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!