Tonight!
6:00PM
CHURCH PARKING LOT...
SPORTS NIGHT
I had a great time with all of you last night! Congratulations to Brooke!!!! Our Suncoast Ninja Warrior! She ate 8 healthy, jumping, crickets!! Wow! Special Honorable mention to Brandon and Sarah Watkins for both eating their fair share of crickets too!! You guys made the night exciting last night! Thanks!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Jessica B: I am so excited about Disney too!!!!!
Pastor Chip: You should come to the Magic Kingdom with us!!!!
Mallory: Where were you yesterday girl! I missed you (on the devo blog that is)
Tyler: I am thankful for you and glad that you are going to be on my team.
Alex: I am glad that we got to talk last night! I am thankful that you did you devos! Stay faithful!
Genesis 35
1 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”
2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.
3 Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.”
4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.
5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.
8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.
9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.
10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.
11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”
13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.
Death of Rachel
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.
17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.”
18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
20 And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
21 Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.
Jacob’s Twelve Sons
Jacob’s Twelve Sons
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
23 the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;
24 the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin;
25 the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali;
26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.
Death of Isaac
27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.
28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.
29 So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
There are many applications in this passage but one specific message that stood out to me above the rest. I think this is such a good picture of real life. There are so many time in our life when things seem to be going well, even good. We realize how blessed we are with family, friends, our relationship with God... Everything seems great and then BAM!!! TRAILS HIT LIKE A BRICK ON YOUR FOREHEAD!
That is exactly what happens in this chapter as we look at Jacob or "Israel". Jacob has a wonderful encounter with God, He tells his people to get rid of their Gods, Jacob makes several offerings to God, Jacob even talks with God and then sets up an alter to show his relationship with God, and then it seems like Jacobs world falls apart.
Before the chapter is even finished He has lost his favorite wife (Rachel), and his father (Isaac). It would be easy to ask WHY? God Why would you take me through this when I am serving you? But that is not the right question: The right question is, God what are you teaching me about yourself through this?
We often think... Why would God bring these trials right when I am getting closer to Him... But I think the fact is that God brought us closer to Him because He knew we are about to face these trials, and God does not want us to face these trials on our own.
This is so important, because I know of many people who have gotten bitter at God because of Trials, but we MUST understand that no matter how hard the trial, no matter how difficult the situation: Our God is Good, and our God has everything under control!
The Psalmist put it this way: I had fainted, UNLESS I believed to see the goodness of the Lord.
You too will faint, fail, fall away, unless you remember that Our God is Good, and He is in Control!!!
See You Tonight!!
17 comments:
I remember one sermon when Pastor Chip was preaching on Asa in 2 Chronicles, Asa's story was he was a man of God when he was our age. But when he got older, he went through some tough trials. The reason why you don't hear Asa talked about much is because he turned his back on God and rebeled against Him. Pastor Chip also mentioned Billy Graham along with two other evangelicals (whose names I do not remember). Pastor Chip said the reason why we don't hear those two names anymore was because after years of being evangelicals, they eventually gave up on it and stoped serving God, just like Asa did in the Old Testament. Billy Graham we hear about all the time because he stuck with it and continued serving God. Everyone, no matter what trials you may be faced with, always continue to serve Jesus! The day I stop serving God will be the day that Pastor Lee grows a tail!
Pastor Lee, I will talk to you tonight about the core leadership thing we are starting.
t-bird will be on later...she's at the middle school whatsa ma jigit...ummm...OPEN HOUSE! yeah thats it=]
hmmm...WAY 2 many thoughts goin on in my head so im gonna type em as fast as i can b4 i 4get!!!
THat whole trial thing...i have noticed the closer u get 2 God it seems 2b the more trials ur bein put thru...
i DO c what ya mean PL cuz he's testing u...if ur really believeing in God, than u can trust he'll help u thru, he wont put ina position u cant handle...
God's testing your comitment & FAITH in him=]
where we can apply the casting down of godS can b our idols...like prioities we put infronta christ...we all have em...h.w 4 sum, sports 4 others, myspace addicts *cough cough*(sum1 i know) -lol-
as 4 the questioning Y Christ is doin/puttin us thru this when were tryin 2 get closer...ur right PL, the question 2 ask is HOW can I learn or WHAT am i supposed 2 b learning from this
what i realized last night w/the crickets was i can pretty much do anythin i put my mind 2...if i can eat 8...cri...cri...*gags*(been nautious all day)crickets 4 a thing of MT. Dew gum...imagine the things i can do if i really wanted 2 AND W/cHRIST ON MY SIDE=]
SO THE QUESTION LAST NIGHT WASNT, y am i being put thru this gross thing...eating...THEM???(besides 2 b THE NIJA WARRIOR-lol-)
it was WHAT AM I SUPPOSED 2 GET OUTA THIS? & i told u what i learned from it...i also learned how 2 control my mind & gag reflexes...go figure i can eat a cricket w/pukein...cuz if i feel/taste an onion in my food i almost spew EVERYWHERE-LOL- & it came in handy 2 day cuz the schools sheppards pie=[ i wont even go there
so yeah...
sorry i dnt get on much...my dad takes online classes pretty much from the time he wakes up til the time he goes 2 bed 4the fire acadamy...so i get on at my aunts when i gotta b here
hi everyone. i am a sad person!!!!my birdy died!!!!!!!): her egg got stuck coming out so something happened and bye bye birdy!!!!! well i would try and focus but you know how it is.so when i go n tomorrow i will try and remember to do both.
btw:i am still majorly excited 2 more days wow i sound like jon massey!! i am counting down
*sits in brooke's lap*
ok ummm...
ughhhh...
*thinks* -lol-
God gives us trials to test us to see if we trust him.
ummm...idk...
*chews pen cap*
*slaps head*
*laughs*
*picks at eyelash*
*laughs some more*
*raises eyes brow & thinks*
taylor says: "my eye hurts"
i guess thats it
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B.T.W i'm (brooke) was typin cuz i felt like typin=]
that's y all those actions are on there (taylor's actions...not mine) -lol-
*gives taylor noogie*
she dont know what else 2 say
********************************************************************************************************************************************
I taylor says yup dont no wat 2 type
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Brooke say's: she's no novalist like me -lol-
Everyone liten up!!!! We were playing a game at the church for game night and Jessica Massey fell and hurt her BAD ankle! It probably won't be too major, but pray for here! I will put it on the prayer blog as well.
Sorry I couldnt come tonight i had to go my grandparents house and do something, But heres some good news... Derek and Dale might come all the time now!! They love the youth group and they love you pastor lee!! Im so glad that they got to come.
This is such a cool passage, God gives us trials in life to test us. Like this goes perfect, at skool I dropped my books on accident and i was seeing if anyone would help me but no one did!! I was so sad! But God is much different at testing us. He takes things that will get our attention so that we can get drawn back to Him. He's good like that.
I WISH so BAD that I could come to Disney with you guys on Saturday. But its my grandpas 69th birthday and yea its family time (which we all know is so much funner than Disney)
I will pray for Jessica Massey! :)
EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A couple years ago everything was going fine then BAM everything went wrong and you know it is SOOOOOO hard to trust God in that time because theres like a fog because hes still there but it seems like hes not because hes still suppling all of your needs and i think we need to remeber that because God is still there.
2 DAYS TILL DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!
PASTOR CHIP IM SO EXCITED YOUR GOING YOU ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!
Jessica is doing better its swollen but it should be better soon.
Sorry i didnt come tonight!
We didnt get home till 645 so my mom said there was no point.
):
& dont know exactly what happened but Jessica, i hope your ankle heals!
So ive definitely had this problem & i think most people have; where youre just cruising along with life and then suddenly somethings not so sweet.
Its a lot easier to trust God when things are going perfectly, but as im learning, its even more important to trust Him when things are going badly.
Sure, God can bring great things along without a struggle tied to them, but the things we do have to fight through and reallyneed to trust Him with are usually the more valuable things we can be taught.
Im awful at trusting PERIOD, none the less trusting in a rough situation. so as im learning, i should definitely work on that.
&,, havent really talked to ryan in a while so dont ask whats up with him cause idk
Thank you everyone for all the concerns and prayers! I'll be fine! I hope! :) It's just another thing to add to my "things that don't go as planned" list!
......Sooo everything is going fine and then BAM, you fall down the stairs hahaha!
This passage really speaks about the importance of continually growing in the knowledge of God because there WILL be hard times in life, possibly tragedies, and if we don't have a strong faith to stand on we can become bitter and fall away. We have to be continually purging our lives of the sin that God convicts us about. Sometimes our efforts to study and read the Bible tends to be self-focused because we are just searching for encouragement and nourishment for ourselves. Our ultimate goal is for God to work in our lives and to answer our prayers they way we want. Our goal in studying the Bible is to know Him better which ultimately will bring an inner joy and a faith that will be able to stand anything that Satan throws our way.
In this passage Jacob goes through some tough times. We cannot think that even if we are becoming more and more close to God by the second that we will not undergo hard times. That is when satan wants to pull us away the most. It could also be a challenge from God to test our faith. No matter what the trial is we must face it and try to do what God wants us to.
so basically this passage has a lot of things we can learn. the first is probably to hav no other gods before the one true God. also it talks about how God also made his covenant with Jacob just as he did for Abraham and Isaac. it tells us that Rachel died wile giving burth and that Isaac died when he was 180 yearsold. i dont know what it was back then that kept them alive for so long but man that is unbelievable. so Jacob and his people travel to Bethel and make an alter to God. our God is good!!!
Ok Sorry I wasnt on here yesterday Pastor Lee Its getting hard with all the homework these teachers are giving us! I will do my best to stay on here! I had a great night it was fun! I hope your ankle feels better Jessica, I WILL be praying for you! Ok now well I have to go fast but there are more to this passage then just Rachel and Jacob dieing and the kid that they had. We also see that Jacob had to tell all the people to stop worshiping there gods and worship the one true God! TRUST AND OBEY GOD even in the hard times like Jacob was going through(like rachel dieing) God will help you through these tough times as long as you do what He wants you to do and not what you want to do! Bye for now!
Yeah jeff told me what happened at the sports night. So umm might I say ouch Jessica the way he said it sounds painful. he told you might even go to the hospital.
so 4 the devos ummm sounds like life was all good in the life of isreal until one day. On this day the day of many deaths is the day in which his father died, and his wife. to tell you the truth IDK what to write except for maybe that when someone dies and we know that they're going to heaven we shouldn't be sad. In fact we should celebrate that they're dead because they get to be with god instead of here on earth with all our wordly problems.
Sorry I'm on so late but I had a bunch of stuff to take care of tonight.
Look at how God wants to bless Jacob for one act of obedience to Him- Jacob wasn't the only one to reap the blessing but God wanted to bless his children and children's children and generations to come. sometimes we have to look at the other side of the coin and wonder what if jacob didn't obey? What would the result be? not only for him and his family now but possibly generations to come. I also wonder, what false gods do we have in our lives? What do we give priority to above God? How does that show in our everyday actions? How can what we do today effect our future generations- there really is a bigger picture...
I love my children and want to try to be an example for them. Alex I have all the faith in the world in you and I'm proud of you. Jessie you are growing into a lovely Godly young lady and I'm proud of you too. And I'm so sorry about Lola :( Love Mom
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