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!