SURGE in Review: 2/22/2012

Pre-SURGE:

Last night at SURGE we started off with some Pre-SURGE Tweets!!!  For most Surge stuff coming up you can get your thought on our scrolling Twitter board at CYM but using #CYMSURGE.  We ended up having around 8 tweets rotating.  You can tweet about #CYMSURGE anytime during the week and we will post it the following Wed. night.

GAME:

We played some awesome rounds of mini-dodgeball last night in the CYM Student Ministry Center.  

Worship:

Katie, Corrie, David, and Scott led us in some really awesome worship last night!  The songs were "All Because of Jesus", "I am Free", "Shout to the Lord", and a brand-new one to us called "One Desire".

Last night (after some of the smell cleared the room! LOL!) we discussed the feeling of completion.  We talked about how Paul and Barnabas completed their first missionary journey and how the church gathered to welcome them back after a 2 year journey.  We talked about how there were some believers who approached the church in Antioch stating that the Gentiles would in a sense have to abide by all the Jewish laws before they could become Christ followers.  This took us into a discussion about the differences between the backgrounds of the Jewish people and the Gentile people.  Both came from sacrificing cultures but the Gentiles were used to sacrificing to multiple gods to "make them happy" and the Jews were used to sacrificing to God to "make Him happy".  However, the Jews in Antioch couldn't sacrifice to God very often because they were only allowed to sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem.  So in order for the Jews to make God happy they would have to obey every command in the Old Testament.  This brought on a plethora of rules and regulations that went far beyond what God had intended.  So the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to seek out the wisdom of the Apostles and Elders.

How does this effect us?  Well, we still have a tension between two factions in our churches today.  The Saints and the Sinners...We sometimes have a hard time blending the new Christ followers that still have a ton of sin baggage with the long time Christ followers who have created a ton of rules.  The most important part that we need to remember is that living the Christian life isn't about rules and it isn't about making cookie-cutter Christians...It is about remembering that we are all on different stages of "The Journey"but we all have been called to take on spreading the Gospel of Jesus.  His love and grace still covers both groups and in fact, calls us all to be unified as the CHURCH.

A Youth Ministry Home Run...

During our Voltage (CYM's Sunday School) lesson yesterday I asked this question "Who is the brightest, most inspiring Christian you personally know?"

This type of question comes up a ton in youth ministry curriculum and it is always one I am hesitant to ask. It is awkward for me to ask this question...one, because if the answer isn't "Gosh, you are Jon" then I feel like I am not doing a good enough job...and two, because if it is "Gosh, you are Jon" then I feel embarrassed and that the kids are just saying it because I am in the room...

So with the Group Questions yesterday I had to go there and to my surprise...I found an answer that I loved!  Several students shared one name...and this name is one of the volunteers in our Wed. night SURGE CYM ministry.

Dani Helm!

The reasons were multiple but the main reason was because "she takes the time to stop what she is doing to ask how I'm doing...and then she listens."

Incredible!!!!

I am so thankful for our Volunteers in CYM who sacrifice a ton of time to pour into students.

Could you do me a favor?  Would you be able to take some time this week to ask one person under the age of 18 how they are doing...and then listen?

Surge in Review: 2/15/2012

Last night at SURGE we continued "The Journey" as Paul and Barnabas traveled from Pisidian-Antioch to Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe.  We discovered that there has been a pattern emerging as to how the Jesus message was spread through the cities that Paul went to.  Here is the pattern: they went to the synagogues, spoke to the Jews, then to the Gentiles (sometimes signs and wonders), there was always a split audience (those who believed vs. those who did not), the animosity of those who didn't believe (mostly Jews) grew, Paul and Barnabas were persecuted, then they left town.  We have to remember that Paul's first missionary journey is only 2 chapters in our Scriptures but it was really a 2 year journey.  One key thought that we looked at was how close to home Paul was when they entered the city of Derbe.  He was so close to the city of Tarsus where he was from.  It looks as though the journey is leading Paul and Barnabas to a place of refuge except...when they leave Derbe they head right back to Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian-Antioch.  They head right back into the cities that ran them off.  Paul was even left for dead in Iconium after being stoned.  But this didn't stop him nor Barnabas from going back to strengthen the fledgling congregations that had just formed.  They went back to choose leaders and to let the new Christ followers know that the journey will be hard.

How about you?  Has your journey been hard?  If so...you are probably on the right journey!

Surge in Review 2/8/2012

Last night we continued "The Journey" series.  We devoted a great deal of time specifically to Scripture last night.  We traveled with Paul and Barnabas as they sailed from Paphos to Perga (This is where John-Mark left the team) and then traveled on foot to Pisidian Antioch.  We talked about honoring the mileage as we read from 2nd Corinthians 11 and wondered if any of these trials and persecutions that Paul faced happened on this trip.  After they arrived in Pisidian Antioch they went to the synagog on the sabbath.  We discussed how this was a pattern that Paul established on his journeys into different towns.  He went first to the people who had a similar background (the entire Old Testament) before he began preaching/teaching to the Gentiles.  During this particular portion of Scripture we read that Paul was given the opportunity to speak.  We related this to "Fear" and how we are all given or will be given opportunities to speak/act but may be too paralyzed with fear.  Paul had a glimpse of how these Jewish folks might act towards the message of Jesus.  He too had once been in a Jewish council that listened to a young man named Stephen preach about Jesus.  The outcome of that was the Jews stoning Stephen to death as Saul/Paul was watching their clothes and gave approval to the stoning.  Could it be possible that after Paul stands up that he is in line for stones being thrown at him as well?  When you read this portion of Scripture from Acts 13, honor the mileage.  Do not be afraid!

Scriptures to Check out:

Genesis 15:1

Numbers 21:34

Joshua 1:9

2 Kings 1:15

Jeremiah 1:8

Matthew 1:20

Matthew 14:27

Matthew 28:5

In the Game

This morning I listened to John Ortberg talk about playing the game.  This was his message from this past weekend as the entire country was gearing up to watch the Super Bowl.  This message was directly linked to serving the Kingdom (playing the game) during the entire week.  He related the church to a locker room where they go over the playbook, make adjustments in strategy, and where an inspirational speech is made.  He talked about how much the locker room is needed but we don't meet in the locker room for the locker room's sake.  We meet in the locker room so that we can go play the game.

We meet at church every Sunday to review the playbook (the Bible), make adjustments to our strategy for reaching the world, and find an inspirational thought or message to get us going.  One thing he said really caught my attention.  He talked about a child never dreams about becoming the best spectator to ever watch the game.  Children have a dream and a passion to become the best player to ever play the game.

When I was a kid, our favorite game to play in the backyard was tackle football.  I remember the players who we used to be.  I was always Deion Sanders.  My neighbor Nathan was always Barry Sanders and his brother Shane was usually Randall Cunningham or Derrick Thomas.  My brother was Christian Okoye because he always ran us over.  We never pretended to be fans or spectators.  We always dreamed of playing in the game.

Is it possible that God gives his children the passion and desire to want to play in the game?  The Kingdom of God is better when everyone who is a child of the King serves and when the spectating is left up to the world not to the church.  Then, when we all play the game from the same playbook, the world will watch in amazement and be stirred into a desire to "Get in the Game" themselves.

Thanks John Ortberg for inspiring me to stay in the game!  

SURGE in Review 2/01/12

This past Wednesday at CYM we talked about the island that Paul and Barnabas first reached after setting sail from Antioch.  We talked mostly about the Elymas the Sorcerer and Sergius Paulus the proconsul who was governor in Paphos.  There were 2 main ideas that I hope were able to surface during our time together.  1. It was the Holy Spirit who called and sent Saul and Baranbas.  I believe He sent them because God wants to be known...He always has.  Would you want to serve a God that remains hidden?  2. There will always be competing voices in our life.  We must strive to discern which voices are coming from God and which voices are coming from the world.  Elymas was trying to turn Sergius Paulus from the faith.  Who or what are the competing voices in your life?