Teenage Trends - "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift released “Shake It Off” as a single off her soon to be released album 1989.  While some have critiqued this song for the booty shaking in the music video, the beat is quick and the lyrics are catchy.  I can’t imagine this song will be on the radio in a decade, but expect to hear it frequently over the next few months, at the very least.

Pros:                                           Cons:
Stay above the drama Might be seen to promote individualism

Scripture talking point:
Col 3:1-17 - Don’t be dragged down by those who are focusing on things that bring death and heartache, but stay above the fray and focus on “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (CEB).

Let’s start off with the positives.  Swift sings that she is going to let the players play, the haters hate, and the heartbreakers break, but she’s just going to dance to her own tune and shake it off.  When people are telling tales and saying mean things about her, she is just going to let them play their game.  She won’t allow herself to get sucked into it.  She’s going to stay above the fray and not stoop down to the level of the players, haters, heartbreakers, and fakers.

Negatively, this song does promote individualism.  The, “I don’t care what others think” attitude can be healthy, but it can also represent a philosophy of radical individualism and sensationalism.  All too often, our cultures sends a message that one should do what one’s senses/feelings tell one are true, even if everybody else in one’s life is telling you that it’s the wrong thing to do.  Swift is not promoting this to the extreme in this song, but it is a talking point with our children as we process these lyrics and common cultural messages.

We have to be careful with the underlying story that songs are telling, but we also must point out the positives we see in popular culture.  As Wesleyans, we often talk about something called Prevenient Grace.  This is just a fancy way of saying that God is at work long before we notice, and that God is enabling you and I to respond to God’s love even in the valley of the shadow of death.  James tells us that every good gift comes from the Father.  So when we identify a great message (even if it has some things we might disagree with or phrase differently), we should use that as a chance to share the Gospel.

Overall, this is a fun dancing song that many of your teenagers will love to blast.  And teenagers need to hear this message - don’t worry so much about what others think.  Rise above that.  Let the players play and the fakers fake.  You just need to be faithful to who God wants you to be.  While we should value the advice and companionship of true friends as well as faithful saints of the Church, we don’t need to be dragged down into the pit of “he said/she said,” of rumors and gossip, of dating around, of looking down on others.

"Shake It Off" Lyrics
"Shake It Off" on iTunes

"But for the Grace of God, Go I," Col 1:13-14

Imaginations are essential to life.  It is our imaginations that give us our options, imaginations that dictate what decisions we make, and imaginations that give us the tools to enact those decisions.

I can make a decision to open up a 401k.  It is within my imagination to come up with the idea and find the tools to do it.  The average person in Somalia would probably not think of opening up a 401k.  It would never occur to them to do that.  First, that country does not have the resources for the average person to substantially save towards retirement.  Second, retirement means something entirely different to Somalians.  And finally, they have a different tax code that would make the term 401k entirely irrelevant.  Entirely different imaginations guide how the average American thinks about retirement compared to the average Somalian.

Our trip to Los Angeles opened our eyes up to the radically different imaginations that people in the United States have from one another and how our imagination needs to be planted in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Let’s turn to Colossians 1:9-14 to hear what Paul has to say about imaginations.

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (ESV).

We’re going to focus on verses 13-14 this morning, but I wanted to give you a little bit of context.  Immediately after this section, there is a wonderful poem about how everything was created through Jesus and for Jesus, who is the Lord of the entire universe.  This all really sets the tone for the rest of Colossians, but verses 13-14 summarize so well what Paul is trying to say throughout the rest of the letter.

The first thing Paul wants to say here is that you have been delivered from the domain of darkness.  Another translation might be control of darkness or authority of darkness.

Imagine darkness is a place, perhaps a country.  You are a part of that country, a citizen of that country.  No matter where you go within that country, no matter where you work, vacation, live, you are in that country.  All decisions you make are guided by what is available to you in that country, what is imaginable by citizens in that country, and what is feasible with the tools of that country.  There is no escaping it.  That is where you live.  You live in that domain.

It’s kind of like the song, “Blue.”

Yo listen up, heres a story
About a little guy that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night
And everything he sees is just blue
Like him inside and outside
Blue his house with a blue little window
And a blue Corvette
And everything is blue for him
And himself and everybody around
'Cause he ain't got nobody to listen

If everything is blue, you can’t even imagine red.  If everything is darkness - you can’t even imagine what it means to be faithful to the gospel.  This is why Paul says in 1 Cor 1, that the cross is utter foolishness to the world.

The world can only imagine blue when the Gospel is bright red.  The world can only imagine darkness and slavery when the Gospel is life and freedom.

Paul writes that we have been rescued from this country, this place, this domain of darkness.  We don’t live in a blue world anymore.

There are two ways that we can take this.  The first is cosmologically.  We said earlier that Colossians shows how Jesus is the Lord of the entire universe.  When he comes back, Scripture tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue confess.  God is going to make all things new.  This corrupt world will be transformed and renewed as God makes a new heavens and a new earth where the sun is not needed because the Son is our light.  This is great news for the world.  Eventually the domain of darkness will be no more.

But this also must be taken on a personal level.  We don’t have to wait until all things are made new for us to live into the kingdom of the Son.  Paul tells us that we have already been rescued.  We are no longer slaves to sin.  We don’t have to sin in thought, word, and, deed anymore.  We have been rescued from that.

But it doesn’t end there.  When we were at the L.A. Mission, myself and four of the guys had the pleasure of working alongside several of the residents.  The L.A. Mission works with homeless people and addicts to provide wholeness and healing.  They unashamedly proclaim the Gospel with those in their program and those they encounter on the streets.  We heard several stories of folks who had been in prison and, upon release, went back to the same old habits.

If the Gospel ended there, we would be in the same boat.  It would be like we were released from prison, and then left at the front door with no resources, no plan, no map of where to go and what to do.  We would be like these folks that we talked to who popped out of prison and then ended up right where they started - in desperation and hopelessness, drunk, and living on the streets.

Thankfully, the stories we heard didn’t end.  Even as our justice system failed them, Jesus Christ didn’t.  Paul tells us that as we have been rescued from the domain of darkness, we have been transferred to the kingdom of the Son.  We were in that domain, that kingdom.  Now we are in this domain, this kingdom, the one of the Son, the one in the light.

The stories we heard at the Gospel mission ended in redemption, in a renewed imagination, ended in freedom for serving God.

Paul tells us we have been rescued for a purpose - that is, for following Jesus, for living “lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way” (v. 10).

Just like when God rescued Israel from slavery under Pharaoh, he rescued them so that they would be a light to the nations.  God has done the same thing for us.  We are rescued for a purpose.

Charles Wesley in his famous hymn “And Can It Be” gets it.
“Thine eyes diffused a quickening ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; my chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.”

We are freed from the prison of darkness and have the extraordinary privilege to follow him instead.

We’ve been talking about imaginations because I believe that that is what Paul is worried about in a lot of his letters.  When we are transferred to the kingdom of God, we see things in red, in the light.  Our decisions change.  Our options change.  Our hopes and dreams change.  Our goals change.  Our families change.  Everything changes.  We no longer think about things the same because our very way of processing life changes.

We are no longer controlled by the story of addiction, by the American Dream, by the lie that money equals happiness, by seeking power over others.  We are controlled by the story that led Jesus to the cross.

Everything changes as we live into the kingdom of God.  As we are transferred into the kingdom of the Son.  Everything.

Her name was Hope.  She was in her mid 30s and had had a tough life.  We had gotten to know her over the past week as she stopped by the church for a variety or reasons that past week - VBS, Community Day, Sunday Worship, and sometimes just to say hi.  She wanted to thank us in a tangible way for our work so Friday morning, she brought us homemade flautas, still warm from the oven, for us to eat on our way home.  Well it just so happened that we had quite a bit of food that we had brought that we didn’t use.  The people of New Heights Church had provided us with more food than we could eat, so we gave it all to Hope.  We were glad she was there so it would not be wasted.  You could tell she was thankful but I didn’t think much of it.  A few minutes later, Pastor Don pulled me aside and told me some of her story:

A while ago, she gave her life to Jesus and started attending New Heights Church.  The Sunday we were there, she responded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and had entirely surrendered her life to Jesus Christ.  She didn’t have a lot of money, but really felt God wanted her to make us this gift, even if it meant she didn’t eat as well that week.  The equivalent of chicken flautas for 14 people could have fed her for 3 or 4 days.  Yet she desired to be faithful and made them anyway.  Then we gave her 3-4 times as much in groceries as she gave us.  It was as if God used us to show her God’s incredible abundance.

You see, Hope had been living within a story of scarcity.  It was a story that said, take care of yourself first and if you have any left, then you can look to others.  It was a story that believed there isn’t enough to go around.  And when she gave herself entirely to Jesus Christ, she began living out a story that said there is abundance in Christ Jesus.  I have enough and more.  I am going to think of others first and give even if I don’t have enough to give.  I am going to try to out give the Creator of all things.  And in her first act of giving since Sunday, she received back triple what she gave.  As you can expect, Pastor Don was ecstatic that we “coincidentally” had those leftover groceries.  Her faithful gift is an incredible example of what happens when we live in the kingdom of the Son.

Repeat verse 13: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.”

Finally, and most importantly, there is nothing we did or can do to rescue us from the domain of darkness.  We don’t escape - we are rescued.  Sometimes it’s easy to forget this.

When we drove up to the L.A. Mission, you should have seen the looks on our faces.  I had never been to Skid Row before.  I had never seen anything like this.  There tents everywhere - camping tents, tents made of tarps, tents made of clothes, tents made of cardboard, tents made of towels.  There are little to no white people around - a few hispanics, a few Cubans, but mostly black people.  And then quite a few cops.  Now the cops were reassuring to me, but any place that requires a number of cops can’t be the safest place in the world.  So we pull up and our eyes are bugging out of our faces.  We had never seen anything like this.

A little later in the week, we used Col 1:13-14 for our morning devotional.  We talked about how if it weren’t for the grace of God, that could be us.  Not only have we been born to parents who have introduced us to Jesus at an early age and steered us clear of addictive substances, but we only have Jesus to thank for being rescued from the domain of darkness.  We didn’t do anything to deserve it, we just responded.  And if it weren’t for the grace of God we would be just as addicted, just as hopeless, living in darkness just like the drug dealer on the street corner.

I realize that their are choices that lead to that lifestyle.  I’m not saying that.  What I am saying, is that if it weren’t for the grace of God, we wouldn’t know any better.  We wouldn’t know that there is anything better than the next hit.  We wouldn’t know any hope.  We wouldn’t know any love.  It is only because of what Jesus Christ did that we can have hope!

It’s all because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ.  Verse 22 tells us that he has reconciled us by means of his death.  That is why we can be transferred to the kingdom of the Son.

That’s what I learned in Los Angeles.

I wish I could go on and preach through the entire book of Colossians.  There’s such good stuff here.  But I can’t.  I’m just here to tell you what God did in my life on our trip.

It’s easy for me to look at “those people” and condemn them for the place in life where their decisions have led them.  But I can’t.  I know that if it weren’t for the grace of God, that would be me.  And even if I wasn’t on Skid Row, I would deserve to be.  If it weren’t for Jesus Christ, I would still be in the domain of darkness and would have no hope, no life.

Sometimes its easier for us to extend grace when we go on missions trip than it is when we are in Baker City.  We know people’s stories here.  We know their decisions.  We know how they have arrived at the place they are at.  But we can’t stop extending grace when we come home from a trip like this.

It should break our hearts when we see people who are still living in the domain of darkness.  It should break our hearts when we see people living by the hopeless stories of this world.  It should break our hearts when we see our friends following for the same old lie, when they keep on feeding the addiction, when they keeping on falling for that guy or girl who might be no good but makes them feel loved somehow, when they buy into the idea that money equals happiness.  The gospel compels our hearts to break.  We have done nothing to deserve what we have.  Jesus Christ did everything.

And we must proclaim the Gospel to those who are still living in the domain of darkness.  We must tell them that God has a rescue plan.  We must invite them to participate in what God wants to do in the world and demonstrate with our lives what freedom looks like.

My prayer is that the lessons we learned in Los Angeles would not stay in Los Angeles.  My prayer is that we would be changed in Baker City and we would change Baker City.

I’m going to close in prayer.  I would encourage you to ask one of the participants about their trip and ask them what they learned about Jesus Christ and about themselves.  Their answer may differ from what I learned.

My challenge to each of you is to focus on the things God has rescued you from, and pray that those whom we encounter today may also come to participate in God’s Great Rescue Plan.  We have an incredible and free gift.  May we not take that for granted, but may we share it with everybody whom we encounter.

Preached 8/17/2014 at Baker City Church of the Nazarene

"The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

This was our final week covering the Apostles' Creed.  It's been quite a ride these past several weeks. By the end of it, the teens were ready to be done with this series, but they learned a lot.  Some of the teens thought the plants were dumb, but several others really got into it.  I realize I can't hit everybody's learning styles effectively every week, so I do something a little different every week.

"The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

Recite the Apostles Creed

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

Review

We are at the final week in The Apostles’ Creed.  We’ve prayed through this creed for a few months and have arrived at the hope of Christianity - resurrection.

Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15:20-58 from The Message (It’s a long passage, so have multiple readers)

Questions to help breakdown the passage and enable better comprehension:

20-28: How did death come?  How did resurrection come?  And who is the last enemy?

29-33: What is the end point of this life - the point to which each of our lives is headed, the point toward which the entire universe is headed? (Resurrection in Christ)

34-38: What does a resurrection body look like? (We don’t know - it’s as different as a seed and the plant it produces)

39-44: Why do you think Paul is using this metaphor of a seed for the resurrection of the dead?

45-50: Who is the Last Adam? What is the natural end of our lives?

51-57: What is the hope of Christianity? (Resurrection).  What is the last enemy to be defeated?  How is that enemy defeated? (Jesus rose from the dead, conquering death.  When the dead are raised in Christ, death will be defeated forever).

There’s a lot in the passage, but it’s one of the most important in the entire New Testament.  Our great hope is the resurrection of the body.  One day, we who have died with Christ will be raised from the dead to resurrection life with him.  This is great news.

We have great hope for the future.  If you have not given your life to Jesus, I urge you to do so today.  You can participate in what God is doing with this world and be a part of the future in God.

What does this have to do with us now?  What does this have to do with our lives today, June 5, 2014?

We talk a lot about resurrection in church, about eternal life.  But this is not just something for the future.  This is something that we experience here and now.  Before Christ, we were dead in our sins, dead in our addictions, helpless in those things that bring us pain and sorrow and death.  When we come to Jesus, we have life, even life to the fullest.  We call this resurrection life.  

I want to watch a quick music video, and then we’re going to do something a little funky to illustrate this new life.

Watch Gungor Music Video, "Beautiful Things"

Here’s what we’re going to do.  We’re going to go outside and plant a seed.  

When you plant it, I want you to think about something in your life that needs to die with Jesus.  Like the music video we saw, perhaps there is an addiction, a habit, or a practice in your life that needs to die with Jesus.  Perhaps there is something from your past that has already died with Jesus, something that attests to resurrection in your life.  That’s awesome.

We’re going to plant this seed, water it, and send it home with you.  In the coming weeks, you can watch it grow and become something completely different, yet made of that same material.  Somehow God makes it grow.  May this model your life.  May those things that cause death, destruction, sorrow, in your life be buried with Christ and raised in new life.  That’s what a resurrection life is.

Plant the seeds.

Close in prayer.

"The Forgiveness of Sins"

Gay marriage became legal in Oregon a couple days before we talked about this.  It was a great chance for us to talk about forgiveness and how we can begin to proclaim God's forgiveness to those who need to hear a life-giving message.  While the focus was on us offering forgiveness to those who have hurt us because God offers us forgiveness freely, it was still a great chance to discuss this politically charged topic.  Afterwards, one girl brought her mother in so the three of us could pray together for forgiveness and peace in their relationship.  It was a beautiful thing to see a 16 year old girl take the initiative to ask her mother for forgiveness.  (Side Note: It also helps that her parents are great intentional disciplers of their children).Recite Apostles’ Creed

"The Forgiveness of Sins"

Read the Apostles' Creed

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

Review

What do you guys think forgiveness is?

Has there ever been a time in your life when you’ve had to ask for forgiveness?

We are a community of forgiven people
This phrase falls right after the part about the Church

And yet, the community of God can be one of the least forgiving people in the world.

Have you guys ever held a grudge before? (ask someone to define “grudge”)

Where does it get you?  Where does revenge get you?  How do you feel after you made that person feel something similar to what they did to you?

Share a personal story about getting even
It didn’t make me feel any better, it only made him feel worse about himself

We are supposed to be the most forgiving people, calling others to repentance and offering God’s forgiveness freely.

Yet so often we fail to offer the same grace and forgiveness that God has given us.

Read the Story of Jonah (I used the Jesus Storybook Bible because its concise and to the point - its our infant son's Bible).  But another short version will do if you have it.

I love this rendition of Jonah because it so pointedly describes what it means for us to offer acceptance and forgiveness to sinners.  When we don’t, we are running away from God.  We are failing to be the people God wants us to be.

Split up into small groups.
1) Describe a time in your life when you needed to ask for forgiveness?

2) Is there something in your life for which you need to ask forgiveness now?

3)  Read Romans 5:8.  What do you think about God dying for us so that we can be forgiven even when we were still sinners?

4)  Who are people (or, what kinds of people) that it is really easy for us, like Jonah, to hate or for us to hold back our forgiveness?

5)  What would it look like to offer these people forgiveness? (First, it would require a relationship.  We couldn’t run away from all sinners.  Second, it would require us to know that but for the grace of God, we would still be living in sin and death.  Third, it would require us to intentionally proclaim the Gospel to others with our words and actions in such a way they see the call to repentance and life in Christ Jesus).

Regather:

I’m interested in question 4.  Who are people that it is easy for us to hate?
Write down answers on large paper

What are ways that we can offer these people forgiveness?

I love the story of Jonah because he has to offer forgiveness to those people he hates.  Yet they are absolutely ready for it.  They all quickly turn to Jesus.

It’s easy for us in this town to look at other people outside of our bubble and pray for God’s condemnation on them.
When Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein dies, we celebrate, instead of mourning that they never came to know and love Jesus.
When Portland (our local liberal city) does something we think is crazy, we talk amongst ourselves about how this world is going to hell in a handbasket, instead of praying for our Christian brothers and sisters their who are faithfully and steadfastly participating in God’s mission in Portland.

Even here in our town, we have people who we won’t offer forgiveness to.
When someone gossips about us, we refuse to talk to them and starting gossiping about them.
When a gay teen comes to our school, we avoid them, instead of befriending them and proclaiming God’s love.
When someone hurts us, our natural, human reaction is to hurt them back.

But this is not how we are called to live.

There’s a phrase that I really like.
“There but for the grace of God, God I.”
You see, but for the grace of God, for God’s forgiveness in our lives, for God’s life and Spirit working in our lives before we were even aware of God’s presence, we would be that terrorist, we would be that crazy hippy liberal, we would be that poor girl going to get an abortion because she doesn’t see another option, we would be that gay or girl confused about who they are, we would be that one who lashes out at others because of so much hurt inside us.
“There but for the grace of God, God I.”

I want to end in a time of prayer.  Will everybody close your eyes and quiet your minds.  I want you to do some introspection - look within yourself.

Perhaps some of you don’t know God’s forgiveness.  You have been a little confused by this entire lesson because you haven’t experienced God’s life yet.  Perhaps you have done something that you just don’t see how anybody could ever forgive you for.  Perhaps you are hurting inside, or confused, or you don’t know who you are.  All you know is that you need to be released from some things and you need God’s forgiveness.  So if you want God’s forgiveness, if you want God’s life-giving presence, if you want Jesus to be in control of you life and actions, pray with me.

Pray.

For others, perhaps you need to be reminded that “There but for the grace of God, God I.” We need to be reminded that we need to forgive others because God has forgiven us first.  Perhaps you have been holding a grudge against someone.  You have sought after revenge instead of forgiveness.  You have tried to hurt someone else because they hurt you first.  Or perhaps their is an entire group of people you have hated and avoided simply because they are sinners.  And you need to be reminded that “There but for the grace of God, God I.”  If you want to need to offer God’s forgiveness to somebody today, if you need to offer life instead of hatred, joy instead of pain, pray with me.

Pray

End in Lord’s Prayer with everybody reading from the screen.

If anybody wants to talk about things tonight, we’re here.  If there is anybody you need to forgive or anybody from whom you need to ask forgiveness, do it tonight.  Don’t dawdle, don’t say I’ll do it tomorrow.  Tonight.  Wake up whom you need to wake up.  Call whom you need to call.  Pray with whom you need to pray.  And ask God to bring life to previously dead relationships.

In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth

My first encounter happened with a new Sunday School teacher.  I had just began serving as the youth pastor, and I figured I should visit the classes under my department right away.  The teacher had a long history with our congregation, but had just moved back into town after a six year stint in a neighboring town.  He had just started teaching Sunday School again after no involvement with the teens in his last congregation.  He showed a video to the class that held absolutely no interest for me.  I thought this was just one person and one class and did not think too much of it.  My next memorable encounter came from another video.  A member of the congregation had taken it upon himself to order dozens of copies of a DVD on this topic so that each teacher, pastor, and board member could own a copy and show it in their bible studies and classes.  Sure enough, one by one, most of the adult and teen classes watched and discussed this 30 minute video.  It rapidly became apparent that this issue was a really big deal here.
What was it?  The atonement?  The authority of Scripture? Alcohol?  Homosexuality?  How to be Christlike in a post-modern world? Perhaps even styles of worship?  Nope.  It was how the world was created - or rather, the world was created in six literal 24 hour days.  Never before had I encountered such dogmatism on something so trivial.
You see, growing up, I never cared much about science.  I found the easiest science classes I could in both high school and college, and did just enough work to keep up my GPA.  When I read the two accounts of how God created the world in Genesis 1 and 2, I believed God created the world but never even thought about how God created it.  That’s just not how my brain is wired.
I respect those who strive to understand how the universe works.  We need people who ask hard questions and follow the evidence wherever it leads.  I may not be asking these questions, but somebody needs to.
Furthermore, I understand the worry that many have that the subject of evolution is helping derail many young people’s faith.  However, it doesn't have to contribute to the loss of faith for anybody.  It all depends on how we approach the connection between science and faith.
So how can we approach Genesis 1 and 2 in our youth groups?

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1 NIV).  Over and over again, the Book of Psalms poetically declares the beauty and majesty of God’s creation.  It doesn’t stop there - the prophets join in the worship as well: “…the whole earth is full of God’s glory,” declares Isaiah (6:3), and, “But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom,” proclaimed Jeremiah (10:12).  There is no doubt in the Bible that God created this wonderful world, and created it in such a way that it should inspire awe.  The prophets remind us that our God is infinitely complex.  We should never expect to understand everything that this God does or has created.  We will be constantly discovering new things about creation.  We will constantly be in awe of the God of the universe.
This is where we should always start - with worship of an incredible God who is bigger than anything we could ever face.  When we read Genesis 1 and 2, we should stop everything and surrender our lives anew to a God who created life - even life to the fullest!  This is what we have to be passing on to the youth of our congregations.  If we fail at this, then we fail to pass on the Faith to the next generation.
What bothers me about the framework of this argument is the box within which we place God when say how God created the world.  To insist that God had to create the world in six literal 24-hour days is like telling Leonardo Da Vinci that he can only use red, blue, and yellow.  Even if you hold to the full inerrancy of Scripture along with reading it as a scientific document, you still have to believe that God’s power can be captured by human words.  You have to believe that God’s creative, awe-inspiring power can be so fully expressed in two chapters that we can understand the intricacies of the universe from them.  I will say the same about evolution.  We can create theories, follow the science where it leads us, and learn more about our great God.  But the moment we think we have it figured out, our hubris has gotten the better of us and we’ve fallen into idolatry of self.
How can we approach creation in our youth groups?  We can learn about the world our God created from scientists, knowing that it only leads us to fall more and more in love with the Creator God.  More importantly, we can read Scripture knowing that it tells a story about a God who created us and has given us the chance to be in relationship with God.  It doesn’t matter how God created the world.  What matters is that God has continually poured God’s self into God’s creation so that, by the grace of God, we can be in Christ.

The holy, catholic, Church, the Communion of Saints

The history buffs really appreciated this lesson.  Some of the others were really bored.  I believe it is important to hit all sorts of learning styles, so I wouldn't do a lesson like this every week.  However, it's important enough for our youth to know how we fit into our family tree.  I used a couple of graphics I found on google images to show the denominational tree.  If you don't have one, you'll find something useful there.  Also, because we are Nazarene, I emphasized our particular lineage.  I did not really attempt to be objective in my descriptions of each denomination, although I made sure not to disparage any one of them.  Throughout, I would pause and say, "Still all Christians, right?"

“The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints”

Recite Apostles’ Creed

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

Review

Let’s define our terms here (have people read the dictionary definition of the following terms):
Holy
Catholic
Communion
Saints

After we have looked at the individual terms, what do you think this is saying about the Church?

Do you think its possible for us to be morally perfect? (No)

Why do you think this is contained in the article under the Holy Spirit? (Because the Spirit is “Holy,” the Spirit makes us holy, it is only in the Spirit that we are a part of this community and are holy)

Over the last few months we have been talking a lot about God - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  We worship a big God.

Our God is bigger than anything life can throw at you.  God is bigger than the problems you are having at school.  God is bigger than the divorce of parents.  God is bigger than the death of a loved one.  God is bigger than a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend.  God is bigger than my miscarriage last year.  God is bigger than anything life throws at us.  And this phrase in the creed reminds us of this.

God is bigger than Baker City.  God is bigger than the Nazarene Church.  God is bigger than Protestantism.  God is bigger than the Church.  God is bigger than this world.

Today we’re going to look at the church, this communion of saints that God has used, is using, and will use.

Before you is a tree laying out the history of the Church.  I’m handing out pieces of paper with the name of a larger tradition and a brief description of each.  We are going to construct a tree that shows us where we fit and how God is using us and those of other traditions.

Early Church: During the first few hundred years, the church had a lot of new issues with which to deal.  They began informally, meeting in houses, but within a couple hundred years they had much more structure.  For several decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the early Christians were considered a sect of Judaism and participated in the same rites and practices as the Jews.

Roman Catholic:  Until 1054, there was only one official church.  During the first 1,000 years, the church had moved from being on the margins of society to “Christendom,” from being a sect of Judaism to an anti-semite society, from informal gatherings of all sects of society to feudal system that promoted the status quo.  Today, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest sect of Christianity.  They have come a long way since 1054.  The current Pope (the leader of the Catholicism) is Pope Francis.

Orthodox:  In 1054, the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches officially separated, although they were two different traditions from early on.  They spoke separate languages and had two competing leaders.  The Orthodox Church gave the most authority to the Patriarch of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul).  The current Patriarch is Bartholomew I.  Traditionally, they have emphasized the relation nature of the Triune God and mysticism.

Lutheran:  In 1517, Martin Luther published his 95 Theses.  This sparked an intense debate that ended in his excommunication, as well as thousands of Europeans leaving the Catholic Church in “protest” (i.e. Protestants).  Luther’s main argument was that we are justified by grace alone, not works.  Currently, there are over 70 million Lutherans.  Unbeknownst to Luther, he started a movement that has produced thousands of denominations and “nondenominational” congregations.
Denominations in this Tradition:
Lutheranism
Evangelical Free Church

Anabaptist: In the mid 1520s, a small movement began that focused on baptism.  They believed that baptism was only for those who can express an “oral confession of faith.”  Their detractors called them Anabaptists because they baptized each other, considering their infant baptism as not real.  They emphasized pacifism, separation of church and state, and the priesthood of all believers.
Denominations in the Tradition:
Amish
Mennonite
Hitterite
Quaker
Friends Church

Reformed:  Shortly after Luther, John Calvin began a movement of his own.  While he agreed with Luther on much, he had important disagreements that led him in another direction.  The Reformed tradition is probably the most influential tradition in America.  This tradition is best known by the acronym TULIP, although each of these has been modified in the past 500 years.
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election (No merit, nothing we did or can do)
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints (once saved always saved)
Currently, the most direct descendant of the Reformed tradition is the Presbyterian Church.
Denominations in this Tradition:
Presbyterian
Baptists
Congregationalist

Anglican: In the 1530s, King Henry VIII wanted to get an annulment from his wife, Catherine, who did not give birth to an heir.  The Pope wouldn’t grant the annulment, so, in November 1534, the King declared himself the head of the Church of England.  While this was an awful reason to split from a church, the Anglican Church was able to establish Christian theology and praxis.  Currently, the Anglican Church is present all over the world and is still the “via media” (middle way) between Catholicism and Protestantism that it desired to be in the 16th century.
Denominations in this Tradition:
Methodist

Baptist: In the 1600s, a movement began in the Reformed tradition over baptism.  They believed only professing believers could be baptized, and it had to be done by immersion.  This is a very diverse group with many different branches.  However, they are a part of the Reformed tradition and generally hold an Evangelicalized reformation theology, compared to the high-church reformed Presbyterians.
Denominations in this Tradition:
Southern Baptist
Churches of Christ
Adventists

Methodist: In the 1700s, John Wesley began a movement within Anglicanism that emphasized personal holiness.  They were mocked as “methodists” because of the strict methods they used to keep each other accountable.  Wesley believed that we can be free from sin here and now, by the power of the Spirit, and do not have to sin in thought and word every day.  He also believed that you cannot do Christianity on your own.  It is not just between you and God, for salvation takes place within the Church.  “There is no holiness but social holiness.”
Denominations in this Tradition:
Salvation Army
Christian and Missionary Alliances
Church of the Nazarene
Pentecostal Tradition

Pentecostalism:  In the late 1800s, a revival movement began that emphasized a direct and personal experience with the Holy Spirit.  Closely tied to the holiness movement, they expected God to spiritually renew the Christian Church.  They distanced themselves from the holiness movement early in the 1900s.  Pentecostalism has traditionally emphasized gifts of the Spirit, such as speaking in tongues, divine healing, and prophesy.
Denominations in this Tradition:
Church of God
Assemblies of God
Foursquare Gospel
Calvary Chapel
Vineyard Ministries

Church of the Nazarene:  In 1907, several holiness congregations came together and formed the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene (Pentecostal was dropped a few years later).  Their earliest roots were in the poor areas of Los Angeles.  They named themselves after the Nazarene, because nothing good can come from Nazareth (John 1:46).  Currently there are over 2 million Nazarenes in 159 world areas.  They have traditionally emphasized holiness and service to the poor and marginalized.

This is our wider family, the “catholic Church,” the communion of saints.”

For our last few minutes, I want to focus on the community that has surrounded us.  We do not arrive where we’re at by ourselves.  For better or worse, others have influenced us.

I’m going to pass out pieces of paper.  I want you to map out your spiritual history.  Some of you might not think of yourself as Christian, or perhaps you have few Christian influences in your life.  That’s okay.  I want you to map out who the religious influences are in your life.  If your dad was an atheist and heavily influenced you, then put him there.  If your great uncle Jon was the one who most influenced your theology, write that down.

What strikes you?  Does anybody stick out?  Did you forget anybody that, upon further reflection you should have added?

Close in prayer

Sharing Stories Across the Generations

I have heard of a few youth groups providing intentional opportunities for adults to share their story with the group.  Sticky Faith (www.stickyfaith.org) has a blog about this, but I have heard of others doing this.  It’s not something particularly new.  The older generations have been telling their story to the younger generations for millennia.  However, in recent years, the usual means of passing on stories (e.g. testimonial services on Sunday nights) within the congregation have all but vanished.  My church is finally canceling its Sunday night service due to incredibly low attendance.  In reality, however, the younger generations stopped going to Sunday night testimony services years ago.  Furthermore, in my experience, many parents do not share their faith journeys with their children.  Because of this, I decided to provide intentional opportunities for parents and other adults to share their stories with the teens.  This not only helps connect the generations but also helps the teens to formulate their own stories.

Last month, on a “Teen Sunday” (once a month, our Sunday night service is led by myself and the youth group), we had four adults share their stories two the congregation, about 1/4 of which were children or teenagers.  Two mothers of teenagers, myself, and our associate pastor all shared our faith journeys.  It was absolutely incredibly to hear the stories of the two mothers.  I am not sure how much of the story they had shared with their children before this moment (I am going to assume they had!).  However, it was my first time hearing it, as well as most of the congregation.  And it is a service I will not soon forget.

A couple of Thursday nights ago, we had our first congregation member share his testimony with the teens.  He is in his mid 60s and came to know Christ in 2006.  As he started sharing his story, the teens sat in complete silence.  He shared how he became an alcoholic early in high school.  He doesn’t remember anything besides playing football his junior year because of alcohol.  His senior year, a caring teacher pulled him aside and told him he was not going to graduate if he did not pull himself together.  By the grace of God he did graduate and was able to stay sober for at least a few years.  However, the next 40+ years of his life was a struggle with alcohol that got him nowhere.  In 2006, his sick and dying son sat him down and told him the truth he needed to hear.  His son had become a Christian several years before and shared the Gospel with his father.  It was not the first time he had heard about Jesus, but it was the day he chose to live in Christ the rest of his days.  When asked to choose one word that described him before he was in Christ and one word for after, he said, “Hell, and Heaven.”  Later in his explanation for why these two words, he used the synonyms, “death,” and “life.”  After he finished, I told the teens that they have no reason to ever walk by this man at church and not say hi.  They know him now, know his story, know his name, and can greet him by name every time they pass him in the foyer.

In one Thursday night, this man shared the Gospel in a more memorable and penetrating way than I have in two years.  My teens will remember this story when offered alcohol during high school.  They will remember this next time they wonder what the consequences of sin are.  They will remember this when formulating their own story about what God has done in their lives.  In two weeks, we are having a married couple share about what God has done in their family as they began investing in the work God is doing in Cambodia.

As we begin this process of connecting the generations, our goal is always discipleship.  Both the people who share their testimonies and the hearers benefit.  Both grow in discipleship.  My prayer is that by the time my teenagers leave high school they would be able to formulate how they fit in God’s story, that they would no longer view it as “my story,” but would say this is the story of God and how God has been at work in my life.

Does anybody have stories about sharing stories within their congregation?  I would love to hear some ideas.

"I Believe in the Holy Spirit"

The Nooma Video does not directly discuss the Holy Spirit, but the concept is perfect for this discussion.  It gave the teens a lot to think about.  They loved "St Patrick's Bad Analogies."  It is a funny but informative video that discusses the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.  I was a little nervous about them getting it, but they were laughing throughout.

Apostles' Creed Week 10

Read Apostles’ Creed

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

Review

"I Believe in the Holy Spirit"

Watch “St Patrick’s Bad Analogies”

Discuss the theology of the Trinity.

Three persons, One God
Quote from the the Athanasian Creed that the youtube mentions:
That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;
Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit.
But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal.

None are created - all are eternal, the Three are One.

All are equal

The Father is not the Son who is not the Spirit, but the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God.  Three in One - Tri (Three) + Unity (One) = Trinity

We only worship One God.

Complicated?  Yup, but we’re trying to express who God is with human words and human imaginations.  So, it’s impossible to fully grasp this - sorry guys!

Some ways we talk about the Trinity:
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer

Deuteronomy 6:4 (The Lord is One)

Read Luke 3:21-22 (While the Son is being baptized, the Spirit descends and the Father speaks)

Read Luke 23:44-46 (The Son commits His ruach, His pneuma, that is that same Spirit that descended and entered him at his baptism, to the Father)
The breath of life leaves him as he dies a real death.  He leaves his person, his safety, his identity, in the hands of the Father, and breathes his last.

We see most vividly perhaps, in the story of Jesus how all three Persons of the Trinity are involved in everything God does.  The Father does nothing without the Son and the Spirit.  The Spirit does nothing without the Father and the Son, and the Son does nothing without the Spirit and the Father.

Three in One.

Perhaps the best way to talk about the Spirit is as breath.

Everybody close your eyes.  Breathe In.  Breathe Out.  Breathe In.  Breathe Out.  Breathe In.  Breathe Out.  Breathe In.  Breathe Out.

We sometimes talk about the Spirit as Sustainer.  We’re going to watch something that explains this pretty well.

Watch "Breathe" (A Nooma Video by Flannel)

Everyone of us has the Spirit of God in us, whether we want to or not.  We are all made in the image of God, and only as the Spirit sustains us, sustains all of creation, do we have life.

You and every single person with whom you come into contact breathes the Spirit with every breath.

How does that change how you view yourself?

How does that change how you view others?

Close in prayer.

Almighty God, you have revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty
and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace to continue steadfast in the confession of this faith, and constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

"And Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead"

There was way too much to talk about in an hour.  Because of that, I'm not sure if I went in the right direction for this section.  We could talk about justice for weeks - well for the rest of our lives really.  However, we did have some good conversations about justice.  The role playing didn't go quite as well as I was hoping, but I think that had more to do with the scenarios than their participation.

Apostles' Creed Week 9

Review

Read Apostles’ Creed

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”

"And Will Come Again to Judge the Living and the Dead"

First, I want to quickly talk about the first part of this phrase.  Last week, we talked about how Jesus ascended into heaven.  We said that this means Jesus is still alive and at work.  This week, we said that Jesus is going to come again.  One of the most important doctrines of Christianity is that Jesus will come again.  We don’t know when or exactly what it’ll look like, but Jesus is going to come back to earth.  But I want to spend more time today on the second part of this: Justice.

What is justice?
(One of my teens brought up the Justice League.  We had a good time talking about this kind of justice.)

How do you think the love of God and the Justice of God work together?

There are two types of justice that we talk about about:
Retributive Justice
Restorative Justice
For a great summary, see:
http://www.cscsb.org/restorative_justice/retribution_vs_restoration.html

What kind of Justice do you see in the American justice system? (Both, but mostly retributive)

Let’s look at some stories of the Justice of God - split up into groups.

Exodus story - all of it, but see Exo 12:33-37 (Justice for slaves and oppressors)
Where and how is Justice happening?

Deuteronomy 10:16-22 (justice for widows and orphans)
Where and how is Justice happening?

Psalm 9:5-10 (Justice is destroying the wicked and providing a safe place for the oppressed and all who turn to him)
Where and how is Justice happening?

Micah 6:6-8 (Justice is doing good, loving kindness, and walking humbly)
Where and how is Justice happening?

Luke 6:27-36 (Bless those who curse you…Be Merciful as your father is merciful)
Where and how is Justice happening?

Revelation 19:11-16 [“The Word of God” (v. 13)  wages war against the nations with the sword that comes from His mouth]
Where and how is Justice happening?
What is the weapon that Jesus uses to wage war? (words that are like a sharp sword)

Regather.

According to these passages, what is God’s justice?

When we’re talking about justice, and love for that matter, in a situation, a good question to ask is, who is the littlest person in the story?  Who is the “least of these,” a phrase from Jesus?

So let’s look at these four scenarios and ask yourself, what is God’s justice in this situation?
I used four scenarios which I bought from a study on Amos:
http://www.nph.com/nphweb/html/waol/itempage.jsp?itemId=BF-11272&catalogId=NA&catSecCd=NA&subCatSecCd=NA&subSubCatSecCd=NA

I won’t write them here for copyright purposes.  However, they were sticky and relevant to the life of a teenager.

Regather and debrief.

Justice isn’t easy.  It’s sticky, complicated, takes prayer, practice, and reading about how God has done justice in the past - i.e. reading Scripture.

It’s something that must be done.
If time, split up into the same four groups and have them discuss how to practice justice in their lives today.

Jesus is going to come back and set the world right.  He is going to restore completely what has been destroyed.  He is going to bring about reconciliation in all creation.  He is going to bring peace, real, true, long-lasting peace.  He is going to bring deliverance from those things that bring death - greed, lust, addictions, all sorts of sins.  Somehow, in some way, God is going to set the world right and, Scripture tells us, all people will worship him.

We have the awesome opportunity to participate in what God wants to do.  Eternal, universal justice won’t come about until Jesus returns and does it.  But we can see pockets of this justice now.  We can be a part of what God wants to do and help bring about pockets of justice in Baker City.  We can become signs of what God desires to do so that all of Baker City can see what kind of God God is, what kind of Justice God enacts.  That’s my challenge to you today.  Live your life leaning into the justice of God, leaning into what God is going to do, as if you can’t wait for Jesus to return.

Let’s prayer.

He Ascended into Heaven, Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father

This week I wanted to appeal to the kinesthetic learners in our group, so I took them on a "walking journey" through the story in the Apostles' Creed.  Our youth room is in a two story building.  We started on the top floor, went down the stairs, popped in the youth room for a short clip of The Bible (History Channel), wandered through the gym in the dark, and wound our way back up the stairs.  There were 7 stations at which we stopped.  Each station was marked by a piece of paper with instructions.  This was a way for us to walk through the descending and ascending present in the middle section of the Apostles' Creed and, more importantly, in Phil 2:6-11 and the story of Jesus.  I find that the teens remember and internalize things better when we do something while we're processing.  They were focused throughout and answered the questions thoughtfully.

Apostles' Creed Week 8

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

Review

"He Ascended into Heaven, Is Seated at the Right Hand of the Father"

Read Phil 2:6-11

What do you notice about the structure, the “plot line,” in this hymn?
- It’s a pyramid - a descending and an ascending.

We’re going to follow the storyline of Jesus as we walk around this building.  We’ll all stick together and go through each stopping point as a team.

Station 1: In the Form of God (Phil 2:6), John 1:1-3
God is the one who created everything!
Circle up and share your favorite form of creation
I.e. “Bears” or “Yosemite” (not mountains or animals)

Station 2: He emptied himself… in the form of a human (Phil 2:7), John 1:14, Luke 2:1-7
God became man!
What are some rights that God has of which God emptied himself when God became man?

Station 3: He humbled himself by becoming obedient (Phil 2:8a), John 13:1-5
The God of the universe is washing people’s feet - including the one who is going to betray him!
Ask for a volunteer and wash someone’s feet
Put yourself in the place of Jesus.  I want each of you to close your eyes.  Pull up somebody in your head who has hurt you, betrayed you, bullied you, somebody you don’t think you’ll ever be able to forgive.  Now, imagine yourself washing that person’s feet, forgiving them, and giving them a chance to accept your forgiveness.  How would you feel while you’re touching their dirty, stinky feet?  What thoughts would be crossing your mind?

Station 4: To the point of death, even death on a cross (Phil 2:8b), Matt 27:45-54
Can you believe that this One went through that for us, for you!
The Bible - At The Cross (I'm sure there is something better out there, but this worked)
Leave the room in silence

Station 5: Spends Three days in death - He was actually dead! Luke 23:50-56
Jesus experienced real, physical death.
Move through the gym in darkness and silence.
At other side, ask group members to split into small groups and share a time when they have felt in utter despair.

Station 6: Therefore God highly honored him (Phil 2:9a), Luke 24:1-9
Jesus conquered death and sin and paved the way so that we can have resurrection life
It is here that Jesus starts going up the staircase.
Listen to this story of resurrection (I shared a story of resurrection in my life).

Station 7: And gave him the name… to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9b-11), Acts 1:6-11
Jesus is still alive and is in power
Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.  Symbolically, what does it mean for someone to sit “At the Right Hand?”

Regather

The staircase ends with Jesus ascension and placement at the right hand of the Father

Why does it matter that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father?

After going through the story of Jesus in this manner, does anything strike you?

Close in prayer.

He Descended to the Dead. On the third day he rose again.

Due to a couple of odd Thursdays, it has been three weeks since we have discussed the Apostles' Creed.  We spent more time on review than usual, but they jumped back in after the refresher.  I don't know how much they got out of our discussion, but I know they'll remember the movie clip.  If a picture says 1,000 words, a good movie clip can say much, much more.

Apostles' Creed Week 7

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

Review

"He Descended to the Dead.  On the third day he rose again."

Main point: Jesus conquered death as death tried to hold him but could not.

Why is important that Jesus descended to the dead? (Possible Answers)
He was actually dead
Evil actually did its worst (ruined his body, then killed him)
Only in death was Jesus able to defeat death

Why is it important that Jesus rose from the dead?
He conquered death
We can participate in his death and resurrection

Follow up Question:
Why does Jesus’ resurrection bring forgiveness of sins?
Jesus defeated death, allowing us to also be free from sin and death
Jesus is the “pioneer” of our faith and did what no human could do
now, we can find freedom in him and become enslaved to Christ Jesus
Jesus give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45)

Read 1 Cor 15:12-28

Watch Chronicles of Narnia, from Aslan's Death to shortly after Aslan's resurrection (about 20 minutes, but its exciting there's a lot of action)

Why do you think Aslan rose from the dead?

There is a phrase here, where Aslan is explaining his death.  He talks about a deeper magic than the one the witch knew.

“If the witch knew the true meaning of sacrifice, she might have interpreted the deep magic differently.  But when a willing victim who has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor’s stead, the stone table will crack and even death itself will turn backwards.”

 How do you think this relates to what the Bible says about Jesus’ death?

What about Aslan’s death makes it unique?

Hebrews 2:14-15
“Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.”

What does this verse have to say about Aslan’s death

The witch tells Aslan, “Did you honestly think you by all this that you could save the human traitor? You are giving me your life and saving no one.  So much for love.”

The witch just doesn’t understand Aslan because she works out of death, out of evil.  Yet who wins?  And how is Aslan victorious?

There’s an incredible scene a little bit later where Aslan roars at the witch and the movie kind of makes it look like Aslan eats her.  But its an incredible image of this idea that the Word of God goes forth and abolishes death.  He destroys the one who has the power of death, not with death, but with breathing so much life into death that death is abolished.  This is what the resurrection does!  It breathes so much life into the world that death is abolished.  Death is conquered, it is no more.

What does this mean for us?

Close in Prayer

Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried

Acting out Mark 15 was a great experience for the teens.  The really got into it.  Of course it is a story that most everyone had heard before, but acting it out like this helps one see things a little differently.

Apostles' Creed Week 6

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."
Review

“Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried”

Read Mark 15:1-39 using The Voice translation and have the teens act it out.
Pilate
Jesus
Crowd (everybody)
Soldiers
Some in the Crowd
Chief Priests and Scribes
Bystanders
Centurion

Why do you think the creed mentions Pontius Pilate?
Dates the crucifixion
The early church insisted on distinguishing themselves from many of the cyclical religions of the time - the death and resurrection of Jesus is not the same as the mythology surrounding Osiris, who was linked with the flooding and retreating of the Nile (a cycle), nor of those surrounding persphone and the reasons that there are seasons.
Jesus life, death and resurrection happened in a particular time.

What do you think the significance of Jesus suffering is? (There are a lot of ways to answer this, so I am not looking for one specific answer).

We’re going to watch a clip about the ugliest woman on the internet.  Her name is Lizzie and she has a rare genetic disease that prevents her from gaining any weight.

Split into smaller groups:

How would you have felt if you were Lizzie and 4 million people thought you were the ugliest person on the planet?

Do you think God can use suffering such as Lizzie’s for good?  Why or Why not?
Follow up: How is God using Lizzie in the midst of her suffering?

Have you ever felt similar things that she described - like you were worthless, like you were “literally being punched over and over and over,” that nobody loved you or cared for you, or that you had nothing to offer?

In what kind of ways did Jesus suffer in the text that we read?

How did God use Jesus’ suffering for good?

Read Romans 8:28

This doesn’t say that God causes our suffering.  But it says that God works in the midst of our suffering.

What are some examples from your life of ways that God has used suffering for good?

What trial will you let God use in your life this coming week?

Regather

Hebrews 4:14-16 (review from last week)

Jesus has been through life and suffered greatly.  He walks beside us in our suffering.  This is why it is so important that we talk about Jesus as fully God and fully human, as we talked about last week.

God doesn’t cause suffering.  Human sin causes suffering.  Disease and death are here because of our sin.  Even when bad things aren't a direct consequence of our sin, it is still a result of the Fall, of humanity's sinfulness.  And it is God who continues to work things together for good, who is continually pulling all of creation toward himself.  And Jesus entered into that resulting in a powerful demonstration of God’s resurrection power, which is what we’ll talk about next week.

Close in prayer.

This week, I adapted a great lesson from source4ym.com. http://www.thesource4ym.com/DiscussionStarters/Discussion.aspx?printerfriendly=true&id=69

Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary

The teens got a kick out of the skit that we did.  Both of our volunteers got really into it, which helped make the lesson fun.  It's difficult to make a somewhat dry creed come alive.  So if you have some ideas, feel free to share in the comments below!  Thanks for reading.

Apostles’ Creed Week 5:

"I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended to the dead.  On the Third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."

Review of previous weeks

Conceived By the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary

Matthew 1:18-25

What does it mean to be a virgin?

What do you think this would mean for Mary’s reputation?

What about Joseph’s reputation?

Luke 1:26-38

What does this passage say about Jesus (other than the virgin birth)?

Considering what this would do to Mary’s recommendation, what is significant about Mary’s response?

First, it is important to point out that this isn’t about biology.  The writers of scripture were largely unconcerned with science - that’s something from Modernity.

Ancient biology believed that the man provided all the important stuff and the woman only provided a safe place for the baby to develop (the womb).  

In other words, this is not saying that Jesus was half God, half human.

This is about the uniqueness and special circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth.  This is one of a kind and unrepeatable.  Only this child, this one “will be called Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32).

This is about Phil 2:5-8, God became a human.

So we can say, along with Christian doctrine, that Jesus Christ is fully God, 100% God.

Matthew 4:2 (Jesus Hungered)

Luke 22:44 (Jesus suffered, physically and emotionally)

Luke 11:33-35 (Jesus mourned/wept)

John 19:28 (Jesus got thirsty)

John 19:34 (Jesus bled real blood)

In our day, we argue that Jesus is divine against society that believes he was just a fine human being.  But in the first couple of centuries, there were many people who believed Jesus was not human, but only appeared to be human.  He was God and walked around in a spirit body.

But Jesus felt all the things we felt - hunger, thirst, pain, compassion, suffering.  

So we can say, along with Christian doctrine, that Jesus Christ is fully human, 100% human.

So how does this work, how is Jesus 100% God, 100% human?

It’s not about biology (or math)! It’s about who Jesus is - He is God walking amongst us humans.  He is God emptying himself and becoming a human for a purpose (phil 2).

So why do you think it is important for Jesus to be fully God and fully human?

I know that to our modern minds, it sounds preposterous to say that God became a human being.  For those of us who have spent a lot of time in the church, we really don’t stop to pause about how strange this is.  But why is it necessary for Jesus to be fully God and fully  human?  Why is it necessary for God and God alone to do God did in Jesus? (Here, I’m hoping they can recall some information from last week about how God came to do what no human could do).

Hebrews 4:14-16

*Call up 2 volunteers for a demonstration*

Have the teens act out the following situation.

The two teens are best friends and have been for years.  One friend betrays the trust of the other.  (S)he stabbed the other in the back and blabbed all of the other’s secrets to anybody who would listen.  Then (s)he cheated with the other person’s boy/girlfriend.  Then, (s)he kept all that the other had ever let him/her borrow over the past few years, refusing to give anything back.  

What would it take for these two to have reconciliation?  One is clearly in the right.  The other is clearly in the wrong.  So what would it take for these two to be best friends again?

What is the difference between Jesus and humanity? (Jesus is without sin)

So to go back to our illustration, which one was “without sin” (at least in this situation, who was in the right)?  

But that person experienced similar temptations and similar opportunities to be sinful as the other, right?

So the teen who was in the right could empathize with the backstabbing, cheating, stealing friend regarding the temptation to sin.

So what would it take for him/her to forgive this other person?

What does Hebrews 4 have to say about this?

The teen who was in the right would have to give up herself, give up her pride, give up her right-ness.  She would have to give up everything that made herself respectable and righteous to bring about reconciliation.  Everybody would wonder why they became friends again, why there was reconciliation.  Everybody would wonder how and why she could ever trust the friend again.  And there is nothing that the friend could do to bring about forgiveness unless the one who was in the right was ready to empty herself of all that made her, “her.”

What does verse 16 say again?

“Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

So it’s vital that God came down to become a human and walk amongst us, and its vital that Jesus was fully divine and fully human.  Only if this is true do we have hope of a relationship with God.  Only if Jesus is “conceived by the Holy Spirit” and “born of the virgin Mary,” can we truly have reconciliation with God.  

Time of Questions

Salt and Light: Matthew 5:13-20

ME*
Did you guys have a favorite cartoon as a kid?
My favorite Cartoon growing up was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I still watch that occasionally on Saturday mornings.  I’ve got two older brothers.  So naturally, when three boys start watching a rambunctious show like Ninja Turtles, we start emulating their behavior.  Well, one of us, I don’t remember which one, said, “Guess Again Double Ugly,” to another brother.  Oh boy was my mother angry!  So for the next several weeks, we had to watch the Ninja Turtles on mute because we started looking too much like the turles and not enough like Christ.

TRANSITION
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to for us to be the same as the world?  

WE
We see sobering statistics about the similarities in divorce rates between regular church-goers and non church goers.  
We are just as busy as those outside the church.  We only pause on Sundays half the time for worship.  We’ve forgotten what it means to take a Sabbath and to rest in the Lord.  
We watch the same movies, the same T.V. shows, and read the same books as the world.  We’ve become fluent in pop culture.  
Pop culture not your thing?  How about politics?  Instead of talking about Christlikeness and asking ourselves how to be faithful in an increasingly anti-God nation, we talk about Republicans vs. Democrats, conservative vs. liberal, as if either of those parties will ever be the path to Christlikeness.  
Politics not your thing?  How about sports?  All too often we demonstrate that sports are the most important thing to us.  We’ll miss times of corporate worship for both our own personal participation in sports and for national sports.  Nascar Race?  Football Game? Super Bowl?  I saw a sign on a church this week that said, “Yes our worship last week was more exciting than the Super Bowl.”  That made me laugh - so was my post-super bowl nap, for that matter.  
All too often, there is no distinction between us and the world.  Even worldly people do good things.  I saw a blog the other day about the top 25 most charitable celebrities.  Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus were both on there.  Two people that I would not consider models for anybody in this room.  Yet they do good things.  
This is a major problem for much of the North American Church, and often, for us, for me.  
And then there is the other side of the equation.  There are those of us who try so hard to be distinct.  We think it is up to us to save the world!  We think it is up to us to single-handedly lead Baker City to Christ, and every time we fail we take it personally and promise “to try harder next time.”  
Sometimes this plays itself out similar to the self-righteous pharisees.  Everybody in town knows we go to Church, because we are constantly looking down on them for not going to Church, but we’re not friends with any of them because we could never be friends with someone who smokes or dresses “like that.”  
A seminary friend of mine worked at Starbucks part time while going to school.  Occasionally he had to work Sunday mornings and they would let him go at 10AM where he would rush to church to worship with us.  He would get so frustrated by the people, always well dressed, presumably for Church, that came through on a Sunday morning.  Quite often, he would get a tract from one of these nice Christians.  And sometimes one of them would ask if he went to church.  Well he would get pretty frustrated occasionally, because these people he encountered would assume he wasn’t a Christian because he had to work Sunday morning.  And sometimes they would ask him why he had to work, why he couldn’t just take Sunday off.  He always responded, “Because of customers like you who want their latte on their way to worship!”  We can be so self-righteous and judgmental, us Christians.  And we can try so hard to be good, to do good works that all the world will see.  Too often, its so that people will praise me, or see what I have done, rather than what God is doing.
These are the two sides of the coin that our passage is struggling with today.

TRANSITION:
And this is where our Scripture comes in.

Read Matthew 5:13-20

Prayer

TRANSITION:
In the first part of our text, Jesus tells his disciples that they are the salt of the earth.

God
You see, there is nothing that Jesus’ disciples - and if we are Christians, then we are included in this statement - there is nothing that we did or can do that makes us salt.  We are salt because we follow Christ.  This is who we are by nature - we can’t help but be salt!
This is all about usefulness here.  Salt had several uses in Jesus’ time - uses still around today.
First, salt is a preservative.  They used to use it extensively to preserve meat.  Today we use it mostly in canned goods and other food products with a really long shelf life.
Second, salt kills.  Have you ever put salt on a slug - it’s a little cruel, but it kills the slug in seconds!  What about rinsing a wound with salt water, or gurgling your mouth with salt water when you have a sore throat.  It cleanses the wound and kills the bacteria.  It kills the yucky stuff and makes things clean.
Finally, salt is used for taste.  It accents the taste of whatever it is mixed with, and adds a little something.  Can you imagine popcorn without salt?  What about cookies? Or Pancakes?  A little bit of salt is necessary not only for our pallets, but also for our bodies - we need some sodium to thrive.
In other words, salt exists to stay off death and accentuate life!  I think that this is what Jesus was getting at.  Christians are the salt of the earth.  They are the ones who stay off death, who clean wounds, who go to those places of the earth that stink and rot, and help to get rid of whatever is causing that stink and rot.  And then they are the ones who preserve life, who make life tasteful.  Christians are called to bring out the natural beauty in this world God created, and to bring out the best of our culture, bring out the best in people.  
Stay off Death…. Accentuate God’s glory…
Christians are the salt of the earth!  What a high calling that Jesus gave his disciples.
But as we said earlier, sometimes we forget who we are, forget what our calling is.  You see, “salt a centimeter away from food is of no use; Christians who do not live and work for persons outside themselves are worthless” (Frederick Dale Bruner, The Christbook: Matthew 1-12.  Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1987, 158.)  They are tasteless and will be completely ignored by outsiders.  They will be “thrown out and trampled under foot,” not even noticed as those on the outside go about their day-to-day lives.  
Christians have lost their identity if they lost their saltiness.

The next section, Jesus calls his disciples the light of the world.  This, also is quite a bold statement.  In John, Jesus says he is the light of the world.  In other words, by our very nature, we reflect Jesus to the world and are the light of Jesus in those dark places.  
I love how Jesus just throws this out there.  He doesn’t qualify it - you are the light of the world if….  He states it as a fact.  And then goes on to say that lights are made to be seen.  Just as nobody lights a lamp and then covers  - that would be a useless lamp - so also God is not going to cover us up.  
In the beginning of chapter 5, in the Beattitudes, Jesus states that it is the lowly, the poor, those who mourn, the humble, the hungry and thirsty, those who show mercy, those who bring about peace, it is these ones who will see God, inherit the earth, be called sons of God - all of these will know God.  
None of these types of people forces themselves into situations.  They don’t make themselves into the things they are.  They take the road of obedience, service, humility.  And it is these ones who participate in God’s kingdom.  Those who try to get there by their own strength - those who stomp on other people to be the leader of the servant committee, those who do good deeds and then do everything but buy out an ad in the paper to tell people about them, these aren’t the ones who inherit the earth.  The meek do!
And those who are trying to earn their way to heaven through their accomplishments.  Those who think they can plant the seed, water it, and make it grow all by themselves, those who - often self-sacrifically - are doing whatever it takes out of a sense of guilt or shame or anything other than reverence and worship of God, the one who works harder than everybody else does not inherit the earth!  The meek do!
You see, it is God who creates us to be salt, God who creates us to be light.  It is God who has already made us useful.  God did not create us to be hidden, but created us to penetrate all the dark places of the world, all areas of society, and to let the love of Christ be known.  It is not up to us to create the light or to show ourselves off.  All we have to do is embrace our identity and act like who we are.  
Then, then, all the glory will be given to the one who deserves it.  And we will rest assured knowing that this world is a better place - a place full of beauty and life, a place full of light - because of who God is, and not what we do or don’t do.
It took me a while to understand why the lectionary includes this last part of this passage in today’s text.  Then it hit me.  These two analogies that Jesus makes are two sides of the same coin.  Some of us don’t embrace our identity.  We become saltless salt.  We try to hide our lamp under a basket.  Jesus is telling us who we are.  You are salt!  You are light!  Others try so hard to be salt and light, often to boost ourselves up, but also sometimes just unconsciously trying to earn our way into God’s favor.  We’re like a spotlight instead of a lamp.  A spotlight is not the metaphor Jesus is using here.  That just hurts people’s eyes - it doesn’t reflect Jesus!
You see Jesus tells us that Jesus is the fulfillment of the “Law and the Prophets,” - a shorthand way of saying the bible of his time.  And we may be tempted toward throwing everything out and declaring that grace is king.  
“We can do whatever we want because we are free from the law!  Jesus has come to grant freedom!”  But as Paul says - all things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial (1 Cor 10:23).  If you serve me in this manner, you’ll be trampled in the ground, unnoticed by the world and useless to anybody.
On the other hand, some of us are still strapped to the law.  The Pharisees get a bad rap - but they only wanted to be holy.  They understood holiness as following the letter to the T, even if it meant hurting people along they way.  They weren’t all bad, they just misunderstood holiness.  And Jesus is saying, you’re not the one who makes yourself light; you’re not the one who makes yourself salt.  It is I who created you to be like this and it is I who make you shine in the world.  If you serve me in this manner, you will be least in the kingdom of God.
Instead, embrace my righteousness, the righteousness which I give you, the righteousness and lawfulness that stems from love and focuses on the spirit of the law.  I have made you who are, I have made you exactly what I want you to be, and if you embrace that, I will make the entire world a better place for my glory and you will get to be a part of that!

TRANSITION:
What great news!  So what does this mean for you and me?

YOU
Does the world know you are a Christian?  Have you lost your saltiness  Do you live your life in such a way that you are distinct from the world yet at the same time make this world a place full of life?  Or are you useless to the world, does the world simply pass you by as if you aren’t even there.  Do you stay off death and accentuate life?
For those of you who identify with this, know that God has created you to be salt!  You are salt and God is there to help you become salty once more.  You are light, and God wants nothing more than for your lifestyle to be a beacon of light for all the world to see God’s glory.  
Pray that God would put you in places that need to be purified, places that need to have beauty and good and God’s light.  Pray for the courage to say no to aspects in our society that we need to reject, and for wisdom to know which places in this city that we need to accentuate that bring glory to God.  Pray that your home would be a light where all of Eastern Oregon knows the love of Christ dwells.
On the other hand, have you bought into the lie that you are only a part of the kingdom if you can work hard enough?  Are you doing, doing, doing, simply because you are trying to make up for sinful things in your past, or because you think you aren’t good enough?  
Or are you so intent on doing that you, like the pharisees, just need to stop and see that you’re trampling all over people in the name of God!
For those of you who are so intent on doing that you’ve forgotten it’s God’s job to let your light shine, and God’s job to make you into who God wants you to be, know that it is only the righteousness which Jesus gives you that lets you participate in his Kingdom.  It is only when we are meek, humble, and obedient to Jesus Christ - not when we do, do, do, - that we get the incredible opportunity to be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 
Pray that God would reveal to you who He is calling you to be and the person into whom he is shaping you.  Pray that your home would be a light where all of Eastern Oregon knows the love of Christ dwells.

WE
If we as Baker City Church of the Nazarene can embrace our identity as salt and light, can you imagine what this town would look like?
Perhaps more people in town would be free to worship on Sundays because we made our coffee at home!
Perhaps there would be more doodling during Church as people strove to create works of art that glorified God.
Perhaps this church would be the first place in town where prisoners come when they are released from the jail.
Perhaps your family would be the place where others turn to when they need a safe place to simply be.
Perhaps waiters would be excited whenever one of us visits their restaurant because they know we treat them special and tip well!
Perhaps those who have no family in Baker, the orphans, the widows, the divorced, the outcast, the single parent, these people would know that this is a place where life, beauty, and love can be find in Christ Jesus.
Can you dream with me church?  Can you dream with me what it means for us to be the salt and the light of the earth!

Pray with Me.

Benediction:

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col 3:15-17).  Amen.

Listen Here

*The "Me-We-God-You-We" Format is borrowed from Andy Stanley.  This was preached Sunday Morning Worship, 2/09/14