youth camp preparation 2019

“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must never go out” (Leviticus 6:13)

What is an altar call? Why do we do them?

I think in order to answer that question we need to look at how and why altars were used in the bible. As we look through the old testament we see that altars were used for sacrifice and dedication. The book of Leviticus gives detailed instructions about how, when, and what to sacrifice on the altar. Fortunately, because Jesus died on the cross for our sins we no longer are required to offer burnt sacrifices. As a result, though I think we often forget the weight and significance of sacrifice. We also forget that God still often requires sacrifices, they are just less tangible and often harder to walk out than killing an animal. An important thing to remember is that the offerings made by the Israelites were a deeply personal thing. In Leviticus 1:1-5 we see as part of the instructions for the sacrifice the bearer of the sacrifice was to lay his hand on of the animal as the priest dispatched it so they understood the weight of their sins and the cost to make them right with God. For the Israelites, these sacrifices were performed in the temple (or in the tabernacle when they were wandering through the desert) and as such was performed as a part of their worship to God. God, in His kindness and mercy, accepted their sacrifice that was offered in faith, that it would be a sufficient sacrifice. The other instances we see in the Bible where altars are erected are times of dedication. We see in Genesis 35:7 Jacob built an altar to dedicate the place because he encountered God there. In Exodus 17:15-16 we see Moses build an altar to dedicate the place where God won a battle against the Amalekites. These altars of dedication were built to recognize encounters with God. They marked the location and were named to signify what God had done in that place. They served as reminders to God's people of His power and amazing feats.

So how do we translate that into today’s idea of an altar call? An altar is a place of a personal encounter with God. In the Old Testament altars were tied to a location and you had to go to that place, but today in the new covenant God has made with us we can have an altar experience anywhere. The front of the church, kneeling in your pew, kneeling at the foot of your bed, driving your car, mowing the lawn, sitting at your desk at school or work, God will meet you where you are. An altar is a place where we lay down our own will in favor of doing the will of God. We sacrifice ourselves (Roman’s 12:1-2), our wants and desires and we seek His wants and desires. We often think of an altar call as a call to salvation where we dedicate our lives to God, and while it is that, it is also a place to come and seek God’s will for our lives and to rededicate ourselves when we have gone astray. At the altar, God provides grace and strength to make decisions and to walk them out. One of the things I like about old testament Altars of dedication is they could return to that place when they needed a reminder of how good God is. We generally do not have those types of monuments in our lives, but we can still bring those events to our memory when we need reminders of God's power and greatness. One suggestion I have for this week is to keep a journal, write down your thoughts and feelings and the things you feel like God is doing and saying to you so you have something to go back and remind yourself of what God is doing in your life.

When we go to camp this week there are going to be many opportunities to respond to altar calls. Camp is going to be a lot of fun and we are going to build some great relationships with each other, but the fundamental purpose of camp is to have personal encounters with God (these things are not mutually exclusive by the way). With this in mind, I want to encourage all of you to come expecting to encounter God.

Let's look at Luke 8:40-56,

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”
Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”
They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

In this passage, we see two people, Jairus and the woman who would not stop bleeding, who came into the presence of Jesus with a need and an expectation that their needs would be met. The Bible is full of passages about praying and coming to God with an expectation that He will answer us. (one of these examples is Luke 18:1) This week is all about encountering God so it is time to prepare our hearts and expect God to do something in our lives. We all have needs and this is the time to bring those to God, and if we do not know what we need then our prayer should be for God to show us our need.

So we go to camp, we encounter God, and we come home excited, on fire, and passionate for the things of God. Then what? If we follow the normal pattern that high lasts for 3 or 4 days sometimes a week or two but then we go right back to where we were or worse we sometimes swing back the other way and turn further away from God then we were when we left for camp. It's hard to keep up the prayer life and regular reading of God's Word.  My dad described it to me like this once, "We are vessels created to carry the presence of God, but I am broken and weak and when He fills me up I just leak it all out".  How do we do it? How do we keep from losing the passion and the presence of God in our lives? Let's turn to the instructions that God left for us to find these answers.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another

Romans 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

1 Corinthians 14:26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…

These passages give us the keys to maintaining the presence of God in our lives and keeping our focus on Him.  Talk with each other about the things of God.  Encourage each other in Christ. Share with one another the things God did in your life when you were at the altar. Then revisit those altars and remind your friends what God did in their lives when they were there.  In my dad's description earlier he told me the solution he found is "when I leak if rather than letting it just pour out of me onto the ground if I pour into others, God is faithful to keep constantly refilling me"

How then should we pray?

The Bible talks a lot about prayer. Prayer is how we communicate with God. In 1
Thessalonians 5:17 Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing".  Prayer is one of those critical elements to having a relationship with God. But I, like many others who consider themselves Christians, am severely lacking in my prayer life. There are a lot of people who have formulas for the "best way to pray to get God to do what you want Him to do" but most of those come and go because they tend not to work. How then should we pray?

Jesus answers exactly that question in Matthew 6:5-15 

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.’

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

So let's break this down and see what Jesus is trying to tell us about prayer.  Prayer is between you and God, it is not a show for anyone else.  So when we are praying even when we are praying aloud in front of others we need to make sure we are not trying to make a show of it.  God knows you better than anyone, he knows your heart, keep your prayers simple and real  there is no need to try to be eloquent or verbose, he understands you just as you are.  So in short prayer is not intended to be a big production, it is just simply you talking to God.

Another thing I pull out of this which is more subtle and maybe a bit of a stretch, but it is significant to me.  We are easily distracted and lose focus, so when we pray it is important to try to remove any distractions that will keep us on focusing on God.  Find somewhere quiet and free of distractions.  Leave your phone in the other room or turn it off.  Try hard to keep your focus on God.

Now we come to the part where Jesus gives us words to a prayer.  I do not think he intended us to recite the Lord's prayer every time we pray, but instead I think he gave it to us a a guideline or template to follow.  

"Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name".  Recognize who we are praying to!  We are talking with God, The creator of everything, the author of all things, I AM, the one who was, and is and forever more shall be, the all in all!  This is about the posture with which we approach God. He knows who He is so our need to recognize Him and His greatness is for us, we need to remember to approach him with humbleness and recognition of His power and greatness.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"  So to me this part is a recognition of his greatness and how his will is so much greater than ours.  It is still about our posture, we come to God with needs and desires but we need to recognize that His will is greater than our perceived needs and wants.  God's will is perfect and His word promises that ultimately His plan and will for our lives is for our benefit.

"Give us this day our daily bread" Jesus is acknowledging that we have perceived needs and we can come to him and bring these needs once we have recognized that His will is greater than ours.  Also here He is telling us to recognize that God is our source and all good things come from the Father.

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors", This part is hard, Jesus is making sure we remember to check our hearts.  God expects us to make sure we have right relationships with others and to show his love to them.  Remember in Matthew 22:27-40 Jesus puts the command to love one another as inseparable from His command to love God.  We cannot approach the throne of God with sin towards a brother/sister in our hearts.

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one".  I think this one is kind of self-explanatory, God we recognize you have all power and can keep us from the plans of the devil, Give us the strength to withstand him.

So to recap, find a way to remove as much distraction as you can so that you can focus on God.  Acknowledge who God is and that His plan and will is greater than ours.  Check your heart and make sure you do not have things to repent of before bringing your requests before the Lord.  Ask Him for the things you need while keeping in mind that His plan may not be the same as ours.

Now that we see how Jesus tells us how to pray, it is important to remember that prayer is a two-sided conversation.  God answers prayer!  As we look throughout the Bible we see examples of God answering prayer.  Sometimes God speaks, sometimes he answers with actions like when Elijah prayed and God withheld the rain for 3 and a half years.  Sometimes God sends messengers with His word and sometimes he changes our heart.  I could spend hours recounting all the accounts of God answering prayer in the bible or even in my own life, but I feel like God wants to talk more about how we approach Him in prayer.

James 5:16b says "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective".  I can't speak for anyone else but when I pray it does not feel powerful or effective.  Christ died for my sin and I have accepted the gift of salvation he has given and so by all accounts I am accredited as a righteous person, so what is wrong with my prayers.  If we look at the rest of the passage in James we find the answers to that question. James 5:13-18 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
Looking at the context here we see that faith is the key!  When we pray we need to focus on who God is and know that this God, who created everything by just speaking, loves for us.  We must know and believe that He WILL answer our prayers no mater how great or small our requests may be.  Keeping this in mind I looked back at the life of Daniel, who in my mind is one of the great prayer warriors of the Bible.  And as I look at his faithfulness and diligence in prayer it quickly becomes evident that had an unparalleled faith.
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus was answering his disciples who were asking why they could not cast out a demon, He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
I am afraid that I would be like the disciples, I am praying that God will teach me to have faith so that He can use me more and that when I pray that my prayers are powerful and effective!
So lets look back again and answer the question "How then should we pray?"  Keep your focus on God, really look at Him, acknowledge who God is.  If we really get our focus on God our picture of Him will keep growing every time we look.  Make sure we are right with God, and with others,  Check your heart.  Recognize that God's will is greater than your will.  And know that when you earnestly seek Him, He will answer you!

The Christmas story

The story of the birth of Jesus, often thought of as the Christmas story is only covered in 2 of the 4 gospels.  Some scholars look at these accounts and the differences between them and try to claim that this is proof that the story of Jesus is just a bunch of stories made up by men and are not really the truth.  In this lesson, we will look at these accounts and talk about how they are different, how they are the same and try to get a better understanding of what we think of as the Christmas story.

Luke1:1 - 2:20

Chapter 1

1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Verses 5 through 25 are the account of Elizabeth becoming pregnant with John the Baptist.

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative (the king James version says cousin) is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."
38 "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
46 And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me —
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

When Mary came to Elizabeth she was 6 months pregnant so it would appear she stayed until John was born.  The rest of chapter 1 is concerned with the birth of John the Baptist.

Chapter 2

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

What was the point of the shepherds?  What did they really do? There is an instering symbology with the shepherds, it is a theme that keeps repeating throughout the bible.  Much of Jesus’ teaching is about shepherds and sheep. Jesus is thought of as the Good Shepherd. David, one of the great kings in the lineage of Jesus was a shepherd before he became king.  The angels showed up to them and told them of Jesus’ birth so they went to see him. They told everyone that God had spoken to them telling them of Jesus and they worshiped him. “All who heard were amazed”, this is one of the ways that the Truth of Jesus was spread.  Mary, a young woman in a tenuous social position, who was full of emotional strain and hormones from having just given birth, was likely in a fragile state wondering if she was really in the center of the will of God heard God speaking through these common people and she “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart”.  I think this was one of the ways God comforted Mary.

Key points in the account according to Luke. The angle Gabrial spoke to Mary telling her of Gods plan.  There was a census and Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Because of the census there was no room for them to stay in any inns so they stayed in a stable and baby Jesus was laid in a manger.  Shephards in the area were told of the birth of Jesus by angles and came to worship him.

Matthew 1:1 - 2:23

Chapter 1

Verses 1 to 18 are the records of Geneology beginning Abraham working through Jesus.  Remembering from the last few weeks of lessons we talked about this genealogy and how Rehab was in this like along with people like Boaz and Kind David. To Matthew, this is an important part of the story in order to establish how God has been working towards His plan from the beginning.

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" —which means, "God with us."
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Chapter 2

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Magi, also known as Wise Men, also known as Kings;  While I have not done an in-depth study on them I can tell you that they were from the Orient region (thus the song “we three kings of orient are).  They were likely rulers and or leaders of some type but were definitely scholars who spent time studying all manner of wisdom including astrology and the scriptures. Prophecies from the old testament are likely the source of their knowledge of Jesus and the star that led them there.

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
6 "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

It would appear that from what they told Harod that they did not arrive to worship Jesus until well after his birth. Thus the decree from Harrod to kill all boys below the age of 2.  And as such, it talks about visiting Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in their house rather than the stable and manger.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 "A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more."
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

In the account according to Matthew.  The Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him of God’s plan.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The wise men (Magi) came to Worship Jesus and give him gifts.  Harod sought to kill Jesus and God spoke to both Joseph and the wise men in dreams to run away from Harod.

Keeping in mind that these accounts were written by 2 very different men and were written to very different audiences, I have very little issue with the differences in the story.  Luke tends to have a narrow focus on the people involved, specifically the women, immediate events and circumstances that affected them. Knowing that Luke was a doctor it is not surprising he was focused on the people and things directly around them.  Matthew was a former tax collector and as such his focus was much more political. Matthew was looking at the larger picture of events happening in the political scene. One interesting difference is that in Luke the angel spoke to Mary, but in Matthew, the angel spoke to Joseph and did so through a dream.  This may seem like an incongruity, but there is nothing that says God did not send an angel to both Mary and Joseph.

Let's see how the story looks when we combine the two stories.  The angel Gabrial appeared to Mary, who was a virgin and engaged to be married, and told her that she was pregnant and the child growing inside her was the Son of God.  Mary then went to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant at the time, but 6 months further along. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months until Elizabeth gave birth.  Upon returning home Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant. Joseph was in a difficult position because he did not want to ruin Mary’s reputation so he decided to quietly end the engagement.  However, when he made that decision an angel of the Lord spoke to him in a dream and told him that the child growing within Mary was His son and would be the savior of the world, and he needed to go ahead an marry her.  Joseph was a man of God and did as he had been instructed. There was a census being taken so Joseph was required to take his family from their hometown of Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to be counted. In Bethlehem, there were no rooms left to stay in in the inns, so they were required to sleep in stables where the animals normally were kept.  While they were there Mary gave birth to Jesus. An angel appeared to a group of shepherds near where Mary and Joseph were staying in Bethlehem and told them of Jesus’ birth and they came to worship him and told everyone they encountered about what the angel had told them. After the census, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus returned home to Nazareth. Some time later, (possibly as much as 2 years) three scholars from the east came to worship Jesus having interpreted the prophecies in the Bible and discovering the star foretold in these prophecies that led them to where Mary, Joseph, and Jesus lived.  These Scholars brought gifts to Jesus of Gold, Frankincense, and Mhyr. The ruler of the region where they lived had heard about Jesus birth from the scholars and fearing a political rival sought to kill Jesus. An angel again appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him and told him to flee to another nation. Once that ruler had died God sent the angel again to bring Jesus and his family back to Nazareth. All of these things took place just as was foretold in prophecies in the Bible.

Why the Sherpa's corner

This blog is an outpouring of the things God is doing in my life during this season.  I believe that God has called me to serve the youth in our church.  I have been running from God's call to leadership since I was a teenager.  Part of my running comes from an understanding of the responsibility associated with leadership and authority and knowing my own flaws I do not want to be responsible for the spiritual lives of others.  The other part of my running comes from knowing that I am not gifted to be a teacher and, much like Moses, I don't talk so good.  From the moment of submitting to the call of God to serve our youth, He has been speaking to me telling me the things He wants to say to them.

Even with God giving me the things to say, I still have a problem using terms like leader or teacher when thinking of myself.  God has been faithful to speak and teach through me, but I recognize that it is all God and not me.  A friend of mine keeps trying to tell me that that I am a leader and a teacher and keeps getting frustrated when I refuse those titles. So this friend has started calling me the Sherpa.  She got the term from a tv show where a young man said he wants to be a Sherpa.  He explained that a Sherpa is a mountain guide, but he does not want to be just your ordinary mountain guide, instead, he wants to be the one who helps people find their way to places they never thought they could reach.  With that description, the title Sherpa is one I can embrace. 

I do not believe that my giftings are in teaching or leading.  I am however an Encourager and one of the gifts God has given me is the ability to see others giftings and know how to pull them out of them.  God has given me a love for young people of our church and I want to help them reach a closer relationship with God and find His calling for their lives.

This blog will be the lessons that God has given to me to share with the youth.  It is most likely that I will post them after I have taught them to the youth. I want them to be available so parents can see what God is saying to their kids through me.  Also it can serve as a good resource for the youth who missed a particular lesson and want to learn what God is trying to say to them through me or if they would like to just go back and remind themselves of the things God has said.

Read the Bible

Why should we read the Bible?
The Bible is the word of God!  Yes, the Bible may have been written by men, but it is all God’s word and He gave it to the authors in order that we may all hear and know His instruction to us. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.

The bible is the best example we have of what God’s voice sounds like.  I have spent enough time with my dad that I can pick his voice out of a crowd, but I also know my dad and his heart.  I know the type of things my dad is going to say and the things he would not say, I understand his character.  If I hear my dad’s voice and it says “you should go play in the street”, I will know that is not my dad but someone who is seeking to cause me harm.  In the same way, reading the Word of God teaches us to know and understand the ways of God and not only what his voice sounds like but what his character sounds like.  This keeps us from being led astray by the other voices in the world that would mean to cause us harm.

The bible is full of wisdom and instruction on how we are to live out lives.  Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.  Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  There are not any issues you will encounter in your life that the Bible does not have something to say about.  With the technology we have today it would be easy to think things like “the Bible does not talk about Facebook, or all the other things computers and the internet and modern technology has made available to us that did not exist 2000 years ago”, but if you seek God and read His word you will find all kinds of wisdom about how you should present yourself and the things you should and shouldn't be investing your thoughts into.  These principles will translate into how you should conduct yourself on the internet.  Times may change but the foundational things that the bible addresses about Godly character do not.

Reading the Bible gives us tools to battle against the attacks of the devil.  The more we read and become familiar with His Word, the easier it is to combat the things that bombard us every day and try to lead us away from God’s plan for our lives.  This is why programs like Awana focus so much on memorizing verses navigating the Bible. The more Scripture we have committed to memory the more tools God has to bring to our mind to help keep us on the path He has laid out for us.  Jesus gives us a perfect example of this in Matthew 4:1-11
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Deut. 8:3)
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
"'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" (Deut. 6:16)
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" (Deut 6:13)
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
The devil attacked Jesus and even twisted scripture to try to cause Jesus to go against God’s plan for His life, but God’s word was such a part of him that he used It to fight against the temptations brought before him.  Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Okay, so I think we have established that reading the Bible is an important part of having a close relationship with God and it will help to keep us on the path God has laid out for our lives.  But how do I read the bible, I mean where do I start, and in the past when I have read it is boring and hard to read and understand.  The Bible is a HUGE book, and it is boring and full of “Thee” and “Thow” and names even my teachers cannot pronounce.  How am “I” supposed to understand it?

Remember it is about a relationship with God, and like any relationship, it will grow and change over time.  And sometimes relationships are sometimes hard.  I have a much different relationship with my dad than I did when I was six.  I understand much more about him and our relationship than I did even ten years ago.  But it has taken time and work.

Start somewhere, quit putting it off and just do it.  Pick a place and go.  There is no wrong place to start reading the bible.  Start in Genisis, or Start in Matthew, or start in Psalms or Proverbs, it is not important where you start, just start!  Mind you there are harder places than others to start, Revelations or Leviticus are tough places to start, but if you keep reading you can begin anywhere.  If you search there are lots of guides to what to read, how to read the bible in a year, plans for reading through a particular book of the Bible in a month ect.  Find a plan or just start somewhere random, I do not care, JUST DO IT!  Sometimes it is going to be hard, sometimes it is not going to make sense, sometimes you are going to fall asleep while reading.  But keep pushing forward, make it a habit.  Read it out loud, or read it with others like your family.  Start with small bites, if all you can do for a day is a single verse, do a single verse.  Don’t make excuses, make it a priority, remember why we are reading His word and make time for Him.  Pray!  Ask God to guide you through his word and to help you understand it.  One of the things that keeps being repeated throughout the scripture is the principle that if you genuinely seek God, He will make Himself known to you.  Ask God to help you and then take the action and read!

Some practical things to consider.  We as human beings are creatures of routine.  We generally eat meals on a schedule in order to keep our bodies supplied with the things we need to keep them alive and functioning properly.  We should be doing the same thing to feed our spirit and keep it alive and functioning well.  Find a time and make reading the Bible and praying part of your daily routine.  Once you really get a handle on it you will find yourself becoming spiritual hungry just as you get physically hungry when it is time to feed your body again.  You are probably going to miss your time reading every now and again especially when you first get started; do not beat yourself up about it, just get back into the word.  Feeling upset/defeated about missing your time in His word will only serve to cause depression and feed the cycle of missing your reading time and feeling worse.  Its one of the tools the devil uses to separate you from God.  Just remember why you are reading and continue to make your relationship with God a priority.

Find a translation that is easy to read for you and makes sense!  The King James version of the Bible is great, but I do not understand it most of the time and I spend more time trying to understand what the words mean and lose what God is trying to say.  There are tons of versions of the Bible out there and, with the internet, there is lots of information about the different translations so you can figure out which one is best for you.  Some translations seek to translate as closely as possible word for word from the original texts while others try to translate more along a thought for thought from the original texts.  Another way people have translated the bible is what we call paraphrasing, or taking what the bible says and saying it more in a way that an individual or group would say things, I do this sometimes when I teach to try to help get a particular point across.  One of the most well known paraphrased versions is The Message. It is important to understand how your version of the Bible was translated and when you get to where you are starting to really study and understand what God is saying it is often good to look at several different translations.  When I read I tend to use both the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the New International Version (NIV).

As you develop your relationship with God through reading His word you will get deeper into the Bible.  You are going to find things that you just really do not understand or just makes you think and wonder.  Talk to others about what God is telling you through his word and ask what it means to them.  There are also a lot of other books and commentaries that have been written about things in the bible and can help you learn to understand what the Bible means and help you see things from different perspectives.

David Winston from Living Word Christian Center in Chicago has some really good things to say to youth about reading the Bible in this 10-minute video

Here are some verses that show what the Bible has to say about reading the Bible, these are the verses we used in the youth group for Bible Drills.

2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Joshua 1:8 
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Matthew 4:4 
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Romans 15:4
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
1 Timothy 4:13
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.
John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 15:7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
Psalm 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night.
Isaiah 40:8 
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.
Matthew 22:29
Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
Deuteronomy 31:11 
when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.
Nehemiah 8:8
They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.

The Heart of Service

There is a principle that they teach in psychological development classes.  As an infant, we live in a very self-centered world.  Our only concerns are what I need and what makes me happy, the relational contact as an infant are me and mom.  As we grow from being an infant to the toddler years our circle of relational contact grows to include our family unit, Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters and to a lesser degree grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins depending on the level of contact.  We start to realize that there are things we do that make others in our family happy and this often ends in happy feelings and reactions for us. We begin to learn to love our family even if it is still an immature form of love.  As we grow into school years our circle of relationship begins to expand even further, beginning with a few friends in class and expanding to our entire class, then our grade, then our school.  We begin to find our identity in our relational groups, I am a (insert your last name here), I am a Wyman Elementary student, I am a Rolla bulldog, ect.  These relational connections continue to grow and shift the older and more mature we get, as an adult, they are more complicated and diverse.  I am an employee at XYZ Company, I am a Caucasian Male, I am a resident of Missouri, I am a University of Rolla Miner Alum, I am an American, ect…

This Developmental concept is mirrored in our spiritual lives.  When we first give our lives to God it is all about me, my needs and how God makes me feel, and it is all about me and God.  Our circle of relational contact quickly grows to include those Christians in our immediate vicinity, our natural family if they are Christians, then to small groups within our church, and ultimately our church as a whole.  All too often individuals spiritual growth stalls at this point and we never learn to show love to those outside our small church circle.  The Bible warns against this and cautions of the dangers associated with it.

Thinking on these things, I am reminded of the scripture 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

Keeping in mind what our pastor has taught us about context let's take a closer look at this verse and what it means within the scripture surrounding it.  Here we see 1 Corinthians chapter 13

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

This seems to be emphasizing the importance of the spiritual gift of “Love”.  I love the idea of prophecy, knowledge imparted directly from God and not gained by natural ways of learning, but from what His Word says it has no value if we do not learn to love.  This next part is I am sure we have all heard.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

This is the best definition of Godly love that you will ever find anywhere, Love always puts others before myself, and as one of the gifts of the Spirit, we can all love this way if we let God's spirit live within us.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 

Prophecies and tongues are not gifts of the Spirit that are thought on much in the Baptist church, that may be because this passage says they will pass away and many believe that they are no longer something that God uses in our lives.  Regardless of that, it is clear that this passage emphasizes that they are far less important than Love.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

It is interesting that this passage falls in the middle of talking about spiritual gifts and more specifically the importance of Love.

12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

So, to me, what is going on here is God is trying to tell us that the big part of spiritual maturity is wrapped up in learning to love others with the love that we can only get by letting the Spirit of God dwell in us and to see others the way God sees them and loves them, with the Spiritual Gift of Love.

Thinking of God and Love I am reminded of another scripture, Matthew 22:36-40.  In this passage, Jesus is talking with the Pharisees. If memory serves the Pharisees are quizzing Jesus trying to find flaws in his teaching and trip him up.  They asked Jesus,

36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 

This is a really good picture of spiritual infancy like I was talking about earlier, this Me and God relationship, it is a key part of our Christian walk.  But Jesus did not stop there,

39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets (AKA the Bible, AKA the Word of GOD) hang on these two commandments."

It is not an accident that Jesus answered them this way, they asked for the 1 greatest commandment, not the 2 greatest commandments, but the two are inseparable for a mature spiritual life with God  we cannot stop at just loving God and we cannot truly love God if we are unwilling or unable to love those whom He loves!
From here God led me to Hebrews 6, I want to focus on verse 10, but again for context let's look at verses 1-12

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

It is interesting that this passage begins by talking about spiritual maturity and the need to grow to more advanced teaching about Christ.

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

This is one of the places where God’s Word warns of the dangers of our spiritual growth stalling and warns of the consequences of being content with where we are so we quit trying to grow and expand the circle of relational contact as I mentioned at the beginning of this lesson. 

9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case — things that accompany salvation.10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

In case you missed it let me rephrase this part.  We talked about the consequences of what happens when we stop growing spiritually and become content with a basic immature spiritual life. I am not worried, though, that you all will fall into that.  God sees the work you are doing and how you are showing His love by serving others. We want to encourage you to keep up the good work and be assured that in the end, the reward is great.

So what is the lesson here?  What is God trying to say?  God is calling us to grow closer to him and grow stronger in our faith.  How we do this is by learning to love with God’s Love and seeing those who are maybe outside our current circle of relationship and reach out to them and show God’s Love to them through service.  We do that by looking for people's needs and trying to find a way to meet those needs.  Our church has lots of opportunities to do this through the shoe closet, the Love Rolla ministry, the food pantry, Operation Christmas Child, etc…  I want to encourage all of you to search your hearts and find God’s Love for others and out of that find a place to serve other people.  In doing so you will find you will grow and ultimately have a closer relationship with God