Connections tonight!

Tonight we continue our study in Philippians and look at how to have joy in living...regardless! Regardless of suffering, persecutions, slander, gossip, unjustice, lying, and all the like that comes with all of that!

I am truly having to practice what I preach when it comes to having joy in all things. It really comes down to us defining joy. Come out tonight to hear how the Bible defines it, and how we can have it...even in a chaotic world/life/school/home/schedule.

Come hungry and ready to worship the LORD as well as discuss some heavy topics in your small group. After all this suffering discussion we need a chill night soon. Don't worry, we have one on the calendar in March!

See you tonight at 6:30!

much Love,
johnny

Come Experience God!

Don't forget, tomorrow is "Experience God" Sunday! This Sunday we will experience God in a fresh way...through serving. Many have already volunteered for the nursery and childrens' sunday school classes, but we have many more spots to be filled in our service sunday!

So see you all tomorrow at the second service to experience God!

much Love,
johnny

Connections tonight!

We are back to a "normal" connections after a couple of love weeks. Remember two weeks ago was Brad Henning, then last week we had "love life." We are back in the book of Philippians tonight! I can't tell you how excited I am, we are talking about having a joy in this chaotic life. Tonight we are talking about joy in suffering.


I know that sounds odd, but really, it is possible! Come tonight to look at Paul's example of how he had joy in suffering. If you want to read ahead, read Phil. 1:12-18.

See you tonight for dinner, worship, bible, and small groups. All starting at 6:30!

much Love,
johnny

Winter Break

I will have to be honest with you, I never had winter break growing up. I actually feel like it is a waste. Why do you need a whole week off? Don't you get a week off in like a month? Didn't you just get a week off like two months ago? Why then? Why this week, which extends your schooling into late June? I don't like it, but I will roll with it.

So, this week, you have no school! Come hang out with us at the church! Yesterday we played RISK, the game of global domination.

Today, at one pm, we are going to play ULTIMATE FRISBEE! Be here today! Bring water, shoes that are good to play in, clothes that are good to sweat in, and meet at TCC Gig Harbor. That is kitty corner across the street from the church.

See you there!

much Love,
johnny

Sunday's Challenge

Sunday morning in High School, we talked about the unrelenting Grace of God. God pursues us, seeks us out, makes us realize our sin. When we realize what we have done, its called conviction. This is hard, but so good! When we are convicted, we have the opportunity to repent. Repentance is turning from sin. Its a spiritual turn around!

We read the story of David and Bathsheba on Sunday, and we saw how the fence of Grace is moved to let us in...regardless of what we have done! We looked at David’s response to his very messy situation; his psalm of repentance. It is Psalm 51...and amazing! Check out the first six verses.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

I want to challenge you! Go ahead and face your convictions. Remember them, and remember the repentance that you went through. My challenge to you is to write out your psalm of repentance.

Click on the comments link below and write them out for us all to be encouraged by it. You can comment anonymously to protect your identity, and be as real as you want.

much Love,
johnny

Transit tonight!

Step on the transit bus tonight for the unveiling of all of the questions you have been asking and answering about the opposite gender! We have tonight..."Revelations" all your questions answered! Plus there will be fun games. You will all make new friends, and make fun with the ones you have, in the "Newly Friend Game!" So come on out for valentines Transit. See you at 6:30-8:30!

Love Life Connections!

Tonight is the night for love! That's right, tonight is "love life" connections. There is a lot that goes into nights like these, so lets enjoy them!

We will start with a fancy dinner, followed by the handing out of valentines!

We then will move upstairs for some announcements and worship (can't leave our love for God out!)

Then, let's get in the Word to see what God has to say about love...

Then it's on like donkey kong. Brush up on your love songs, because we are going to play a special "Don't forget the love lyrics."

Followed by the "Newly Friend Game" and we have our selves a fun night of love life!

Don't forget to dress your best! Come as fancy as you can...you only do this once a year, so have fun with it. But please dress modestly!

See you tonight!

much Love,
johnny

Some photos of the Gala

Here are some pics from the Gala, there will be these and more at our smug mug account. You can get there by clicking on the link that says "pictures you can download from cwsm events."

Great is Thy faithfulness

What a weekend! The Gala on Saturday was the longest day of 2009 by far! Followed up by worship on Sunday, it could not have been better. The theme of the Sunday's worship was the Faithfulness of God. How fitting it came after the 2nd annual crosswalk gala, the day we have been working towards for over two months! We did a lot of prep before hand, but there is only so much you can do. Some of it you have to do the day of. Brooke and I were talking on Friday night that we just wanted it to be here. We felt like we packed for a trip two weeks in advance, and now we just wanted to leave on it. I suppose the best way to understand it is this: it felt like we were pregnant with the gala. There was so much to do, and we felt we were ready to birth it, but the due date was a week away.

I have never been pregnant. And I can't imagine it. But...(can you seriously put a but after that?).

Yes, but... I have heard women talk in their 8th and 9th month of pregancy, and they are ready to go. They are so uncomfortable, and achy, and they can't sleep at night. They are ready to have that baby. And when they do...it's beautiful. Maybe not at first because they are really tired and the baby is covered in whatever babies are covered in when they first come out. But the next day is a beautiful.

That was the gala for us. It was long, and tiring, but oh so worth it. The Gala was a tremendous success! Thank you everyone who participated! Thank you for your contributions (both in giving of your talents and skills by donating an item) and thank you for your contributions (by buying items). Thank you students for working so hard in getting items to auction off. You all did great!!! We had over 100 items to auction off and we raised nearly 11,000 dollars!

So, this brings me back to the Sunday after the Gala. The theme of worship time was "the faithfulness of God" and it could not have been more fitting. I clapped to the beat, and raised my hands with out shame, and I sang at the top of my lungs in praise to God for His faithfulness in my life, and in the life of this church! Join with me in praise to God!

much Love,
johnny

So much to do, so little time

Do you ever wonder why God only put 24 hours in a day? Sometimes I wish that he made 28 hours in a day. Think about that...if only we had four more hours to do whatever needed to get done. If I devoted fours hours completely to learning the guitar, I would rock. Or if I shot a basketball four extra hours a day, I would rarely miss. Or if I spent four hours more with my wife everyday, we would have an even more awesome relationship (she might get tired of me though). Or, this is going to sound crazy, but what if we spent four hours a day just hanging out with God? Reading His word, memorizing it, singing to him, praying to him. That would be amazing!

But to be honest, I don't think I would use the four hours productively all the time. You know what I mean. When you heard "four hours more" some of you were like...yeah, I could use four more hours of sleep. Or yeah, four more hours of WoW (which I have never played, simply because it seems like a colossal time waster in which I would then need 32 hours in a day to make up for all the lost time a spent playing a video game).

I guess what I am trying to get at...is that I want to do too much sometimes. And I think that some of you out there are on the same track. We try to do as much as we can because we like people, or we like sports, or we like music, or we like ______ (that's a fill in the blank, duh).

But God is good. He made the day with 24 hours in it because he knew that if we had more time, then it still wouldn't be enough. We would still have days that were productive and glorifying to Him, and we would still have days where we have a million things to do and do only one of them. But what are the important things? What are the things that we should be doing no matter what? I don't think that it is an actual thing to do...I think that it is a thing to be.

We need to just be sometimes. We are not human doings, but human beings. We are not defined by what we do but who we are. Being good at music doesn't define me, or being good at basketball or WoW doesn't define me. It is not what I do, it is what I am.

So, regardless of what I do in a day, am I the best husband I can be? Am I the best son I can be? Am I the best child of God I can be? Am I the best youth pastor I can be? I think if we ask these questions to ourselves we will end up doing the things that need to be done, because of who we are. Think about that.

I was really tempted to go into the theology behind DC Talk's (not so) hit song "time is tickin away" but that might be too much decent Christian talk in one week. So lets strive to be, as opposed to do, and I think it will all fall into place.

And yes, I wrote this because I wish there was more time to prepare for the busy weekend. But God is good and He has it all planned out for us. We just need to be his children.

much Love,
johnny

p.s.- my favorite line from that song..."get busy like a school boy makin' an A, cause time my brotha' is tickin' away." I know. Profound.

Transit tonight!

Step on to the transit bus and come on out for some fun! We are in the book of Matthew (duh) and we have a special treat tonight. Christer is giving the message! We will also have some worship led by some of your peers. So come out and meet God tonight. Remember...Love God:Love them.

Publish Post

Brad Henning was great!

Thanks to all of you who came out to hear Brad Henning talk on relationships, love, and sex. This was perhaps the best area wide event we have ever done, with over 200 kids from Gig Harbor to hear about how to have healthy relationships and why it so important to wait to have sex till marriage. I can't recap all of it, but let's talk about love!

We got a great definition of love from Brad!

Choosing the highest good for the other person.

Remember, love is not an emotion. Love is not a feeling. Love is not a ditch (that you fall into). And love is most certainly not sex (remember how he showed that? woah!)

Love is a choice. It is an action. It is an action word. It is a verb.

I can't believe I am about to do this, but...remember the DC Talk song "luv is a verb"? Yeah, they nailed the definition a long time ago (like 20 years!) with that song. How does it go? Ah yes...

"Pullin out my big black book
Cause when I need a word defined thats where I look
So I move to the L's quick, fast, in a hurry
Threw on my specs, thought my vision was blurry
I looked again but to my dismay
It was black and white with no room for grey
Ya see, a big V stood beyond my word
And yo that's when it hit me, that luv is a verb

Words come easy but dont mean much
When the words theyre sayin we cant put trust in
Were talkin bout love in a different light
And if we all learn to love it would be just right

Thinkin of a way to explain-o
Cause ya know when Im flowin like a bottle of drain-o
Simple and plain, l-o-v-e
Aint all that junk that ya see on tv
Put soaps on a rope cause they aint worth copin with
Its a myth that there aint no hope and
Luv is enough if its unconditionally
Givin now youre living out the great commission

Back in the day there was a man
Who stepped out of heaven and he walked the land
He delivered to the people an eternal choice
With a heart full of luv and the truth in his voice
Gave up his life so that we may live
How much more luv could the son of God give?
Here is the example that we oughtta be matchin
Cause luv is a word that requires some action"

Now those are some good love lyrics! Words to live by my friends, words to live by.

I am pretty sure that Brad Henning should be introduced to the crowds with any DC Talk song playing in the background.

much Love,
johnny

Special Connections Tomorrow!

Don't forget! Brad Henning is coming to the Maritime City (that's Gig Harbor for all you locals who had no idea our nick name was the Maritime City).

This is an area wide event and it will be held at the Best Western hotel on Kimball. That is sort of by Burger King and Kinza. You should see it if you head that way!

Brad is going to be talking about relationships and sex. And waiting to have sex. And the benefits of waiting to have sex. And why having sex is bad. And why having sex is good (in marriage, duh!).

So don't miss the party! Tomorrow at 7:00!

much Love,
johnny

Sunday ReCap, high school

What a day! Sunday is not a sabbath. It is the Lords day. The difference? Resting vs. Working! Sunday was so busy for the staff here at the church! We had so many little responsibilities with the Gala, that it is stressful! Praise God that He worked out that I (johnny) would not be teaching yesterday, but Courtney!

Court did a great job giving us an overview of the book of Ruth. She showed the suffering that happens in life, highlighting the fact that when you become a Christian it is not a tea party all the time (she didn't say that exactly, but she spent some time in England, where the tea party originated. I hear they are quite fun).

She also talked about suffering in her own life, with her plans being thwarted by God, just like Naomi. Only she didn't lose a husband and kids like Naomi, she lost a career that she was headed toward because a disease in her wrists. Ask her about it.

But what I loved the most about Court's teaching, was that the story doesn't end with suffering. The story ends with redemption. Just like the book of Ruth, Naomi is given a "kinsman redeemer", showing us that God had a plan all along! And when Court's suffering came to an end, she realized that God had a plan after all! The career change was God's plan, and she is now on staff at Believers Fellowship! (Can you believe it?!?)

Yeah, it is part time. Really part time. 20 hours...a month. But we are so excited to have Courtney on the team. Her love for God is shown through her love for students. Her main role will be helping with Middle School Girls Ministry! We are excited that God brought her around, and we look forward to seeing His plan unfold. Just like in the book of Ruth!

much Love,
johnny