Fall Baptisms

One of my favorite nights this fall/year was the night of baptisms, check out this video!

A NEW SCHOOL YEAR

Hey Vibers!
It has been a while since we've updated y'all on what's happening at Vibe! We've been having a lot of fun as we have welcomed the new 6th graders! Check out this video of one of the ways we welcomed them. (we have the practice takes in the beginning of the video, go to the 3:09 mark to see the real deal live)

Yes, we had an awesome time that night!
The very next week, we had our HUGE back to school event! We had lots of fun there too! Check out this recap video of the fun night!

AND this past week, we finished our first series called Vibe 101. We took these last three weeks to discuss the basics behind Vibe, why we do what we do at Vibe. How we want to welcome students as they are, we want to see change happen in their lives, and we want to see students making a difference!

Next week, we will be starting a new series called FLUSH. Where we will talk about what things we need to flush out of our lives in order to grow closer to God. We're looking forward to the start of the series and will keep you updated as we go!

James 2 - How we should treat each other

Hey Vibers!  Just wanted to recap a little of what we talked about a week ago when we talked about the 2^nd chapter in James.  God’s really been teaching me a lot about just how important community is in our lives.  

The need for relationship with others is one thing that drives all of us whether we are Christian or non-Christian. We, by nature, understand that we need each other.

James wrote to a church where division was starting to happen, and people were starting to act in ways that contradicted what they said they believed.  One way this played out was favoritism.  Certain people in the church were starting to show distinction to the people above them while neglecting the poor, and treating them as if they were inferior.  James launches an attack against this, and brings up two great points that I think we can even learn from.

One, why are we judging those “below” us when they are the very people who will inherit the kingdom of God as Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount?  Why should we dishonor the very people God is going to honor?  It doesn’t really sound like a good idea to deliberately hurt and take advantage these people now does it?  My question for you is this: Who are those people in your life that you’re taking advantage of?  You probably think they’re below you, and James flat out tells us that we have “become judges with evil thoughts” when we treat them differently in this way.

Second, James points out that they’re trying to please the very people who are oppressing them.  Why do we want to impress and gain the approval of those people who take advantage of us?  Do we so desperately want to be part of the “in-crowd” that we’ll do whatever it takes to get there?

James taps into one of the most common struggles I know of, and that is people pleasing.  

Chances are these people were trying to gain the approval of those above them, because they could gain something from it.  Whether it was a ticket into the in-crowd, or to be able to say they know someone in a high place, they were nonetheless seeking the approval of man over God.  Are you doing this in your own life?  I know I’m prone to do it at times, and chances are that you are too.  Take a little bit to evaluate your life and make sure you’re seeking to please and glorify God rather than gain the approval of man.  It’s one of the easiest pitfalls to struggle with, and we need to constantly be wary of it.

We all fall short, but fortunately a trusting belief in Christ’s sacrifice allows us to become Christians and move under the law of liberty that James mentions in 2:12.  We are now free to obey God, and we gain rewards in Heaven for doing it as James points out in that same verse. (Also see 2 Corinthians 5:10).  In the end mercy is going to triumph over judgment, so we need to be willing to extend mercy to everyone.  This is the way James calls us to act.  Rather than be judgmental and think of ourselves as better than others, we need to learn to love and show mercy to everyone we come into contact with.

We ended the night with a song talking about our need for each other, and you can watch it below.  In the song “We Need Each Other,” by Sanctus Real, there’s a line that says, “if we’d only learn to love.”  That is so true!  Loving others does not come naturally.  It’s not our default.  It’s easier to love ourselves before God and others.  We talked about it briefly, but our actions need to line up with our faith.  Do people look at you and know that you love others.  Your actions are going to show what you truly believe and value.  A faith that does not produce works is a dead one according to James.  

If we’re going to say relationships are important, it’s time we stepped up and showed it.  We need to LEARN to love and SHOW others that we love them!

~Kyle Davison

Trials and Tribulation

Hey Guys! This is Ashley! Last week, I was able to share with the students and leaders at Vibe about my story and experience as we started the new series, where we will be reading through the book of James!

This is an awesome book! And there is a lot of stuff in it. I really want to encourage y’all to be reading this book in your own time. It has lots of practical goodness, and I have really enjoyed going through it myself.

We spent most of the night talking about what James writes in James 1:2-4, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

So James writes “if you face…”, NO! he actually says “when you face…”. There's a huge difference! James knows that we all will, if we haven't already, go through trials. There's no if's. And James goes on to say "trials of many kinds". Trials can be any kind of struggle you may be going through. Some of y'all might not be looking forward to school because there are some bullies there, maybe you're in a relationship that is hurtful and even abusive. There are many kinds of trials, but I want to share with y'all a trial of mine.

One of my trials was a trial I was born with. I was just about to turn four when my family found out that I couldn't hear (here I am in the pic as a four-year old with my teachers). The reason I could not talk at the time was due to the point that I could not hear for the first four years of my life. For the next couple of years, I would have to work harder to catch up to everyone else in my class. When the class would have recess or play time, I would go to work on my speech with my own teacher. It was clear to me that I was different than everyone else. I was getting some extra attention that I didn’t want. I would get so frustrated because I couldn’t say a word right or when someone spoke for me because someone couldn’t understand me. Even today, there’s a clear difference, day and night, in the way I am when I have my hearing aids on and when I don’t. I go from confident to self-conscious. I immediately feel the anxiety because I lose control.

And if I'm reading this right, James is telling me to consider it pure joy! Take joy in feeling frustrated because I am in a situation I can't control. There are many kinds of trial, but there is a common theme to the trials, it’s the lack of control. As much as we try to control the situation, we feel helpless.

Take some time to watch this video, it's a story similar to the story I am sharing with y'all. This man has a great perspective on how to consider his trial as pure joy. 

In this video, John talks about how given the choice to have his hearing loss taken away, he’s not sure that he would take it. It’s sounds like crazy talk even to me as I say it, but I’m not sure that I would either.

The dictionary defines Perseverance as a steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. 

James later writes “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial…”

Though it is hard to be hearing impaired, I consider my hearing loss is a blessing. How? Through my trials, I’ve had to depend on God in a way that I might not have ever did without those trials. 

Your circumstances, your situation may not be normal, and it may be hard. You might be suffering. But God is not just an observer in your life. He’s not punishing you. He loves you. He is real. And He is going to carry us through our trials.

It's not going to be easy sometimes, but as Christ-followers, we have a promise we can hold onto. We persevere through the trial and tribulation because we are on a course with a purpose!

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)

Mission Trip 2011

Hey Vibers!
It has been a while since we've last updated you on here. Two weeks ago, we went back to Joseph City, Arizona with a group of 20 for a week full of service and love. It was an awesome week as we got the privilege of working on several projects, running a VBS during the week, getting to know one another, and loving the Naomi's kids. Enjoy this video that shows you only a glimpse of what we did during the week.

Where is your hope?

Last week we had a great time talking about hope.  Hope is a theme woven throughout Scripture.  It’s hard to miss it.  However, hope is also something that we all experience regardless of what we believe spiritually.  Most of us probably hope for “something” each day whether it be for pizza, a good day at school, or for God to do something in our lives.  That is why we need to have a proper perspective on hope.  We need to understand what hope is, what makes it so good, and what our hope is ultimately in.

            We started off by talking about how hope can be defined as desire with expectation.  The expectation part of hope is what we probably forget about most of the time.  If you take that out, then all you have is a wish.  You want something to happen, but you also see it as something that most likely won’t happen.  With hope, we confidently expect that our desire will be fulfilled.  Now, this isn’t an arrogant confidence, but rather it’s a humble confidence that understands God’s plan may not include saying yes to our desire.  It seems almost contradictory to be confident, but say it might not happen at the same time, but that is what we need to be.  We need to be confident that God CAN bring about what we desire to happen.  I shared how I had hope that my fiancé was going to say yes when I proposed to her, and pointed out how this was hope rather than a wish.  I expected her to say yes, and I’m really glad she did.  I would have been really confused and upset had she said no.  This does however lead to another question we talked about last night.  Is hope always good?

            We watched a clip from the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” last night where Morgan Freeman’s character, Red, was talking with Tim Robbins’ character, Andy, about Andy’s time in “the hole.”  Andy had mentioned how the music he had inside his head brought him hope that there was more to life than prison.  Red pretty much rained on his parade there telling him that hope was pointless in prison.  He had obviously given up hope that he was ever going to leave the prison.  Suppose for one second though that Red finally found some hope, and he started hoping he would get out, but never did.  In this situation (watch the movie to see if this is what really happens) Red dies an old man in prison.  Was his hope of getting out a good one?  To answer that I take you to Proverbs 13:12, which says,

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

When our hope doesn’t come to pass, it hurts.  We don’t like to be let down or disappointed.  Hope CAN be a bad thing.  However, when we place our hope in the right thing, it’s like a tree of life.  It encourages, replenishes, and refreshes us like a cool glass of water on a hot day.

            So, as Christians what do we put our hope in?  We talk a lot about it, but if a good hope is one where we confidently expect something, and it comes to pass, what do we hope in?  We went through Mark 2:1-12 where Jesus heals a paralytic to see this.  Four friends brought their paralyzed friend on a mat to see Jesus only to find out that the house he was in was packed to the brim.  There was no room in there.  However, that didn’t stop them from getting to Jesus. (We had the students act out this next part, which was really cool to see.) They got on the roof, dug a hole in the ceiling, and lowered their friend in front of Jesus.  They had such a hope that if they could just get their friend in front of Jesus, He could heal him.  Their faith and hope in Christ drove them to act and ignore the obstacles that could have stopped them.  In the midst of this, Jesus declares to be God by healing him, and essentially saying, because you can see that I have the authority to do the visible act (healing this man of paralysis), you can trust that I have the authority to do the invisible act (forgiving him of his sin).  Only God could do this, so Jesus made a bold statement by declaring Himself to be God!  Now, who knows if the paralytic came there looking for forgiveness of sins, but he at least came looking for physical healing.  However, Jesus got to the root issue, and the same root issue that plagued the paralytic (sin) is the same one that plagues all of us.  We need to put our faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection in order to be healed of this.  We all struggle with sin, and we can’t fix it ourselves no matter how hard we try.  It is only through putting our faith and hope in Christ that we can be healed.

            The cool thing is that in placing our faith in Christ, we also get to enter back into a relationship with God that we could not have had before because of the effects of sin.  When sin entered the world, we could no longer have that ongoing, personal relationship with God. That is fixed when we place our faith in Christ.  We now have a hope that comes to pass in that we get to enter into an everlasting relationship with our creator.  That’s right, everlasting!  It doesn’t end when we physically die.  It goes on forever and ever and ever… you get the idea.  Nothing can separate us from this unending, growing relationship with our creator.  However, our hope is even bigger than that.  That’s hard to believe when we’ve already talked about having an everlasting relationship with our creator, but it’s true.  Our hope in Christ also looks forward to the day when Christ returns, because that will be a day when he finally redeems the world in totality.  All of creation is moving towards this day where Christ returns and brings in a perfect world.  One of favorite passages in Scripture describes this day in Revelation 21:1-4, where it says,

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

This really is a glorious hope.  We get to spend an eternity worshiping our creator in a perfect place where no more evil exists.  That is going to be an amazing day that I hope we all look forward to.  Until that day, we need to live with an attitude like the friends of the paralytic had where they didn’t let any obstacle stop them from getting to Jesus.  Be encouraged by them and pursue Christ no matter the cost.  He is our glorious hope, and He is faithful to do what He says He will and is worth pursuing!

P.s. Below is the song we sang at the end.  It’s a great song that calls us to look toward that time where we Christians will get to spend eternity with God in that new heaven and new earth.  It really will be a glorious day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8gkDiTvloc

~Kyle

Camp Eagle 2011

Well just last week, we took a group of students to Rocksprings, TX for Camp Eagle. What a fun, awesome week! God did some incredible stuff while we were there. And this week at Vibe, some of the students were able to share what God did in their lives this past week.

The theme of the week was STORY. Each day, we went through the questions of what, why, who, how, and when of our story. As we examined different elements of story, we were challenged to figure out what our story is, why we're telling the story we're telling, who the characters are in our story, how we want our story to look, and when to start living that story.

In each day, we were given the opportunity to personally experience Scripture in some kind of way. The first day, we started off being banished from camp (like Adam and Eve) because we ate some candy we weren't suppose to on our first night. So we spent the day out in God's creation, doing activities and hiking a lot! The next morning, we woke up to "Manna" (like the Israelites in the wilderness),  a.k.a. breakfast provided for us on the ground! Later that day, we saw the Christmas story on stage! The next day, we learned about what a sacrifice really looked like in Bible times (thankfully we didn't witness it). On another day, we ate a Passover dinner and the counselors continued to serve us by washing our feet. What a cool night! These are a few of many cool experiences that we were able to learn and grow from throughout the week.

And if you still don't believe we had an awesome time, check out these pics on the slideshow and the epic video during the mudfight!

 Slideshow of Pics

Mudfight!

Hope you were able to get a taste of the week from the videos! Praise God for doing great things at Camp Eagle and in our stories!

Fun Night at the Summer Bash

Hey Tribe of Vibe! Not too long ago, we had a fun night at Vibe where we celebrate the beginning of the summer. I wanted to share with y'all a video that recapped that night! Enjoy!

Just Forgive

This past week, we ended the series called the King's Speech. These past weeks, we've been going through different topics that Jesus addresses in the famous Sermon on the Mount. This past week, I talked about revenge and forgiveness!

Jesus addresses these topics in Matthew 5:38-45 when he says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (bolding added)

Many times, we have seen Jesus in this sermon say "you have heard..." and "but this is what I say...". So as we talk about revenge, I want to share with y'all some modern quotes of revenge that we have heard a lot.
"There's nothing I do better than revenge." (a title of Taylor Swift's song)
"Don't get mad, get even."
"Get the last laugh."
"Revenge is sweet."
"Nothing's better than revenge."
"I was just doing to him what he did to me." (one I've been guilty of using that myself)

These might sound familiar to you, but for you to want to seek revenge, someone has to first hurt you. Some hurts are smaller; you forget about them easily, but some hurts last a long time. They are like stains. No matter how many times you wash them; they're still there. We don't just wear these pains out in the public. These are the pains that are hard to forgive. Check out this video and see if there are some pains that you can relate to.

That quote in the end is a quote that was found in the journal entry of Mary Karen Read, a victim from the VA Tech shootings, before she died. Her dad shared these words at her memorial as a reminder of what needed to be done.

Let's look at the "this is what I say..." part now. Jesus says don't just forgive, go further, love those that are hard to love.

So what is forgiveness? Let's start with what it is NOT. Forgiveness is not forgetting. It is not avoiding the problem or ignoring it. And forgiveness is not saying the words, "I forgive you." Forgiveness is a process! Sometimes it takes a long time to forgive someone. It can be a daily struggle, but it is a freeing act! Instead of bitterness and grudges, you have a relationship that sincerely looks like nothing even happened because you aren't holding something against that person. It is a pardon, a free pass.

Let's look at why we forgive! Perhaps the most important thing to understand in the process of forgiving. We're going to look at a verse, Luke 23:34b. The setting is one you might be familiar with (the reason why we celebrate Easter). Jesus is on the cross. He has been mocked, spit on, insulted, beaten and now he is dying on the cross. Let's look at what He has to say even in the act of dying a death He does NOT deserve. "Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'"

Why do we forgive? Because He has forgiven us!!! He forgave you! even when YOU have hurt Him, YOU have ignored Him,  YOU have betrayed Him, and when YOU have abused His love. and guess what? He forgave YOU.

What a cool feeling! To know I have been forgiven. Now, it's our turn to follow Christ's example and to forgive others! At least start the process!

Ipod Idol Series

Recently, we played a series of a game called Ipod Idol. To show how it's done, we introduced the game with the videos of myself, Kyle, and Chris playing it ourselves. Check the videos out if you're looking for a laugh!

Gideon - Judges

Last week at Vibe, Chris finished the series of Flannel Heroes. We ended the series talking about Gideon in Judges 6.

As we read through the chapter, we see that Gideon thought very little of himself. In verse 15, Gideon says to God, '"Pardon me, my lord," Gideon replied, "but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."'

Finally, when Gideon gathers his army and go to battle as God instructed him to do. We see that in chapter 7, twice God told Gideon that he had too many men. In the end, we see the number go from 32,000 to 300. Talk about a downgrade, but they still won the battle! You want to know why? Cuz God was with them!

Just like God is with us today! Sometimes, people tell us that we aren't good enough, and a lot of times we tell ourselves that! Not only does God use the weak, He looks for the weak! How encouraging is that?

Discussion guide for the night:

Who are some of your heroes or role models?
Why are these people your heroes?
Do you think you are a hero or could be one?

Read Judges 6:15, ‘“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the
weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”’

Do you think Gideon was expected to be a hero?
Do you think he was afraid?
Why do you think God chose to use the “weakest”?

Are you afraid to do something great for God? What is it?
How did Gideon do it and how can we do it?

Judges 6:12, “The Lord is with you, might
warrior.”
Judges 6:14, “Go in the strength you have and
save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
(He’s not asking him to get more strength; we don’t have to fix things first. God uses our
weaknesses.)
Judges 6:16, “I will be with you, and will
strike down all the Midianites together.”

Remember that it is through God that all things are done, we know that God is with
us. Time to take action!

The Story of Deborah

Chris started a series called Flannel Heroes. He talked about the story of Samson in the book of Judges. Last week, we continued this series by looking at the story of Deborah in Judges 4.
As in every story, there are characters. The first character is Deborah, the judge of Israel. Even though judges in these times were more like spiritual leaders whom God used than Judge Judy. Deborah was a mix of both, we will see that God uses her to lead the country, but in the start of this story, she is already consider a wise, Godly woman who people are coming to in order to settle their disputes.
Chris talked about the cycle Israel would continually be in, where they would praise God, fall into sin, suffer/be in pain, cry for God, God would send a judge to save them, and they would go back to praising. This cycle happened at least 12 times in Judges.
In Judges 4:6-9, we see that Deborah sent for Barak and tells him to go gather 10,000 mean to fight Jabin’s army [an army led by Sisera that’s already trained to fight, oh and happens to have 900 chariots!!! (think of them as tanks)]
We see Barak’s response in verse 8, 9. “Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” “Very Well,” Deborah said, “I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.”
We have a new character, Barak. He gathers 10,000 men from the towns all around. They’re regular Joes, up against the big dogs! You could say he’s the underdog. Maybe he’s not feeling good about his chances.
So why do you think he wants Deborah to go with him? We don’t know why. But we know in some way Deborah was going to be helpful to him. She could easily be his plan B. Hey, I’ll do this, but in case it doesn’t work out, we’ll have you (the one that surely God wouldn’t kill possibly).
A lot of times, we approach things the same way he does… “I hear what you’re saying, BUT…”, “That sounds great, BUT…”, “I’ll do this, IF…”
So Barak is the man with a plan!
In verses 12-15, we see that God does just as Deborah told Barak, He gives Barak victory. In some way, God confusing the great army of Sisera, and Sisera fled on foot.
We see all kinds of battles in movies and books. A lot of times we see the underdogs about to lose and suddenly trees or werewolves come and save the day. We expect this to happen in movies, but not our own lives. This battle is not like the movies, IT IS REAL! God really does this in the Bible AND in our lives!
We see that Sisera fled to the tent of Jael (where he was on friendly terms with Jael’s husband) in verses 17-21. “Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, ‘Come, my Lord, come right in. Don’t be afraid.’ So he entered her tent, and she put a covered him up. ‘Stand in the doorway of the tent,’ he told her. ‘If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say ‘No.’” But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.”
So Deborah was right, God gives Sisera over in the hands of a woman. This is no coincidence, it was a lot harder than we think for this to happen. First of all, men didn’t go into a woman’s tent unless invited, 2^nd of all, she is supposed to be on his side! 3^rd this was a crime, because if you invite someone, it was law that you show hospitality, good hospitality, not the kind where you kill people. So we see that Jael had some guts for this to happen. And God chooses to use her!
So we see God using these characters, Deborah, Barak, and Jael, in big ways although they may have not been ideal leader type. This gives us big hope that God can use us! even when our faith is small like Barak or big like these women in this story.
In chapter 5, we see that there is a song sung to praise God in delivering them.
Are we living in a way that would sing praises to God!?!
How are you having trusting God in your life? There are opportunities to show big faith in your life. God wants to use your faith, little or big!

Service Day! Spring '11

Two weekends ago, we had the privilege to serve the community of Plano as we did a clean up in the area around Andrews Elementary School. It was a privilege to not only serve but to serve alongside with Vibe students! They have such great serving hearts, and we loved serving with them! Enjoy this slideshow with pics from the day, and the pictures are also on our facebook page!

This Life

This week at Vibe Chris talked about the life we have on earth and how we live it.



 Jesus says in Matthew 7:26-27, "But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” More often than we think, we are foolishly living our lives.


So often we get caught up in things that don't matter! We spend most of our life working toward something. When we are children, we can't wait to be big kids! When we're teenagers, we can't wait to be adult, make our own decisions! When we're adults, we can't wait till we get settled down and are retired!

We set goals that have will have no impact beyond the end of our life. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

So the things we do now matter! The things you do, would they be something to be proud to lay before the feet of God?

Paul uses another illustration (one you might have heard of it) in Philippians 3:12-14. We are running the race! Paul encourage us to forget what is behind us and to strain toward what is ahead. We strive to be successful. But do we strive to please God with our prize?

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field." -Matthew 13:44


Follow-up study/questions:
Read Matthew 6:19-21

- Which treasures sound better? Why?
- What is the ultimate treasure we will receive in heaven?
(Being with God!)
- What "treasure" do you value? Where do you spend the most money, time, effort?
- In light of this passage, how should we live our lives? What kind of lifestyle leads to the permanent rewards?
(Kingdom focused as opposed to self – focused (Serving others as opposed to serving ourselves), being obedient to God)

All You Need is Love

We're back!!! We are finally back in action after two weeks off due to the snowy/icy weather! Love was definitely was in the air, especially since it was the first Vibe after Valentine's Day! So in honor of this day of LOVE, we wanted to talk about what love and God have to do with each other!

First, check out this video we made on the topic of love!

If you randomly asked people, you are probably going to get a lot of different answers! God is the universe! God is you, He's in all of us! These are answers you won't find in the Bible, but even Christians have a hard time figuring out who God is! One answer you might hear a lot is God is Love!

We see that this is true in 1 John 4:7-8, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

Chris has Bieber fever!

So He really is love! But how do we know what love is when we hear people use love in so many different ways! I love this video game! I love this car! I love Justin Bieber! (something Chris confessed to us!) Love is a word that we hear all the time! The word is one of the most abused word in our language. And sometimes, we can abuse others in the way we love.

Too often, we stop loving things or people when they stop benefiting us! We practice a selfish love. We no longer love our phone because it is not as nice as the phone someone else has. We no longer want to be friends with someone because there isn't much in common. The world says that things will make you happy. If you have that new phone, you will be happy. Somehow, we are never happy enough though. So the choice is yours, what do you believe, the world or Scripture?

What does Scripture say? We read in 1 John 4:7-8, Love doesn't come from things! Love comes from God. If we look further down in chapter 4, we see one of the best examples of God's love. In verse 10, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." Even after sin separated us from God, God loved us! So much that He sent His Son as a sacrifice, a way to be with us again! That is how great His love is!

Let that sink in with you, God loves you. truly loves you.

Friends

Hey Vibers!

I just wanted to update y'all on what we talked about last night. We have been talking about some tough stuff. Sometimes, life is hard. The people we surround ourselves can help us or make things even harder.

Hebrews 10:23-25, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Who are your best friends? Who influences you? Are they encouraging you? If your friends put you in a place you don't want to be or try to get you to do something you don't want to do, you need to find new friends. It is better to not have a friend at all than to have friends that put you down or pressure you to do things you shouldn't do. This doesn't mean that we can't be friends with non-believers, but we shouldn't have friends that influence us (your best friends) that are not going to encourage us toward Christ!

I challenge y'all to think about those who influence us. Are they Christ-followers? Are they going to encourage us and love us like Christ does?

I don't want you to stop there. I want to challenge you a step further! Are you the kind of friend that encourages and loves like Christ?

I can't wait to see what y'all do with this!

Next week, we will be having a fun night so bring all your friends and yourself cuz we will be playing games and eating cotton candy!

Life Hurts God Heals

Hey Vibers!

This year we started with a series of talks that talked about some tough stuff, like bullying and gossip. Things can make any teenager's life hard! And last night, Kyle talked about our identity.

Anger, Lonely, Depressed, Afraid, Guilt, Shame, Failure, I could go on and on with examples of things we might identify with or have identified with at one point. Kyle talked about how these names we think of for ourselves are NOT who we are, nor are the names that others think of us. It is not about what you've done, but about what's been done for you! We can see what exactly has been done in Ephesians 1:4-5, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure."

Did you get that? He loves us, He loves you, He loves me, and it has nothing to do with what we have done. And the Bible says there's nothing that can separate us from God's love. Look it up, it's in Romans 8:38-39. So what does that mean? He not only loved us before we were even born or before the earth was created, but He loves us still! Nothing we have done or anything else will ever even get a chance to separate us from the love of God!

Check out this music video from the band Tenth Avenue North for a song called You Are More.

What a cool ending! All those pains and hurts were washed away. We can also have them washed away. Jesus' death on the cross was served as a sacrifice for all of our sins. So when we believe in Him and accept Him into our hearts, we become children of God. John 1:11-12 says, "He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God."

So if we are indeed Christ-followers, we are His children! Instead of seeing your sins, God see His daughter or son.

Maybe you are interested in Life Hurts God Heals. The purpose of Life Hurts God Heals is to take students through a journey which helps them to process and discuss some of life's toughest issues. It is a safe place that meets at 201 on Tuesday nights.

Starts Feb. 1, email bfemrite@chaseoaks.org if interested.

Have a great weekend!