Last week we began a series discussing the issue of division within the Body of Christ. We will be continuing the series this week as we build toward our campout next weekend. In preparation for tonight, take a look at the following passage from Philippians 2:

^“5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross…”

See ya tonight. Don’t forget to bring your registration and money for camp if you haven’t already turned it in.

The high school campout is just 17 days away! There is no doubt in my mind that this will once again be an awesome time together. However, I am hoping that God shows up and does a work like never before in your lives. The camp theme this year is unity and we desperately need God to bring a spirit of unity into our midst.

In preparation for the campout, we will be spending the next three weeks (beginning tomorrow) in a series entitled “Seeking Division – Three Keys to Destroying Unity”. The title may seem funny, but the reality is, it often appears that many of us are trying very hard to create divisions within the body of Christ. This is a real and serious issue within our local body, epic youth ministries.

I am looking forward to hanging out, worshipping God, and diving into the Word with you tomorrow night. To get you thinking about the discussion we’ll be having, I encourage you to take a look at the following words out of James 3:8-12

It (the tongue) is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree bear olives or a grapevine produce figs? Niether can a salt pond yield fresh water.

I’m praying for you. Invite a friend or two and we’ll see ya tomorrow night at 6:45. Don’t forget your Camp registration and money.

*Podcasts of this series will be available here beginning Thursday, April 22nd. Podcasts will be posted by 4:00PM every Thursday.

God is Freedom Intro from Chad Harvey on Vimeo.

God is: Truth (Recap) from Chad Harvey on Vimeo.

epic Youth Ministries exists to introduce students to Jesus Christ and empower them to reach their campuses and communities with His life and love.

II Corinthians 5:21 is the verse that drives what we do. Paul has been explaining what motivates Him to live a life in pursuit of Jesus and he says this:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This one verse describes one of the most incredible theological truths we find in the Bible: Substitutionary Atonement. Jesus, who was perfect, became imperfect. He became the object of His Father’s wrath and took the whole of sin on His shoulders. He was completely sinless; in fact, He was the opposite of sin. He was Holy. Yet, for our sake He became God’s example of how serious sin really is. In essence, He became who you and I were supposed to be.

… That’s the first part of the verse. Even though that is an incredbile reality that completely blows me away, it isn’t even the coolest part. The second half of the verse says that Jesus did this so that we could become the righteousness of God. You see, Jesus ‘became us’, so that we could ‘become Him’! No, I’m not saying we can become Gods; but we are able to become God’s children because we, who believe in Jesus as our Savior, have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

epic stands for Eternally Perfected in Christ. We are so far from perfect it is almost laughable to suggest that we can attain perfection. But, the truth is, we are perfect. Not by our own work, but by His! Our goal is to share this truth with whoever God gives us the opportunity.

Substitutionary Atonement… what a beautiful combination of words.

March 20th-24th was an awesome time in the life of epic Youth Ministries. We took 23 students and 5 leaders to Seattle, WA for our annual “Selfless in Seattle” mission trip. This was the largest group we have ever taken and God did some awesome things in the lives of the students who went.

Tomorrow night, at youth group, we will be hearing from some of these students. They will be sharing their stories from the week and challenging all of us to evaluate how we currently spend our days. We will hear about serving, praying, and sharing the Gospel with others. I believe that it will be an awesome night, where God steps in and takes the lives of our students to the next level.

At the end of the night I will share some thoughts on one of the most exciting and challenging passages in all of Scripture. John chapter 20, verses 21-22 says this:

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

We have been given an incredible gift and an enormous responsibility. I am excited to dive into this tomorrow as a group. I’ll see you there at 6:45pm. Don’t forget to invite your friends!

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