Are You a Vampire Sean?

Are You a Vampire...Jeff?

Drained - Hatred

Hey Tribe!

Do you like action movies?  I LOVE a good action flick!  The more explosions and car chases the better the action movie right?  Since I am in fact a comic book nerd it is no surprise that I really enjoyed The Dark Knight.  While it is a great action movie, one of my favorites, Batman really does have some issues right?  Think about it.  His parents are killed at an early age and the way that he ultimately deals with it is by dressing up in a costume and punishing bad guys.  No doubt Gotham is thankful but I'm not really sure that Batman is a healthy person because of it.  As a matter of fact throughout the movie Bruce Wayne constantly struggles with his "dark side" as he does throughout the comic book series.

I think we have that same struggle with our "dark side" as well.  Last night we discussed the way that hatred drains the life out of your walk with Christ.  If you remember, one of the things that I said was that the longer that you hang on to hatred, the more destruction it causes in your own life.  It could hurt your parents, friends and ultimately yourself.  God promises that if you let your anger go he will begin to heal you.  

The Bible goes so far as to call us "fools" if we don't restrain but entertain our hate.  

"A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."  (Proverbs 29:11) At the same time God doesn't call anger a sin.  In Ephesians 4:26 Paul writes, "In your anger do not sin" and goes on to say "do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." 

In His ministry, Jesus displayed love in his treatment of others and offered a message of peace.  Sure there were times when he was harsh with those who needed to hear the truth but His motivation was always love.  When we hate we take a detour from the way of life Jesus intended us to live.  Here are some ways for us to embrace the Fruit of the Spirit instead of the Deeds of the Flesh.

1. Resolve Your Anger:  Apologize to those you've wronged.  Forgive those who've wronged you (Colossians 3:13)

2. Get Help:  Talk to your parents.  If for some reason you cannot, talk to an adult who loves Jesus and cares about you.

3. Learn to Love:  Go to Galatians 5:22-23 and look at the Fruit of the Spirit.  Does your life look like that?  If not look for ways to begin to live a life that reflects God's love for you.  Maybe it is doing something nice for someone who can't repay you.  Maybe it is not slamming someone verbally after they have said something horrible to you.  

*Remember that Jesus loves you without strings attached.  If you sin against Him and ask for forgiveness, He will always accept you back.  If you ignore Him, He is still there.  If you aren't passionate about living for Him, He is still passionate about loving you.  Find a way to reflect that kind of love in your friendships, family and time alone.  Love you guys.

Matt

I got it. Do you get it?

Hey Guys!

Last night Jason did a great job of talking to us about Baptism.  He reminded us that sometimes we go through life just doing things and not thinking about what they mean.  

For instance, what if you missed your best friend's birthday?  I have to admit, I'm guilty on several different occasions of doing just that.  Recently one of my good friends had a birthday.  I didn't get his gift put into the mail until two months afterwards!  I felt like a total NERD after the fact.  Especially since they sent a thank you letter to us the MOMENT they received the ridiculously tardy present.  Maybe you've had the same experience.  You see, when something significant happens, you really should pay attention to it and do something that honors that event properly.  

When you come to Jesus, that is a HUGE event!  Your life should be completely changed as a result.  The Bible says that you 've been transferred from the domain of darkness into the light!  Your heart has been transformed and your life will soon follow.  That is BIG!  So it should stand to reason that you should make a big event out it right?  That's what Baptism is.  It is a public declaration of something that happened between you and God.  It is making your faith public knowledge.  Yes, the initial event is between you and God but it shouldn't stay that way.  Faith is meant to be lived out in community.  

Last night I walked away from the 201 Building (youth building) with a big stack of cards from people that have made that decision.  WAY TO GO PEOPLE!!!  I am so proud of those who were courageous enough to fill out a card and get it back to us that night.  If you thought about it and did not fill out a card, its okay.  Don't worry, we will have more baptism ceremonies to come.  We will let you know about it, much like this one, way ahead of time.  Thank you guys for coming out last night and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Matt

DEEDS OF DARKNESS

HEY TRIBE!!!

Thanks for showing up last night in full force!  Speaking of the force (nice segue right?), we talked a little bit about the "dark side" of the force last night.  Okay, we didn't talk about Darth Vader at all but we did talk about the "deeds of darkness" in Ephesians 5:11-12.  We also started a series entitled "Gossip and Rumors" where we will be talking about the different scandalous lives that we live as Christ followers.  

Last night we talk about participating in the "deeds of darkness".  You know when you go into a movie theater and at first you can't see a thing?  Then you wait a few minutes and your eyes adjust to the dimly lit room.  You can finally see the things that once seemed obscured by total darkness.  When you live your life away from Christ, you are living in darkness.  Christ on multiple occasions is called or calls Himself the "light of the world" (John 8:12).  So, life outside of Him is darkness.  My fear for your life, is that you spend too much time away from God.  The more time you spend away from Him, the more that your spiritual eyes adjust to the darkness.  The more that you let Christ into your world, the more it will be illumined.  

Darkness has the ability to confuse (not knowing right from wrong), cover up, and ultimately it comes from Satan.  So that's why "not participating in the deeds of darkness" is so important.  Being confused, covering things up and having Satanic influence in your life is a "dark" place to be.  However, light has some characteristics too.  Light has the ability to give direction to your life and has the ability to destroy darkness.  If the absence of light is darkness, when light is present, darkness cannot exist.  Part of what makes participating in darkness so crazy is that our job as Christ followers is to expose darkness for what it is (Ephesians 5:11; John 3:20).  

So where are you?  What does your life look like right now?  Is it more darkness than light?  I challenged you last night to think about something.  What if you were followed by a camera crew 24/7, would they find anything?  Is there a secret that you are keeping right now that would become public?  God promises us that everything we hold as a secret is public knowledge to Him (Luke 12:2-3).  My last question to you is this, "Who is your audience?" If your audience is your friends, your family or boyfriend/girlfriend, your life will look one way.  If your audience is God, your life will be drastically different.  Don't forget to live your life everyday as if the spotlight was on.  Live for Christ.  See you next Wednesday.

Matt

Party!!!

WOW!  Last night was A-mazing.  What a great time of celebration.  We had over 200 people at the youth building last night and had a great time of catching up and connecting.  We welcomed our new 6th graders in in typical Vibe style.  I am so excited that you guys are finally with us and I look forward to what God has in store for you.

Last night we talked about Jesus being the life of the party.  We read in John 2:1-11 that Jesus' first miracle was at...a party!  We learned that Jesus was the type of person you would want at your party, that He loved the type of people that were at parties and that life with Him is like a party.  Yet, we don't normally look at life with Him as a celebration.  John 10:10 states that one of the reasons that Jesus came was to give us life, here and in eternity, abundantly.  God's desire for us is that we would desire Him and pursue Him rather than feeling like we are obligated to do so.

At Vibe we hope that every Wednesday you would come and celebrate life in Christ with us.  That during Connection Groups on Wednesday you would engage and be a part of what God is doing that night.  That during Dgroups, or Discipleship Groups, on Sunday evenings you would come and deepen your relationship with Christ and others.  Our goal at Vibe is to connect Junior High students to a growing relationship in Jesus Christ.  We hope you will come and join us to do just that.  

In Christ,

Matt

Pondering Fatherhood

Did you ever wonder why your parents say things like,"just wait till you have kids?"  Don't you get tired of hearing it?  I did too when I was younger.  Everytime I broke a window "Just wait till you have kids, then you'll understand why I'm so mad!"  "Yeah, yeah" I used to think.  Notice that I said "used to think".  Having kids gives you a little clarity you know?  You can see your personality inside of them.  Don't get me wrong, so much of it is great!  

I can already see Kaiden, my son, starting to smile and laugh.  Sure, I like to think that's my contribution to the kid.  Let's hope he gets his mom's great looks and smarts though.  I can look at Savannah and see how much she just enjoys life.  It seems like she is always looking for a way to have as much fun in one day as she can possibly have.  Sure, I'd like to think that is something she got from her old man.  Okay, I'll give some credit to my wife ;)  

You see, whether you like it or not, you have a little bit of your parents inside of you too.  HEY, don't get mad at me, its just the way that it is.  It doesn't mean that you are going to be exactly like your parents because God has made you uniquely...YOU!  But you will in some way reflect your parents personality.  In a similar way, once you've given your life to Christ, you also begin to look like Him.  

In 1 John 3:9-11 a case is made that we can tell who we are children of by the way we act.  If we display self centered actions, we are a child of the Devil.  If we are others focused and spend our time dwelling on the things of God, we are children of God.  

I would challenge you this week to think about who your Daddy is.  Not your earthly daddy but your heavenly daddy.  If someone looked at your life from the outside and didn't know you at all, what would they think?  Who would they say your father was?  Take some time to think about different areas of your life where you have kept from your Heavenly Father and think about surrendering it to Him today.  Check you guys on Wednesday.  Laterz.

Matt