So guess what I am doing today?? I am going with my Dad and some friends to the shooting range to shoot some guns. A 45 Automatic, a Glock 40, a S&W 357M, and an AR15 are just a few of what is on the menu for today. Sounds liks a BLAST huh! HA!!!!!!!!!!!! Get it... Blast!!! : )
Then my Dad and I will be grilling Shish-Ka-Bobs and Steak. What a fabulous day!
So, listen closely: Sunday Night is going to be a really neat service: Pastor Chip wants to have a testimony service and It is going to be great! Me, my Mom, and my sister will be singing, and dancing. YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS! (Just kidding about the dancing part by the way). Anyways, Come Sunday Night for a great time and maybe we can all go out afterwards or something! See you then!!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Josh: I dont think that Amanda has any DDR Skills anymore... although I could be wrong. Amanda Yagami is Josh LaPerriere, remember the asian kid that looks like a panda bear? Yeah, well if you read this then tell Him if you still DDR or not. :) Thanks!
Rachel: So how was your fun night with slippers? I am glad that you were "comfy". By the way: Great application with modern culture: You said "we often play with phones and stuff and show the same kind of disrespect" Great Job!
Gaby: Way to put this into perspective!!! I would be ticked if I came home and there were sheep sellers all over my house! We mustnot desrespect the house of God!
Amy: CONGRATS!! No more School! and I am glad that you will be doing your devotions while you are in Texas! Hurry Home!
Jessica: Cool stuff: "Jesus was not acting out of a moment of anger, but he was purifying the church" Think about that: That passage said that He went and made some kind of whip. That is no 30 sec. task. You are exactly right in your application!
Jonathan Massey: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Lucy Janusz: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Everyone Else: HAPPY UNBIRTHDAY!!!
Ok, Now... TO THE DEVO'S:
John 2:23-25
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,
25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
ONLY THREE VERSES??? Yes: And this should be pretty easy for you, but if you really think about it; it should be convicting as well! Jesus was in Jerusalem, and when all the people of the city saw the things that Christ had done: They Believed!! What have you seen in your life, that you can say: I saw Christ do this in my life: and thats why I believe.
For me personally, I saw what Christ did for me on the cross, and I saw how much He loved me through His word. I could not turn down the greatest love I had ever received!! Since I accepted Christ I have seen him show signs of His working in my life over and over! It is an invredible thing to the visible evidence that our invisible God gives us to show his love for us!
Verses 24 and 25 go on to talk about how Jesus did not put His endorsement on any man, because He knows the heart of man. Jesus knows how deceitful mans heart is; in fact He calls it desparately wicked! Pray that God will help you to stay faithful to Him! No man is above the deceitfulness of his heart. We must constantly feed our heart the word of God to keep it on track with God.
Hope this helps! Come on tomorrow! We will have somthing fun for you to do!!
Love you all! Pastor Lee
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! :)
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! :)
THURSDAY, May 22nd, 2008
Well well, I hope you enjoyed last night! We hit our goal of 40 last night EXACTLY! How cool is that!! Well we talked about being a leader in the youth group last night and I want to encourage you to stay faithful as I think and pray about a Suncoast Youth Leadership Team.
Here are my thoughts about what a Leadership team would do: I would meet with our Leadership team once every two weeks. We would decide things like: What can we do in our youth group to help things grow; How and When should we go about changing the Teen Room; How can we make our visitors feel more welcome; How can we make our Wednesday Night kids come on Sunday and our Sunday Teens come on Wednesday... These issues and many more. Plus we will be having lots of fun! So, over the next few weeks, Think about what you are putting in your devotions, stay faithful and remember last nights message: Shad, Shaq, and Abe were Young Leaders who stood for what was right, stood together, and walked with God!
A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Josh L: The Devotions were definitely up yesterday at 12:40. Either you have serious computer problems or serious eye problems :)
That one Kid!: Well why dont you at least DO YOUR DEVOTIONS while you are on here??
Amanda: Is your hair better now? Great Job Last night! Way to be a good sport!
Ryan W: GREAT DEVOTION! Very Transparent! Very REAL! You Rock!
Jessica M. and Jessica B.: I CANNOT BELIEVE COOK WON! I WAS SO SHOCKED AND DISSAPOINTED! Oh Well, This reminds me of when Clay Aiken lost: But he really won, because He was way bigger than the other guy! I know I am buying an Archuletta CD! :)
(I sound like a 14 year old girl)
John 2:1-12
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
What a cool; but simple story. Jesus and his disciples were at a wedding. They ran out of wine at the wedding; so Jesus' mother asked him to do something about it. Jesus told the servants to fill six waterpots with water. When they did, Jesus told them to take it to the master to taste, and when the master tasted it, He said, why were you saving this DELICIOUS wine until the end... you should have had this first. Then Jesus left. That is a quick summary, but there are just a few applications that I want to share with you:
1. When you want a miracle: turn to Jesus! Jesus' mother went to Himm becasue she knew that he could fix the problem. I think it is amazing that she also told the servants "Do whatever He tells you to do". For God to do great things in our life; WE MUST OBEY HIM COMPLETELY! Mary knew that and she made sure that the servants of the wedding knew that as well!
2. I think it is so cool that when they servants obeyed Jesus: they took him literally and seriously. If Jesus said "fill" the waterpots, then they would be filled to the brim. Oh that we would obey what Christ tells us as precicely as the servants did!
APPLICATION: Turning water into wine is Great! But I believe like yesterday, Jesus Christ would say, you think that is something? You just wait until you see what I can do! I think that Jesus wants to do a miracle in each one of our lives. He wants to take us from the sinful wretch that we are and turn us into a beautiful vessel! God wants to turn you into an incredible follower! Just obey him completely and follow him!
Have a great day you guys!! What are your plans for memorial day??
Here are my thoughts about what a Leadership team would do: I would meet with our Leadership team once every two weeks. We would decide things like: What can we do in our youth group to help things grow; How and When should we go about changing the Teen Room; How can we make our visitors feel more welcome; How can we make our Wednesday Night kids come on Sunday and our Sunday Teens come on Wednesday... These issues and many more. Plus we will be having lots of fun! So, over the next few weeks, Think about what you are putting in your devotions, stay faithful and remember last nights message: Shad, Shaq, and Abe were Young Leaders who stood for what was right, stood together, and walked with God!
A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Josh L: The Devotions were definitely up yesterday at 12:40. Either you have serious computer problems or serious eye problems :)
That one Kid!: Well why dont you at least DO YOUR DEVOTIONS while you are on here??
Amanda: Is your hair better now? Great Job Last night! Way to be a good sport!
Ryan W: GREAT DEVOTION! Very Transparent! Very REAL! You Rock!
Jessica M. and Jessica B.: I CANNOT BELIEVE COOK WON! I WAS SO SHOCKED AND DISSAPOINTED! Oh Well, This reminds me of when Clay Aiken lost: But he really won, because He was way bigger than the other guy! I know I am buying an Archuletta CD! :)
(I sound like a 14 year old girl)
John 2:1-12
1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.
2 Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
6 Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.
10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.
What a cool; but simple story. Jesus and his disciples were at a wedding. They ran out of wine at the wedding; so Jesus' mother asked him to do something about it. Jesus told the servants to fill six waterpots with water. When they did, Jesus told them to take it to the master to taste, and when the master tasted it, He said, why were you saving this DELICIOUS wine until the end... you should have had this first. Then Jesus left. That is a quick summary, but there are just a few applications that I want to share with you:
1. When you want a miracle: turn to Jesus! Jesus' mother went to Himm becasue she knew that he could fix the problem. I think it is amazing that she also told the servants "Do whatever He tells you to do". For God to do great things in our life; WE MUST OBEY HIM COMPLETELY! Mary knew that and she made sure that the servants of the wedding knew that as well!
2. I think it is so cool that when they servants obeyed Jesus: they took him literally and seriously. If Jesus said "fill" the waterpots, then they would be filled to the brim. Oh that we would obey what Christ tells us as precicely as the servants did!
APPLICATION: Turning water into wine is Great! But I believe like yesterday, Jesus Christ would say, you think that is something? You just wait until you see what I can do! I think that Jesus wants to do a miracle in each one of our lives. He wants to take us from the sinful wretch that we are and turn us into a beautiful vessel! God wants to turn you into an incredible follower! Just obey him completely and follow him!
Have a great day you guys!! What are your plans for memorial day??
WEDNESDAY, May 21st, 2008
IT IS WEDNESDAY!! YEAH!!!!
So Remember everyone: OUR GOAL TONIGHT IS 40 PEOPLE IN THE TEEN ROOM!
I hope that you bring someone with you. We are going to have a great service and it will be just a taste of what we are going to be doing each week of the summer.
So be here at 6:30ish and be ready to have a blast!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
That One Kid: .... ... ...WHAT ONE KID!!!!!!!!!!!! (and what is a BA blog?)
Amy: As far as I am concerned you were the first one yesterday. "Hi" Does not count as a devotion :) And by the way: I never knew that you were menanites.
Jessica: So I am a Fellow Peasant, Huh?
Alex: Where is the application man!
Jessica B: TODAY HAS FINALLY COME! I am so excited about tonight! When David Archuletta wins! (Ok! And about you guys coming into youth group!)
Phil: Which phil is this? I tell you what, those were some great devos. I am glad your home page is WWW.DOYOURDEVOTIONS.COM
Rachel E: We will be praying for Michael. When are you leaving?
Rachel Mace: I loved your words when you said: "Todays application: application" I think we should all think about that AND DO IT. Let's not just type some nice words, but lets really APPLY this to our life ALL DAY LONG each day! Great Job!
John 1:43-51
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
This is such a great passage. I am going to share 3 main applications with you.
1. (Verses 43-46) Jesus walks up to Phillip and tells him to "Follow me", so Phillip does, but I think that it is so cool that Phillip didnt just follow by himself. Phillip went and got Nathanael and said, you have got to see this!!! I have found the messiah! Then Phillip tells Nathanael: "Come and see". That is Great. Christ has called us to "take up our cross and FOLLOW HIM" the question is: Do you follow him alone or have you gotten people to follow God with you? How many people have you had a part in leading to the Lord? If none yet, then lets start today, by asking our friends to come along with us and see Jesus. (At church, in your devotions, in your testimony...)
2. (Verse 48) This goes hand in hand with the last application: Nathanael walks up to Jesus and Jesus is like: Hey, you are an Israelite. Nathanael is taken back... He says "WOW!! HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!" then Jesus tells him, I knew who you were even before Phillip went to talk to you. The truth is, that Christ knows of people in yours and my life that will Accept Him if we do our part in inviting them. Christ knows you and He knows your friends... but He wants you and your friends to know HIM!
3. (Verse 49-51) THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART!
Nathanael says to Jesus: "MASTER!! YOU MUST BE THE SON OF GOD! THE KING OF ISRAEL!!" and Jesus responds back like this... "You mean to tell me that you believe I am God, just because I told you that you were standing under a tree??" Then Jesus basically says to Nathanael something that they tell you At the Magic Kingdom on Thunder Mountain: "hold on to them hats and glasses, cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!!" (Remember that?)
Jesus tells Nathanael, if you think that is something, then you better hold on, because that is NOTHING compared to the amazing things you are going to see when you hang out with me.
The same thing is true for us: We think that life is good... well Just imagine if you completely surrendered... Just imagine if you followed God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind... What an incredible ride this would be. Then my last thought is this: While we are enjoying this incredible ride through life with Christ, I can hear Jesus saying: You think this is something... You Just WAIT!!! UNTIL WE GET TO HEAVEN!!!!!!
How cool is that!
Pastor Lee
So Remember everyone: OUR GOAL TONIGHT IS 40 PEOPLE IN THE TEEN ROOM!
I hope that you bring someone with you. We are going to have a great service and it will be just a taste of what we are going to be doing each week of the summer.
So be here at 6:30ish and be ready to have a blast!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
That One Kid: .... ... ...WHAT ONE KID!!!!!!!!!!!! (and what is a BA blog?)
Amy: As far as I am concerned you were the first one yesterday. "Hi" Does not count as a devotion :) And by the way: I never knew that you were menanites.
Jessica: So I am a Fellow Peasant, Huh?
Alex: Where is the application man!
Jessica B: TODAY HAS FINALLY COME! I am so excited about tonight! When David Archuletta wins! (Ok! And about you guys coming into youth group!)
Phil: Which phil is this? I tell you what, those were some great devos. I am glad your home page is WWW.DOYOURDEVOTIONS.COM
Rachel E: We will be praying for Michael. When are you leaving?
Rachel Mace: I loved your words when you said: "Todays application: application" I think we should all think about that AND DO IT. Let's not just type some nice words, but lets really APPLY this to our life ALL DAY LONG each day! Great Job!
John 1:43-51
43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
51 And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
This is such a great passage. I am going to share 3 main applications with you.
1. (Verses 43-46) Jesus walks up to Phillip and tells him to "Follow me", so Phillip does, but I think that it is so cool that Phillip didnt just follow by himself. Phillip went and got Nathanael and said, you have got to see this!!! I have found the messiah! Then Phillip tells Nathanael: "Come and see". That is Great. Christ has called us to "take up our cross and FOLLOW HIM" the question is: Do you follow him alone or have you gotten people to follow God with you? How many people have you had a part in leading to the Lord? If none yet, then lets start today, by asking our friends to come along with us and see Jesus. (At church, in your devotions, in your testimony...)
2. (Verse 48) This goes hand in hand with the last application: Nathanael walks up to Jesus and Jesus is like: Hey, you are an Israelite. Nathanael is taken back... He says "WOW!! HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!" then Jesus tells him, I knew who you were even before Phillip went to talk to you. The truth is, that Christ knows of people in yours and my life that will Accept Him if we do our part in inviting them. Christ knows you and He knows your friends... but He wants you and your friends to know HIM!
3. (Verse 49-51) THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART!
Nathanael says to Jesus: "MASTER!! YOU MUST BE THE SON OF GOD! THE KING OF ISRAEL!!" and Jesus responds back like this... "You mean to tell me that you believe I am God, just because I told you that you were standing under a tree??" Then Jesus basically says to Nathanael something that they tell you At the Magic Kingdom on Thunder Mountain: "hold on to them hats and glasses, cause this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!!" (Remember that?)
Jesus tells Nathanael, if you think that is something, then you better hold on, because that is NOTHING compared to the amazing things you are going to see when you hang out with me.
The same thing is true for us: We think that life is good... well Just imagine if you completely surrendered... Just imagine if you followed God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind... What an incredible ride this would be. Then my last thought is this: While we are enjoying this incredible ride through life with Christ, I can hear Jesus saying: You think this is something... You Just WAIT!!! UNTIL WE GET TO HEAVEN!!!!!!
How cool is that!
Pastor Lee
TUESDAY, May 20th, 2008
YOU GUYS ARE INBCREDIBLE!!!!
I thought that trying to get 100 visitors on the site yesterday would be a little to much for a goal, but I wanted to see it met anyway. But you all blew me out of the water with 170 visitors YESTERDAY! How incredible is that! I am so praoud of you all! Keep up the good work!
A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Well, yesterday was a great day. If you did your devotions more than four days last week then you were invited to join us last night for a good time. We started out at McD's and ate and ate and ate. Then we all voted on where to go and we decided to Go out to the beach at Boca Grande. It was Beautiful! The pictures at the top of the page are from last night. It is pretty obvious we had a great time! We took 105 pictures in 40 minutes! That was FUN! If you were not there, PLEASE BE FAITHFUL! You never know when your faithfulness will be rewarded!
Honorable Mention to: Josh L, Tyler, Amy and Booke, who were not able to make it last night. We missed you!
Sarah: I Love That Movie! Our Next Reward Trip should be to come over to your house and watch it!! :)
McCue: Bye Man! We Love You! We Will Miss You! Dont Die in Boot Camp!
Alex: Good Job on the Devos Man! We missed you tonight, I thought you were going to tag along?
Anne Onna Miss: I am not sure who you are, but I guess that is the point. One thing you can be sure about though is that we will not make fun of you on here. This is a place where you dont have to worry about that. (Because if anyone does... Then I DOG PILE THEM!!)
TYLER: Sorry about yesterday man! If I would have known that you couldnt come because it was just Ice Cream, then I would have DEFINITELY CALLED you! We did not decide to go to the beach until like 10 minutes before we were at the beach. We missed you man!
Gaby: I definitely agree with you. There are times in the Bible where it sure does seem like God has a sense of Humor.
Mr. Carl: I Agree! Lets Turn This Town, Upside Down! (For Christ)
John 1:29 - 42
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.
36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).
42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
This passage is SO COOL!!!!! Let me explain: It starts out with John again and he is still baptizing people, when a man catches his eye. John looks up and loses track of what is going on, because He sees the Man that God told him to look for; the man that had the Holy Spirit descending upon him. When John saw this man, He immediatley STOPPED! And SHOUTED! BEHOLD! (LOOK, THERE HE IS) THE LAMB OF GOD, WHO WILL TAKE AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.
Why does John call Him "The lamb of God"?
Because in time past the sinners would have to sacrifice a spotless lamb to pay for their sins. Now, Jesus, "the spottless lamb" would pay for all of mans sin for all time. You see the little spottless lamb never paid for anyones sin, but that was simply a way that the people before Christ could show that they believe Christ would come. Now we live on the other side, and we simply "accept" Christ into our lives, because of His Sacrifice for us! Pretty Remarkable Huh!
I think it is so cool that John had never met Jesus Before, (He kept on saying: I did not know Him) But the moment that Jesus Caught Johns eyes, John knew who he was. HERE IS THE COOL PART: We also have the Holy Spirit in our lives NOW, and we should be just as eye catching to the lost as Christ was back at this time. People should see us, and just be shocked to see how we act, as we are controlled by the Spirit of God.
Quickly: I will tell you another cool story from verse 35 on: So it is the next day, and Two disciples walk up to Jesus ans say: Master, where do you stay? That question is so important; they are basically asking Jesus where do you live, Where did you come from, Who are you?? And Christ answers back, you want to know WHO I AM? WHAT I AM ALL ABOUT? WHERE I HAVE COME FROM AND WHERE I AM GOING?? THEN COME WITH ME!
How cool is that! Christ says, if you want to get to know me, then walk with me. That is what we are doing and should be doing daily walking with Jesus Christ through the word of God.
Teenagers! What do you think about this passage! See You Wednesday!!
I thought that trying to get 100 visitors on the site yesterday would be a little to much for a goal, but I wanted to see it met anyway. But you all blew me out of the water with 170 visitors YESTERDAY! How incredible is that! I am so praoud of you all! Keep up the good work!
A Few Thoughts from Yesterday:
Well, yesterday was a great day. If you did your devotions more than four days last week then you were invited to join us last night for a good time. We started out at McD's and ate and ate and ate. Then we all voted on where to go and we decided to Go out to the beach at Boca Grande. It was Beautiful! The pictures at the top of the page are from last night. It is pretty obvious we had a great time! We took 105 pictures in 40 minutes! That was FUN! If you were not there, PLEASE BE FAITHFUL! You never know when your faithfulness will be rewarded!
Honorable Mention to: Josh L, Tyler, Amy and Booke, who were not able to make it last night. We missed you!
Sarah: I Love That Movie! Our Next Reward Trip should be to come over to your house and watch it!! :)
McCue: Bye Man! We Love You! We Will Miss You! Dont Die in Boot Camp!
Alex: Good Job on the Devos Man! We missed you tonight, I thought you were going to tag along?
Anne Onna Miss: I am not sure who you are, but I guess that is the point. One thing you can be sure about though is that we will not make fun of you on here. This is a place where you dont have to worry about that. (Because if anyone does... Then I DOG PILE THEM!!)
TYLER: Sorry about yesterday man! If I would have known that you couldnt come because it was just Ice Cream, then I would have DEFINITELY CALLED you! We did not decide to go to the beach until like 10 minutes before we were at the beach. We missed you man!
Gaby: I definitely agree with you. There are times in the Bible where it sure does seem like God has a sense of Humor.
Mr. Carl: I Agree! Lets Turn This Town, Upside Down! (For Christ)
John 1:29 - 42
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
32 And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him.
33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.
36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).
42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
This passage is SO COOL!!!!! Let me explain: It starts out with John again and he is still baptizing people, when a man catches his eye. John looks up and loses track of what is going on, because He sees the Man that God told him to look for; the man that had the Holy Spirit descending upon him. When John saw this man, He immediatley STOPPED! And SHOUTED! BEHOLD! (LOOK, THERE HE IS) THE LAMB OF GOD, WHO WILL TAKE AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.
Why does John call Him "The lamb of God"?
Because in time past the sinners would have to sacrifice a spotless lamb to pay for their sins. Now, Jesus, "the spottless lamb" would pay for all of mans sin for all time. You see the little spottless lamb never paid for anyones sin, but that was simply a way that the people before Christ could show that they believe Christ would come. Now we live on the other side, and we simply "accept" Christ into our lives, because of His Sacrifice for us! Pretty Remarkable Huh!
I think it is so cool that John had never met Jesus Before, (He kept on saying: I did not know Him) But the moment that Jesus Caught Johns eyes, John knew who he was. HERE IS THE COOL PART: We also have the Holy Spirit in our lives NOW, and we should be just as eye catching to the lost as Christ was back at this time. People should see us, and just be shocked to see how we act, as we are controlled by the Spirit of God.
Quickly: I will tell you another cool story from verse 35 on: So it is the next day, and Two disciples walk up to Jesus ans say: Master, where do you stay? That question is so important; they are basically asking Jesus where do you live, Where did you come from, Who are you?? And Christ answers back, you want to know WHO I AM? WHAT I AM ALL ABOUT? WHERE I HAVE COME FROM AND WHERE I AM GOING?? THEN COME WITH ME!
How cool is that! Christ says, if you want to get to know me, then walk with me. That is what we are doing and should be doing daily walking with Jesus Christ through the word of God.
Teenagers! What do you think about this passage! See You Wednesday!!
MONDAY, May19th, 2008
Teenagers today is a great day! I am so proud of you all. This is the 100th day of our Daily Devotions on this blog. This is a landmark and I am glad that this has not been just a "short-lived fad" but this is something that you are all serious about. If you have not been that consistent with your devotions over the last 100 days, I challenge you to start fresh today, and "Do Your Devotions" everyday!At midnight there were 89 visitors on the website counter. Yesterday we explained that we want to have 100 visitors on our blog today to celebrate 100 days of devotions! In other words, by the end of the day today, we are striving for at least 189 visitors. So tell your friends to check it out, tell your parents to check it out, even tell you grandparents, hair dressers, husbands, favorite sub shop workers son named Benny. GET EVERYONE YOU KNOW ON THE DEVOTION SITE. ALSO: I am wondering... do any of you know ANYONE out of the country that could go on our site. (Our world map shows us who visits our site all around the world. It would be neat to have global visitors :)
OK. On to the important stuff... THE DEVOTIONS!!! HELLO!
First: A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Rachels: Great Job on your devotions! Both of them were very good and uplifting!
Rob: Very good devotion today! That was encouraging to read! Thanks for joining us!
Lorrayne: AWESOME TO SEE YOU ON HERE! You should stay on while you are in college! It would be so cool to have a real life college student on our devotions with us!!!!
Jonathan and Alex: Great Job Yesterday! I loved the way both of your devotions are so applicable to our dinner conversation last night! :)
Jeff: I am impressed! and Thankful! That you still know that verse... do I really say it EVERYTIME you are with me??
John 1:14-28
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
22 Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said: “I am ‘ The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “ Make straight the way of the LORD,”as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know.
27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
I know I picked several verses for you today, many more than usual, but I just could'nt decide where to stop. So here it goes: The first things that jumps out at me is that Jesus Christ came and lived out the word of God among mankind. He made the words of God evident though the physical appearance of Jesus Christ the son of God. Verse 15 is pretty neat, because John says: hey, the guy that I am telling you will come after me, already exists before me. (that must have been confusing to them, but we know the reason for that is because Jesus never came "after" anything... He has always been).
Now I am going to jump to verse 19 because I have a lot to say about the remaining verses: This is the testimony of John... Let me explain. John is hanging out baptizing people when some pharisees come to him to find out who he is... They say WHO ARE YOU?> John answers them by saying, I am not Christ, then the pharisees speak back to John asking if he is Elijag or a prophet. and He says NO. That was the perfect opportunity for John to build himself up. He could have said: I am sent from God obey whatever I say. But the truth is, he was not all about himself. John simply was about telling people about Christ.
In fact, John went on to say: I am simply a voice, Just a common man, that has a mouth, that is going to use that mouth to serve Jesus Christ. John was about serving his savior, not serving himself.
One last thing that makes this obvious is Johns comment in verse 27. He explains who Christ is, by telling them that This "Christ" is one who I am not even worthy of taking his sandals off!
WOW! I mean, come on... God chose him to tell everyone that Christ was coming! If anyone was worthy of Taking of His shoes, then John was. But John had a clear understanding of his purpose and place in Jesus Christ. He was not even worthy to touch the shoe of the son of God.
How do you view God? I know if you are like me, it is pretty easy to start thinking that you are pretty good. (like Jonathan mentioned yesterday) But the problem with that is we lose sight of how great God is when we think about how great we are. The truth is: The Bible tells us that our Reighteousness is like filthy rags in Gods eyes.
We must have an honest view of ourselves so that we can have a GREAT view of who God is. Just like John did.
Sorry so long! See you tonight at 6:30 at the church!!
SUNDAY, May 18th, 2008
GUESS WHAT TODAY IS! OUR 99th BLOG. That means tomorrow is our 100th Blog. Here is what we are going to do: As you can see I put a web counter on the bottom of our blog site. Tomorrow I want us to add 100 visits to our site in one day. Tonight I will post the number that we begin on... (in other words- how many visitors before tomorrow begins) and we will call everyone we know and tell them to log onto www.doyourdevotions.com so that we can have 100 visitors in one day. Won't that be so cool!
Even cooler is that on our site you can see the map of the world and it will tell you where people are visiting our site from all around the world. Do you know anyone out of state or out of country that you can get to go on our site? They dont have to comment, we just want 100 visitors.
OK. To our next order of business. Tomorrow night we are going to go to McD's and I am buying all of the teenagers that did their devos more than 4 times this past week an Ice Cream Sundae. We will meet at the church at 6:30PM. Here is who qualifies: Jeff, Josh L., Jonathan, McCue, Tyler, Ryan, Brooke, Jill, Gabby, Amy, Rachel, and Jessica Massey. DONT FORGET! Church at 6:30PM
FINALLY... wow there is a lot to mention today!
We will continue with John tomorrow, but today I want us to do something fun and new again today. It is kind of fun to have a life verse. That is nothing weird it is basically a verse that really encourages you and speaks to you personally.
My life verse is Micah 7:8 "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me."
I think this verse is so great because it is basically telling our enemy (Satan), don't get too excited when I fall, because I am going to get right back up and continue to live for God. God is my light and he guides my through His will for my life.
Write out your favorite verse and what it means to you: Try to stay away from John 3:16 (unless it really is your life verse) and John 11:35 :)
If you dont have a life verse, then take some time today and look for one, I dont expect you to come up with it necessarily in one day, but give it a shot. At least pick some kind of verse that means sosmething to you and tell us about it!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!
KEEP UP THE GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT WORK!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
