November 17, 2009

::Sunday Rewind (11/15)::

::Sunday Rewind::

Sunday, November 15th

This was an incredible week for TCS.  Sunday mornings are always a ton of fun as we see students develop relationships, learn about Jesus Christ, have fun, and discuss the great truths of God.  It is a great blessing to have a group of students, leaders, and parents who are so committed to seeing the glory of God on display.  Well, without any more rambling…here’s the Sunday Rewind…

High School – Soul Pursuit: A Journey through Ephesians

Our High Schoolers have embarked on a challenging journey through Ephesians this semester and have come through with flying colors. We are starting our final two chapters next week and will finish up in December.  The last 2 weeks have focused on practical elements of how we live the Christian life in response to God’s grace and mercy.

This week: “The Reality of Righteousness”

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 3.17-32

Key Points

  • When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and washed clean of all of our sins past, present, and future.
  • And the amazing thing that on top of being forgiven; we are declared righteous.  When God declares us righteous, it means that we are brought into right relationship with God.  We are no longer sinners who are hopelessly seperated from God…instead we are God’s righteous, redeemed, and forgiven sons and daughters.
  • Righteousness should transform the way we live our lives.  Paul challenges his audience to consider the ways that they live and realize that believers in Jesus Christ are called to live differently.
  • Paul’s challenge is to put off your “old self” of sin and deceit and put on your “new self” of righteousness, and holiness.

Follow-Up

  • What stuck out to you?  What surprised you about righteousness?
  • What do you think about the fact that God not only forgives your sins but also declares you righteous?
  • Was righteousness a new idea for you to consider?  What do you think about the way Paul teaches his readers to live righteously?
  • In what areas of your life do you not live righteously?

Junior High – WAR: The Armor of God

This Week: “A Peace Fix”

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 6.10-15

Key Points

  • The Apostle Paul teaches that peace is incredible important to our spiritual lives.  Peace with God, peace with others, and peace with ourselves.
  • God’s peace is different than human peace.  When we grasp God’s peace we are able to trust in His perfect plan no matter the situation.
  • There are many things in our lives that distract us from peace…worry, desire for control, and busyness.  Christ calls us to make him central in our lives despite the distractions.
  • Our calling is to make Christ central in our lives and pursue His perfect peace.

Follow-Up

  • What surprised you?  What stuck out to you?
  • What challenges you about God’s call to trust in Him and have peace with him no matter how difficult the situation?
  • What are enemies of peace in your life?  What distracts you from having peace with God…with others…with yourself?
  • How can you focus on God’s peace this week?

V56 – The Life of Christ

This Week: “Is That Your Final Answer?”

Scripture Focus: Matthew 19.16-26

Key Points

  • Christ loved us while we were still sinners….Christ died on the cross, rose again, and conquered the power of sin….Christ’s death makes eternal life possible
  • Because of what Christ has done…we should make him central in our lives
  • We make many things more important…success, popularity, athletic achievement, etc….BUT NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT
  • Nothing in our lives is more valuable than following Christ

Follow-Up

  • What stuck out to you?  What surprised you?
  • Why do we so often focus on other things in our lives instead of Jesus Christ?
  • What is most important in your life?  What do you care about more than Jesus?
  • What will you do this week to strengthen your relationship with Jesus?

That’s all for now…let me know if you have any questions. – Brent

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November 13, 2009

::We Got Stale::

The Blog has gone STALE…

The middle of the semester has hit and the blog took the back seat.  This was not our intention…it just happened.

But going stale stinks…we don’t want to be stale…we want to be the fun, hip, and creative blog…

SO…we are not going to be stale.

Coming next week:

  • Sunday Rewind: We will have the weekly Sunday Rewind posted on Monday (…I promise on Monday).  We will just pretend that this past week never happened…
  • Leader Spotlight: Keri Halvorson…we will be profiling the world famous Keri Halvorson on Friday
  • Keri & George’s blogs will be back
  • And much more!

Staleness stinks…so, starting next week there will not be any more staleness!  There will only be AWESOMENESS!

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November 4, 2009

i am found in You.

O Lord,

where is my joy found?

is it in my flesh?

is it in my friends?

is it in my identity?

from where is it drawn?

what is the source?

Lord, i will not waste this joy

that is only from You

and through You!

Remove the things that rob me of my joy,

and consume me, Lord.

Consume my heart and flood it

with joy that comes only from You,

an overflow of Your Spirit,

taking over my heart,

flowing through my veins,

spreading to my fingertips

and bursting forth through the

energy and breath exiting my

lungs.

May i delight in Your love,

Your unending,

constantly pursuing,

stubbornly jealous

divine LOVE

that which I cannot fully comprehend.

I have tasted only a portion, my Lord,

but I’m asking for more.

Double my portion, Lord,

May I drink deeply from Your reserves,

always pouring out that with which You fill me,

always running back to Your open arms

waiting to embrace me and

lavish me with even more love and joy,

deeper than i’ve known before.

my God is sufficient in

every way.

I count everything that once mattered to me as

L O S S,

for my worth is found in You alone.

Strip me of all distractions,

things that drive me the opposite way.

May i run this race on the narrow path, Lord,

that which leads me straight to Your heart!

draw me closer,

take me deeper,

more intimacy with our spirits intermixing,

more of Yours and less of mine.

 

it’s for His glory,

Keri

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November 2, 2009

::Sunday Rewind (11/1)::

::Sunday Rewind::

Sunday, November 1st

High School – Soul Pursuit: An Adventure through Ephesians

This Week: “High Above & Very Near”

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 3.1-13

Key Points

  • God is infinite.  God is glorious.  God is majestic.  Christians are privelaged to worship the amazing God of the universe who is perfectly good, wise, just, sovereign, and loving.
  • While God is perfect and it far beyond our understanding and comprehension…He is incredibly personal.  God is amazingly personal and is engaged with Christians every day by constantly encouraging, loving, molding, challenging, protecting, and shaping us.
  • The Apostle Paul demonstrates through a very powerful example of how believers can be engaged with God on a daily basis…PRAYER.  Paul prays for the Ephesian believers to grasp and praise the glory of God, rejoice in God’s personal nature, trust in God completely, and celebrate all that Christ has done.
  • Our prayers should begin and end by focusing on the Glory of God, his amazing attributes, and celebrating his unbelievable personal connection with his people.  Often, we begin and end on ourselves and what we want…

Follow-Up

  • What surprised you?  What stuck out to you?
  • Have you ever thought about God’s majestic attributes?  Do you ever consider God’s amazing personal relationship with believers?  Why or why not?
  • Why do we so often forget about the amazing gift of prayer?
  • Is prayer a priority in your life right now?  Why or why not?
  • What can you do this week to make prayer a priority in your life?  {Pray before school, pray on the way to school, pray when the bell rings, turn off the xbox and spend time in prayer, just talk to God…think outside the box}

Junior High – WAR: The Armor of God

**Due to scheduling issues, V56 & Junior High did their lesson together on Sunday

**Our Junior High Life*Groups will be focusing on the WAR series for the rest of the semester.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.

This Week: “The Truth Holds Up”

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 6:10-15

Key Points

  • The spiritual battle between God and Satan is real is our lives.  We cannot fight it on our own; we must have God’s help and strength.  God has blessed us with the Armor of God that Paul describes in this passage.
  • Truth is crucial in our lives because it builds character, spiritual depth, and confidence.
  • We can begin living a life of honestly and truth by honestly accessing our lives, being deliberate in every decision, and developing daily accountability with someone we trust.

Follow-Up

  • What surprised you?  What stuck out to you about the belt of truth and the Armor of God?
  • Think about your life and ask yourself a tough question…in what areas of your life do you live dishonestly?
  • Accountability is incredibly important in the life of a believer; we need people who we can be honest with, and who can encourage and challenge us.  Who can you be brutally honest with and start being accountable with?
  • How can you live an honest life?  How can you put on the “belt of truth”?  What decisions do you need to make this week?

That’s all for now…talk to you soon.

Brent, Jim & the TCS Leadership Team

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October 29, 2009

The George Blog

So it’s almost Halloween time! As fun as dressing up and trick or treating are, my favorite thing about Halloween is…scaring people! Thats right! I love pulling little pranks on people such as the ones in this video.

However, I’m always afraid that someday, I might push my luck too far and end up like this guy.

So I just want to say “Have a Happy Halloween!” and I hope everyone is helping out at Trunk Or Treat on Saturday. Hopefully nobody gets pranked and scared out of their minds that night………..

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October 28, 2009

Relentless.

Relentless. That is one way to describe God’s love for us. He doesn’t give up. He doesn’t stop. He pursues. He wants ALL of us for Himself, not just parts here and there, but everything!

I’ve been meditating on this word, relentless, as it is our theme for the CIA (Calling In Action, the Christian dance group at TCU) this year. The dictionary definition includes something along the lines of “stubbornly pursuing.” Do you see that in your life? Do you see the Lord stubbornly pursuing you, or do you push Him away without another thought?

I discovered singer Samuel (Sam) Lane, a part of the Vineyard UK band. He sings a song called “Beautiful,” and I’m going to post the lyrics here:

I need You like the rain
Come to me and sing again
I long for Your love so much
I’ve wanted Your pure touch

You are beautiful, beautiful
You’re beautiful, beautiful
So beautiful, so beautiful

I need You to be here
Come to me, I can feel You near
I love You, You are my hope
You love me as Your own

Do y’all see the Lord this way in your life? Do you LONG for His love, for His pure touch in your life? How so? Do you love Him relentlessly? Do you pursue the Lord as much as He pursues you? Honestly, I don’t think it’s possible for us to pursue and love the Lord as much as He loves us. Do we accept His love, or constantly feel as if we aren’t good enough? The truth is – you aren’t. But His grace covers that. :] Accept His love, and let Him love you relentlessly this week.

To Him be the glory,

Keri

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October 27, 2009

::Sunday Rewind (10/25)::

::Sunday Rewind::

Sunday, October 25th

Ok, so I know I said that the Rewind would be posted on Monday this week…well, I was about 24 hrs off.  But I am going to try REALLY hard to get the Rewind up on time next week (fingers crossed). So, without further ado…LET’S REWIND!

High School – Soul Pursuit: A Journey through Ephesians

This Week: “The Story Unveiled…”

Scripture Focus: Ephesians 3.1-13

Key Points

  • God is always at work unveiling his story of forgiveness, grace, and redemption through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Because of Christ death; the penalty of sin has been conquered and salvation is possible.
  • Paul is teaching the Ephesians that salvation and relationship with God is available to the Gentiles (non-Jews)…the Gospel of Jesus Christ transcends social, economic, racial, and geographic boundaries.
  • God has chosen to unveil His perfect wisdom, knowledge, and soverighn will through the church.  Believers should therefore embrace our part in the story of God by sharing the Gospel, loving our neighbor, serving others, pursuing God, and praising Him!

Follow-Up

  • What stuck out to you?  What surprised you?
  • How does it feel to know that if you have placed your faith in Christ, you are a part of His story?  How does it feel to know that He has a plan for you?
  • How does knowing that you are a part of the story of God affect the way you live your life?…i.e. interacting with friends, family, and everyone else around you.
  • What can you do this week to share the Gospel and the love of God with those around you? {Think outside the Box}

Junior High – Amazing Parables of Jesus Christ

This Week: “The Farmers Almanac”

Scripture Focus: Luke 8.4-18

Key Points:

  • Jesus describes 4 different soils that illustrate the 4 responses to the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
  • Christ challenges us in this parable to examine our own hearts.  When we have embraced the Gospel message; we will exhibit fruit as Christ describes.
  • However, there can be things in our life that distracts us and keeps us from embracing the truth and freedom of the Gospel.

Follow-Up

  • What surprised you/stuck out to you about the parable of the sower and the seed?
  • Have you embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ?  Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ?  Have you asked Christ to lead you into a deeper relationship with Him?
  • There are lots of distractions in our lives that can keep us from pursuing Christ passionately in our lives…what distractions exist in your life?  Is it popularity, athletic excellence, the need for a college scholarship, x-box, television?
  • What can you do this week to work to cultivate your “soil”?

V56 – The Life of Christ

This Week: “P2: Prayer Points”

Scripture Focus: Matthew 6.9-13 & Luke 11.1-4

Key Points

  • We often don’t know where to start when we pray or just don’t know how to do it…Christ gives us an INCREDIBLE example of how to pray in these passages!
  • Jesus was teaching his disciples how to play…and he wants to teach all of us how to do it as well.
  • The way Jesus prayed is very different than the way we usually so it…we usually start with ourselves…Jesus started by giving thanks and praise to God…maybe we should do the same…

Follow-Up

  • What stuck out to you?  What surprised you?
  • When you pray, how often to you just ask God for things?  Why do you think we usually don’t thank and praise God like Jesus did in His prayer?
  • What are you doing to help others know about God in heaven?

That’s all for now!  Sorry for being a day late…see you soon.

Brent

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October 23, 2009

::Leader Spotlight::

Leader Spotlight

…the whose who of TCS…

George Cagle

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Job: I am currently a full-time student at Texas Christian University. However, I will be graduating in May…not quite sure how to feel about that.

Role @ TCS: I am a leader in V56 every Sunday and I am a leader for Junior High on Wednesdays.

What did you want to be when you grow up: As a kid, I wanted to become a famous movie director. I’m not quite as ambitious now, though I would like to work with film and video, whether that be feature films, commericals, or whatever.

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Favorite books: The B-I-B-L-E is the book for me! I try to read it everyday. Other books I’ve enjoyed are “Lord of the Flies,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “This Present Darkness,” and other thrillers.

Favorite Movie: Ah man. I love so many movies! My all-time favorites are “Vertigo,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Braveheart,” “Toy Story,” “King Kong,” “Anchorman” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Past-times: A friend and I have recently been making a film of our own. It’s a slasher-spoof called “Dormitory of Doom.”

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Why do you serve in TCS: I’ve grown up in church and have just been poured in to for so long. I want to serve God and start pouring in to others. God has blessed me with the joy, love, and patience (especially patience!) for working with teens and pre-teens and it has just been a blast! The Lord is doing some amazing things in TCS and I’m so proud to be a part of it.

Favorite thing about TCS: Other that kicking Levonte’s tail in foosball, it’s having those special group conversations where the students open up and share intimate things about themselves. Those are the times where the students and myself grow spiritually.

Soap-box: I am a HUGE fan of classic rock! I espcially love Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, ZZ Top, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Stevie Ray Vaughan has a special place in my heart because he’s from my hometown of Austin, TX. I sincerely believe he’s the greatest guitarist of all time. I’m pretty sure that if I just had a fraction of his talent, I’d be set for life. Fo any of y’all who don’t know who Stevie Ray Vaughan is, here is a sample of his greatness.

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October 22, 2009

The George Blog

Hey everybody! Thought I’d start off by showing the last of the funny Jesus videos. Remeber this is a humorous look at how the world views Jesus and Christians in general.

This is definitely the best video because it’s totally hilarious and it looks at a serious subject. How often have you heard the stereotype that Christians are judgemental and/or hypocritical?

However, Jesus is a much more loving, merciful person than the “Jesus” in the video. John 3:17 says “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

It’s true that we’re all sinful but there is hope, one hope, Jesus. He died on the cross and rose again and if you choose what he did to be your only way to heaven and place your faith in Christ as your Lord and Savior, YOU WILL BE SAVED!!!

If you have any quesetions regarding that, PLEASE ask me or one of the other leaders on Sunday. We’ll be more than happy to talk to you.

As for Christians being judgemental, it is true that many Christians do look down on people who don’t know Christ, similar to what the Pharisees did, and that is a shame. It is important that each of us show Christ’s love to others just as He did. Love on people who don’t follow Christ and in turn they may choose Jesus as well.

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October 21, 2009

Yeast in the dough

Grace and peace to you, TCS! (and parents, and whoever else has jumped on board this blog!) :] I’ve been reading the book Total Church, and wowwie it is good and convicting. Let me share a few things that have convicted my heart lately…

First of all… on reading the Word. So often I want to FEEL something when I dive into Scripture. How many of us pray for the Lord to stir us as we read? That’s not a bad prayer, but it’s important to know that we should not expect an adrenaline rush every time we study God’s Word! So often I get frustrated when I don’t feel anything as I read the Bible. I feel numb to it, and I feel unaffected. But know that the Lord is still speaking to you through those “dry” times in His Word, because His Word is living and active! In Hebrews it says that 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 (Heb. 4:12). Quoted from Total Church – “It is as if the word of God does laser surgery on our souls. It exposes our thinking and motives. It is the only mirror in which we truly see ourselves, for it is the mirror that reflects our hearts.” SO true. And sometimes we don’t feel the “surgery” of Scripture until later.  I love this quote from Total Church, and want to start praying this way: “When we study God’s word we should pray that the Spirit of God will not only inform our heads but also inspire our hearts.” Amen!! Let’s not pray for some sort of emotional, spiritual high every time we dive in to the Word, but instead that the Word will inspire our hearts and inform our minds. May we grow in wisdom and faith through getting into the Word.

Food for thought #2:

Often we are Christians only on Sundays. Am I right? Monday you go back to your weekly routine. You had your day of rest.. you went to church.. learned a new lesson from the Bible. Awesome. Now back to the daily grind. Let’s stop being Christians only on Sundays, and passionately run after Christ each day of the week! There is no such thing as a “part-time Christian.” If you want to be part-time, that’s not going to cut it. Quoted from Total Church – “But in fact during the week we are dispersed throughout the world. We are already infiltrating the kingdom of Satan. Day by day the people in our churches are rubbing shoulders with unbelievers in their workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and clubs. We are yeast in the dough (Matthew 13:33).” All of us – moms, dads, students, teachers, whoever we may be, are infiltrating the world through going to school and work every day. By dispersing out into our city throughout the week, we as believers are yeast in a world of dough. What a cool analogy! I’ve heard it before in church, but it really clicked for me this time. Let’s permeate this city – this dough – with our “yeast,” or our hearts for Christ! May the people around us see it and be affected.

Students – spread yourselves (yeast) throughout your school (the dough) – and may people around you be affected because they know Christ dwells within you.

Parents/leaders/other adults – spread yourselves (yeast) throughout your workplace (the dough), and may those people be affected because they know Christ dwells within you. May they see Him through your actions, your speech, and by your presence.

Join me in being the yeast in the dough of Fort Worth. May we knead ourselves throughout the city, reaching every person on every corner so that this city cannot DENY that the Lord is here.

Praying for you all. :]

It’s all for His glory,

Keri

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