FRIDAY, May 23rd, 2008

It is Friday!! How cool! Today is going to be such a great day! I have some cool plans for this weekend; how about you? My parents are coming in town tonight and my Sister will be in church Sunday night! So you should all be there on Sunday night to meet my sister and her husband and there kids.

AND... We are going to a party on Monday. Jonathan, is everyone invited to your party... (I would seriously consider it, becasue that means more presents!!) Plus it will be even more fun of other teens are there.

A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Amy: I like your illustration of being "delicious" Christians for Him! :)
That one Kid and That one Guy: Hey guys, I "the creator" of this thing, want to say: Thanks for checking us out online. I am glad that you have joined us on here. If I were you, I would probably not be too sure what all of this is about: so let me quickly explain: Each one of the teenagers on here are a part of Suncoast Youth Group. You can check us out at http://www.suncoastyouth.com/. We are a group of teenagers that believe in Jesus Christ, we believe the word of God (aka: The Bible) and we believe that as we study the Bible we become wiser and we learn more about ourselves and God. If you dont believe in Christ, then I understand why this may seem weird to you: But I promise, we are normal people just seeking to please our creator. So the point is: Feel free to give us a chance and come to youth group and hang out. We do all kinds of fun stuff and we definitely have LOTS of fun! We are a friendly group of teenagers that want to uplift and encourage others into a relationship with Christ. I hope that lets you know a little bit about what this blog is about! Thanks for visiting! By the way: Talk to Josh about coming sometime, I think it would be cool to meet you guys!
Ryan: We will miss you on Sunday man!! Have fun in the car for 8 hours!! Sorry man! That is rough!
Amanda: Glad your hair is normal, I thought I did permanent damage!
Alex: I loved your "Wine-ing" Joke! Ha! That was a pretty great application :)
Kacey: Hey Girl! I have missed you on here! I am glad you are back!
Rachel and Jessica M: Thanks for the encouraging words about the message last night! I am glad that it spoke to both of you! I am in the process of praying about a leadership team and I KNOW that both of you need to be a part of that group! Thats for being leaders even before there was a "leadership team". I am excited about what God is doing in our youth ministry!

John 2:13-22
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Another very cool story! So Jesus goes into Jerusalem and when He goes into the Temple he sees what the people have done inside the temple. They have turned it into a flea market! Are you kidding me? That is what Christ was thinging. This is the Temple of God and we are supposed to show respect for Gods temple. There are two applications: Our Body is the temple of God: We must also show respect and honor to the body that God has given us. The second application is that this was the temple: The place that everyone went to meet with the Lord. We call that "the church" today. We should also show respect in the church. WHAT ARE SOME WAYS THAT WE CAN SHOW RESPECT AT CHURCH?

Finally, we get to verse 19: Jesus tells the people, if you destroy this temple I will build in back in three days. WHAT? They said: It took us 46 YEARS to build this temple; and you think you can build it back up in three days!! But they were mistaken; Jesus was talking about the temple of his body. And the fact is that when he was crucified that "three days later" he arose from the grave. He fulfilled his promise as He said He would.

Very cool stuff! I am enjoying the book of John very much! Say faithful! Someone get a hold of everyone that you normally see who have not been on. Hold them accountable (with love) :)

Love you guys! See you Sunday!
PLEASE COME SUNDAY NIGHT! I WANT TO SHOW ALL OF YOU OFF TO MY SISTER! :)