112 high school youth came to either the Aug. 22 or Aug. 29 Sunday Bible class. You heard my heart for youth ministry and the plans for the coming year. Now don't stop. Come back this Sunday. We're going to take a look at a NOOMA video. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you'll love it. If you know, you'll be there ) I'm tallying up the pledges to our Compassion Kid and other projects and I'll give you some more word about that on Sunday morning.
Did I tell you how excited I was to see you? I was thrilled at how many of you were able to stop by. I'd love to get to know you better and for you to get to know other teens at Messiah better. Another great way to do that is to come and worship on Wednesday night. This Wed. night we have a Wed. Worship. It starts at 7:00pm in the gym, so don't be late. This week, we'll be looking at the crowd vs. the cross. Who are you following? Bring some friends and come worship the King on Wednesday night.
Sell POGO cards to your friends and neighbors. POGO cards can also be sold on Sunday mornings. If you'd like to sign up for a time slot to sell them, send me a text, email or facebook message. The slots are after the early service until 9:35am and from 10:10am until the start of the 10:30 service. Sign up now. POGO cards sell for $20 and $10 of that is profit. It can be used for the ski trip, dare 2 share, gleanings or any youth event.
Lunch anyone?? I'm trying to reserve my Tuesday's for high school lunch time. I'd like to come and visit high schools and have lunch with any of you. All I'm waiting for is an invitation. We've got at least 11 different high schools represented at Messiah, so I'll be getting around. Right now there are 4 Tuesdays in September I'd like to start with. Where will I eat first? We'll have to wait and see who invites me to lunch on Sept. 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th. (Don't worry, I'll pay for my own lunch!)
2. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
"Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." (1 Peter 3:8)
Peter is a writing here to a group of Christians, some of whom are being (or about to be) mistreated because they follow Jesus. He's about to give them some guidelines for how Christians can live in an honorable way even when we're going through hard times.
He starts with this: Treat each other right. No, that doesn't go far enough. He really says, "Treat each other as close family." It's easy when you're living through a painful season to excuse meanness. It's easy to say to yourself, "Everyone will just have to understand how much I'm hurting; I don't have the energy to be nice."
What Peter will tell us this week is that's exactly backwards. God can make our suffering count for something, especially if we'll live like we're His in the middle of it. So keep getting together with believers. Look for ways to show sympathy to others (not just yourself). Be compassionate and humble. Give them "family access" to your heart (and visa versa).
Think: Do you live in harmony with other Christians? When you're hurting, do you get closer or pull away from your Christian family? Why?
Pray: Ask God to help you to treat the believers in your church the way this verse describes.
Do: Look up the word "harmony" in an online dictionary and write down the definition.
