I can't imagine what they might still be holding onto or what hasn't surfaced yet.
This is a tough time of life, but a time where students need Jesus Christ in such a real way. Let's continue to point them to the one who took all of our sin and shame. The one who was broken for us so that we no longer have to be broken.
difficulty with school work, trouble growing up, parent's divorces, lust, pornography, masturbation, identity, people teasing them, relationship trouble, bad friendships, living in fear, gossip, lying, cheating, and hating, and not caring.
This is just a glimpse of the brokenness that exists in the lives of students in our ministry...if this is what they admitted, I can't imagine what they might still be holding onto or what hasn't surfaced yet.
This is a tough time of life, but a time where students need Jesus Christ in such a real way. Let's continue to point them to the one who took all of our sin and shame. The one who was broken for us so that we no longer have to be broken.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Fix You Video
This is the video we ended with last night at Edge. Another youth pastor did this when he had students in his ministry write down the things in their life they struggled with. We had students watch this to reflect on their own brokenness and need for Jesus Christ. They followed this up by writing their response in a prayer to God.
Unbroken, part 3
This week at Edge was the gospel night which means that we shared the part of the gospel story that is so unbelievable! The part where God in His amazing love for us, made a way for man to get back into a right relationship with Him through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! Here are a few points...
We are broken through our sin and hopeless.
Because of our sin, we are desperate and hopeless. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves (Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23). Seperated from God.
God, in His amazing love, decided to make a way to save us when there was no way.
God sent Jesus Christ to this earth to save us with one mission and that was to die to take on our sin. When we were powerless, He came and saved us. (Rom. 5:6-9)
Jesus Christ took our place on the cross.
He died the death that we should have died so that we could have a life that we didn't deserve. (2 Cor. 5:21).
He was broken so that we don't have to be broken anymore (unbroken).
Christ took all the brokenness, all the shame, all the pain, and all the sin when He was nailed to the cross. (Isaiah 53:5)
We finished with a video clip to show our brokenness before God. I will post the video in another post. It was a powerful time for students to reflect on the brokenness in their life and the forgiveness that is offered through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
At the very end, students wrote prayers to God about their own brokenness in their life.
We are broken through our sin and hopeless.
Because of our sin, we are desperate and hopeless. There is nothing we can do to save ourselves (Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23). Seperated from God.
God, in His amazing love, decided to make a way to save us when there was no way.
God sent Jesus Christ to this earth to save us with one mission and that was to die to take on our sin. When we were powerless, He came and saved us. (Rom. 5:6-9)
Jesus Christ took our place on the cross.
He died the death that we should have died so that we could have a life that we didn't deserve. (2 Cor. 5:21).
He was broken so that we don't have to be broken anymore (unbroken).
Christ took all the brokenness, all the shame, all the pain, and all the sin when He was nailed to the cross. (Isaiah 53:5)
We finished with a video clip to show our brokenness before God. I will post the video in another post. It was a powerful time for students to reflect on the brokenness in their life and the forgiveness that is offered through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
At the very end, students wrote prayers to God about their own brokenness in their life.
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