Today was an incredble day to be an American. Some of you, like me, did not vote for the man who took office as our President this morning. Some of you aren’t able to vote yet. However, we can all appreciate two things about today. The first is obvious; we have finally seen the day in this country when an African American man has been sworn in as President of the United States.

The second thing we can appreciate is the fact that Americans are engaged with direction of their country. I don’t think I can remember a time in my life when more people were actually paying attention to where our country was heading as a whole. There were 2 million people at the Inaguration today… 2,000,000. That is a lot of people.

I am hopeful for what the future may hold. Even though I have some serious concerns about some of our new President’s policies, I do believe that he sincerely loves this country. I honestly feel that He truly wants to see good prevail in the lives of Americans and those abroad. I hope that each one of you will remember to pray on behalf of our new leader. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide his decisions, that Jesus will be his refuge, and that God will be His final authority. If you need some encouragment, take a look at the awesome prayer Pastor Rick Warren delivered at the Inaguration this morning:

Almighty God, our Father:

Everything we see, and everything we can’t see, exists because of you alone.

It all comes from you, it all belongs to you, it all exists for your glory.

History is your story.

The Scripture tells us, “Hear, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time, we celebrate a hinge point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where a son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new president, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity.

Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans—united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you—forgive us.

When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone—forgive us.

When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve—forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes—even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve, and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy, and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet.

And may we never forget that one day, all nations–and all people–will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle, and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life—Yeshua, ‘Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus—who taught us to pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

Amen.

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…complicated.

Really, the answer is pretty cut and dry, but when we try to understand every single aspect of the Trinity we will get confused. We must realize that He is God and we are not. There are some (ok, many) things that we cannot grasp. With that said, the definition we used last Wednesday night is this:

The Trinity is one God who eternally exists as three distinct persons-Father, Son, and Spirit-who are each fully and equally God. (1 Timothy 2:5, John 6:27, Titus 2:13, Acts 5:3-4, Isaiah 48:16, Matthew 28:19; to name a  few supporting passages)

At first glance that may seem somewhat difficult to comprehend, but really, who are we to question the nature of God? Throughout the Bible this definition is supported. God has made who He is clear. And rather than question that nature, we are to rest in it and learn from it.

For youth group we stole The 7 characteristics of a “trinitarian life” from Mark Driscoll. For any of you who don’t know, Mark Driscoll is a Pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. The 7 characteristics of a life that is centered around the truth found in the Trinity, aka the “Trinitarian Life”, are:

1. Trinitarian — We live by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father.

2. Loving — God is love. True love comes from Him. We are to love with this kind of love.

3. Communal — God intends for us to have relationships, because He is by nature, in relationship.

4. Transparent — There are no secrets between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… what are your secrets?

5. Humble — There is no jealousy within the Trinity. The Spirit isn’t trying to persuade people to praise Him more than Jesus.

6. Submissive — There is no defiance within the Trinity, although all three persons (who are one God) are equal, they know their roles and are true to them (See Jesus in the Garden).

7. Happy — There is unbelievable joy within the Trinity. It is not blind to the troubles of this world (See Jesus on the Cross), but it is a real joy. God is not some angry old guy up in the sky.

For youth group we briefly discussed these 7 characteristics, but focused on the 3rd one. We renamed it relational and discussed what it means to live a life that is relational. We gave three aspects to this incredibly important lesson we can take from the truth of the Trinity:

1. God wants you and I to have relationship with Him. If He didn’t want that, the Crucifixion of Christ never would have happened. He has been pursuing you and I ever since Adam and Eve believed the lie of Satan in the Garden of Eden. He wants relationship with you.

2. God wants us to have open and honest relationships with other Christians. We need to encourage and be encouraged by other believers. We are not supposed to live our life in solitude. Jesus’ death on a cross didn’t just bridge the gap between us and God; it also gave us the opportunity to be a part of an incredbly diverse family that we will spend eternity with. God wants you to get to know and be known by other Christians.

3. God wants each one of us to have relationships with non-believers. You see the church represents the body of Christ and Jesus Christ said in luke 19 that He came to seek and to save the lost. Seek is the operative word for this point. We are to pursue relationships with people who have never trusted Jesus as their Savior. We have the most incredible message anyone can hear living within us! The facts don’t lie; the overwhelming majority of people come to personal faith in Jesus through an existing relationship. Remember, Jesus was never brought down by these relationships. He never compromised righteousness in order to fit in. If you can’t be strong in your faith around non-believers, you may not be ready for these relationships yet.

If you have any questions about our look at the Trinity, feel free to ask them via the comment section. Also, what are your thoughts on the importance of relationships in the Christian life? Do you think our three aspects of relational living are accurate?

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Andy is the one on the right… he’s 26.

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The question we will be looking at this week centers around the Trinity. The Trinity is an essential piece of Christianity. It is the belief that there is only one God, but He exists in 3 distinct persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This can be a very confusing concept for us to understand. In fact, I believe it is somewhat beyond our comprehension. However, we can understand a portion of it. This Wednesday we’ll be looking at why the reality of the Trinity is such a central piece of Christian belief, even though the word never appears in the Bible. We will also discuss the roles of each member of the Trinity and see what we can apply to our lives because of this “profound mystery”. I look forward to reading your thoughts or questions about this topic. I would also love to see what verses/passages you can find in the Bible that prove the doctrine of the Trinity. Remember, you won’t find the word “Trinity” in the back of your Bibles…

Don’t forget to comment. I’ll see you all Wednesday @ 7pm. Invite your friends!

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Well, there are actually a lot of answers to this question. However, rather than go through every single one at youth group; we discussed five major reasons for attending church. Our main reasons for attending church are:

1. The Bible Says to (Hebrews 10:19-25) — We have discussed the absolute authority and accuracy of the Bible. Therefore, this is a pretty compelling argument for the Christian to spend time gathering together with other local believers.

2. The Message Carried by the Church is Literally the Hope of the World (Matthew 16:13-19) — In this passage Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ. Jesus then says He will build His church on that truth. That Jesus is the Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The Savior of the world. Jesus then says that the power of Hell will not be strong enough to stop what He will accomplish through His church. While Jesus is certainly talking about the “global church”, there is no doubt that local churches also carry this power. If we want to see lives changed, relationships restored, oppression defeated, and people reconciled to God; the church must do what it has been called to do. In order to do that, Christians must actually be a part of this powerful agent chosen by God; called the church.

3. Spiritual Gifts are for the Body; not individuals (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) — Every believer has received gifts directly from the Holy Spirit. Some have received multiple gifts; others, just one or two. Some will receive more gifts and some are receiving gifts as I type. What is important is not necessarily what the gift is (although I highly encourage you to look into what your spiritual gifts may be), but how you use it. The Bible is clear that spiritual gifts are not given so that you and I can feel good about ourselves. They are given so that we can contribute to the Kingdom of God and, more specifically, our local church. If every believer has gifts that we are commanded to use, yet we aren’t actively plugged into a church… we may have a problem.

4. We Need to be “Fed” (I Timothy 4:11-16) –Some of you may have read those verses and asked, “why is this the passage he chose?” I chose it for the last line. You see, Paul is challenging Timothy in the way he should pastor His church. After instructing him on a few things he writes this, “…Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” There are many different opinions on this verse. I think most of them are actually valid. It could be discussing a number of things at once. God was a pretty impressive author. But, it pertains to our 4th point because of its connection to spiritual growth. Salvation means “to be justified” (made right with God), “to be sanctified” (basically growing spiritually), and/or “to be glorified” (the final product of us in Heaven). What Paul seems to be saying to Timothy is this, “if you teach the way I have told you to, you and the people in your church will experience spiritual growth.” In essence, there is incredible value in sitting and being taught by someone who’s spiritual gift is teaching or preaching. When we listen and put into practice the things God reveals to us as we attend church services, we will experience a strengthening in our walk with God.

5. Because We Need Other Believers and They Need Us; The ‘One-Another’s’ (1 John 4:12, Heb. 3:13, Gal. 5:13, Rom. 15:14, Romans 12:10, Eph. 4:32, etc….) — We need to be in fellowship with other believers for our benefit and theirs. We are called to spur one another on, to love one another, to encourage one another, to hold another accountable, and so much more. We are called to do this life together as one body, with one purpose, one heart, and one Hope. You can be a Christian without fellowship, but you’ll be a pretty weak one.

Obviously, there are other reasons for attending church. I think it is important to note that church is not about you. Even though a number of the above reasons for attending have obvious benefits to you. Church is about being actively being a part of what God is doing in this world. It is a privilege that should be treated that way. Through Jesus we have not only been given forgiveness of our sins, but we have been brought into a family of people that, though we are diverse, has been called to one purpose. “Go and make disciples…” This purpose is achieved most effectively when God’s people are actively involved in God’s church; both locally and globally.

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So, this week we were planning on covering the Trinity… however, that will be happening next Wednesday. We are going to be doing things a little different this week (don’t worry you’ll like it) and I believe this question will be more appropriate. It seems that one of the most popular questions from students is: “Why should I go to church?” It is in the question box almost of every week.

When I was younger we used to always talk about how you didn’t need to go to church to be a Christian. We would say things like, “if going to church makes you a Christian, does going into a garage make you a car?” The truth is, a lot of Christians seem to believe that church isn’t very important. Many of you may think church is a waste of time. Maybe you would rather be sleeping or hanging out with friends, than getting up and heading to a building full of people on Sunday mornings. And… to an extent, I would have to agree with you. If you think of church simply as what happens on Sunday mornings, then maybe you don’t need it in order to be a Christian. However, the church is so much more than Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights!

I can’t wait to see you at epic this Wednesday @ 7pm as we challenge the common definition of “church” and find out why you should absolutely be a part of the church. Both locally and globally!

So, what are your thoughts on this question?

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Tomorrow night we will be taking a look at one of your questions: Does God hear the prayers of people who do not believe in Jesus as their Savior? I would encourage you all to go to your Bibles and see if you can’t find the answer there. It will be an awesome night where we discover how to get your prayers answered. We will be taking a look at one of the most famous prayers in all of history. One that came from the mouth of Jesus himself. To get you thinking, here are a few stats about Americans and prayer:

-Nearly 90% of Americans claim to pray daily

-Approximately 30% pray for things or events they want

-Another 30% pray for things they want and thank “god” for what they have

-About 25% simply say “thank you” every morning or evening

-Only 42% of Americans are “born again Christians” (according to a rather strict definition)

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night. Feel free to leave your thoughts on this question via the comment option. I’ll post the answer to the question on Thursday morning. Peace.

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First of all, let me start off by saying you guys need to start responding on the blog. I get a lot of responses via text message and such, but the goal is to generate conversation. So, I will answer this question, but I do so under protest since the only actual comment I receieved was from a “non-student”.

Do angels have free will? Yes. They must. Since I am doing this under protest, I will simply refer you to the comment section (the place where you should be leaving your comments) and tell you to read Vin’s comment. You can then check the scripture that he gave and let me know (via a comment) if you agree, disagree, or need a little more clarification.

Okay, I am no longer bitter about the whole comment thing… The “little more” referred to in the title of this post is about a question I was supposed to answer a long time ago, but I forgot. So Sadie, this is for you… If you open your Bible to Romans 5:13 you will come across a peculiar verse. It says “for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.” What did Paul mean by this phrase. Was he saying that if you sinned before the Mosaic law came into existence you would not be held accountable? The answer… No. That’s not what he’s saying.

You see, Paul answers this question in the next verse when he writes, “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the One to come.” Death was a direct result of sin. So, people were absolutely held accountable for their sin before the 10 commandments. The reason for this is simple. God’s law has always been in effect. It was God’s law, not the Mosaic law, that Adam broke. Because of Adam’s choice, mankind would be under the power of sin as long as we continued to breathe air. That is of course, until the “One”, Jesus, came to defeat sin. Adam opened the door and brought the power of sin into our lives; but Jesus opened the door and kicked the power of sin out of our lives.

How can we be forgiven and released from the power of sin? It’s simple. We must believe in Jesus as our Savior (Ephesians 1:13-14). I hope that answers your question Sadie. If it doesn’t, let me know by COMMENTING on the blog .

Can’t wait to see you all this Wednesday! It’s been too long.

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So, each week I am going to post the “Good Question of the Week”. This will be a question that is asked by a student that is a good question, but will not be answered in our typical youth group format. So, here’s this week’s.

This question was asked by a student while were discussing Satan and his former role in heaven. So, before I answer the question. What do you all think. Do angels have free will? Why do you say that? I won’t answer this question unless I hear from at least some of you students (I would love to hear from some “non-students” as well).

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Hey, what’s up everyone? I really wish we all could have gotten together tonight. We were just a little worried about the sheets of ice you would be driving home on afterward. I know, I know… I’m lame, old, and boring. But I care about you all and it just wasn’t worth the risk. Anyway, thanks for stopping by to catch the video and message for tonight. I hope you enjoy it. First, I have an announcement. Since we weren’t able to have youth group tonight we will be meeting on the 31st. It’ll be over in plenty of time for you to get to any New Year’s Eve shindig you may have planned. Alright, enjoy the videos and study and I’ll catch you again at the end of this blog.

Luke 2:1-20 (not quite as detailed as I wanted, but I ran out of time… it takes forever to upload a video)

Verses 1-3: It was custom for people to return to their hometowns for censuses. Basically, a census was a way for the Caesar to know who and how many people were under his authority.

Verses 4-5: Most readers assume that Mary and Joseph got to Bethlehem right before Jesus was born. In all actuality, it could have been quite a bit of time before Mary had Jesus.

Verses6-7: You know, in a lot of Christmas plays or stories, the innkeeper is looked at as if he was a bad guy. Luke never actually says that. The truth is, there was no room in the inn. It is actually fitting that Jesus would be born, in a way, apart from human society. It symbolized the rejection that He would encounter throughout His ministry, on the cross, and ultimately throughout the remainder of time. People have always and will always reject Jesus. It is sad and even confusing if you are a believer, but it is the truth.

Verse 8: I think it is so cool that the angel appeared to shepherds. In this time they would have been socially looked down upon. They would have been the outcasts. Their job made them unclean or unworthy in the eyes of the rest of society. I find this cool because really, they represent us. When compared with the righteousness of God, we are totally unclean and unworthy. Yet we are given the opportunity to be spotless because of Jesus.

Verses 9-11: The angel did what every angel in the Bible does… make sure the people they are appearing to aren’t scared. He is not bringing bad news, but good news. The time had come for the promised Savior to enter human history. We already expanded on verse 11…

Verses 12-14: The sudden appearance of all the other angels seems to symbolize how God often acts. It seems like it takes Him a long time to do something (usually it just seems long to us, but it isn’t that long), but when He does respond it always seems to be exactly what we need. God’s people had waited for the Messiah for what felt like a long time, and now, exactly what they needed. Jesus.

Verses 15-16: I love this… after the Shepherds heard this incredible news, they didn’t sit around and talk about it. No! They acted immediately. How many times have we experienced God or felt his nudge and then we sit around discuss it, think about it, and never actually do anything about it?

Verses 17-18: The shepherds saw Jesus and then began to tell other people about it. This is awesome because this is how God decided to share His love with the world. God’s only plan for sharing the life-giving Gospel is us. He doesn’t have a “plan B”. I also like how when people heard the testimony of the shepherds they were amazed. They’re response wasn’t to believe or not to believe, they were just amazed. I have always been curious about how many of these “amazed people”, would later choose to believe in Jesus as their Savior. Often we are not called to convert everyone talk to about Jesus. Sometimes God is just using us to “amaze” them, that is, to prepare them for things that will happen in their loves later. Remember, we are to be the salt of the earth. What does salt do? It adds flavor to something. In other words, our lives are to look a lot more like Fillet Mignon than chicken nuggets. When we talk to people about Jesus or live for Jesus, we can make people hunger for what He offers.

Verses 19-20: These two verses seem to stress how remarkable and significant the story of Jesus’ birth really is. When you and I really understand that Jesus was born to die to set us free from sin; we should meditate on that truth, share it with others, and praise God for his grace!

I hope you all enjoyed “youth group” tonight. Enjoy your night, tell your parents hi, and be safe. Be sure to leave your questions, prayer requests, thoughts, etc… Remember, it is a public site so anything you write can be seen by others. Peace and I’ll see you soon.

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