Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Hamburger

Happy New Year's Eve to those who read this blog. I do have some exciting news to share. We have some alien-like pictures of our new one. Pretty cool...
The first one is looking straight on at the baby. The baby was very active with feet kicking & dancing, little hiccups and arms moving.


The second one is the indicator. For those who do not read sonograms. Apparently, the 3 marks are what is known in the technical world as "the hamburger: 2 buns with a burger in the middle". This is from my wife who is an expert in all things. The summary is, we're having a girl.
We're still deciding on names. Right now we're just thankful for God's blessing to our family.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Bibles & Kids

I got 2 Bibles for Christmas. One is for reading to my daughter and the other for my own study. The one for my daughter is called "The Big Picture Story Bible". It's exciting because it present the unified "big picture" of the entire Bible concerning God's promise of Jesus. It's wonderfully illustrated on every page for kids to enjoy. Also has short and concise sentences on the pages so you are not endlessly reading with the short attention span of your child. This is the perfect (if there is one) introductory children's Bible.

The other Bible is the English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible. It has tons of study helps and notes to help you better understand the meaning of the Scriptures. Of course, the notes are not God-inspired but they are written by many of the most respected and leading scholars today.
Here is a video introduction to this Bible if you are interested

Saturday, December 20, 2008

God Gives Help - Hebrews 1:3

This passage emphasizes some of the most significant actions of God. As we have seen, God has spoken all throughout history, calling people to repentance and faith in His Son. God revealed Himself through His exact representation, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the heir of all things, creator and sustainer of the universe. Even more, God gave the world His Son for the purpose of providing help from sin. Jesus purifies people from sin through His death on the cross. All these things identify God actively involved in His creation.

Jesus was not afraid to get His hands dirty. He personally involved himself in mankind’s greatest problem – sin. When Jesus went to the cross, he became sin – the sin that you and I commit. He bore our sin, paying the punishment for the wrongs we committed against God. We deserved to die yet God loved us enough to provide a way out. Jesus is our substitution. This has been labeled the “great exchange” in that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Other religions show ways mankind tries to purify their own sin and reach God. Christianity shows God intervening himself into the world of mankind in order to reach them. This is the message of Christmas and Easter wrapped into one gift, giving to us directly from God.

Through repentance and faith in Jesus’ substitutionary work on the cross you become Jesus’ righteousness; purified and forever cleansed. In other words, as you look at the history of your experiences with sin and failures, God forgives you. Your record is wiped clean.

After Jesus provided purification for sin, he sat down at the right hand of God. A priest in the OT temple never sat down. In fact, there were no chairs for him to sit. The reason was because a priests work was never finished, continually performing sacrifices for ongoing sins of the people. The writer of Hebrews says, “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God… because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (10:11-14).

TAKING IT HOME
- What kind of help do teens need today? What are teens greatest needs?
- What is the difference between religion and Christianity?
- How do people try to purify themselves from sin apart from Christ?
- What does it mean to live a life of purity? Is this attainable? How does a Christian live with purity?
- Can you think of another example where a single act has great impact on everything else? How does this relate to Jesus dying on the cross?
- Set aside some time where you can reflect on the words of Jesus saying “It [payment for your sin] is finished.”
- Read the following passages to appreciate and understand Jesus’ death on the cross. Write out any questions or comments you have. Share your questions/thoughts with a friend.
Isaiah 53
Romans 3:21-23; 5:8, 12-19;
2 Corinthians 5:21
Galatians 3:13
Colossians 2:13-15
1 Peter 1:18-19; 3:18
1 John 2:2

Thursday, December 18, 2008

God Gives Help, pt 2 & 3

Parts 2 & 3







God Gives Help, pt 1

Our Youth Ministry did this skit before this message. It is in three parts:
Pt 1 - video of skit
Pt 2 & 3 - video of message

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Merry Christmas from the SCBC staff


Click Here: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/7b2reJaNk5Zh6n4iQ7QW

Who do you think is the better dancer?
I know who my vote is... Hit the comments button below and cast your vote :)

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Do you have an interruption or crisis? Read Acts 27

We just finished studying the book of Acts. Personally it was a refreshing study and I think it was for our youth ministry as well. The last two chapters were good and honestly I didn't expect to learn as much as I did in the earlier chapters. Nonetheless, here are a few nuggets from Acts 27 One note of disclaimer: The point of these last two chapters is NOT about life storms. It is ultimately about God's sovereignty in ALL of life circumstances in order to continue the spread of the gospel "boldly and without hindrance". In other words, when reading this text there is not an exact one-to-one correlation and application for every detail. However, a broad reading of these chapters within the context of the book you can better understand and apply the below principles.

When faced with life interruptions or crisis…

1) Evaluate your foundation and find anchors (v.27-29).
Paul’s journey undertook quite a storm and ultimately a shipwreck. His travel mates endured about 2 weeks at sea in the winter months. It was like a scene on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch”. They feared for their lives and did the only thing they knew for protection – they dropped 4 anchors and prayed.
Likewise, when you are faced with an unwanted interruption in your life the best thing you can do is evaluate the situation around you, drop anchor and pray for God to work things out. Every person needs to anchor their soul to Jesus Christ whether in a life storm or not. Other anchors are staying connected to God’s community of faith to comfort you in times of crisis. God places people in our life to encourage and hold us up during such times. Even more, God orchestrates every person’s life circumstances and uniquely intersects lives so that we can learn, share and grow in character becoming the reflections of grace He wants us to become.
Romans 8:28-29; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Hebrews 4:14-16; 6:19-20

2) Determine to face conflict together with others (v.31-32).
The storm was so bad some of the men tried to escape on their own using lifeboats. Paul’s prophetic vision knew all the shipmates would only be saved if they stayed together. So, the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboats.
Sometimes we look to avoid interruptions and want to run away from solving problems. Seeing Paul’s example should remind us that escape never fully solves the situation. They had to commit to staying together to see their end destination.

3) Care for your physical well being as much as spiritual (v.33-38).
For 2 weeks the 276 shipmates stayed together but they were doing little to care for their physical health. Paul encouraged them all to eat. They did so until they were full. This is a great reminder that in the middle of interruptions sometimes we can get caught up in solving problems over long periods of time without taking the time to care for our own well being. This is true spiritually as well as physically. They both are necessary if we are to survive crisis and work out effective results.

4) Above all, trust God to bring all things together for his purposes (v.44 – 28:1-31).
Paul’s journey to Rome endured a terrible storm, shipwreck and a long detour to the island of Malta. Several months later they were able to get back on the journey to Rome and reach their destination. Even then, God was not finished leading Paul to other places to bring about his plan and purpose for Paul’s life. God is faithful and we must trust his weaving together of circumstances; even in difficult times.