“Through God’s grace in Christ, we become active participants in God’s grace, and Christ takes shape in us… It is like the cripple by the pool of Bethesda… He could not walk until Jesus delivered him, then he was empowered to move, to participate in the deliverance that Jesus brought.” Stassen and Gushee, Kingdom Ethics

Over the next several weeks beginning Sunday, November 4, our student ministry is using the One Life: Your Kingdom Come curriculum to help students understand the needs of others around us, particularly those in poverty and the AIDS crisis. The curriculum will help students understand the potential that exists within each of us to be a part of what God is doing in this world. It will challenge our teens to open their eyes to the needs of others around them and be the hands and feet of Christ. We invite your participation in One Life in a number of ways:

Please pray that God’s will is done in the students’ hearts, souls and minds.

Encourage your student to work to raise money and provide toys for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child program. Students will receive brochures about this on october 28.

Encourage your teen to help in our Food Bank ministry on Nov. 5, 19 and Dec. 3 as part of this study.

Encourage your teen to be a part of the food drive and find ways to bring in food apart from asking you for money.

Each week, you’ll receive a Family Page sheet. Use this to talk with your teen about what he or she is discovering.

Monday, while visiting with Dad at Methodist Hospital in Houston, TX, I was struck with the realization that I’m not living or doing what I had planned to do when I graduated from high school when I had it all figured out. I had plans. I was going to become an elementary teacher and commercial fisherman in Alaska. My wife was going to moose hunt with me and get as excited about catching salmon as I did.

I’m reminded of the Lord’s words to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah:

“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to propser you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

I’ve been thinking about how God’s Word is a “lamp to my feet, a light to my path.”

I thought about the movie Evan Almighty. When Evan Baxter explains that building an ark is not part of his plans to change the world he’s laughed at.

I’ve been reminded this week, that the best plan of action is simply to trust God with each step and allow him to take care of the rest. And by the way, I couldn’t have led myself to such an amazing place, loving and working with such amazing people. I’m thankful to know the Lord has plans for me.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-18

“What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Romans 6:1-4

“I don’t understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I can’t carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no the evil I don’t want to do – this I keep on doing.”
Romans 7:15-19

I have a statue in my office of a man. The top half of the man is made of crystal. He is bronze from the waste down. As you study the sculpture you notice that the man is struggling. The bronze is being ripped away from the man revealing the crystal. The statue represents our struggle to be made new. The sculpture is entitled “Born Again.”

I love this statue because it’s symbolic of my desire to be made new. Yet, like Paul, I struggle with the reality of sin in my life. Being made new isn’t so easy. It’s not like replacing an old car with a new one. When I gave my life to Christ at the young age of 9, not all my old habits instantly went away. As I continue to learn what it means to be a follower of Christ, I still struggle with my own habits and sins. Yet, my desire is to be made new. I ask God every day to free me from these things. I look forward to the day when I will be free from my own struggles. Until then, I fight the good fight; I do everything I can to allow God to make me new.

I share this with you today because we’re continuing our series, “Under Construction” tonight at Refuge. We spent two weeks discussing our understanding of who God is. Last week, Connor talked about understanding that we are children of God. Tonight, we’re going to talk about understanding that when we are baptized we become a new creation. Yet, we still struggle to become this new creation.

My prayer is for our teens to hear the gospel, desire to be made new, and choose to join us on this journey of allowing God to shape who we are.

I shouldn’t be surprised anymore how much my daughters resemble me and Deana. Not only do they resemble us physically, but also their speech and attitudes reflect us as well. We learned early on with Julia to be very careful about how to speak to one another and her. When Jenna came along, we had to be careful about how we related to Jenna because Julia would do what we did.

I don’t think Julia and Jenna wonder if one of them is loved more than the other. At least, I’ve never seen it expressed. Other than a little jealousy between them over who gets attention from us, they seem to understand how much we love both of them and would give our lives for them.

I’m thinking of my girls today because at Refuge, we’re talking about what it means to be children of God. This idea isn’t just some sentiment. It’s a reality of our identity. We are defined as children of God, and Scripture has plenty to say about what that means. For example:

“Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it’s not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

or

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

and finally

“Dear children, don’t let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is rigtheous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the son of God appearerd was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

There are a couple of things I’m thinking about related to the stories of my daughters. First, as God’s children we shouldn’t question his love for anyone. Just like Julia and Jenna understand that I love each of them deeply, we need to understand that God’s love is the same. That leaves no room for us to classify, label or compare ourselves to others in light of God’s love.

Second, the more we spend time with God; the more we live in his presence; the more we strive to relate to him, the more we’re going to look like him. Our daily living shapes our identity. Our actions reflect whether or not we are children of God.

When others see me, my desire is that they can see the resemble of my Father me.

“Let me tell you something– you don’t let anyone come between us; nothing tears us apart.”
Coach Boone in Remember the Titans

“One hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”
A.W. Tozer

“There is no more sure tie between friends than when they are united in their objects and wishes.”
Cisero

“My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father – that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.”
Jesus

This morning from 7:20-8:20, students from all denominational backgrounds came together around the flag poles of their schools. All across the country this took place. Their purpose was to pray for God’s action in the lives of their peers, schools, community, nation and world.

My prayer for the Church is to become one, as Jesus intends for us to be, so that the world may know that Jesus is who he says he is. That’s one of the reasons I love to partner with other student ministries. This year, we have the opportunity at different times to join with student ministries from different backgrounds. The purpose is to unify our student ministries and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of heaven to teens. Our prayer is that our students will desire for their friends to know Christ. Our hope is to provide a space where our teens can share the good news of Jesus Christ with others in a relevant way. We want to do more than simply pray together or bring our youth groups together for a good time. We want to unify the body of Christ for the purpose of showing others the truth of the Gospel.

Our teens will have the chance to join with teens from other youth groups 2-3 times this school year beginning with a 5th Quarter concert we are hosting at LRC on Friday night, Oct. 26 from 10 PM-midnight. The Christian band Three Cord Wonder will be playing. Several different youth groups from the Little Rock area including teens from Agape Church, Parkway Place Baptist Church, Summit Church, Bryant Church of Christ, Levy Church of Christ, Crosswalk Family of God, and others are all challenging their teens to invite a friend to our place for this concert. It will be a great way for our teens to minister to a hurting friend. Please pray for this.

Unity for the sake of unity isn’t unity. It won’t hold together. True unity comes when people rally around something bigger than themselves. That’s what Christ offered to a rag tag bunch of men and women from differing backgrounds. That’s what he offers us today.