Our final week of Upside Down was focused on the fact that Jesus gave a lot of attention (maybe the most) to his closest companions or his friends and family. This really vital because I think it's sometimes easy to focus on serving people around the world and in the community and neglect the people closest to you.
Example of Jesus serving his friends
Jesus served the 12 disciples by washing their feet. This was the ultimate act of service because it was dirty and humbling. It was a job for a servant and back then people's feet were really nasty.
The Challenge
Not only should we allow Jesus' example to encourage and motivate us to serve, but we should also see that Jesus served the ones he was closest to. Sometimes we get comfortable with our friends and family that when we really think about it, we can't think of the last time we did something really nice for them or encouraged them.
Students last night made a commitment to serve someone close to them over the holidays and I am praying that they will follow through on their commitments!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Upside Down, part 2
This week, since we are celebrating Christ's birth by trying to do what He did which is serve, we gave our time to some people that many would say don't deserve it.
Jesus was always giving his time to what the Bible called the "least of these." Check out Matthew 25:31-40.
He was always giving his time and love to the unloved or who society would say didn't deserve it like the poor, the oppressed, the sick, the worst of sinners, criminals, etc. This is what made Christ live so Upside Down.
So this week in Edge, we gave our time to the least of these. We spent our time of worship this week writing cards and donating toothpaste and candy to guys at a juvenile detention center down in Green called Indian River. Many people would say that these kids don't deserve our time because of the crimes they have committed, but because of Christ, we know that they are well worth our time and our effort. After all, Christ thought we were worth it!
Pray with me that God would continue to show students this Christmas that it's not about them and that they would learn to live UPSIDE DOWN just like Christ did.
Jesus was always giving his time to what the Bible called the "least of these." Check out Matthew 25:31-40.
He was always giving his time and love to the unloved or who society would say didn't deserve it like the poor, the oppressed, the sick, the worst of sinners, criminals, etc. This is what made Christ live so Upside Down.
So this week in Edge, we gave our time to the least of these. We spent our time of worship this week writing cards and donating toothpaste and candy to guys at a juvenile detention center down in Green called Indian River. Many people would say that these kids don't deserve our time because of the crimes they have committed, but because of Christ, we know that they are well worth our time and our effort. After all, Christ thought we were worth it!
Pray with me that God would continue to show students this Christmas that it's not about them and that they would learn to live UPSIDE DOWN just like Christ did.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Upside Down, Week 1 Recap
This month, we are doing a series called, "Upside Down." This series is based on the reason for the season...celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Everything about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ was Upside Down from what the world is like. The world lives with a "me first" mindset, but Christ lived with an others first mindset. So during this month, we are going to celebrate this amazing holiday by living like Christ and putting others first. Each week, we will be talking about a different mission.
Week 1: Serving the World
Week 2: Serving the Community
Week 3: Serving our friends/family
Jesus did all of these things perfectly when he was on earth and so we are going to emulate Christ in that each week, we will have a different tangible way to serve others.
THIS WEEK: Serving the World
Last night, we talked about how Christ died for the world. He didn't just die for some people, for Americans, for those who love him, but he died for the world. (John 3:16, Mark 16:15)
The problem
There are 16,348 people groups in the world.
6,647 have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ (that's 40% and 2.7 billion people).
The Solution
The Solution is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. So if we know Christ, we are the solution. Christ commanded us to go and tell the world.
Our Mission
India is in the top 10 nations with the most unreached people groups (87% of their country is unreached).
Our church partners with the India Gospel League (IGL) whose mission is to share the gospel with India. They have missionaries there, share the gospel, train pastors (some HCC pastors have trained their pastors), and send them out to spread the good news.
One of the ways they ask people to help is by giving money so that a pastor can be supported and sent out to an unreached village to share the gospel.
It's $1200 to send a pastor to a village to live for a year to share the gospel with the village and start up a church. It's also just $700 to build a small structure for the church to start meeting in that village. That's $1,900.
We are asking that each student make a small sacrifice to make an eternal impact on the country of India. If 100 students give up 1 Christmas gift worth $20, and instead have their parents give them the $20 to support this pastor, we would have all we need to impact a whole village for Christ. What an amazing cause!
Please encourage your students in this! It needs to be their sacrifice, otherwise, we are not really putting others first.
Week 1: Serving the World
Week 2: Serving the Community
Week 3: Serving our friends/family
Jesus did all of these things perfectly when he was on earth and so we are going to emulate Christ in that each week, we will have a different tangible way to serve others.
THIS WEEK: Serving the World
Last night, we talked about how Christ died for the world. He didn't just die for some people, for Americans, for those who love him, but he died for the world. (John 3:16, Mark 16:15)
The problem
There are 16,348 people groups in the world.
6,647 have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ (that's 40% and 2.7 billion people).
The Solution
The Solution is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. So if we know Christ, we are the solution. Christ commanded us to go and tell the world.
Our Mission
India is in the top 10 nations with the most unreached people groups (87% of their country is unreached).
Our church partners with the India Gospel League (IGL) whose mission is to share the gospel with India. They have missionaries there, share the gospel, train pastors (some HCC pastors have trained their pastors), and send them out to spread the good news.
One of the ways they ask people to help is by giving money so that a pastor can be supported and sent out to an unreached village to share the gospel.
It's $1200 to send a pastor to a village to live for a year to share the gospel with the village and start up a church. It's also just $700 to build a small structure for the church to start meeting in that village. That's $1,900.
We are asking that each student make a small sacrifice to make an eternal impact on the country of India. If 100 students give up 1 Christmas gift worth $20, and instead have their parents give them the $20 to support this pastor, we would have all we need to impact a whole village for Christ. What an amazing cause!
Please encourage your students in this! It needs to be their sacrifice, otherwise, we are not really putting others first.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Parent Surveys
Hey parents,
Would you take a couple minutes and complete these 3 surveys? It will only take 2-3 minutes total. This is to benefit the new parent group that has started called, "Block Watch." It's a group whose purpose is to join parents together in an effort to help protect our kids from the dangers of technology and equip them to make the right decisions. Just click on the surveys below to take them.
Thanks for your time!
Survey 1
Survey 2
Survey 3
Would you take a couple minutes and complete these 3 surveys? It will only take 2-3 minutes total. This is to benefit the new parent group that has started called, "Block Watch." It's a group whose purpose is to join parents together in an effort to help protect our kids from the dangers of technology and equip them to make the right decisions. Just click on the surveys below to take them.
Thanks for your time!
Survey 1
Survey 2
Survey 3
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