Getting Bogged Down

I know you may be “too old” for this – but has anyone seen that show "Higgly Town Heroes" on Disney? You don’t have to raise your hand if you don’t want. My kids watch it. Well, in every episode, there is a mini-crisis – like Wayne’s cat is in the tree or Yoube misses his grandparents. They try to figure out a way to help this person. Then, Twinkle offers her way to get the job accomplished – some far fetched, crazy way. In fact, her way if physically impossible. She talks about aliens and digging man made holes to China. Her way is quickly discounted because of the details – it isn’t physically possible.

Let’s look at a story involving Christ in which people got so bogged down by the details that they failed to see the true glory of God.

Read John 5:1-15

There are 2 truths in this story:
1. Jesus once again broke down barriers – He didn’t care that it was the Sabbath.
- The Sabbath literally means, “day of rest”. It was the day set aside where you could not work. You couldn’t mow your lawn.
- Now enter Jesus – he sees someone who has been ill for many, many years. He knows his pain so he asks him if he wants to get well. He doesn’t care what day it is – he sees someone in need, he's going to help them. Helping people should not be constrained by days.
- If you had the power to heal people – would you just let him be because it is a holy day or would you help him?
- Understand this – the Sabbath is an important day and needs to be honored – but to not heal someone because or it leads me to my next point

2. The Religious leaders let the dos and don’ts of religion to blur their view
- They couldn’t accept that God had done a wonderful thing in this person’s life – they were too stuck on the rules – they didn’t understand Grace – Ephesians 2:8,9 – it is by grace we are saved not by the things we do; the rules we obey
- To often we get bogged down by the details; so bogged down that we fail to see Christ work in a miraculous way
- How often we get bogged down with the technicalities?
o we think that having a relationship with God means no more fun
o we think that we can never follow Christ because of our past - God certainly doesn't want us
o we think going to Church on Sunday allows us to check off the box – we make Christ a religion that happens on Sunday and forget the relationship

There are so many things that could bog us down from following Christ. The thing you have got to ask yourself is are they just excuses or are they legit.

What's the worse that can happen if you choose to follow Christ? You lose all your friends overnight? OF COURSE NOT! Remember God blesses those who seek him Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (NIV)

Challenge

My challenge for you all is to put the details aside and seek out Christ. Meaning how do you know what following Christ is like unless you try it yourself. We can assume what it will be like but until we experience Christ for ourselves, we'll never really know the miraculous healing power he has; the blessings he wants to give us. This week, Seek out Christ! You won't be disappointed!

What kind of friend are you?

Think of someone who is dear to you – someone you love and care for very much. I’m not saying this is someone of the opposite sex like your boyfriend or girlfriend. This is someone who holds a special place in your heart. This could be a grandparent, parent, sibling, or friend, anyone close to you. What makes them so dear to you?

Part of it is an investment you have made in their lives. For months and years you have spent time with them and made being around them a real priority in your life.

In Philippians 1:1-11, Paul talks and models exactly what our relationships with others should look like.

Read Philippians 1:1-11

Paul models true relationships with others in 3 ways:

1. Thanks God for them and the blessing they are to him (v. 3)
- The first thing he does after he introduces himself (Remember, this is a letter), is thank God for them and says what a blessing they are to him.
- What’s the truth in that? The truth in that is that he lets them know exactly how he feels about them. He lets them know how important they are to him and that he is thankful they are his friends.
- Do you let the people close to you know that?
- This is particularly convicting to me. In all my friendship or relationships with others, I rarely express to them how thankful I am to be in a relationship with them. It is more than just saying, “I love you”. It is saying how much you appreciate who they are and what they mean to you.
- What is stopping you from doing that today?

2. Prays for them (v. 4)
- Do you pray for those close to you?
- Do you ask people to pray for you?
- I’m not talking about just the simple, “pray for me” prayers or “pray for me as I take this test”. Those are good and all, but so generic, so superficial
- Why would we ask someone to pray for us? (Let students answer)
- We want to pray for us because the situation we are in is too tough for us to handle on our own. We need prayer so that God can come into our situation and give us wisdom and help.
- By having someone pray for you, you are also opening up your life and being vulnerable – you are allowing others to know you deeper.
- I have a friend the other day who asked me to pray for him. He was really challenging himself to overcome some struggles and asked me to pray for him about it. His hope was that God could help him through this time. So, what did I do? I made fun of him. OF COURSE NOT! I prayed for him and was encouraged to do the same.
- Prayer can lead to so many blessings – are you praying for those close to you? Are you allowing others to pray for you?

3. Challenges them to keep growing in their knowlede and understanding of God (v. 9-11)
- How often do we challenge others to grow in Christ?
- So many of us here hang out with each other outside of Church. I wonder, however, how many times Christ is brought up between you all. I’m sure boys, girls, school, sports, and many other things are brought up countless times.
- But Christ, He is like a buzz kill, right? Anytime you mention Him, it just ruins conversations, right? No – it shouldn’t be that way. What’s the worst thing that can happen if someone challenges you in Christ? Let me share a recent story with you:
- I was talking to my friend Will the other day. We were talking about football and other random stuff when all of a sudden, he pulls the Christ card on me – dang him! He actually had the gull to ask me if I had listened to this sermon tape/mp3 file he sent me. I told him I had not and he said to me something like, why wouldn’t you. That, my friends, was a challenge to me. So, what did I do. That night, after the kids had gone to bed, I stayed up to listen to this tape. I took notes and you know what happened? I was challenged and encourage to love Christ and my family because of it.
- Who benefited from that? My family and I
- Would I have listened to it if I had not been challenged by Will. Maybe, but considering that he gave it to me over a month and half ago, it probably would have been a while before I would have listened to it.

Challenge

So, what am I saying here? Are you following in Paul’s model and are you surrounding yourself with people who are following in Paul’s model? It is just as important to surround yourself with others that are following Christ as it is that you are. If you are following Christ and all you do is surround yourselves with others, too often – I’ve seen it a million times – we become more like them than they become more like us. We need to have that balance so people can be spurring us on towards Christ.

This week, ask yourself - where do I fall short of Paul's model. Then, ask yourself what can you do this week - what is 1 goal you can set - that can get you closer to this model?

Share your goal with a friend so that you can be held accountable - maybe your goal will spur others on towards growing closer to Christ.

The 1st Blog - Living Water

Welcome - This is my first Blog. Welcome and I hope you all will read these blogs and be challenged in your relationship with Christ because of it. I started this blog because of Christ's message to the Samaritan Woman in John 4. Christ said that he was the "Living Water" in which people would never thirst again after they had it.

This Site will have Bloggs for 2 different groups of people:

1. Youth Leaders
2. Youth

For Leaders, we will offer training resourses and articles on effective Youth Ministry.

For Youth, we will offer commentaries on everything youth - from trends and current events to devotionals to effective ways to live out your relationship with Christ.

Please stay with us as we continue to construct this site to make it THE site for Youth and Leaders to come.

Tom