Evidence of God's Working

Youth Group was awesome last night.

 

AWESOME!!!

 

But, even more incredible was the ride home.  It really was the icing on the cake for me and Frank.  I can't stop thanking the Lord for being so evident, real and at work!!! A special shout out to Katie!  Thanks for sharing your jawdropping, God honoring, faith deepening story with us.

 

If you were unable to make it to Youth Group last night...do whatever you can to make it next Wednesday.

 

Seriously.

 

I mean.

 

Whatever you can!!!

 

If you are a parent and want to just sit in and listen, that's okay too. If you've stopped coming and want to come on by, feel free!

 

You won't want to miss this.  Really.  NO, REALLY!!!

 

God is working.

 

God wants to use us for His glory.

 

God is alive and well in Calvary Baptist Church, and His Youth Group.

 

I keep thinking about the message Pastor Ron delivered to us last Sunday.  For those of you who are sports fans, athletes, etc., this sermon was right up your alley, so to speak!

 

He taught on Hebrews 12:1-15.

 

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2) fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 

The word "encumbrance" could also be translated, weight.

 

Pastor Ron talked about what those weights might be.  They are not necessarily bad things, or sinful things, they are sometimes distractions (remember my watch?).

 

They are things that distract us, or detour us, or hold us back from focusing fully on Jesus, the One who grows our faith.  AND they make us ineffective for God.  Essentially, they make us totally effective for the world, satan and all things that would pull us away from glorifying God, obeying Jesus and being a light to the lost.

God is working in our Youth Group.  He is doing something.  I long for you to be a part of what God is doing!!!

 

I don't want you to miss it.

 

I'm reminded of our HS Winter Camp speaker's testimony of when God got his attention.  He was a Junior in High School.  He was also on the Varsity Football team.  He was in the limelight.  God was at work in the Youth Group where Dan attended.  God got Dan's attention during a Missions Trip.  Dan came home, quit Football, told his buddies what was going on (to which they said, "hey we know you! This won't last!").  Dan didn't want to miss out on what God was doing at that moment.  And, God didn't disappoint!  Some 25 years later, Dan is still serving the Lord and being a part of something that will last for eternity.

 

This life is a series of moments in time.  Once lost, they are never recovered.  The Christian life is a sustained race.  A marathon.  Paul encourages us to run in such a way as to win.  These earthly races are just dashes, sprints and blowouts.

 

Read what Paul says:

1 Corinthians 9:19-27 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. (20) To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; (21) to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. (22) To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. (23) I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. (24) Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. (25) Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (26) Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; (27) but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Philippians 3:14-21 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (15) Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; (16) however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. (17) Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. (18) For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, (19) whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. (20) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; (21) who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

 

Read on to see the PW Devo and why God has chosen us, jars of clay, "to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

 

How are your running today?

What is holding you back, weighing you down in the Christian race? 

PlanetWisdom.com Devotionals

---

Not My Power: Clay Posted: 26 Apr 2010 01:16 PM PDT "For God . . . made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:7) I like the band Jars of Clay quite a bit. I think their last album was one of their best in years. But it bothers me a little that whenever I read this verse I think of them. Of course, they picked the name from this verse to make the point (I assume) that their ultimate message -- that we can know God through Jesus -- is far more powerful and valuable than the rock band that sometimes sings about it. If you went to The Container Store in Paul's day looking for something to keep your most valued possession in, you'd walk right past the "12 for $1" sign on the clay pots and look for a cool-looking display jar (or maybe something with a lock on it). Human beings are weak, fragile, flawed. Why -- how -- would God allow us to carry the most valuable truth in all of human history? Today's verse answers the question, and it's what we'll be thinking about this week. Think: What evidence have you seen in your life that you are a "jar of clay," that you are not powerful on your own to carry the message of God's grace? What evidence have you seen of God's power in and through you? Pray: As a Christian, thank God for placing His treasure in you and showing His power through you. Do: Notice this week evidence of your weakness and God's power in your life.

--
Mary E.Hickcox
www.CalvaryBaptistSM.org
http://mary-neotes.blogspot.com/