I just returned from another trip. This time we took a team of eleven of us from our church. We were certainly a diverse group. We had an engineer, two students, a hair dresser, two pastors, one pastor’s wife, a missionary with YWAM, and a very special six year old.
One of my favorite times on this trip was when each one of our team members were using their passions, talents, and experience to the maximum to serve those around them. I was walking around watching the six year old playing and dancing with students, making friends the way he knows how. The engineer was teaching teenage boys about hammering and helping them build cars out of pine. The hairdresser was teaching girls how to style their hair. The pastor led a workshop on how to study the Bible. His wife shared with teenage girls about what it’s like to be a Christian woman. The YWAM missionary used his training as a clown to share the love of Jesus with children.
It was a magical moment as each one of us were in our “zone,” sharing about Jesus through our actions (without “preaching”) and “being the church” that God has created us to be.
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This past Sunday I had the opportunity to share with the students at our church about the question, “Is the Bible true?”
I’m sharing my outline here as well as my slide deck in case it might be useful.
Download it here:
Outline (PDF)
Slides (Keynote, Powerpoint, PDF)
Some of the questions at the end are important:
Have you ever really thought about this?
Where does faith come in?
What role does the Holy Spirit play in showing us the truth?
I went to see the latest Star Wars movie last night. For the first time in a long time, I’m early to the party. That means I can write about it here and give my opinion. No spoilers here, though. Just some random thoughts on the movie.
Things I Liked
- Fun story: I thought the backstory of Han Solo, the Millenium Falcon, Chewbacca, Lando, etc, was just really fun. It had enough references to the Star Wars Episodes to be fun, but I don’t feel like you needed to know too much about Star Wars to appreciate this movie.
- Chewbacca and Han: There’s just something fun about the development of this relationship. I loved the story of how they met, the bond they form, and how they stick together. Friendship!
- New Actors: Alden Ehrenreich does a great job portraying many of the intricacies of Han Solo. His character was well-known and developed already, and I think he does a great job bringing a young Han to the screen.
Things I Didn’t Like
- Woody Harrelson: I think he did a good job in the role, but I wish they would have let his character be someone we don’t know as someone else. I can’t see Woody Harrelson without thinking of White Men Can’t Jump or any other movie he’s done. He’s a good actor, but it’s a little weird to see him in a Star Wars movie.
- Scenes that Drag On: Maybe I’m old, but some of the scenes felt like they dragged on for too long. I guess two hours and fifteen minutes isn’t long for movies nowadays, but I think some of the action in Solo could have been cut into shorter scenes.
So far, the movie is getting mixed reviews. I thought it was worth watching, and I’m glad I went. I’ll be taking my kids to see it soon as well.
This weekend our student ministry spent a few hours serving a local ministry partner called the Apple Patch. We did yard work at one of their houses, getting our hands dirty by pulling weeds and trimming hedges. I spent some time thinking about why we serve in the first place.
Often, we just assume that students (and adults) know why we set up service projects, but most of the time our answer is, “Because it’s the right thing to do” or “Because we love Jesus.”
Have you ever thought about why we serve from a Biblical perspective? I thought of a few reasons, and I wanted to share them.
Four Reasons We Serve Others
- Be Christlike (humility/love) – In one of the greatest descriptions of Christ, the letter to the Philippians explains to us that we ought to have the same mind as Christ, counting others as more significant than ourselves. Jesus did this by taking on the form of a servant. If we are to be like Christ, we will serve others.
- Be Obedient – 1 Peter 4:10 tells to use our gifts to serve one another. As God has graciously given us different types of gifts, we are to take what He has given to us and obediently use that to serve those around us.
- Be a Witness – As others see our good works (works of service), they will give glory to God who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Our acts of service are to give glory to God in the world. As we serve, we are being light to those around us.
- Be Spirit-Dependent – It is not a natural thing to desire to serve others. We are naturally inclined to want to do things for ourselves without thinking of others. When we walk in the Spirit, we demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23). Service embodies many of these characteristics, and it requires us to be dependent on the Spirit in order to put the needs of others in front of our own.
I’m sure there are other Biblical reasons to serve others, but these are a few that I think can be helpful as we seek to become people who are known for following Jesus.
(Photo by: Gabriel Jimenez)
Some things come with expectations…things like…
- Having a baby
- Graduation
- Christmas
- A special birthday
- Vacation
All of those things are things we anticipate.
Remember the book, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”? It’s all about those 40 weeks when mom and dad are waiting for the arrival of their little bundle of joy. It tells them how to prepare. It tells the things that will happen in the mom’s body. It tells them what they’ll be feeling. It tells them what they need to purchase. All of those things are important as they wait in anticipation for the baby’s arrival. Finally, that day comes, and the parents stare into their child’s face for the first time with a giant smile. It’s an exciting day!
What about the countdown to graduation? I’m thinking of many of the students I know who are in a season of graduations. They have been waiting for their graduation day for quite some time. They have worked hard for it. They’ve studied, written papers, taken exams, and many other things. Soon, they will walk across the stage and receive the degree for which they have worked so hard. It will be an exciting day!
Even the time leading up to vacation is a time of expectations. You book the travel and lodging well in advance, and then you count down the days until you can relax. You work like crazy to get everything done so things can function without you for a while, and then the day comes when you go on vacation! It’s exhilarating!
What about heading to church on Sunday? Are you expectant? Do you expect to be in the presence of God with His people? Do you expect for His Spirit to teach you something through the preaching of His Word? Do you expect Him to show up and change your life?
I pray that I will be preparing for Sunday each day of the week, using the moments in my life to hear what God is teaching me so that Sunday when I arrive at the worship gathering with my church family I will recognize His presence and be ready to hear His Word.
Do you show up on Sunday with great expectations? What is it that you expect?
Leave a comment below.
