Decrease Weekend Highlights!

What do you get when you have over 200 people excited about learning how to decrease and Christ increase in their lives over a weekend? An awesome move of God!

We saw 15 students being a relationship with Christ. We had more wanting to follow in baptism in a few weeks. I have heard story after story of adult leaders sharing about how they are growing personally. I absolutely love our church and its passion to reach this generation with Christ.

Decrease weekend helped me realize these truths: - Team is important in student ministry. Without a healthy group of adult leaders, there would be no student ministry to all of the students. - The overall church vision is most important. Church @ The Springs understands the importance of pouring into this generation. The support I have from my pastor, staff and members has been overwhelming.  - Students are hungry for God. I enjoy students asking for devotionals and telling me that they responded to the gospel for the first time and want to be baptized! -  Parents are investing in their student's eternity. It was great hearing the excitement in parent's voices as they celebrated life change in their children. -  Equipping is a leader's main pursuit. When I hear a student excited about their small group leader (instead of me), I am thankful. If parents, college students and adults are equipped and become champions for discipling students, then we are making a dent in this generation for Christ. - We are hardly scratching the surface. As I look at the overall picture of central Florida, I see an abundance of families who desperately need the hope that only Jesus can provide.

All the stories of life change always reflect the heart of God. I'm grateful He allows me to be a part of what He is doing in people's lives.

Source SM Recap: Volume #14

Current Series: Yolo…life is short, don’t waste it. Title: Week 3 – “Girl Talk” Main Thought:  Purity paves the way to intimacy Scripture: Proverbs 4:23, 1 Peter 1:13-16, Proverbs 31:10, 

Message explanation: Did you know that the average person falls in “love” 5 times between the ages of 13-19 years old. Dating is practicing marriage. How is a girl supposed to interact with guys?

What does the Bible say about following our Heart?

1. Guard your heart Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23 “Heart” refers to your mind as being the center of reasoning and thinking.

1 Peter 1:13-16 says, “So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy.’”

2. How we Dress reveals our heart "Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes.4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." 1 Peter 3:3-4.

3 QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT YOUR APPEARANCE… 1. Am I trying to hide something? 2. What kind of attention am I trying to attract? 3. Do I spend the same amount of time and energy on my heart as I do my appearance?

If you do not have guardrails in dating, you hand the keys to your life to another person to make the big choices in life. The person you marry is the second largest decision of life!

Purity paves the way to intimacy. God has a plan for you! Guard your heart and spend your energy on your inner beauty.

Element of Fun: We shared this week's "Don't Be that Girl"

Music: Not Ashamed, King Enthroned, The Church, One Thing Remains, Amazing Grace (My chains are gone)

Favorite Moment: We had two students come to know Christ! It was great hearing from my wife, Cassidy and Jared's wife, Cassie as they shared about being a woman of God. To watch the message, check out our Vimeo page.

What’s Next: We are moving into the fourth week of the Yolo series. Week 4 is “One Month to Live” where we will talk about what happens in eternity. Is YOLO true or is there more to the afterlife?

Stop and Start: Part 3 - Comparison Kills

A blog series on how families can apply the gospel into their pain and dysfunction.

I was recently listening to a message by John Ortberg on growing spiritually. It made me begin to think that many people spend their life looking around wanting approval from everyone.

The truth is...comparison kills the motivation for spiritual growth. It is normal in today's culture to compare. Comparison creates an empty hole in our heart where we feel like we will never measure up.

So what is the usual response? We stop, throw up our hands up and stifle our growth. It is an epidemic in churches and in families.

What we create is approval factories. Could we be building modern-day pharisees with modern traditions? We have a select group of people who everyone thinks that is untouchable. Are we trying to become the person that others want us to become? Are we building our approval from the wrong people? Are we so committed to "good" things that we are missing out on God's best for us?

In our relationships we have to make decisions:

Stop showing approval based upon the outward appearance. Flattery is based upon outside appearance or ability. God looks at the heart. Avoid building up your friends, children or co-workers based upon what they do but upon who they are. Look into the heart of those around you and ask the question, "how can I lift them up?"

Start encouraging people with the restoring love of Jesus.  In our relationships, we need to be sensitive to loving each other unconditionally. In order to stop living for superficial approval, we must pour out the unchangeable love of Christ. The person God has created us to become must be grounded in His unconditional love. God has created us uniquely for a specific purpose.

What voice are you listening to today? Listen. God's voice is saying, "I am FOR you!" No matter what anyone says, your identity and approval can only be satisfied in a loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

The question is, are we becoming the person that God has called us to become?