Luke 5

This is such a good chapter.  It shows Jesus in several different situations and everyone He stays right on point.  Jesus always knew what He was called to do and exactly how He was going to accomplish it, he was not unsure about His calling.

This is the first chapter where Jesus is performing miracles in Luke and He already is punking out the religious leaders by forgiving sins and hanging out with sinners.

Jesus asked a notorious sinner, Levi to be one of His disciples.  So levi throws a party, in Jesus honor, and all of his sinner friends show up.  Look what the religious leaders said, "Why do you eat and drink with such scum?"

Jesus answered them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor-sick people do.  I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough."

Do you have time for "sick" people?  Are you willing to share your faith or invite someone to church that most people wouldn't?  The people who think they are already good enough are the toughest ones to really find Christ.  

KYC is going to blow up when we start getting "sick" people into the church to hear the message of Christ.  What can you do today, to help a sick person find the doctor, Jesus?

Luke 4

We have been talking a lot about "Clarifying the Win!" In our leadership meetings.  Clarifying the win lets everyone know what the main objective is.  In football, the win is scoring touchdowns.  When your team scores touchdowns you celebrate, if your team scores more than the opposing team, you win!  Not a very difficult concept to understand.

It gets a little foggy when you start talking about your life and the ministry.  What is the Win for your life?

The Win for KYC is to double and disciple in 2008.  What that looks like is almost 300 students worshipping with us every week and 200 involved in small groups, that is our win!

Jesus was really good at Clarifying the Win!  He wanted everyone to know just why he came.

Look at verse 18-19

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim that captives be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come."

Jesus came to heal the sick, set people free from anything that holds them back, and to announce that this is the time for the Lord's favor to reign!  This is the time of Grace!

How can you not love this guy?

Do you know what the Win is for your life?  What is the purpose of your life, right now?  Why does God have you right where you are?

You have been strategically placed right where you are, Do you know why?

Luke Chapter 3

I have a new policy.

I am not going to make a new post until there are at least 4 comments on the day before.

I think it is interesting that before Jesus started preaching his new message of radical grace, God sent another radical preacher to prepare the way for him, and not in the usual way.

John the Baptist preached the law, and he preached it hard.  He was a picture of the old way of doing things.  He was a flash back to the old testament prophets calling down fire and brimstone.

He lived a separated life out in the wilderness and people came to him to hear him speak.  And look what verse 15 says, 

"Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah."

John preached the law and preached it hard, so people thought that he could be the Messiah.  He lived a "holy" life, separated from the evils of this world but he was not the Messiah.

I think God pulled the one two combo.  He threw the jab out there to distract the people and then he brought the haymaker.  He sent John because that was the type of Messiah they were looking for.  He knew what the world needed, but He also knew what the world wanted.  

John was what the world wanted.  John represents the law, separation from the world, and living the "hard to please God" life.  For some reason that is what so many people want out of God.   Jesus is grace, he represents being in the world but not of the world.  I don't think it is a coincidence that John eventually had his head cut off and delivered on a platter.

That is exactly what needs to be done to the law!  There is a new sheriff in town.  Grace rules the streets now!  God does not want us to be preachers of the law that condemn others while we are living our own lives out in isolation.  We should be like Jesus, smack dab in the middle of our communities associating with the very people we are wanting to see changed for the glory of God!

So how are you living?  Are you living under the law or are you living under grace?  What are you preaching, law or grace?

Luke 2

I really wish the Bible showed more of Jesus as a child and teenager.

I wonder what type of personality Jesus had?

He was definitely quick witted because He always knew exactly how to answer people.  Do you think he was made fun of as a kid?

Chapter 2 gives us the only glimpse into Jesus life as a 12 year old.

His family traveled to the big city of Jerusalem for the Passover festival.  After the festival His family headed home but He stayed in Jerusalem without telling His parents.

After a while when they couldn't find Him, so they went back to jerusalem.

They had to turn the car around, You know Jesus parents were ticked off!

Three days later they found him.  I bet joseph was pulling his belt off ready to give him a woopin' worth remembering.

But what did Jesus say?

Didn't you Know I would be in my Fathers house doing my Fathers business?

At 12 Jesus had the understanding, that he was all about doing the Father's business.

I wonder what age Jesus realized that He was God or did He know if from the get go?

I believe that Jesus grew just like we do.  Yes He was God but He did not use His God powers.

Look at verse 52.  I speak this over my own son almost every day.  "So Jesus grew both in height and in wisdom, and he was loved by God and all who knew him."

Jesus grew in wisdom.  He had to study.  He had to question things.  He had to learn how to hear his fathers voice, just like us.

Are you growing in wisdom?  Are you all about the Father's business?  Does anything else in this story jump out at you?

Dr. Luke

Since I got such an overwhelming response, I have no choice but to study one of the Gospel's.  I chose Luke because it is the most comprehensive Gospel.  Luke was a very well educated man and his diction, vocabulary, and attention to detail show through in his writing.  Luke was a doctor and a historian.

This book was written about 60 years after Christ had risen from the dead.

Lets read chapter one.

Chapter one covers the conception and birth of John the Baptist.

John's purpose in life was to prepare the way of the Lord.  To prepare the people to receive the promise of Jesus Christ.  That was his life call.  That was his mission.

God has a funny way of preparing someone for a lifetime of ministry.  John didn't get sent to some fancy school or prominent ministry.  He never was an intern or an apprentice. He didn't get to sit at the feet of great teachers like the apostle Paul.

How did God equip and train John for a lifetime of service?

vs. 80 "John grew up and became strong in spirit.  Then he lived out in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel."

Why do you think that God trained John in the wilderness?  

Here are my thoughts:  God's voice is described as a "Still, small voice."  It is a voice that is easily drowned out by itunes, American idol, Text messages, Facebook, and friends.  God usually doesn't interrupt me, and has never shouted louder than I shout when I'm angry.  I have never been in the middle of a fight with someone and had God speak to me and I hear him.

God speaks best in Isolation.  Or maybe I should say that We hear best, in Isolation.

So many people today are afraid of quiet.  They are afraid of being alone, afraid of solitude.  If they are alone, their cell is turned on, instant messenger is open on the computer, and the T.V is usually on.  That is not solitude.

So many people wonder why they don't clearly hear the voice of the Lord.  I would say the number one reason people don't hear God's voice is because he will not shout over American Idol!

We, as human beings need solitude.  We crave intimacy with God and that only comes through unstructured, unhurried time alone with God.

Are you afraid of the wilderness? Are you afraid of solitude?

How much unstructured, unhurried time do you spend with God?  Do you give him the time to speak to you and do you take the time to listen?

What is your opinion?  What do you think about this?

Shut everything off and get away with God.  Spend some intimate time with God today!

Moving on..

Any thoughts on what we should study together next?

Daily Reading

I am not sure what book we will study together next.  If you have a request you can leave a comment here and I will take that into consideration.

What I want you to do today is pick a chapter or two in the New Testament and read them.  Highlight or underline the scriptures that jump out at you and then post them and your comments here.

Here are mine, 

1 Thessalonians 5:11 "So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing"

                  -We should be encouraging each other every time we meet.  The faith that we are trying to live out is difficult on a day to day basis and we need each other to be encouraging.  We really need to get better at this as a Youth Church.

1 Thess 5:19 "Do not stifle the Holy Spirit" 

                  -Stifle means to "make someone unable to breathe properly, suffocate."  We must allow the Holy Spirit to breathe into our services every single Wed. night and Sunday morning.  We must not stifle Him with our plans, ideas, and religious practices.

1 Thess 5:23-24 "Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.  God, who calls you, is faithful; he will do this."

                  -Again, God makes us holy we can not do anything to make ourselves holy.  Our faith is not about what we do, but what Jesus has done!  I can't wait for Jesus to come back!

Man I really really want to preach tonight!

Acts 27-28

The last two chapters of Acts finish up Paul's first three missionary journey's.

During this time in his life, while in prison, Paul wrote Ephesians, Colossians, Phillippians, and Philemon.

Nothing could stop Paul from preaching, sharing his story, and spreading the Gospel.

I want you to look back over the last month of posts from the book of Acts.  I know it was a long book, it is one of the longest in the New Testament, but what was the purpose of this book being in the Bible?  It had some great stories, from shipwrecks, snake bites, murders, beatings, to miracles and prayer meetings.

What really jumps out at you?  What was this book all about?

What was the "big Idea" from this book that you will take away and apply to your life?

Acts 23-26

Paul was thrown into prison again.  This time he was stuck in prison for over two years.

Then one day King Agrippa showed up and wanted to speak with Paul.

King Agrippa had the power to release Paul, he could have ordered that Paul be released immediately.  But Paul really wasn't interested.

Can you imagine being imprisoned for over two years for preaching the gospel?

I wonder if Paul felt abandoned by God?

Most people would get bitter in circumstances like that and they would turn their back on their faith, but Paul didn't.

When King Agrippa calls for Paul, Paul doesn't try to get out of the charges.  He doesn't repeat his well rehearsed story on why he should be released.  He tries to get Agrippa to believe in Jesus Christ.

This is a unbelievable testimony.

After being imprisoned for over two years, Paul's devotion to God is still unwavering.

So many people think that paul was some superhuman preaching machine that never had doubts or never failed.  That is so far from the truth, look how this story ends up.

Chapter 26:28 "Agrippa interrupted Him.  "Do you think you can make me a Christian so quickly?" Paul replied, whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains. Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left."

Ouch!  Two years of prison, two years of planning that great message to the king, and the King flat out rejects it and walks out.

We don't know who will accept the message of Christ and who will reject it.  It is our job to be like Paul, every opportunity we get, we use to tell someone about the amazing things that Christ has done for us.

Are you like Paul, Do use the opportunities God gives you to share your faith?

When was the last time that you shared your testimony (what God has done in your life) with someone?  How did it go?

Acts 21-22

How hardcore is Paul?

He was beaten, jailed, chained, and nearly killed several times each but still just kept on doing what God had called him to do.

I wish we had that consistency.  Paul's experiences with God, outweighed his present trials.

In the face of terrible opposition Paul was able to still obey God and tell his story.

You know that is one reason God has spoken to you in this day and age.  That is why you have done the things in your life that you have done and been through the things that you have been through.

God has given you a story to tell.

Paul had an intense story to tell.  He was trained under one of the strictest teachers and high priests in the world, he was blameless when it came to obeying the 10 commandments, he was of pure blood, he hated Jesus and tried to punish His followers with imprisonment and the threat of death, and he was holding everyone's cloaks as they killed stephen for being a follower of Christ.  But that is just half his story.  Then He had an encounter with the resurrected BA Jesus and his life was changed forever.

That was Paul's story, that is what he was supposed to tell people.

He was a great sinner, but Jesus was an even greater savior.

What is your story?  Do you consistently tell people your story?  

Paul told anyone who would listen to him even when they laughed, screamed, and threatened him.  Do you?  

Man up, grow some balls and start telling people your story.  The world needs to hear it.

  

Acts 20 "what is your purpose?"

What is the purpose of your life?

Is it to get good grades, go to a good college, get a good job, and marry a good person and then have good kids?

Is it to make a lot of money?  Is is to have a lot of friends?

Is the purpose of your life to be really really good at sports?

The problem with all of these purposes for your life is that they all end at death.

When we die, we can take nothing with us.  Everything that we have struggled and worked hard for while on this earth will be left behind.   That is everything except what we have done for the Kingdom of God.

vs. 24 "But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus- the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love."

When we die or meet Jesus, we won't regret finishing 3rd at that tournament or dropping out of College.  We will regret every time we sacrificed the eternal for the temporary.  

That time when we could of and should of shared Jesus with someone but instead chose to talk about sports, or music, or college.

That time when God told us to start a small group and we thought we were just too busy.

What about You?

Are you sacrificing the eternal for the temporary?

How can we use the temporary things in this world to make an eternal difference?

Our lives are worth nothing unless we use them for the Kingdom of God!

How are you going to use you life for the Kingdom of God?

Acts 19

Vs. 25-27
Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.

This is an interesting little paragraph in this chapter about a man Named Demetrius whose business was going under because of Paul's preaching. What's interesting to me is that the man didn't really stop to consider if Paul was right or not but just that his business was going under. Earthly possessions were more important to him then finding out the truth about God. This seems pretty silly but It reminds me of a lot of us.

I'm going to take the verse and put it into todays terms!

Guys, you know we be gettin all this love cause our looks and popularity right. And you been hearin from all our friends at KYC that this Justin dude be preachin about being sexually pure, not partying, not stealing, not dating during high school. He be trippin! That means our friends could be leavin us hangin. There be a chance we have to stop doing this stuff. The stuff that everyone in our high school be doin.

Pretty funny I know, but it happens so much. When we come to Christ there are things that so many of us hold onto that God's telling us to let go. There are literally God's we are worshiping more than the one true God. These God's can be money, partying, the opposite sex, television, internet, you name it. When we are giving things more time and attention then God, we make these things a God. When we wont stop what God's telling us to stop, we are telling him that we know more about what's good for us then he does.

Has there been a time that you had to lay down something you didn't want to?

Are you still holding onto something?

Acts 18

I know most of us will be at home today, since most schools are cancelled.  So I am going to change things up a bit.  Chapter 18 of Acts is a fact checking chapter.  There isn't much info regarding life change or application in this chapter it was put in the bible so that we could be sure that the bible is true.

In this chapter it speaks of Ceasar deporting the Jews from Rome.  It also tells of pauls missionary journeys from province to province.  All of these accounts give us Facts that we can check to show us the accuracy of the text.

So since there really isn't too much to talk about it this chapter and everyone is out of school I figured we would do something different.

Follow this link and watch the message that is attached.  If you want, you can skip the music.  The preacher is Perry Noble, and the Church is NewSpring Church.

http://isite78285.intellisite.com/225499.ihtml?id=225499

Acts 17 "Areopagus"

This is the section of scripture where we got our name for the Coffee Shops.  I love the whole concept here.

vs. 22 "So Paul, standing before the Areopagus, addressed them as follows:  "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, for as I was walking along I saw your many altars.  And one of them had this inscription on it- "To an Unknown God."  You have been worshipping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him."

This is how we should spread the Gospel.  I believe that in order to really share your faith with someone you must find some common ground with them first.  When I teach on praise, I almost always use the example of a football game because everyone goes crazy at a football game.  That is praise.  When you are rooting for your favorite team you will scream, jump, pump your fist in the air, and even dance when they score.  You don't really care who is around you. Crazy fans make for some crazy praisers!  Its the same thing, except instead of worshipping a team, you are worshipping the creator of life.

That is what Paul did in this section of scripture.  He used the peoples religion to find a common ground with them and then point them to the truth.  That is what our coffee shops are going to be all about.  Creating some common ground with all types of people so that we can build a bridge between them and God.  People might not come to the church right away but they will go to a coffee shop.  In the coffee shop they will find people who care for them, remember their names, and build common ground with them.  We believe that this type of atmosphere will make it easier for people to accept Christ and plug into our church body.

So are you creating common ground with people before you ask them to come to church?

There is an old statement that goes like this, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

You can't preach to someone, until you have related to them first.

What is your areopagus?  How do you build common ground with the people you are trying to lead to Christ?

Acts 16 "Shake the foundations"

Most of us are probably familiar with this section of scripture.  I have preached on it several times and we sing a song that talks about it.

Paul and Silas get thrown into prison again.

vs. 25 "Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.  Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations.  All the doors flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!"

Prayer and Praise are Powerful!

The most powerful moments on a Wed night might not be when I am preaching.  The most powerful moments could be when we pray before service and worship at the beginning of each service.

I talked about prayer last week, so let's talk about the power of praise.

We know that David praised God for the victory with singing and dancing.  We know that Israel sent the singers out in front of their army while marching to battle and God gave them the victory.  We know that Paul and Silas praised their way out of a prison cell.  The Bible say's that God comes and "sits down" in our praises, he inhabits our praises.

We know those things so why do so many people see the Praise and Worship time as just music?

The Praise and Worship time at KYC is a time to do battle with the enemy.  It is a time where we can show God and the Devil, through our actions, who we love and serve.  It isn't a time to hold hands, hang out, or just watch everybody else.  Let me paint you a picture.

All week long the Devil has been sending demons to mess you up.  He sent that lust demon to get your mind to go places that it shouldn't go so you would feel guilty and think that God doesn't love you because you are a screw up.  He sent that party devil to you to try to get you to go someplace you know you shouldn't go.  The Devil sent the strife devil to your parents to get them to fight and argue and think about divorce.  Lets not forget about the demons of drug addiction, pride, vanity, deception, loneliness, and fear.  That is all the devil does all week long.

He attacks your mind, your life, your family, your friends, and your faith.

The bible says that he comes to "steal, kill, and destroy."

So back to our picture, the devil has been attacking you all week.  You have resisted some of those attacks and failed in other areas.  When you get to KYC and the music starts playing, all you can think about is the few areas where you messed up.  Does God still love me even though I keep messing up over and over?  Is this a waste of my time?  Am I just acting like I am a Christ Follower?  All of those questions come from Satan!  If you have given your life to Christ you are a new person who is 100% forgiven.

The reason the devil keeps reminding you of your failures is because he does not want you to praise God with reckless abandon.  He knows that many times the victory is found in your praise.  See the devil can't get you to hell anymore unless he can talk you out of your salvation.  The only way for a believer to earn his or her way to hell is to completely turn their back on Christ altogether.

And praisers would never do that!  People who praise God like crazy men are more in love with God than anyone else.  They don't care about the opinions of men, they are more concerned with God's opinion.  They don't care what people say about them, they are going to praise God with every thing they got!

I have found in my life that the level of my praise is a pretty good indicator of the depth of my relationship with Christ.  

When I am really concerned about "looking cool" or being liked by people my praise level goes down and I don't praise God as passionately as I should.  Why?  Because the bible says that you can't please both God and people, you have to choose who is more important to you.  Paul goes as far to say, "If you are still trying to please people, you can't be a servant of God."

Do you find yourself praising God with radical passion or praising him with a half hearted devotion on Wed nights?

Are you more concerned with your appearance to others or with Gods pleasure?

So, I want you to ask yourself this question on Wed night when the music starts.  Am I thinking about what Jesus has done for me, or Am I thinking about what I have done this week?

When we think about Jesus, praise God like Crazy People!

When we think about what we have done all week, we are praising our enemy!

I am ready to praise Jesus right now!  It's time for a Hillsong break.... See you tomorrow.

Acts 15 "Faith but....."

I have pretty much grown up going to church.  That really doesn't mean much, just that I was exposed to a lot of church people that did not help my faith.  There were a whole bunch of times in my life (High School) where I did not serve God because I did not really know what that meant.  I was getting mixed messages from every church that I went to and every christian that I ran into.

"Being a christian is not sinning."  "Christian's don't do that!"  "Christians are supposed to act like good little boys and girls."  "Christian's don't like fighting, or wrestling, it's too violent."  "Christians go to this church!"

Then occasionally, they would throw in, "Being a Christian is all about grace."

What?  That doesn't make sense.  You said "I had to speak in tongues, go to this church, not sin, and not do that, in order to be a Christian.  Now you are saying that it is all about grace."

Two opposing messages coming from the same people.  It is no wonder why I grew up with a jacked up view of God.

Is being a Christ Follower about what I do, or about what He did?

So many people have this jacked up view of God.  He gives you His grace, but only if you toe the line.  Only if you do the right thing all the time! Only if you go to this church, or obey your parents, or read your bible, etc. etc. etc.

That is a complete lie.

So where does this jacked up view of Christianity come from?

Look at verse 5;  "But then some of the men who had been Pharisees before their conversion stood up and declared that all Gentile converts must be circumcised and be required to follow the law of Moses."

In the margin of my bible I wrote, "Old habits die hard."  These Pharisee men had been very strict followers of the law.  They were trying to please God by doing a whole bunch of good things.  They were very disciplined, regimented, and strict.  And now, after they had been converted to Christ followers, they wanted to apply their old rules to their new way of living.

That is polluting true faith, and polluting Grace with rules and the law.

Grace is God's unmerited favor.  That means we do and can do nothing to deserve it.

vs. 8 "God, who knows peoples hearts, confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he have him to us.  He made no distinction between us and them, for he also cleansed their hearts through faith.  Why are you now questioning God's way by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?  We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the special favor of the Lord Jesus."

So let me be perfectly clear.  We are saved because Jesus died on the cross and became our sin.  He died once and for all to cleanse us from every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit.  Jesus finished our fight with Sin, but it is up to us to stay under that grace.  We must work hard to stay under that grace!  The devil wants us to start trying to do things to please God.  He doesn't want us living in the lifestyle of grace.

ARE YOU MORE FOCUSED ON WHAT YOU DO OR WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE FOR YOU?

Are you living the lifestyle of grace or are you still trying to please God by what you do or don't do?