Hello My People,
Last night was a great night for all of those who braved the elements. Thanks again to Sean and Austin for taking over worship last night. They did a phenomenal job didn't they? Please continue to pray for Ian as he is recovering from the flu. GET BETTER DUDE. There, that oughtta do it.
We tackled a tough topic at Vibe last night. The take away from last night was "When grace impacts your life you share your pain, you don't hide it." We took a look at 2 Corinthians 1:3 and Romans 12:15 where pain is shown as a public thing. You weep with those who are in turmoil and you share the comfort that you have in Christ with those who need it. The problem is that often times, we bottle up our pain and we react to tragedy by withdrawing from the people that could help us the most.
Sharing your pain is a tough thing though isn't it? We have all had experiences in our life where we have shared something and it has either been abused or not received well. So what is the trick? How do we get past wanting to hide our pain from others? I think a big key is to find a community of people that you trust and who are whole heartedly pursuing Christ.
Ray Tang came last night and we both shared some hideous photos from our childhood. Talk about painful!! I had a mullet that wouldn't quit and Ray had some awesome "Will Ferrell" style basketball shorts with some crazy knee high socks. PAIN-FUL. As I was looking for some of these photos, it reminded me of my childhood. I saw pictures of a fishing trip I took with my grandfather (or Paw Paw). There were Christmas times, family reunions, vacations, birthdays and graduations. Any event you can imagine was represented.
But as I looked through the photos it reminded me that there were a number of bad times as well. As a kid I didn't handle pain very well. I would party on the weekends and at other periods in my life that I even contemplated suicide. I had no idea how good sharing my pain with others could be. Instead, I kept it to myself and it began to tear me up inside.
Maybe that's you right now. Perhaps you are going through a rough patch in your life and you feel like you aren't going to pull through. Let me encourage you to do something very difficult but extremely good: share your pain. The Bible says that we are to "carry each other's burdens" (Galatians 6:2). It is part of our life in Jesus to share in the good times and bad that we are going through. Don't be a Lone Ranger, don't try to hot dog the Christian life. Step out in faith and share your pain with someone who loves Jesus like you do.
If you have something especially difficult that you are going through and just consulting a friend or a group of friends isn't going to do the trick, Ray has started a group at our church entitled, "Life Hurts, God Heals". It is designed for students that have faced serious situations (suicide, abuse, death in the family) and need help getting through it. If you are one of these people, let us know and we would love to talk to you more about it. Have a great week! Keep Jesus first.
Matt
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