There’s a scene in the movie Evan Almighty where God (played by Morgan Freeman) comes to Evan’s wife and talks about prayer. It’s a very interesting scene, and for the students that were in Sunday school when we talked about prayer last month, they have all seen it and discussed it. The basic point of the scene is that maybe in God’s mind, instead of God simply giving us a lot of “perseverance”, “strength”, “peace”, etc. in our lives, maybe He gives us the opportunity to practice and grow those sorts of things. It’s an interesting idea.

Last week at Club56, we had the opportunity to hear from Taryne Lee, a former student with Club56 herself and has now finished her undergrad work at Wheaton College. Taryne challenged the Club56 community to consider how living life as a Christ-follower is more like a journey than everything, and in our journeys, we need endurance and perseverance to get us through the times that aren’t so happy and great. Taryne suggested that GOD GIVES US those opportunities to grow in our perseverance, our ability to thrive through the hard times.

A key verse is 2 Corinthians 4:17, where the Apostle Paul focuses on the fact that what gives us reason to persevere and endure is the fact that we are living in view of eternity and the awesomeness of God’s presence forever. Our journey with Jesus is moving us toward that vision.

Talk to your student about their journey. How do they envision their journey? What have been some key “chapters” or “opportunities” that have strengthened their journey? On the Winter Extreme retreat a couple of weeks ago, we allowed students to reflectively draw what their spiritual journey would look like. It was pretty powerful.

May God bless your family as you all grow in your perseverance  as Christ-followers!

On-Ramp

Serving is very misunderstood in our world. One the most important things we can do as followers of Jesus is to take hold of Jesus calling us to put on an attitude of serving others for the sake of the OTHER person, not ourselves.

One Big Thing

KEY IDEA: Taking hold of serving involves taking hold of becoming the least with people.

KEY QUESTION: What does ‘becoming the least’ look like in serving? How did Jesus model ‘becoming the least’?

Faith Challenge

Becoming the least basically means putting other people’s needs before your own. This is very hard to do, even as Christ-followers. This week, discover the very small ways that you can put other’s needs before your own, and put on a ‘Jesus attitude’ of service.

Very creative and very inspiring! Please enjoy the two minutes and realize that more than you are aware of will step into the shoes of the adult community and GET IT. Get the impact that they will make on Society and Christ and His Kingdom. Be encouraged and influence a young person TODAY!

This Wednesday evening, Student Ministries will be hosting Rob Rienow, founder of Visionary Parenting Ministries to begin a conversation about God’s Grand Vision for the Home. We are thrilled that Rob is going to continue our conversation with building faith at home and is designed for BOTH MOMS AND DADS. This event will take place in the chapel at FBCG East Campus from 6:45pm – 8pm.

On Thursday morning, Women’s Ministries will be hosting Rob to speak specifically about nurturing faith in preteen and teen’s lives through practicing faith at home. That event will be for MOMS ONLY and will take place at FBCG West Campus from 9:15am – 11:15am.

Resources will be available for purchase after both events. If you have any questions, please contact Bruce McEvoy (bmcevoy@fbcg.com) for Wednesday evening’s event or Lorene Coffey (lcoffey@fbcg.com) for Thursday’s event!

On-Ramp:

Prayer is so much more than just giving our requests to God. It involves time, patience, listening, and obedience. When we get beyond our typical prayer requests, we learn that the heart of prayer is becoming dependent on God.

One Big Thing:

KEY IDEA:

When we step into prayer, we step into a two-way conversation with God.

KEY QUESTION:

What does prayer look like beyond just giving prayer requests to God?

Faith Challenge:

One of the hardest things to do is pray with someone. Some time in the next week, the challenge is to find someone in your family or one of your friends that you can prayer with about yourself or for that person.

On-Ramp:

One of the best things that we can in our journeying to take hold of Christ is to read and know God’s Word. In a way that no other book can, God’s Word can shape our hearts to know God’s heart for us as we take hold of Christ.

One Big Thing:

KEY IDEA: We need to learn to feed ourselves through God’s Word so we can be shaped by the Word.

KEY QUESTION: How does God’s word shape our hearts and minds to take hold of Christ?

Faith Challenge:

Put your Bible by your bed, and either before you go to bed or before you get out of your bed in the morning, read a chapter from the Bible for 10 minutes. If you need a place to start, focus on the book of James (it’s short and to the point!) in the New Testament.

Yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti will soon prove to be one of the most challenging and tragic disasters in history. An Associated Press update noted a projected death toll of up to 500,000 people in the city of  Port-au-Prince and the surrounding communities. The government infrastructure, basic systems like water and sanitation, as well as the general morale in the country has undoubtedly gone from bad to worse in the last 36 hours. This has already proven to be the biggest tragedy in Haiti’s history, and the worst is on its way with the country struggling to figure out the way forward for the already impoverished country.

Feed My Starving Children (FMSC), one of the ministries that FBCG Students serve on a regular basis donated 25 million meals to Haiti in 2009, making it the number one receiver of FMSC meals. FMSC is beginning to put together a response plan to the crisis in Haiti with opportunities for volunteers to donate and serve.

One of the greatest God sightings is learning that the centralized warehouse where FMSC meals are stored in Haiti managed to survive the earthquake and 18 aftershocks, leaving the food to be able to be distributed. God’s hand and protection is on this ministry, and with the 60 students from FBCG that will be serving at FMSC on Wednesday evening as well as the 140 adults that will serve on Saturday, FBCG’s partnership with FMSC will prove to be a real collaboration  with God’s spirit to rid the world of poverty.

Learn more about donating to the FMSC Haitian Response Plan here the Feed My Starving Children website.

Last year, President Obama declared January as the Prevent Human Trafficking Month. As Christians, we need to be about the opportunities to demonstrate God’s love and liberation to those that are oppressed and broken, especially at the hands of others.

One of the really exciting things for me as I look out at the emerging generation (18 – 28 year olds) is the passion and enthusiasm behind sustained thinking and action into these seemingly unsolvable problems like human trafficking. There is a huge desire to not only get involved on a prayer and financial level, but to actually participate in the liberation process on the front lines.

While we can’t all be in those places, I am thrilled that the generation of students (10-18 year olds), especially at FBCG are extraordinarily in tune with the social crises that threaten our world. As a faith community that strives to see a BIG GOSPEL, we need to be about encouraging students to not only embrace God’s dream for the world in the future, but also to help them see that God’s dream for kingdom and salvation can be experienced NOW in very tangible ways.

As we are nearing the half way point with January, I would encourage you to take some time to learn about the Not For Sale Campaign. This is an organization that has committed itself to resourcing, advocating, and progressing towards a world free of human trafficking.

Suffering and oppression is never an easy thing to talk about with students. Nevertheless, there is an incredible opportunity to talk about God’s dream for the world through a social crisis such as human trafficking. Here’s some questions to help facilitate discussion based on learning about human trafficking:

Questions to ask:

1. What does human trafficking deny humans that are made in the image of God?

2. How can Christians bring wholeness to people caught in human trafficking?

3. Since human trafficking is considered a ‘global crisis’, what can we do now for the problem?

On-Ramp:

One of the biggest lies that our culture tells us is that we can do ANYTHING on our own. Jesus shows us in His own life that we need people around us to take hold together. Taking hold of Christ should lead us to take hold together.

One Big Thing:

KEY IDEA:

Taking hold of Christ should lead us to take hold of Christ together in community.

KEY QUESTION:

How does being in community challenge ourselves and others to take hold of Christ?

Faith Challenge:

In the communities that you’re involved in at church or at school, think of one simple way that you can challenge someone else to take hold of Christ this week. This could be sharing something you learned, a Scripture passage you know, or even offering to pray for that person.

This probably never made it to the IMAX and it has very little violence or “danger”…BUT I will tell you this. It was the best movie we have watched on DVD this past year! And I am an admitted movie junkie. Now you may also be asking, “But Bruce you have a seven and nine year old, why would we want to watch this?” Well…I’ve not recommended the Squeakquels or Princess and the Frog and I’ve seen both of them. Seriously, this film is a great family movie night. But you’ll have to go to netfliks or the public library to find it. BUT DO IT!