The Story behind the Carols

*** Please Note, before you go further, you may want to download or have handy "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Silent Night".***

Opening Question:

What is your favorite Christmas song?

One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Hark! The Herald Angles Sing”. Why? Because without even listening to the words, there just seems like there is so much power and greatness in the way it they sing it. (Play Audio Clip - 1st Stanza only)

As powerful as the way the sing the song, if you take a minute and pay attention to the words, the real power and greatness is in the words.

So today, I want to take a look at 2 popular Christmas songs – “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Silent Night”. I want to look at what do these songs really communicate and how that information can impact our lives.

Scripture

“Hark! The Herald Angles Sing” (Play Audio Clip)

1. What is the message here? What is being said?
I
t’s talking about a new born King and that through this King there will be peace on earth. Lastly, it talks about how, because of this King, God and sinners will be reconciled

2. Does this correlate with the Bible at all?
Yes, in Luke 2:10-16

It talks about a Messiah/Savior being born (v. 10-11). That correlates with the “new born King” and “God and sinners reconciled” part. As a Messiah was a savior who would bring salvation to the Jewish people (funny thing is that Christ brought salvation to everyone, just the Jews). This Messiah would also be King. Also, this passage talks about peace on earth. It says that the heavenly hosts praised God and said, “on earth peace to men..”

So, this song clearly has a message in it. That message is found in the Bible as well. It is a message of Hope that a Savior will come and bring reconciliation.

Let’s check out another popular Christmas song

“Silent Night” (Play Audio Clip)
1. What is the message here? What is being said?

It’s talking about Christ the savior being born. That this baby is the son of God’s love and that in this baby is redemption and grace.

2. Does this correlate with the Bible at all?

Yes, John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

God loved us so much that he sent his son into this world. Jesus came offering Grace. He didn’t come into this world to condemn the world but to save it. Rather, he offered redemption and salvation by believing in Him.

Again, this song clearly had a message in it. That message, too, can be found in the Bible. It is a message of Hope that God wants to save us from our present condition. That he gives us grace and salvation.

Application

So again, the message in these songs is a message of Hope that involves love, salvation, reconciliation and grace.

This is the Gospel story – the Good News!

In this we have HOPE.
- Hope that God loves us despite what we have done in the past – Love and Grace
- Hope that God has the Power to save and help in all situations – Salvation
- Hope that God freely gives us grace and love – Reconciliation

As I said in the beginning, a lot of songs you sing this Christmas sound powerful, but you will realize that the true power is in the words that talk about God’s amazing gift to us – His son that has given us so much hope.

Is there 1 thing you can do this week to rest in that hope? Whether it is picking up a Bible and reading the story of Christ’s birth, or getting all the old Christmas hymns together and listening to them and examining the words of hope in them, or it might be putting your trust in Christ for the 1st time by believing and committing to Christ.

All the Carols sung and Christmas traditions followed, good deeds done for others, presents given to others mean nothing unless we individually and humbly recognize our own bankruptcy before God in our sin and our need to RECEIVE Jesus as our Lord. If you have never put your hope and trust in God, I challenge you to reflect this Christmas season on the hope that is found in God.

Whatever it might be, I want you to take 1 minute and think of 1 thing you can do this week to rest in God’s hope found in Christ’s birth.

Whatever it was, I want to encourage you to tell a friend and share your application with them. We’ll never be able to know God’s hope and power unless we leave here today and follow through with it.

In fact, for all of us, this Christmas, let’s live our lives with that hope comes from God and God alone.

Pray

Christ and his Family Tree

Opening Question:

Family trees. What’s the point of tracing your heritage? What’s the point of looking at family trees?

I have found out that most of the time, you can find out some interesting facts about your family when you do a family tree. In fact, this isn’t dating way back, but looking at Anne’s family tree, we were able to look back at her ancestors. And, did you know that Anne’s Great grandfather was the President/Prime Minister of Yugoslavia? He was. He was the Prime Minister from 1932-1934. Look him up on the web – Milan Srskic. I know that is Anne’s dad’s name, but that was also the name of her great grandfather. To go a little bit more, Anne’s grandfather was very influential in politics and was making some noise when, one day, he went to work never to return. Anne’s dad ended up being sent over to America where some relatives took him in at a very young age. He’s never been back to that area until this past spring.

You find out a lot about people based on their history. They are who they are today based on life experiences and the people in their lives.

Today, we are going to look at another family tree. Since it is Christmas season, I thought it would be good to look at the whose who of Jesus’ past. What do we learn from Jesus’ family tree? Who were some of the cast of characters in Jesus’ past? Let’s find out.

Scripture

I’m not going to read you the whole family history of Jesus. However, I want to highlight some people from Jesus’ family tree:

1. Ruth (Matthew 1:5 – Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,)
What do we know about Ruth? (Genesis 19:30-38; Ruth 1-4)

She was born through a history of incest. That’s right, her relative got her dad, Lot, drunk so that he ended up sleeping with her and got her pregnant so she could have a baby. Out of that history, years later, she was born.

2. David (Matthew 1:6 – and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,)
- What do we know about David? (Read 1 Samuel 16,17; 2 Samuel 11)

He killed Goliath and became King of Israel – not bad
Then he used his power, as King, to have an affair with a soldier’s wife. Once he found out that she was pregnant, he assured that the soldier – her husband – would be killed in battle by having him placed on the front lines of battle – not so good

3. Tamar (Matthew 1:3 – Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,)
- What do we know about Tamar? (Genesis 38:6-16)

Tamar was frustrated with being without a child. After all, her 2 previous husbands were killed.
So, she took matters into her own hands, prostituted herself and became pregnant by her dead husband’s father

This doesn’t look like the family line of God does it? It looks more like the Hall of Shame than the Hall of Champions.

Now trust me, there are plenty of other people in his lineage that weren’t like these. But these are just 3 I selected here. In fact, what does this show you about Jesus’ history? How do you think having these people in Jesus’ life impacted him? (Let students answer)

It impacted his life enough because he committed his life to helping others – in particular, people who were the social outcasts.

Application

Jesus comes from a lineage of outcasts, fallen kings and prostitutes. They aren’t all those types of people, but there are enough of them to show you that he wasn’t raised from Kings and trained to be royalty. No, he was raised from normal people, with everyday struggles.

To me, that means that he can relate to us. He understands us.

Although he was destined to be king, he wasn’t trained to be above us or raised to by royalty. No, he grew up from a carpenter dad who probably struggled to make ends meet. He grew up from mom who probably had to escape rumors about her infidelity. After all, who has ever heard of a virgin giving birth?

Not only did he grow up with it, but he dedicated his life to ministering to the outcasts, the “people that didn’t matter”.

So, as you go home today, I want you to take this home: Jesus can relate to the circumstances you are in. He understands what you go through. How? Because he lived through it and grew up with it.

Jesus isn’t someone who is “too good” for you who looks down on you when you mess up. He is someone who can relate to you and help you through all things.

Hebrews 2:18 – "Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."

He knows what you are going through and he can help you through it all.

The question you will have to answer now is, will you let him? Will you let him come into your life and help you through it, one day at a time? Or will you brush him aside and continue to take your chance at your way?

Remember, as I pointed out at the beginning, you are today based on life experiences and your history. Starting this week, let’s change our experiences and the course of our history by putting 100% trust into Christ and his ability to help us and lead us. Let’s not waste another day, week, month or year. He knows what you are going through and can help you through it. Let’s put our trust in Him.

Pray

T.R.A.I.N. to be Christlike

I saw Casino Royale this past week with a few friends. If you like James Bond movies or these types of movies, you will like this. Overall, the movie was good, but I left the movie pondering something completely different.

Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I saw the new James Bond and I was impressed with how built his upper body looked. I looked at his body size and thought I was very similar in structure. However, where I lack is that I have tons of flab and he is well defined. Mind you, he isn’t this huge man, but his body is built.

So, after watching the movie, I decided that I was going to train myself to have a better body. I didn’t want to be 50 years old with a fat belly and wonder why my body looks so bad. After all, if James Bond can have a great body, why can’t I?

So, I came up with a plan as to how I was going to get a better body. I decided I was going to do 2 specific things:
* Watch what I eat
* Exercise and work out

I’ve been doing this for about a week and you know what. I haven’t lost any weight and my body doesn’t look any different. However, in the midst of my training, I know that I am headed down the right direction and if I don’t quit, I will be better off down the road because of steps I am taking right now.

In light of this, today we are going to talk about training ourselves to be Christlike in our lives. We are going to examine 5 easy, sure fire ways you can train to become more Christlike. Will you become Christlike overnight because of this training, probably not. However, just like me and my body situation, you will be headed down a path to true life.

So, let’s get into right now by looking at why we should become Christlike.

Scripture

1 Timothy 4:7-8: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

* What are we to do here? Stay away from godlessness and train ourselves to be godly
* What are the benefits of being godly? We will realize the promises God has for both this present life and life to come
* How do we train ourselves to be godly?

To train ourselves to be Christlike, we have to do 5 things. To help you remember them better, I came up with an acronym – T.R.A.I.N. Now, this isn’t a formual nor is it in any particular order. This is just a way for you to remember what you can do.

To effectively train ourselves to be Christlike we have to Transform our Minds

Romans 12:2: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

What are we to do? Don’t conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind

When we commit to following Christ, changes happen. If instance, once you start following Christ, some of the old things you had done, should now be gone – like getting wasted, sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Why is that? (Let students answer) It is because……we are transformed. The old Tom is gone, a new one is here. The old things we did are now gone because God can and should fill that void in our lives.

Now given, it doesn’t always happen like that and sometimes people stumble – in fact, we all do and fall back into that trap. But overall, we are transformed.

It is a transformation that begins in our minds. Our train of thought has to focus on godly things, not selfish things or things “the world” thinks about.

What then, is the benefit of this transformation? We’ll be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

So, it begins with a transformation of your mind. We need to go from our desires, will and wants to God’s path. When we do that, we will be able to know God’s path for our life – a path that is good, pleasing and perfect.

The 2nd training exercise we can do to become more Christlike is to Read the Bible.

I mentioned this last week, so I won’t go too in-depth about this. However, as I pointed out last week, that when we read the Bible, we benefit. It gives us freedom from the old rules and regulations. It makes us prosperous and successful in life and it will help us as we head down the road of life.

As I said last week, these are just some of the benefits. But, if we want to train ourselves to be more Christlike, we need to incorporate God’s handbook to life – the Bible.

That’s right, it is our handbook and instruction manual on what to do and what not to do. The stories are often fascinating and there are plenty of great situations that you will often find ourselves in. Sure, take out the camels and the mules and substitute them with dogs and cats – whatever, you get my point.

Again, as I said last week, when we read the Bible, we benefit. So, as we train ourselves to be more Christlike, we need to Read the Bible.

The 3rd training exercise we can do to become more Christlike is to Apply what we learn.

Everyday, we learn something. Sometimes they are good like Pie = 3.14. Sometimes they are bad like, “you mean I can get in trouble for forging my parents signatures” – who would have known? You get my point.

What good is it if you learn something that can impact and change your life for the better if you don’t do anything with it? We’ve got to apply what we learn or we’ll never be better off.

One of my favorite verses is John 10:10. Christ said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

That full life comes from following Christ and training ourselves to be like Him. By reading the Bible, attending church, surrounding yourselves with people who follow Christ faithfully, you will learn a bunch. What you have to do with your learning is to apply them to your life and see how God works in you because of your application.

If you want a better life, if you want to be more Christlike, you have to apply what you learn.

The 4th training exercise we can do to become more Christlike is to Inquire of God’s wisdom.

We have to seek out God’s wisdom. When a decision needs to be made, where do you turn? Remember, a few weeks ago, I talked about how Solomon, king of Israel asked God for godly wisdom in the decisions he would have to make because he was young and had so much responsibility. Do you turn to God like that? God wants to give us wisdom to make the right decisions.

In fact, it says in James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”

The answer I most often get, when I ask a student, or an adult for that matter, what they are going to do with a certain situation, is “I don’t know”. It’s true, do a little poll by yourself and see if that is true of your friends too. They may have an idea of what they want to do or their options, but it is still a toss up.

The way we can know what to do is to ask God. James 1:5 says that if we lack wisdom – which most of us do – we should ask God and it will be given to us.

Now, once God gives us this wisdom, we have to APPLY WHAT WE LEARN – #3. What good is godly wisdom if we refuse to apply it?

So, seek Godly council, he promises to give us wisdom and apply it.

The last training exercise we can do to become more Christlike is to Never QUIT!

Notice how I didn’t say Never give up or Never stop? Giving up is like you tried for a bit but you just couldn’t do it anymore…poor you. Quitting means you refused to go on. Whether it was the pressure or the circumstances, you just couldn’t cut it. Do you understand what I am saying?

It can be awfully hard to be Christlike – especially since most other people in this world aren’t striving to TRAIN themselves. However, we can’t quit. We can’t quit on Christ!

Quitting on Christ means that He isn’t worth it.
Quitting on Christ means that He can’t help you through it.
Quitting on Christ means that He doesn’t have the power to help.

When we quit on Christ, you failed in life. Hear this again, when you quit on Christ, you failed in life. Why? Because you are quitting on the only true hope there is. You are quitting on the only true love there is. You are quitting on the only true path.

Guys and gals, life is tough and it is hard. You are faced with countless situations that almost appear like no win situations. However, there is victory to be gained and it is in following Christ. NEVER QUIT ON CHRIST!

Application

So, in wrapping up, we need to train ourselves to be more Christlike:
· Transform our Mind
· Read the Bible
· Apply what we learn
· Inquire of God’s wisdom
· Never QUIT!

It is never too late to train yourself. But, don’t wait til you have made too many poor choices that it will be harder for you to get into shape.

Look, I weigh 185 right now. I need to get into shape now while I still weight this much. I don’t want to make it harder on myself by weighing 200, 215 before I get into better shape.

What can you do this week to train yourselves? Where do you need to begin? The challenge this week is to go out and begin to train to become more Christlike.

Why do that? Because, as I mentioned earlier, we can take hold of the promises God has for us and we can know and understand His will, His path for our life.

Let’s begin today to TRAIN ourselves to be more Christlike.

Pray

The Benefits of Living out God's Word

Opening Question

What are the benefits of these products? What contributions to society do these things do?
* a plunger
* a tv
* a piece of paper
* a cup of coffee

Now, what about a Bible? Is there any benefit to this thing? Don’t give the pat answer of yes…tell me what? What are the benefits to reading the Bible and doing what it says?

Today, we are going to examine and explore some of the benefits of reading the Bible and doing what it says. Because I believe that this one thing can be one of the greatest contributions to your life and a handbook as to how to live your life effectively.

Scripture
The 1st benefit is found in the book of James.

James 1:22, 25: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says... But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”
1. What are we do when we read the Bible?
2. What will happen to us if we read and apply what the Bible says?
3. What will we be free from?

When we read the Bible, we need to do what it says. If we do, we will be blessed and it brings about freedom.

So, the 1st benefit from reading the Bible and doing what it says is that we will have freedom from the old rules and regulations that so many of the Jewish people were imprisoned by.

These are not not actual rules, but if you mowed your law on the Holy Day/Sabbath, you would be sinning. If you milked your cow at certain times, you would be sinning. I know they sound like silly rules and who would ever do these, but the Jewish people were held to those types of rules.

But, because of Christ’s death and resurrection, we are no long slaves to those kinds of rules. But now, we are free because of the grace and love that Christ brought us through his death and resurrection.

What we need to do to experience that freedom is to read the Bible and do what it says. So again, the 1st benefit of reading the Bible and doing what is says is that it brings freedom.

The 2nd benefit is found in Joshua

Joshua 1:8: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
1. What are we do when we read the Bible?
2. What will happen to us if we read and apply what the Bible says?
3. Prosperous and successful in what?

The 2nd benefit from reading the Bible and doing what it says is that we will be prosperous and successful in life. By knowing what it says and doing it, you will have that guide to help you make the right decisions. It is a handbook you can turn to and examine how other people made choices and how those choices either worked for them or against them.

So, not only will we gain freedom but we will be prosperous and successful in life. Not too shabby?

The 3rd benefit is found in Psalm.

Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
1. What benefit will we get from reading the Bible?
2. What is the symbolism here?

A light, especially when it is dark and scary, will help you make the right steps along the path so that you can get to your final destination.

So, in the path of life, a light will help you stay on that path and not fall off or get sidetracked so that you can reach your end goal. Reading the Bible and doing what it says will help give you guidance that will help you stay on track.

So many people feel that they know the right way and that they can do it all alone. Why do it alone when God is there ready to help you and guide you? Why go through all the pain and suffering of the poor choices you will make when God want to help you?

Application

So, wrapping up, there are 3 clear benefits from reading the Bible and doing what it says:
1. It will bring you freedom
2. It will make you prosperous and successful – not necessarily in riches but in life
3. It will be a guide for you to make the right decisions to stay on the right path – God’s path for your life.

The Bible is your complete handbook for life.

The challenge this week is simple. Break out a Bible, read it and do what it says. What’s the worse that can happen to you? You have more clarity in what you should be doing in life situations? You might succeed? You might not stress about important decisions? If you ask me, that isn’t too shabby.

If you need a starting point – no problem. I have a 30 day, brief overview of stories in the Bible. You might say, it’s the cliff note version of the Bible. 30 Day Challenge

This week, let’s make no more excuses why we don’t read the Bible. Let’s try it out and see how God impacts our life because of it. No more excuses.

How to make wise decisions

Opening Questions:

which would you prefer Pepsi or Coke
which would you prefer the redskins or do you hate the redskins
which would you prefer hot coffee or a frappucino
which would you prefer watching football or watching something other than football
which would you prefer watching the OC or watching the Office

Thanks for participating in this little exercise. What was the point?

I did this to help illustrate that we make choices everyday. You choose either Pepsi or Coke. You choose either hot coffee or cold coffee. My question is, what is the right choice to make – what is the wise choice. Furthermore, how do you know how to make the right choice?

Today, we are going to look at making wise choices and how to make them. Some decisions you make are small in the grand scheme of life, and some are big. It would be great to find out how and what the wise decision is. So, let’s find out.

Scripture

Read Ephesians 5:15-17

1. We need to make the _____ out of every opportunity.
2. How are the “days” described?
3. We need to act how and try to understand what?

This passage says that we need to be wise in how we live, make the most out of every opportunity and act thoughtfully as we try to understand what God wants us to do. But why?

Let’s break this down quickly:
· If you had to choose between living wisely and living foolishly, which would you choose? Living wisely puts you in situations to succeed in life, not fail.
· Doing good in every opportunity. That makes sense – do you really want to do poorly or bad? Of course not. I can’t remember the last time I heard someone say, “I can’t wait to get drunk and drive later tonight”. Two poor decisions that no one wants to make.
· Lastly, act thoughtfully as we try to understand what God wants us to do. Why should we do that? Because God is the one with the ultimate plan for our life. He knows where we’ve been and where we are going. Because of that, He will be able to help guide us through the simple and the hard decisions.

But, how do we turn those decisions over to God? What should we do?

Read 1 Kings 3:5-14
1. When given the opportunity to ask for whatever he wanted, what did Solomon choose?
2. Why did he choose godly wisdom?
3. How did God respond?

How did Solomon turn decisions over to God so he could make the right decision? By asking God for godly wisdom.

He knew that he was in charge of a great kingdom and had a lot of responsibility. He knew that he couldn’t make these decisions by himself…he needed help. So, he turned to God.

In the same way, you are in charge of a great kingdom – Your kingdom. You also have a lot of responsibility. The decisions you make today will dramatically alter your life for either the good or the bad. So, why make these decisions by yourself? It is always good to have a 2nd opinion. Who better to ask than God?

Application

So, as I wrap up, know that everywhere you go, everything you do, you will have to make a decision. It may be a small decision like what food will you eat. Or, it may be a huge decision like where will you go to college or who shall you date.

The only way you will be able to make the right decision is if you turn it over to God. Big decisions, small decisions, it doesn’t matter turn it over to God.

You may think a simple invitation to a party isn’t something to pray about. But who knows, a party invitation turns into a drinking invitation turns into a driving invitation, turns into an accident, jail time or even a death. Same thing with dating. You don’t need to ask for God’s wisdom for dating someone do you? It’s just a simple date, right? Wrong, a simple date turns into a simple make out session, turns into a simple pregnancy.

You may be laughing at my progressions here, but if you don’t think that’s possible or a reality, think again. It happens all the time. Everyone always says, I never thought it would happen to me.

We need to be asking God for wisdom in all situations so it doesn’t have to happen to you.

So, personalizing this a bit – what decisions will you hand over to God for wisdom? What is a decision you will have to make either now or in the near future? Start asking God now and see how His wisdom helps you make the right decision.

Remember, there is no decision too small or too big to give over to God.

Pray

Living out your faith through service

Opening Question:

What do you think a plunger, phone, dish towel and paint brush have in common?

These are all symbols of ways you can put others first. A plunger to clean toilets, a phone to listen to someone else, a dish towel to clean and a paint brush to fix something. By doing these things, you will be helping others by doing them yourself rather than have people do them for you.

Last time we looked at sacrificing our entitlement and give to others and help them. Today we are going to look at what else you can do for others. But, before we do that, I want to look at yet another reason as to why we should help and serve others.

Scripture

Read James 2:14-18
1. Is just believing in God good enough?
2. What else do we need?
3. Why do you think it says that we need to have actions to go along with our faith?

Say, for example, you believed we shouldn’t kill animals. However, you show up after Christmas break with a brand new fur coat while eating a steak. Do you think people would respect your beliefs? Of course not because you obviously didn’t believe in the no animal killing stance enough to prevent yourself from getting a fur coat or eating the steak. Your beliefs and actions don’t line up.

We are challenged, here, to take action. It isn’t enough just to believe, we have to do something about our belief. In fact, it is being implied here that true faith has to have action to go with it.

So, what kind of action do we need to do?

Read Acts 6:1-4
1. What was the crisis?
2. How did they choose to handle it?
3. What was the criteria for these waiters?
4. What does this communicate about the importance of these waiters?

What kind of action do we need to do? Anything in which we are serving and helping others.

They had to meet certain qualifications which means not any “bum” off the street could do it. You had to fit a certain criteria because it was AN IMPORTANT JOB.

It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you are serving someone else. In fact, some people aren’t gifted to do every kind of service. I can’t help with plumbing or car repairs. But, I can help cleaning toilets, doing the dishes or painting.

Every job is important.

Application

So, we have 2 truths today:
· Faith without actions is useless
· There is no service job unimportant

Now, what are you going to do with these truths? What can we do? (Let students answer)
Your thoughts were all great.

I want to encourage you, that no matter where you are in your relationship with God, you can start looking for ways to serve and live out your faith that way.

You can:
· Serve your parents by doing the dishes, being nice to your siblings, helping them with things around the house
· Serve your brothers/sisters by being nice to them, helping them with their homework or chores
· Serve your friends by going out of your way to do something nice for them, by listening to them
There are plenty of things for you to do. You just have to seek them out and do it. Remember, your faith without some action is useless and there is no unimportant job.

The question now remains, what will you do? How will you serve and what will you do to help others this week? Remember what we talked about last week. Christ made a ton of sacrifices for us. We should do likewise.

Take a minute and write down 1 thing you will do for your family or your friends this week. Then, go out and do it.

Pray

Christ's attitude in Service

I want to open up with a clip from a movie I love – Happy Gilmore. I know it is funny and mindless, but please pay attention to what Happy is saying.

Get and Watch Happy Gilmore Clip – Ch. 1. 3:12 – 5:03
- What was Happy put on this earth to do?
- Why did he think he would get picked this year?
- What happened?

Happy had a sense of entitlement. He felt, that because of his power, he would be a shoe in for the team. After all, he was put on this earth to play hockey.

However, he didn’t make it. Therefore, he tried to take his frustration out on the coaches and players, but to no avail.

I believe we all feel that we have a sense of entitlement. We are all entitled to something or another – we’re entitled to get a car when we turn 16, we are entitled to get the best clothes, we are entitled to do whatever we want, whenever we want, with whoever we want.

Christ was entitled to a whole lot as well. However, He chose to use that entitlement for something else. Let’s see what he did with his entitlement and how we can emulate that as well.

Scripture

Read Philippians 2:5-8
1. What was Christ’s entitlement?
2. The Bible said that our attitude should be that of Christ. What is that attitude?
3. Why would he do this?

Christ did this because he chose to put us 1st. He chose to put our needs before his. He was entitled to be praised and honored, but he chose to be the son of a carpenter rather than a king. He was entitled to be praised and honored, but he chose to die a brutal death

If there was any sense of entitlement, Christ had it! He deserved so much better. But he chose to put us first.

His desire for us to be in a relationship with God again outweighed his sense of entitlement. He chose us over himself. He was more concerned about our well being than about him having to die on the cross.

Do you understand the sacrifice Christ made for you? He was entitled to be King, but because he put us first, he chose to be the son of a carpenter, who lived amongst the poor and the unaccepted, who died one of the most brutal deaths of all time. He did this all for us.

Application

So, how should Christ’s attitude affect how we treat others?

Christ put us first. We need to put others first.

Think about it. Are you putting other people’s needs before your needs? Are you sacrificing your desires the same way Christ did? Now, just as a disclaimer, I’m not asking you to go sacrifice your life for someone else. But,
* Are you sacrificing your time to listen to someone in need?
* Are you sacrificing your hard earned money for someone so he/she can eat a meal?
* Are you sacrificing your popularity so that someone else might feel accepted and cared for?
*Are you sacrificing your own needs for others?

There are so many things you can do to put others first this week. In fact, do it right now. Remember, Christ sacrificed his own life for us. He was entitled to so much more. What is 1 thing you can do this week to put others before yourself?

Pray

Being Chosen

Opening Question:

Do you choose your friends or do your friends choose you? Why?

I would side with the comment, “your friends choose you”. Naturally, you choose certain people you want to be friends with. However, if they don’t accept you or want to be friends with you, you won’t be friends with them. Therefore, your friends choose you.

Well today, we are going to talk about how 1 person choose and accepted us. We are going to look at what He did and how that model should be the model we use in the way we look at others and choose our friends.

So, let’s get right into it.

Scripture

Read Romans 5:8
- What did this say?
- How does God communicate his love and acceptance of us?
- How does this action relate to friendships?

God communicated his love and acceptance of us by having Christ come down from heaven and die for us – even though we were unworthy of it.

God didn’t say, “Oh, they don’t wear the right kind of clothes, I won’t save them” or “Oh, they don’t have lots of money, I won’t save them” or even “Oh, they aren’t the popular people, I won’t save them”.

No, God sent Christ to die for us despite all our inefficiencies. I hate to tell you all, but none of us are perfect. Just because we look a certain way or hang with certain people, that doesn’t make us any different from the people who don’t.

We all have crud in our lives that we aren’t proud of. But that didn’t effect God’s desire to be in a relationship with us. He loves every one of us the same.

Not only did Christ accept and love us for who were, He goes even further.

Read John 3:16-17
- What does this communicate about God and his desire to be with us?

Christ came into the world because of God’s love and desire for a relationship with us. God chose us to spend eternity with Him!!!! That, despite our sin and crud in our life, he still wanted to be with us!?! Talk about the ultimate display of acceptance! If having his one and only son come down here to sacrifice his life for us wasn’t enough, he invited us to spend eternity with him too!


Despite what you may think or what you may have heard, God doesn’t care what you look like or what you have done in your past. He just wants a relationship with you. He cares about you so much and wants to spend eternity with you. He didn’t have to. In fact, he probably shouldn’t have, but he chose too. He took an interest in us.

Application

So, because Christ chose us, despite our crud, how should we respond?

Everyone wants to be accepted. Everyone wants to be chosen. It is a need we all have to be liked and cared for.

Think for a minute, are you accepting of others? What determines who you accept and reject? Clothes, popularity, sense of humor, sports teams?

This week, pick at least 1 person in your life – at school, at home, in your youth group – and accept them this week the way God accepted us. Reach out to someone you haven’t to before - take an interest in them, ask them questions about their life and their interests, call them to see how they are doing.

If you are struggling with who you should pick, ask God to tell you and make it clear. He will.

I bet, if you legitimately took an interest in other people this week, you can have a tremendous impact on others. I hate to bring this up, but I wonder if those Columbine kids would have done that horrible thing, if more people would have taken an interest in them and accepted them for who they were, not who they weren’t.

You can make a difference in people and build some pretty good friendships by simply accepting others for who they are, who God made them to be.

This week, let’s take an interest in others, choose and accept them as God would. Remember, Christ accepted us despite all our junk, we can do the same for others. The love of Christ compels us to.

Pray

A Father we can Trust

Right now, what is 1 thing you want? If Christmas was tomorrow, what would be on the top of your list?

Now, what is 1 thing you need right now?

Do you understand the difference?

Right now, I want a new Palm Treo 700 so I can combine my phone, planner and email all into 1 tiny package and I can go anywhere with it. However, I don’t really need it as I already have a phone, a pda and a laptop. They may not be the most up to date or in best working condition, but I have them already, they work fine and they don’t cost anything extra.

Today, we are going to look at God and how he wants to provide for us and take care of us in all situations in life. We are going to look at 2 Bible passages and, as I read them, I want you to listen for who God is. Remember, we are talking about foundational truths about who God is. Truths that will allow us to turn to God.

Scripture

Read Matthew 7:7-11

1. How are we described?
2. How does that contrast with God?
3. If, then, we are evil, yet capable of doing good and God is good, what does that mean he will do for us?
4. What do we have to do to get God’s provision?

We have to go before God and ask him to provide for us. He is the perfect father who wants to meet all our needs. He wants to give us all things and bless us beyond measure, but we first have to ask and seek him out.

I do want to say, though, that he wants to meet all our needs, not all our wants. We may want a brand new BMW 315i, but what you need is just a car to get you to school, work and home. You may want a brand new iPod, but you don’t need it. There is a difference between our needs and our wants.

He provides for our needs, not our wants. I will say, sometimes our wants and our needs are the same, but I just want to make clear that God isn’t Santa Claus.

So, God wants to provide for us. What we have to ask and seek Him out. Not only is God someone who will provide for us. But, he is also something else.

Let’s look to see what else is true about God.
Read Proverbs 3:5-6

If we have already asked and sought God out, what else do we have to do? Trust Him
What will happen when we trust in God? He will make our path straight
What does that mean? He will guide us down the right path for our life.

Application

Based on these 2 readings, what do we know to be true about God?

In God, we have a Father we can trust who wants to provide for us. He wants to meet our needs. What we have to do is to
· ask Him,
· trust Him and
· seek His ways.

We may not always understand them – as they are often not our ways. But He will make our path straight and will meet our needs when we trust Him.

So, now knowing that He wants to provide for you, what is 1 thing you can trust God with this week? What can you give over to him? College selections, decisions about friendships, dating relationships, money issues can all be given over to God.

Write it down, share with a friend and give it over to God. Then, see how God provides for you this week.

Remember, God opens and shuts doors for us so that we will know which way to go. The key is that we ask Him, trust Him and seek His ways. Only that way, we can know which way to turn. Only that way, can we stand firm in our faith in God.

Pray

Job's Authentic Faith

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "Job's Authentic Faith" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com/ or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Question:

What’s the worst thing that has ever happened to you? Please don’t answer aloud as it might be extremely personal, and, let’s be honest, how often do we keep tallies of the top 10 worse things that ever happened to us? Rarely.

But, think to yourself some of the worst things that have ever happened to you. Now, think, how did you respond to those events? Did you shut down, did you get angry, did you get wasted? What did you do?

Our faith in God and how we respond to our circumstances are directly related. To see how they relate, we are going to look at a man named Job.

Scripture

Read Job 1:13-22

What happened to Job? Let’s recount the tragedies in Job’s life:
1. His cattle and servants were killed
2. His sheep and servants were killed
3. His camels were stolen and servants killed
4. All his children were killed

Can you say bad day?!? How did Job respond?
· He tore his clothes, shaved his head
· Then, he worshipped God and did not sin

What doesn’t correlate here? What about Job’s response doesn’t make sense?
· After all the tragedy, he worshipped God
· I don’t know about you, and I’m a committed believer, but I don’t think I would be worshipping God right after all this has happened to me. I can think of many things I would do, but that isn’t one of the.
· I’m just being honest. I think I would eventually get to that point, but not immediately…not like Job

It’s bad enough that he lost all his profitability by losing his cattle, sheep and camels. Throw on to that the loss of all his children! I’ve know people who have lost a few loved ones over the course of a year – and that is bad, but to lose all your children in 1 day is insane.

And, what did he do? He worshipped God and didn’t sin!

Why would he do such a thing?!?
Because of his faith in God! I know it is hard to understand, but as Job said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

He counted everything that he had as given to him from God – his cattle, wealth, and children as a gift from God. “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.” Do you have this mindset?


Application

What can we learn from Job?

Our faith in God should never be determined by our circumstances. Good things and bad things are going to happen to you in life. Just because you go through a rough stretch doesn’t mean that God isn’t there and isn’t with you. On the contrary, he is there and he wants to help. Remember what we talked about last week – he understands and wants to help.

So, the next time something wacked happens to you, how are you going to respond? Are you going to bag what you know to be true about God because times are tough or are you going to stay strong with God knowing that at the very least, He:
· Understands what you are going through and can help you (Hebrews 4:14-16)
· He gives us grace (Hebrews 4:14-16)
· He loves us no matter what

In fact, right now, think of one circumstance, one thing in your life right now that you can commit over to God and trust Him to help you prevail. Write it down and pray that God will help you through it.

When we stay strong in our faith in God, he will help us overcome. He helped Job.

Read Job 42:12-15
“The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.”

God is there always and wants to help. He will provide, as He did with Job. The question is, will you give God the chance to provide and help you overcome?

Don’t give up on God!

Pray

David: Commited to God

Opening Questions:

Over the past few weeks we have been going over the life of David. We have seen him in the good times and the bad times.

As we wrap up the summer series and the life of David, I want to review some key concepts and thoughts presented.

Question 1: Why was David chosen to be king?
Question 2: Why did David believe God would help him defeat Goliath?
Question 3: Why was Saul jealous of David?
Question 4: What was one of the 3 friendship characteristics that Jonathan showed David?
Question 5: What is 1 of the 2 things children can do to help contribute to healthy families? Question 6: What was the legacy that David left Solomon?

So, what do these concepts have to do with anything? Why should we care what happened to David or how he led his life?

Scripture

Well, let me as you this, as you look over the whole of David’s life, what stands out to you?

The thing that stood out to me was David’s commitment to God. Through the great times – being anointed king, beating Goliath and winning many battles, he kept His focus on God. In fact, I would venture to say that he was blessed because of his commitment and dedication to God.

But also in the bad times – when his sin with Bathsheba became known and when Absalom took over the Kingdom, David kept his commitment and devotion to God. He definitely strayed for a moment or so, but he quickly turned back to God
David’s life correlates directly with what it says in the Bible.

Read Joshua 1:8 – "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
· By following God and using the Bible, the handbook for life, we will prosper and succeed in life – maybe not with wealth and riches, but we will succeed.
· It is when we turn our back on God’s plan, when things don’t quite go “as planned”.
· David epitomizes this – when he was following God, success followed. When he followed his own way, consequences followed.

When David was committed to God and his plan – his ways, David succeeded

When he strayed, things fell apart.

Application

Over this past summer, we have seen David’s commitment to God. Where is your commitment to God? Are you going after God’s plan and trust in his ways or are you still trying to figure out how you are going to make your life into something great.

Through the good and the bad, David constantly turned to God for direction and guidance.

Where do you turn? When good or bad things happen do you turn to God for guidance and direction or do you turn your back on Him and seek after temporary fixes?

We have to fix our eyes constantly on Christ to reap the rewards for following that is what David did. He kept his eyes fixed on God. Sure, he failed God occasionally, but he always returned to God.

What is 1 thing you can do this week to put your trust in God – as David did. Regardless of whether you feel like you are succeeding or failing, by putting our trust in God’s plan for our life, we can know for sure we are headed down the right path.

Pray

David: Leaving a Legacy

Opening Question:

Can you remember a speech or quote by someone famous? What stood out about that speech or quote?

There are speeches that define a person. Remember Vince Lombardi said, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing”. JFK once said, Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. Powerful words that help make these people leave behind lasting, powerful, winning legacies.

However, speeches can also leave behind a not so good legacy. Remember Bill Clinton – I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

These are all words from people that leave behind part of their legacy. It defines what we think of those people and shapes who they are in our minds.

There is a clip in the movie "Braveheart" that, though fictional, defined this person – it defined this movie.

Watch Braveheart clip: Chapter 10. Begin viewing when William Wallace (Mel Gibson) arrives at the battle.

Inspiring isn’t it? Makes you want to just go out there and fight for your rights. William Wallace took a bunch of poor, regular people and inspired them to fight an English army that was well trained and prepared. Who do you think won? William Wallace and his men in large part to the inspiring message he gave them.

What kind of legacy are you going to leave behind? A legacy that inspires others to do good or a legacy that just makes people just shake their heads in disbelief of what you did or said.

Today, as we continue or series on the life of David, we are going to look at his last days. We are going to look at what he wanted to pass on to his son.

Scripture

Read 1 King 2:1-3

What did David challenge Solomon to do?
1. Be strong
2. Show yourself to be a man
3. Observe what God requires:
a. Walk in His ways
b. Keep His decrees and commands, laws and requirements

What will become of Solomon if he does these things?
· He will prosper in all he does and wherever he goes.

Be strong, be a man and Obey God’s commands. Walk in His ways. If you do this, you will prosper and succeed in wherever you may go.

David’s final words to Solomon were these. Be sure to obey God and he will take care of you. Why do you think he chose to say these things instead of something like – secure the back wall and take care of your mom?

Because, through life experiences, he knew the right path to take. He knew that it is by staying close to God and relying on Him that he was able to succeed. The times that he followed his own path, he failed miserably. Look at the incident with Bethseba. Look at Saul’s life. Saul didn’t start off being this monster. He was a man who followed God. It wasn’t until he chose to take life and matters into his own hands that he started to fail.

So, David wanted to pass on this to his son. He wanted to make sure that Solomon knew to follow God because he knew that only by following God could he succeed.

Pretty simple. This leads us back to your legacy.

Application

What kind of legacy are you going to leave behind? Are you going to leave behind a yearbook type legacy, “Hey, you were a fun, good kid – have a great summer?”. Or, are you going to leave behind a legacy in which someone can remember you and honestly say, “that kid made a difference”.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the latter legacy. How do you get that?
Be strong, be a man - step up to the plate and perform – don’t cower behind others or things

But more importantly, Walk in God’s ways
o Seek Him (Matthew 6:33)
o Obey his commands (John 14:21)

By pursing God and his path for your life, he will take care of you. It won’t always be easy, but it will always be the right path.

So, again, I ask, what kind of legacy are you going to leave behind?

What is 1 thing you can do this week to start walking in God's ways for your life?

PRAY for God to help you start walking in his ways.

David: Families

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "David: Families" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com/ or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Question:
If you were to relate your family to a TV family, which family would it be?

I tried and tried to think of a TV family my life could be compared to, but nothing came up. Actually, the only “family” I could think of was the show Cheers. It actually wasn’t a family, but a bunch of friends who had much of the same characteristics of a family. I could identify most of my family as members of that show. There was no Norm, but my family consisted of Cliff Cleaven – the one who knows something about everything, Frasier – the psychiatrist, and Sam Malone – sports star – not me, but my older brother.

This week, we are continuing our series on the life and David by talking about family relationships. What makes for a good family and what are some signs of dysfunction. More importantly, where does God fit in?

Now, before we get into talking about David’s dysfunctional family, I need to give you some background on the main character in this story, Absalom. Absalom was:
- The 3rd son of David
- Very handsome
- He killed Amnon, David’s oldest son as revenge for raping his sister (Amnon’s half sister)
He fled after the killing
- David finally brought him back to Jerusalem after 3 years. However, he didn’t even see him for another 2 years after that
- Now, Absalom is starting to get a desire to be king and will do anything to get it.

Can you say dysfunction? How many more signs of dysfunction do you want? - murder, rape and alienation of family members – that’s quite a start.

Let’s pick up the story here.

Scripture

Read 2 Samuel 15:1-13
1. What happened in this story?
2. Why was he trying to dethrone his dad?
3. Where is the dysfunction here?

For reasons unknown, David's own son, was trying to detrone him! Let's see, murder, rape, alienation - now add hostile take-over to this family. Absalom ended up taking over the kingdom for a bit as David fled. However, his Kingship was short lived as he was killed in a battle against David’s men.

As I have pointed out time and again from the background and this story, David’s family is full of dysfunction. Which leads me to a point – not the main point, but a point. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT YOU DO, FAMILIES ARE FULL OF DYSFUCTION! No family is perfect – all of us have strange quirks. If you don’t know that now, you will when you are married.

So, if all families are full of dysfunction, is there any way your family can not be full of dysfunction, but healthy?

Yes, you and your family can have healthy relationships. It is found in Ephesians 6

Application

What are characteristics of healthy families (Read Ephesians 6:1-4)?
1. Children listening and obeying their parents
2. Children honoring their parents – comes with a promise to live long
3. Fathers not provoking their children to anger, but
4. Fathers bring up his children in the Lord

I want you to know, these are not the only 4 characteristics of healthy families, but it is a start. To look up more, try your Bible dictionary.

Are these characteristics of your family? If not, what ways can you listen, obey and honor your parents this week?

Remember, you can only control your part. You cannot control what your parents do, you can only control your attitude. Will you listen, obey and honor them this week?

That is the challenge. Healthy families are not the norm, but they are possible - do your part and pray for your family.

David: Friendships

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "David: Friendships" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com/ or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Questions:
Good Friend or Bad Friend. Read the statement. Write down whether you think this person is a good friend or a bad friend:

1. A person who always talks about themselves and never lets you talk about what is going on with you
2. A person who sends you a card when you’ve had a bad day
3. A person who defends you in front of others
4. A person who bashes you behind your back
5. A person who checks in with you to make sure you had a good day
6. A person who only talks to you when they need something from you
7. A person who hangs with you until someone “cooler” comes around

1. Bad 2. Good 3. Good 4. Bad 5. Good 6. Bad 7. Bad

Can you identify with any of these people? Have you had friends like this before? Have you been any of these people before?

In continuing our series on David, we are going to look at friendship. We are going to look at a special friendship that David had with Saul’s son – Jonathan and see how the characteristics Jonathan demonstrated can help us have better friendship.

Scripture

Before we pick up today’s story, I need to quickly remind you of where we are at. Last week we talked about how Saul was jealous of David. His jealousy consumed him to the point that he eventually tried to kill David – not just once or twice but many, many times.

This leads us to our story.

Read 1 Samuel 20:1-4
1. What happened here?
2. What did Jonathan communicate about friendship here?

In the midst of a very trying time for David, Jonathan offered his help. It wasn’t going to be easy for him as he was going to have to do something against his father in order to help his friend. His friendship ran that deep.

Now, know this. I am not encouraging you in any way to go against your father’s wishes in order to help a friend. Honoring your parents comes first, but each situation is different. In this situation, David had done nothing wrong to Saul. Jonathan offered to help him, despite his father’s vendetta against him. It shows how much he cared for David.

Read 1 Samuel 20:18-34
1. What happened here?
2. What did Jonathan communicate about friendship here?

He stood up for his friend. I’m not telling you to go and get in arguments against your parents, but in this situation, Jonathan stood up for his friend, who needed someone to defend him. After all, what did David really do to Saul? He didn’t try to over throw him or work behind his back. Saul was clearly in the wrong here and Jonathan stood up for his friend.

Read 1 Samuel 20:35-42
1. What happened here?
2. What did Jonathan communicate about friendship here?

His word was valid. Jonathan, probably heartbroken after realizing that his father wanted to kill his best friend, fulfilled his promise. He didn’t have too. He could have run away and said, “so sorry David”, I just can’t help you now…I’m too heartbroken. No, his word meant something to him and he followed through on it.

Application

Overall, Jonathan showed David that:
1. He wanted to help his friend
2. His word was valid
3. He stood up for his friend

When Jonathan did these 3 things, do you think David had any doubt about the way Jonathan felt about him? No.

Two questions for you:
Do you treat your friends this way?
Do they treat you this way?

If you or your friends treat each other in a way that isn’t what Jonathan modeled, then you need to seriously consider who you are friends with and why. Friends that are only interested in themselves and what you can do for them, aren’t really friends at all. They are a cancer that will bring you down.

A friend of mine just told me, there are some things you can control and some things our of your control. You need to control those things that you can. Friendships are a thing you can control – you can choose who you are friends with. You are not locked in. You have got to understand that. Why do you think so many athletes who were brought up in bad neighborhoods get in trouble when they don’t separate who they now are from who they once were?

So, this week, I want to challenge you to apply at least 1 of these 3 characteristics. Of the 3 characteristics of true friendship that Jonathan showed, what is the 1 thing you can do this week to show your friends how much you value their friendship?

Secondly, I want you to evaluate the friendship you have based on what Jonathan showed David. Do you treat your friends the way Jonathan did? Do your friends treat you that way?

The friendships we have and make can be instrumental in our lives. It's best now to make friends based on the model shown here than to realize when it is too late if you have the right friends or not.

PRAY

David: Dealing with Jealousy

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "David: Dealing with Jealousy" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com/ or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Question:
1. Have you ever been jealous of some one or some thing? List the top 3 things you have ever been jealous of.
2. How did you handel that jealousy? Did it effect a friendship or relationship?

This past week, I was at the Beach on a little vacation. It was nice weather and we got to hit the beach every day. We built castles and great walls to see if they could with stand the pounding ocean waves. It was really fun.

However, when we walked on the beach, I became a little insecure. Not only were there tons of people out there, but they all seemed to look like buff body builders. They looked like Arnold, but I looked like the farmer's tan wimp!

Just kidding, of course. There may have been 1 or 2 that looked buff and I didn’t look that weak. However, when you go out there and take off your shirt, you do get a little subconscious and start comparing. In fact, you might look at someone elses body and become a little envious or jealous of it…wanting that type of body for yourself.

Can jealousy ever be a good thing?

Very rarely will jealousy ever lead to anything good. In fact, in Proverbs 27:4, it says that jealousy leads to destructiveness.

Read Proverbs 27:4

As we continue our series on David, we are going to look at how jealousy took a potentially great situation for David and all of Israel and turned it into a nightmare.

Scripture

We pick up right after David killed Goliath

Read 1 Samuel 18:6-9; 12-16
1. How did the people respond to David and Saul?
2. How did Saul respond to this?
3. Why was Saul jealous of him?

Here we have a mighty entrance in which one of the greatest victories of all time happened (forget all those great Cowboy Super Bowl victories - as great as they were, they don't come close to David's victory). The crowds are roaring and the celebration has begun.

However, the turning point in the relationship between Saul and David happened with a simple chant - David has kill his tens of thousands and Saul his thousands! As great as David's victory over Goliath was, I think the crowd was a little over zealous in their remarks. None the less, they were made and this statement rang over and over again in Saul's ears.

How would you have responded to this statement? What could Saul have done differently than to get jealous?

Unfortunately, Saul became very jealous of David. For one, he had just won over the Israelites. For another, God was with David and not Saul - and Saul knew this! What a crummy feeling Saul must have had.

Saul’s jealousy led to his hatred of David which led him to try to kill him.

Think of all the good that could have become of a David and Saul partnership. They could have gone out and destroyed many armies and impacted societies tremendously for God.

However, what happened? Saul became so consumed by his jealousy of David that he tried time and time again to kill him. David became Saul’s enemy rather than his help.

Application

How should you handle jealousy?
1. Seek Godly Wisdom (Read James 3:14-17). It is:
Pure
Peace loving
Gentile and will yield to others
Full of mercy
Show no partiality
Sincere
2. Have the attitude of Christ (Read Philippians 2:3-5)
3. Recognize the good this happening for that person and rejoice for/with that person.
4. Recognize who God desires you to be.

Remember, God has a plan for you to succeed and prosper. We have to turn to Him, seek His wisdom and follow His gameplan for our life. Let’s rejoice with those who are prospering now, regardless of their view towards us and others.

Let’s not let jealously ruin a good thing in our friendships with others like it ruined Saul and David’s friendship.

What is 1 thing that you can do this week to handle jealousy better? Write it down and start doing it! Seek Godly wisdom and He will guide you.

David: Overcoming Obstacles

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "David: Overcoming Obstacles?" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com/ or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Question:

Have you ever had a situation where the odds of you succeeding were slim? What put you into that situation and how did it turn out?

Today, we are going to see a situation in which David faced enormous odds. Not because of something he did, but because of a situation he put himself into.

Scripture

At the time we pick up the story, the Israelites and the Philistines are in the middle of a potential war. They have camped out very close together getting ready. That is when a Philistine, named Goliath, came forward.

Read 1 Samuel 17:4-11
1. How was Goliath described?
2. What did he say?
3. How did the Israelites react?

Goliath was over 9 ft tall, had a ton of protective armour on him with a great bronze javelin that had an iron point weighing over 600 skekels! That's one impressive dude.

He acted as the spokesperson for the Philistines in which he challenged Israel in a 1-on-1 fight. If he would beat the Israelite person, the Israelites would serve the Philistines. However, if the Israelite would defeat Goliath, the Philistines would servie Israel. Basically, less killing but the higher the stakes. Needless to say, the Israelites were terrified and no one stepped up to the challenge.

Now, enter David. David was not apart of this army as he was still too young. But, he came to the camp to deliver food to his brothers. While he was there, he heard Goliath issue this challenge again. However, David couldn’t believe that no one would take Goliath up on his challenge. That is when one of Saul’s men heard him upset and sent him to talk to Saul.

Read 1 Samuel 17:32-37
1. What did David say?
2. How did Saul respond?
3. What was David’s reasoning for fighting Goliath?

Now, David was fired up! He wanted to fight Goliath because he has defied the army of the LIVING God. He knew that God will deliver him against Goliath just like He delivered him from the other obstacles in his life.

Saul, impressed with David, allowed him to go. So, there David is, face to face with Goliath. What was David going to wear to combat Goliath? What was his weapon of choice going to be? Because all the armor was too big, as was the weapons, David went out to fight Goliath with no armor and a sling. That’s it! Let’s see what happens.

Read 1 Samuel 17:42-50
1. How did Goliath react to David?
2. How did David respond to Goliath?
3. What happened?

So here David is small, ruddy, no armor, a simple little sling, a rock and GOD. He has nothing going for him as he faces Goliath except for God. He goes before Goliath, mocked and made fun of only to hit him dead on with the rock and kill him!

So, what the point here? The point is this: there is nothing that you can’t do with God at your side. Let me say that again. There is NOTHING you can not do with God at your side.

David was confident of this and it lead to this amazing victory.

Application

Are you confident in God’s ability to help you in all situations? When you encounter a situation, where do you turn?

If you are confident of God’s ability, you should turn to Him. I know you will encounter a lot of tough situations in life, but let’s be honest, David and his whole country’s lives were at stake here. If he would have lost, Israel could have been destroyed.

It doesn’t matter what situation you will be in. Whether you have a lot in your favor or nothing except a sling, God is there with you and will help you through all situations.

Remember Philippians 4:13 - "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

What can you do this week, regardless of the situation, trust in God’s ability to get you through it? Turn to God and trust that He will lead you through it…and you might just be amazed at what He can do.

David: A Heart Like His

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "David: A Heart Like His?" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com/ or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Question:

Take a minute and write down the top 5 characteristic, quality, or trait that you would look for in a person that you would want to date.

Now, narrow it down to the top 3. What would they be?

Lastly, what would be your number 1 characteristic your "significant other" would have to possess.

Which one of these would you think God would view as the most important?

Today, we are going to begin a summer series looking at the Life of King David. We are going to look at the highs and the lows in his life and believe me, there are plenty.

More importantly, though, we are going to look at how God worked in the life of this great King.

We begin by examining 1 characteristic that David had; that others lacked and how we can have it too. That characteristic is his heart. Obviously everyone has a heart, but David’s heart was in the right place and focused on the right things. His outward appearance wasn’t as good as others, but no one could beat his heart.

Before we begin examining David’s heart, I need to give a little bit of a background before we pick up this story.

Background:
- Saul was the King of Israel. He was directly appointed by God to be King
- However, He had blatantly disobeyed God many times and God was tired of his act.
- So, God sent Samuel, a prophet we talked about a few months ago, out to find a new King.

This is where we begin the story.

Scripture

Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13
1. Why did Samuel think some of David’s brothers would have been chosen?
2. How was David described?
3. Why did God reject David’s brothers?
4. What then, can we assume about David?

Samuel was looking at outward appearances. He thought one of David's brothers would have been chosen because of the way the looked or even acted. But God rejected them all. Then, all of a sudden, a ruddy, yet handsome young boy comes in. He couldn't be the one, could he? He was small. He was young. He didn't look like a king. However, what David had on the inside was worth so much more than what the others had on the outside.

David had the heart, the inward appearance, that God was looking for. He wasn’t considered the best by the world’s standards. After all, he was the youngest, ruddy with some handsome features. Not exactly what you look for in a king.

However, his heart was right before the Lord. Why do you think that is most important to God?

How can we have that heart?

I feel that it can be summed up here: 1 Chronicles 28:9 – “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

We need to acknowledge God and serve him wholeheartedly and seek Him and we will find him

You true motives can not be hidden from God. You can hide your heart and true motives from others but God see right through that. So, even though you may do a lot of great things or you may look a certain way, if your heart isn’t right, God will see it and know. Your actions and your appearance are meaningless without your heart being for God and striving after him!

David’s heart was right and although he lacked many of the other great components of what we view as important, God chose him for his heart was for God.

Application

Our society today enforces outward appearances. Just look at the magazine isle in the store. They are lined with 10 ways to lose 10 pounds in 10 days articles. The shows we watch on TV – Extreme makeover and such. We are being pummeled daily with making our outward appearance the best it could be.

But that doesn’t matter to God. Why? Because he loves you for who He created you to be. He cares more about your heart than the way you look or the way you act on the outside. Hey listen, anyone can say and do all the right things, but if your heart isn’t into it, you’ll fool most people. However, you can’t fool God. He knows your heart.

So today, I want you to realize 1 truth and 1 challenge:
TRUTH: God loves you. He doesn’t care about what you look like or how others perceive you. He cares about your heart.
CHALLENGE: So, how is your heart? Is it pure and holy, going after God or are you so consumed with your outward appearance, you heart is tainted. Listen, no one is perfect – we’ll never be 100 % pure and holy, but we can always strive for it. But remember what 1 Chronicles said, “ If you seek him, he will be found by you”

Know that God loves you and examine your heart. Let’s strive after God this week and see where He leads us! It all begins with your heart.

Why Reach Out?

****This Devotional Blog ties in with my Podcast, "Why Reach Out?" at http://tompounder.podomatic.com or go to iTunes and type in Tom Pounder under the Podcast menu.****

Opening Questions:

1. What was the best gift you ever got for Christmas or your birthday?
2. What was the most meaningful gift you gave to someone else?
3. What meant the most to you? Getting the gift or Seeing the joy in someone else’s face because of the gift they received?

If you are honest with yourself, most of us would say that we get more out of giving to others than getting. Why do you think we get more joy out of giving than receiving?

Last question, I promise - Is there a limit on how much you will give? Will you give freely to someone up to a point? Or will you give to certain people more than others? Why?

Today, we are going to look at moving beyond ourselves and reaching out to our friends, family and community for Christ. Why should we reach out? Let's look and see:

Scripture:

Read Matthew 18:19-20; Acts 1:8
1. What does Christ command us to do?
2. How should we go and make disciples?

Christ commands us to – “Go and Make Disciples”; “You will be my Witnesses”. Why should we reach out? Because Christ commands us too. The great thing about Christ, though, is that not only does He tell us what to do, but he tells us how to do it.

He tells us to go and teach them everything you have learned from Him. Then He gives us a strategy - Start with your inner circle of influence (Jerusalem) and then branch out to your school (Judea and Samaria) and eventually to the world (ends of the earth). We have to start with those closest to us, then move out, slowly but surely to the ends of the earth.

Read Matthew 4:19; Philippians 2:3-4
1. What sticks out to you about these verses? How do they relate to reaching out?

When we choose to follow Christ, we have an obligation to move it beyond ourselves and be fishers of men and women. Christ didn’t say, Come follow me and I will make you the best Bible readers ever! No, he said, to Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men!

Also, when we reach out to our friends, family and community we are serving them. Sharing your faith is a way of serving because you are helping them come to a better life by following Christ. We get blessed more than the people we serve. We should do this selfishly because we will be blessed.

Application:

1. Write down a list of names you can eventually share your faith with. Pray that God would open doors for you to share your faith with them.
2. Remember what Christ said, "teach them everything I have commanded you". Take 1 thing you learned in your relationship with Christ and prepare to share with with them.

Be prepared and ask God for guidance and He will present the opportunity. Let's make the most of it.

Whether they know it or not, these people on your list are counting on you to share with them about the life transforming power of Jesus Christ. Let's not let them down.

It ain't over till it's over!

Thing of some famous, inspirational quotes. Write them down.

Yogi Berra – Not Yogi Bear, the cartoon, but Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame Catcher for the N.Y. Yankees, once said, "It ain't over till it's over"

Ladies and Gentlemen, It ain’t over till it’s over! That is what we are going to talk about today. So many times things will happen when we get down on ourselves, down on life or down on others. Things not going right in life can lead to some pretty severe depression, anger or even death. Why do you think the suicide rate is so high amongst teenagers?

You may get cut from the baseball team, or get the last seat in the orchestra, you may get dumped by your boyfriend/girlfriend or your parents might split up. There are so many things that could lead us to say, “What’s the point”.

But, boys and girls, “It ain’t over till it’s over” Hey, you may flunk the final, but… It ain’t over till it’s over! You might get dumped, but… It ain’t over till it’s over! Your best friend might turn on you, but… It ain’t over till it’s over!

It ain’t over till it’s over! Why? Because, God is there, waiting for us to turn to Him. We’ve got to persevere and put our trust in God. Then, we will be able to experience the true fulfillment in life.

In the Bible, it talks about this. Let’s see what it says.

Scripture

Read Hebrews 10:22-25; 32-39

1. There are 4 “Let us” statements. What are they?
· Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart
· Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess
· Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds
· Let us not give up meeting together

2. How do these “let us” statements help us to persevere and not give up?

By drawing us near to God, not wavering in our faith, being in community with others and encouraging others in love and good deeds, we know that we have better and lasting possessions. That despite all that will happen to us, we don’t care, because we know that what we have in God, could not be taken away from us! It was better than anything taken away and lasted so much longer.

What you can have in God is better than anything that was taken away and can last eternally. So, no matter what happens, It ain’t over till it’s over! In God, it is never over till it’s over. Remember what Christ did for us? Romans 6:23 – we earned death, but because Christ had a say in it, life wasn’t over. He came and sacrificed his life for us.

3. What will happen if you persevered and do the will of God (v.36)? You will receive what he has promised

God is faithful and will always fulfill on his promises. Numbers 23:19. God is not like us. He doesn’t lie, doesn’t change his mind. Every time he speaks, he acts. Every time he promises, he fulfills. The promise he has for us are countless. Where do you find them? In the Bible.

Application

When tough times come, what do you do? Where do you turn?

When tough times come, know that It ain’t over till it’s over! It’s never over because God is involved. Think about it, if he didn’t even spare his own son for us, how can anyone say that God won’t stop at anything to help us?

The questions that remains now is do you want what He is offering?

So, I want to challenge you to do 2 things this week:
1. What 1 “let us” statement do you need to work on this week?
2. How can you persevere in Christ this week?

It ain’t over because God has a hand in it and can make a lasting difference in your life.

Thriving in our new seasons

School is ending and a new year is just around the corner. Some of you will be moving away, others going from middle school to high school and others going from high school to college.

As every new season in your life begins, it can be a turning point in your life – for the good or for the bad. Every season presents it freshness, a new exciting thing. However, it also presents its challenges and difficulties.

When you move to a new community, move up in grades or even go off to college, you will be with a whole bunch of new people who are in the exact same situation. If you are going to college, you will be free from “parental” rules and will be forced to make decisions on your own. You will encounter people who are trying to push you into this club or that sorority. You will be invited to parties or encouraged to go to this fellowship group or that one. Regardless of where you will be or what grade you are going too, you will have so many decisions to make on your own that can have lasting effects.

I want to encourage you, that as this new season begins, not to forget some of the things you learned in past seasons. Particularly, what you learned to be true about Christ.

Scripture

In the Bible it says in Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." It also says in John 15:7, "If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."

The truth here is that if we seek Him and remain close to Him – remain in fellowship with Him, he will provide for us, he will help us make those tough decision. The key here is that WE have to seek Him and WE have to remain in Him. It takes our initiative. God is always there, desiring to help. WE have to go to Him.

Moving to a new community, moving up in grades, or even going off to College is a new and exciting time in which you get to recreate who you are on so many levels. However, I want to encourage you – don’t recreate who you are in Christ and what you know to be true in him. He will be the one you need to cling to, especially early on.

I have talked to so many people, especially college students, who told me how fortunate and lucky they were to get involved in a fellowship group when they first got down to college. It was by being involved in that group early one that made a difference in their time there because they got plugged in with new great people who were encouraging her in her faith and who were helping her sort through all that college has to offer her. It was a great support for her…especially early on.

So, when you begin your new year, don’t leave Christ at home. Take Him with you and allow Him to help you through this new season in your life. Get plugged into fellowship early on and stay connected to Christ. He will be the key in your survival.

Application

What is 1 thing you can do this summer to get you ready for the school year ahead?
What Christlike disciplines can you build into your life this summer to get your ready to survive and thrive in the year ahead?

Goal Setting: Loving Others

Think of some recent goals you have set for yourself? Have you been successful or have you not been able to follow through with them?

Unfortunately, most of our goals have not been too successful; not because your intentions are bad, but because we often set goals that we cannot do. Often times, the goals are too high and we don’t have a plan to achieve it.

This week, I want to look at succeeding in our goals - that we would make a goal and follow through with it. These goals can be achieved because they are grounded in God’s plans and purposes for our lives.

This week, the goal I want to look at is Loving Others. Why would we want to do that?

Read Matthew 22:36-39
- What are the two greatest commandments? love God and love others
- Why is loving others important? Because, as Jesus points out, everything else is dependent on loving God and loving others.

There are tons of examples of how to love others in the Bible, but I want to look a pretty familiar/famous story. It’s the story of the Good Samaritan.

Read Luke 10:30-37

What sticks out to you abot that story?

It is clear that this man was beaten and left for dead. People came, saw him and passed right by him, never once helping him. Then, a Samaritan came and helped him. I want to focus on what the Samaritan did.

What did the Samaritan do? (3 things found in v. 34-35)

Jesus told us to go and do the same. Well, how can we do the same to this? Let’s take a look at this passage again.

We have a man who was beaten up and left for dead, sitting on the side of the road. Who, today, would correlate well with this person? The odd ball, the one all by him/herself…the one without friends, sitting alone in the cafeteria.

Now, be careful…just because this is the character in the story, doesn’t mean that this is the only sort of person we need to be reaching out too…we need to love everyone!

The man who helped him, bandaged his wounds, put him on his donkey and took care of him.
What, today, could we do to help someone? Sit down and chat with them at lunch, give an encouraging word

Then, he paid the innkeeper to look after him. What, today, could we do that is similar? Take him/her to church, get them involved with a support network, etc

Application
So here’s the model. Christ made it a priority and the Samaritan put it into practice. What are you going to do when you see the opportunity? Are you going to act or just shy away, hoping that someone else will love him or her?

Think of the impact you can have on just one person by simply loving him/her. What do you think could happen?

In the movie “the Untouchables”, Sean Connery’s character challenges Elliot Ness (played by Kevin Costner) to really step up and make a difference in their war vs. organized crime. As they were getting ready to make an impact, he says 2 things to them:
1. “Do you really want to get him (Capone)…What are you prepared to do?”

2. "If you walk through this door now, you are walking into a world of trouble and there is no turning back…you understand”

In the same way, I want to challenge you by asking you…what are you prepared to do? If you claim to be committed to loving God and loving others…what are you prepared to do? Because once you walk through that door, there is no turning back. God will move and impact many lives, including your own.

My challenge to you this week is this: Pick 1 person to love as God would love you!

John 13:34-35 says - "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

People will know that you are a follower of Christ by the love you portray. Lives can be changed because of it. Loving others is a simple but powerful goal that we can all achieve.

Make a plan of 1 or more persons you are going to love the way Christ would.
- Who are you going to be intentionally loving this week?
- How will you love them?

Investing in Your Future - Being Humble

Terrell Owens was in the sporting news a lot this past year. Why was that?

Terrell Owens is a great football player and decided that he was so great that he needed more money. So, he caused a great controversy in his team to try to force them to give him more money. His attempt failed and he ended up getting cut by his team because he was such a problem.

In memory of Terrell Owens, I would like to share with you all a few quotes that are quite eye opening as they reveal a lot about who he is.

T.O. Quotes:
"Anytime I am on the field I expect to have an impact. I just don't foresee myself being a decoy. That is just like putting Shaq on the court and not giving him the ball.”

"I'll watch the highlights every now and then, but as far as watching the game, I feel like I am the game."

"I love me some me, believe it!"

"Just ask yourself, 'self, would the Eagles have gone 0-2 last year if they had T.O.?'"

"Don’t hate me, cause you love me."

What do these quotes communicate to you about T.O.?

They communicate his arrogance. Sure, he is a great football player. However, no matter how good anyone is, no one wants to hear about how great you think you are.

As we continue our series on Investing in your Future, we are going to talk about having humility and how that humility can help you in life.

Before we begin, I want you to know that there is a difference between being arrogant and being confident. Being arrogant is to exaggerate one's own worth or importance in an overbearing manner. Being confident is the trust or faith that a person or thing is capable.

T.O. is confident in his ability but it leads to arrogance in which he over exaggerates his own worth.

Right now, I want to take a look at a story in the Bible the clearly highlights the difference and we will see how being humble will help you as you invest in your future.

Read Luke 18:9-14

1. Who are the 2 people involved?

2. What were they doing?

3. Why were they going to pray?

They were seeking justification from God. Both men came before God seeking Justification. Justification is the "process by which an individual is brought into an unmerited, right relationship with a person". Both the tax collector and the Pharisee were seeking to get into a right relationship with God.

4. What was different about the way they prayed?

The tax collector was humble and recognized that he was a sinner and needed God's help. He couldn’t "do" things to get right with God - for he had done so many wrong things. He simply had to seek God and ask Him for forgiveness. The Pharisee proclaimed how good he was by comparing himself to others. He might have thought that because he wasn't like others he was justified. When he came to pray, he didn't seek God - he didn't need too because he was already perfect and better than the rest.

5. The tax collector, not the Pharisee left their prayer time justified. Why is that?

Because he was humble and sought God's help. He recognized who he was and how he needed God's help.

Challenge

So, how does this example of humility help us in life and prepare us for the road ahead?
No matter how good we think we are, Christ says, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted"

We all need to humbly seek God. We all need to be justified with God - to be made right.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death. We have all fallen short of God's desire for our life and are headed down the road towards destruction.

No matter how well life is going or even how crappy life is going, God can lead us through it. We need to come humbly before him and seek his plan for our life, not our own.

Being humble can also help you…
- gain more understanding of others and who they are. By listening and serving/helping others you let others know that you care about them
- learn more. When you are humble, you can be teachable as you seek to understand the best way to accomplish a task. You are admitting you don’t know it all and you want to learn the best way.

More importantly, thought, when we humble ourselves before God and seek His will and plan for our life, we will leave justified before Him and walk down the better path in life.

Right now, take a minute and jot down 1 thing you can do this week to
1. be humble in relation to others and
2. how you can humbly come before God and seek Him