So, it’s been a while since I posted the lesson series we’re doing, but this is an important one, because it is essential that we develop our prayer life. Doesn’t it seem like there should be more to prayer than just our typical “Help me, bless me, protect me, give to me” prayers? Prayer has to be more than just talking to God—because He knows our thoughts, right? It has to be more than just us making our requests known to God—because doesn’t He already know everything that’s going on in our lives? It’s like there’s some secret, some mystery we hope to unlock so we can “get through” to God. If we could just say the right words, maybe we can break the code and get a “yes” to all our requests. But what if prayer was something much bigger than that? What if prayer went beyond us getting what we wanted, and became about how to grow closer to God’s heart instead? What if prayer wasn’t just about changing our present situation, what if it was about changing us?

See you at youth group! Wednesday nights from 7-8 (come at 6:30 to hangout) and Sunday nights from 6-7.

Ask anyone who’s ever run into a sliding glass door that was closed, or went for the same baseball as a teammate, or experienced a fender bender at a stoplight—a collision changes things. Whether it’s a bump on the head or a cracked bumper, something is not the same as it was before. The same thing happens when we collide with God or His truth or even other people. We’re changed. But unless we put ourselves in a position to collide, everything will stay the same. So are you ready to change, are you ready to collide?

Join us on Wednesday nights at 7:00 p.m. (come at 6:30 if you want to hang out a little longer) for this series and on Sunday nights at 6:00 p.m.  See you there!

After finishing up a series on the death and resurrection of Jesus in April, we just began a new series for May that will actually stretch all the way into June. It is called, “Ten,” and it is about the ten commandments (see Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5).

About thirty-five hundred years ago Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with a short list of rules that has shaped the values of people and nations for centuries. We know them as the Ten Commandments, but do we really know them? Many people believe that the rules are a condition for a relationship with God, things we must do to get in His good graces. But just the opposite is true. The relationship came before the rules. And the commandments were meant to not only reveal God’s heart, but to keep His people free.

See you at youth group!

-Alex

Every one of us is attached to something—some person, thing or experience. The trouble with our attachments is that sometimes they let us down. For the next three weeks we will be exploring the attachments that become part of our identity, and uncovering the truth about our identity in Christ.

There’s something pretty amazing about being in love, isn’t there?

The butterflies in your stomach. The dreamy gazes. No wonder so many of us are so in love with being in love.

But if you look around—in the media, at school, in life—we’ve taken what God created and twisted it, morphed it and configured it into something it was never meant to be—an obsession. When romantic relationships become an obsession, balance goes out the window.

We miss out on opportunities and experiences we might otherwise have had. And sometimes we even forget who we are. There’s got to be healthier way to do this. There’s got to be another way than being so lovesick.

We’ve all made resolutions and set goals, but too often we fall short of what we expected to accomplish. Unfortunately it’s often the same when we try to become the Christian we really believe God has called us to be. We fall short of the goal and become increasingly discouraged. In this series, we will learn that following Christ is more about the small steps we make every day, not about the huge leaps of faith that we think we need to make.

Click on the link below to download the form that should be filled out by all youth group members and parents.  If you are going to TCTC, we need you to fill this form out before you can go. Thanks!

Parental Release 2011

Young shepherds tending their flock in the ruins of Jerash (Gerasa), Jordan

When the angels appeared to the shepherds they said that they were bringing good news of great joy for all people (see Luke 2:8-20).

You probably know this, but in case you don’t, “gospel” means “good news.”

Why did these angels—-messengers from God—-announce this good news to shepherds?  Why was it good news for the shepherds?  Out of all the people they could have told, why shepherds?

Some people say that shepherds were looked down on in Jesus’s time.  I don’t know, but I’m betting we wouldn’t want to get to close to them.  These shepherds lived in the field with their sheep (Luke 2:8).  You know what they say, you can take the shepherd out of the outdoors, but you can’t take the outdoors out of the shepherd.  (Actually, they don’t say that, but it’s probably true.).  No bar of soap could get these guys “zest-fully” clean. (Anyone else remember that commercial?).  They weren’t important, at least, we can figure that out.

So why did God choose to send his very own messengers with their angel-gram (trademark, all rights reserved, copyright 2010 Alex Robinson) to these guys?

I think it’s because, if the gospel is good news at all, it has to be good news for people who don’t normally hear any.

You remember the “Beatitudes” from Jesus’s famous sermon?  ”Blessed are the poor…the weak…the pure in heart…those who are persecuted…,” and so on.  Blessed means that through Jesus’s ministry, these type of folks—-the type of folks who, when they look around on any given day, all they see is bad news—-can experience blessing through Jesus’s ministry (and, yes, should be experiencing it through the body of Christ, the church, too).   This is good news for people who don’t normally get any good news.

Back to the shepherds.  When the angels brought good news to them, they were bringing good news to people who were normally forgotten by everybody else.

And what about you?  Are you good news to people who don’t normally get any good news?  Do you actively seek out the people that others have forgotten in order to brighten their day or—-dare I say it—-have a positive impact on their lives?  Do you bring lasting joy to people with your words and actions?

“Today, in the town of David, someone is born who came to rescue us; to rescue those who realize there must be more than this; those who desperately need to hear good news.”  That’s what the angels said. Well, at least that’s what I think they said.  How about you?

[Note: Our youth group Christmas program this year is about the shepherds. Come and see it on Dec. 19 at 6:00 p.m.]

This Sunday night, Dec. 5, the youth group will leave the church at 6 p.m. and take some Christmas cards to our church’s “shut-ins” (those who are unable to get out of the house on their own), and those from our church who are currently living in nursing homes.

“Why are we going to visit people in nursing homes and the ‘shut-ins’?”  Good question.  I think it’s because God cares about those who have lost their families or their systems of support.  Look at this passage from Deuteronomy:

¹⁷ Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. ¹⁸ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

¹⁹ When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²¹ When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. ²² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this. (Deut. 24:17-22)

Who are the Israelites told time and time again to take care of?  The foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.  Think about what these groups of people have in common:  These groups have lost their families in some way.  They don’t have any “support system” left.  Their families are gone or far away. We need our own families much more than we realize.  Think about what it would be like to lose everyone close to us or if everyone close to us was on the other side of the world. God wants God’s people to be a family for these people who have none.

The church is the people of God. How can we, as God’s people today, follow these commands and make things easier and better for these same kinds of people today, people who have no “support system,” people who desperately need a family.

We could paste dozens–if not hundreds–of passages of Scripture here about how God cares for the fatherless, the foreigner, and the widow.  Israel’s prophets had a lot to say about this (see Isaiah 1:15-18, for example).  And Jesus himself says that punishment is coming for those people who knew the Bible but didn’t treat the widows with love and compassion, for those who “devour widows’ homes” (see Luke 20:46-47).

So I think by now it should be obvious why we should care about the shut-ins and those in nursing homes, and not just at Christmas time.

See you this Sunday night.