Round 5 of The Fight Club Sessions - "The Perhaps Paradox"
This morning, how about a Cafecito from Crema in Nashville, TN? With a hint of Nutella, Maple, and Cantaloupe, this espresso sweetened with demerara sugar as it's being brewed is sure to kick-start your day. Enjoy!
There's a story in the Old Testament where Jonathan recruits his armor bearer to join him in a two-man raid on a Philistine camp. In his motivational speech to his bodyguard, Jonathan seems to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth. On one hand, "nothing can hinder the Lord." On the other, "perhaps the Lord will act."
Perhaps true faith feels the same way. On one hand, I know that God is able to do anything. On the other hand, I think He's willing to do this specific thing. I know God can. And I'm pretty sure He will. But I can't be completely sure. That's where audacious faith comes in. Audacity isn't the absence of uncertainty. Audacity is believing that God's promise is bigger than my perhaps.
Act on your "perhaps", and see what God will do in your world!
Parent-Teen Connect
Take turns answering and discussing the following questions with your teens this week. Create meaningful conversation. Adjust questions as needed. Use one or two of these to begin a conversation. Look for teachable moment - at home, in the car, wherever. Pray and ask God to provide you opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your teens.
- Tell about a time where you were asked to do something seemingly impossible.
- Tell about a time where you seemed to be in an impossible situation: a place where you couldn't go forward, couldn't go back and couldn't stand still. What did you do? What'd you learn through that situation?
- When you pray, do you really believe that God can answer your prayer?
- When you pray, do you really believe that God can use you to answer your prayer?
- What "perhaps" are you currently facing?
It's been said that a dog is man's best friend. Dog are loyal companions, non-judgmental, protective, and in some cases, willing to give their life for yours. But that doesn't just happen. Trust and friendship must be earned. Similarly, the more we prove to be trustworthy, the more trust we will earn from others.
When we're not trustworthy, we set a bad example for others who know we are Christians. We must choose to earn trust. If we promise to do something and don't do it, we've failed to follow through. But, when we follow through with our promises, we show others we are trustworthy. The more trustworthy you are, the more trust you'll earn from others.
Connecting Points
Take turns answering the following questions with your kids this week. Create meaningful conversation. Adjust as needed. Use one or two of these to begin a conversation. Look for teachable moments - at home, in the car, wherever. Pray and ask God to provide you opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your kids.
- What does being trustworthy look like? Tell about a time when you did or did not follow through when you knew what to do.
- In what way is earning trust like earning a reward?
- How does being trustworthy make a difference?
- How can you build trust with those around you this week?
BGMC Challenge for January: Who can bring the most dollar bills for their BGMC offering on February 2?
Round 4 of The Fight Club Sessions - "Seize the Vision"
This morning, how about a cup of Costa Rica La Minita from The Kaffeeklatch in Huntsville, AL? Elegant, refined and complex, this internationally known single-estate coffee has bright acidity, medium body and sweet flavors of citrus, caramelized sugar and fine chocolate. A veritable symphony of flavors! Enjoy!
If you want to see God do something impossible in your life, you have to open you heart and mind to God's vision for your life. You have to seize it.
As Joshua steps up to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, based on the number of times "be strong and courageous" appears in Joshua 1, I think he might be a little scared. And, understandably so! Joshua had been a faithful second in command for many years, but he had a tough act to follow. For the Hebrews, Moses was a legend in his own time. He was like the President, Chief Justice and Joint Chiefs all-in-one. Now, Moses had died and Joshua was next in line. But, note this - the vision wasn't in question: occupy the Promised Land. Joshua had to seize the vision.
God stepped in with encouragement. Just as God was with Moses, so He would also be with Joshua. It seemed to work! Within moments, Joshua began issuing orders to get the campaign under way.
If you've received a vision from God, you need to seize it too. Don't put it off. Stop trying to have all the answers before launching out in faith. If you're on God's side, then God is on your side. And, if God is for us, who can every be against us? All God needs is all you've got. Give it to Him today.
Parent-Teen Connect
Take turns answering and discussing the following questions with your teens this week. Create meaningful conversation. Adjust questions as needed. Use one or two of these to begin a conversation. Look for teachable moment - at home, in the car, wherever. Pray and ask God to provide you opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your teens.
- Have you ever faced a seemingly impossible situation and someone's words of encouragement helped you through? Tell the story.
- Read Hebrews 13:5-6. What does that mean to you?
- Knowing the right thing and doing the right thing are two different things; like knowing the vision and seizing the vision.
- Talk about a time when you knew the right thing to do but didn't do it.
- Talk about a time when you knew the right thing to do, were a bit afraid of doing it, but did it anyway.
- How did you feel after each of these events?
We all need good examples in our life. Jesus understood the importance of having a sample example and that's whey he came to earth. Jesus lived his life as an example of God's love to people who didn't believe in him. When we FETCH people for God, we do it through our friendships and through our example too.
The Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:12, "...Be an example to all believers...in the way you live..." Perhaps there are things in your life that set a bad example. Jesus told Christians that others will know you are my follower by the way you love and care for other people.
Do others see the difference if Jesus in your life? Do they see someone who cares for others like Jesus did? Do they see a sample example of God's love in your life?
Connecting Points
Take turns answering the following questions with your kids this week. Create meaningful conversation. Adjust as needed. Use one or two of these to begin a conversation. Look for teachable moments - at home, in the car, wherever. Pray and ask God to provide you opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your kids.
- What does a good example look like?
- How does being an example make a difference?
- How can I be a better example?
Some of our friends have heard of Jesus, but they need to see him. They need someone to live like Jesus, to be an example of a life lived like Jesus.
BGMC Challenge for January: Who can bring the most dollar bills for their BGMC offering on February 2?
Round 3 of The Fight Club Sessions - "Ignite the Ordinary"
I don't usually do back-to-back coffee drinks from the same vendor, but this week, I'll make an exception. Today, I'm drinking a Starbucks Doubleshot® Energy Mocha Drink. A sweet blend of espresso, mocha syrup, B vitamins, guarana, ginseng and natural milk proteins, staying energized and alert never tasted so good! Enjoy!
Last week we talked about a prayer that stopped the sun and how God still desires to make the sun stand still over the life of every believer. We also talked about having shameless audacity and praying bold prayers. It was pretty extraordinary!
But, when you strip the biblical miracles of their spectacular special effects, a key point emerges: Extraordinary moves of God begin with ordinary acts of obedience.
Think about it, when Jesus turned water into wine in John 2, He did so by instructing the men to fill the jars with water, dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies - an ordinary act of obedience. With the miraculous catch of fish in Luke 5, Jesus instructed the fishermen to go out where it's deeper and let down their nets - an ordinary act of obedience. With the healing of Naaman in 2 Kings 5, Naaman was instructed to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan River - an ordinary act of obedience.
What if any of these people had refused the simple act of obedience?
Consider Moses' encounter with God, through the burning bush in Exodus 3. Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep out in the countryside - an ordinary act of obedience. He happens to notice a bush on fire and goes over to take a look. Up to this point, this is not exactly a riveting scene, is it?
What we call a miracle is really just the right combination of your ordinary ingredients and God's extraordinary expertise. When God's super collides with your natural, sparks will fly.
Almost all encounters with God begin that way. You may be living under the illusion that when God ignites great things in your life, He'll announce it with a big bang. He might. It's more likely that He won't. So stop waiting around for the big bang. Pay attention to the subtle clues and the still, small voice. Maybe you'll even hear it today!
Parent-Teen Connect
Take turns answering and discussing the following questions with your teens this week. Create meaningful conversation. Adjust questions as needed. Use one or two of these to begin a conversation. Look for teachable moment - at home, in the car, wherever. Pray and ask God to provide you opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your teens.
- What does the word obedience mean to you? Is it just following a command or request, or is there a timeline attached?
- Tell about a time when you chose not to obey. How did you rationalize your disobedience? What were the consequences?
- Tell about a time when you chose an ordinary act of obedience that produced extraordinary results.
- In what areas of your life do you have the most difficulty obeying God?
- What must you give up in order to be obedient to God in all things?
This week, we started a new series called FETCH! Jesus knew how to fetch, but he didn't fetch newspapers or boomerangs, he fetched people. Jesus came to earth to find lost people and bring them back to God.
Each of us has friends. Some of our friends do not know Jesus. When you don't know Jesus you're lost! God chooses to use you and me to FETCH lost people, just like Jesus did.
God cares very much about lost people. The Bible says in Luke 19:10 that Jesus came to find and save lost people. If lost people mattered so much to Jesus, don't you think lost people should matter to us too?
Connecting Points
Take turns doing the following items with your kids this week. Create meaningful conversation. Adjust as needed. Use one or two of these to begin a conversation. Look for teachable moments - at home, in the car, wherever. Pray and ask God to provide you opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your kids.
- Write down how you found Jesus. It doesn't have to be long, just write out in a few sentences how you became a Christian.
- Write down a few names of people you know who do not know Jesus.
- Pray that God would give you an opportunity to share how you became a Christian with a lost friend.
Friends want to hear your story, how you became a Christian. When others can see the difference Jesus has made in your life, they begin to see the need for Jesus in their life. And that is the beginning of a lost sheep being found!
BGMC Challenge for January: Who can bring the most dollar bills for their BGMC offering on February 2?
For a number of years
now, I have written an email to our youth parents on Thursday mornings called
the Thursday Morning Coffee Break. It’s a communication that allows me to
share a virtual cup of coffee with the parents of Lighthouse Youth, to meet
together on common “grounds” and highlight what we discussed in youth the night
before. Statistics show that parents have a greater impact on their kids'
lives than their youth pastor could ever hope to. My goal in this is to
partner with parents to maximize the impact we have on kids. Two combined
influences make a greater impact than just two influences.
This morning, how about a cup of Starbucks® VERANDA BLEND®? A blonde roast, this cup of coffee packs a greater punch than a medium or dark roast coffee; the longer you roast a bean, the more caffeine leaves the bean. This one is a new favorite; light and mellow, with a hint of cocoa and lightly toasted nuts! Enjoy!
So, we started a new series last night: The Fight Club Sessions. Last year, Carlos Whittaker, a worship leader I follow, held a series of online sessions he also called The Fight Club Sessions to gather worshipers together to discuss the battle we're in on a weekly, daily and hourly basis. Some are fighting for their marriage, their family, their spiritual life, their health.... To borrow that idea, when you pray, what are you fighting for? What are you petitioning God for? That's what we're talking about this month!
Last night was a prayer and worship night. We held an extended period of praise and worship, followed by a teaching segment, a prayer segment, a second teaching segment and a second prayer segment. Here's what we covered:
Round 1: The Prayer That Stopped the Sun
- Joshua 10:1-14
- God still desires to make the sun stand still over the life of every believer.
- Bold prayers honor God and God honors bold prayers.
- God is ready to act if we will be bold enough to ask, not just for a good day or a better life, but for the impossible.
Round 2: Shameless Audacity
- Luke 11:1-10
- God won't answer 100% of the prayers we don't pray.
- The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered simply because they go unasked.
Parent-Teen Connect
Take turns answering and discussing the following questions with your teens this week. Create meaningful conversation. Adjust questions as needed. Use one or two of these to begin a conversation. Look for teachable moments - at home, in the car, wherever. Pray and ask God to provide you opportunities to have spiritual conversations with your teens.
- Do you have a habit of prayer? What's that look like?
- When you pray, do you more often pray to get you out of circumstances (deliverance prayers) or get you through them (prevailing prayers)?
- Do you see your problems being bigger than God, or God being bigger than your problems?
- What prayer have you not prayed because you were afraid to ask?
- Is there something that is seemingly impossible that you'd like to see God do through you?
The first Sunday of each month, we focus on our missions emphasis, BGMC, in Kids Church. Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge (BGMC) is the Assemblies of God missions emphasis for kids. BGMC equips kids to know, to care, to pray, to give, and to reach the lost. BGMC has a two-fold purpose:
-
To reach the children of the world
- To create a heart of compassion in kids.
All funds raised through BGMC go to meet critical needs around the world such as feeding programs, water wells, Bible schools, curriculum, and whatever else a missionary needs in their part of the world. Each month, we focus on a different country and what BGMC is doing to help spread the Gospel there. This month, FRANCE!
A few interesting things we learned about life as a kid in France.
-
School starts in September and ends in July
- School starts at 8am and goes until 4pm, with two hours off for lunch.
- There's no school on Wednesdays or Sundays, but there is school on Saturday morning.
- Kids play games like we play: le loup ("the wolf"), like tag, and cache-cache; hide and seek).
- On January 6, French people celebrate Epiphany, the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. On this day, the Wise Men figurines are added to the nativity scenes in homes and churches. Up until this date, the Wise Men figures are either hidden or placed a distance away and moved gradually closer to the stable.
French People Need Jesus. More than 100 years ago, in the city of LeHavre, a lady named Helene Biolley began to tell people about Jesus. She opened her home where missionaries could stay while they studied French. In 1927, an Englishman named Douglas Scott came to study. As he preached, people were healed of many problems. Many were baptized in the Holy Spirit. The Scotts started churches in many cities. In 1932, the Pentecostal pastors met to create the French Assemblies of God.
Today, 17 US Assemblies of God missionaries work in France. More than 360,000 people worship in about 625 Assemblies of God churches. There are about 1,200 pastors, and 2 Bible schools are training about 270 more.
Snack: French Fries!
As one of our kids pointed out, these aren't actually French, per se. There's an ongoing dispute on whether they actually originated in France or Belgium. Thomas Jefferson had "potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House dinner in 1802. The expression "French Fried Potatoes" first occurs in print in English in the 1856 work, Cookery for Maids of All Work by E Warren: "French Fried Potatoes. – Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, and a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown colour; drain." In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used in the sense of "deep-fried", for other foods such as onion rings or chicken.
Wherever they came from, we eat a lot of them! The average American consumes 29 pounds of French fries per year! Next time you do, may you remember to pray for the French!
Let's Pray....
- for our missionaries and for the pastors in the French Assemblies of God.
- for people who are looking for hope, that the Holy Spirit will help them to find Jesus instead of turning to fortune tellers and witches for answers to their problems.
- for the kids and young people of France, that they will find Jesus when they are young and tell others!
- for those from other nations.
