How do you connect with God?

This past week we spent time looking at a variety of practical ways in which we can spend time with God. The verses that we kicked off from were:
Romans 12:1-2 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
And
Mark 12:30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
After reading these verses and realizing all the things that influence our lives we understood that in order for us to be found acceptable and to love God the way we should, we must be connected to Him. We practiced a couple of exercises (some which are awkward for us, we don’t like stillness.)
1. Be quiet and listen to a worship song. Allow God to speak to you through the words of the song. Try it with this song from Gungor – “Beautiful Things”
2. Read your favorite verse and sit still and meditate for 2 minutes on the verse.
3. Take 10 minutes and pray.
a. 1 minute to thank God for what He has given us
b. 2 minutes and confess any sin in your life
c. 3 minutes ask God for your needs
d. 2 minutes bring request before God for others
e. 1 minute surrender to God and His will for us.
4. Read a Psalm. Draw a picture, write in your own words, or write a poem about what you see as you read the Psalm. Use your creativity.
You could talk to your teens this week about your favorite way to connect with God or what you do on a daily basis to allow God to influence your life.

We had another great night at e3. It is so rewarding to see some of our students leading in worship by singing, playing the guitar, playing the drum or by just worshipping our one true God.

One of the most well-known biblical stories is the account of David and Goliath. Even people who don’t read the Bible and never attend church understand the basic event. At e3 this week, we used this familiar story to help our students understand the importance of “protecting” our identities in God. David faced challenges from King Saul and Goliath. They questioned or attacked his identity as the future king or as a child of God. But David stood his ground because of his relationship with God.

This week, I’d encourage you to find some time to talk with your teenager about the idea of having our identities stolen, challenged, or undermined.
• Are your friends building you up or tearing you down?
• How is your relationship with God these days?
• If you could do something big for God right now, what would you do?

Remind your teenager that we can find our strength and beauty through a deeper, more intimate friendship with God—just like David had. Here is a favorite song of mine as a child that not many of the students knew:
Only a Boy Named David



Don’t forget to pray for Christ Community Church this week. Sunday (March 27, 2011) Paul Sanders will candidate. Make sure you are aware of the different time schedule for this Sunday.

Let me know if you have any questions or want me to pray for you or your family in any specific way.

For some useless information we learned that Pizza Hut has 2082 bricks on the front of the building.

Honoring God

We finished our five-week study designed to help students understand God’s purposes for their life. The first week, “Reaching Out to Your Friends,” focused on helping students understand that we are created in God’s image and we have the opportunity to share God’s love with the world. Week two, “Making Significant Connections,” focused on understanding the basic need that humans have to be connected with others on a deeper level. Week three, “Growing in Your Faith,” focused on the truth that we were created to know God and grow spiritually by spending time with God. Week four, “Serving in Ministry,” focused on the truth that God’s unique design provides us with the privilege to serve others. This week our final study was “Honoring God In All That You Do,” and we focused on the truth that God rested on the seventh day to show us the importance of taking time to stop and express our love and worship for God. Using Genesis 2:2-3 and Psalm 46:10, we saw that we were created to honor God.



Sometime this week, generate some discussion with your teenager about honoring God:

What are some traits of a healthy attitude toward worship?
As a family do we honor the Sabbath as a day of rest, or does it look just like every other day of the week?
What are some great ways to prepare yourself to worship God when you come to church?