Sunday Morning Series: God: Revealed
10:00am

God is many, many things and has many, many names revealed in His word.  Some have confused this and invented other gods to take the position of some of these offices that God has fulfilled Himself.  Ask yourself, is he Emanuel, or Jesus? Is it Elohim or Jehova? Is He the Prince of Peace and Everlasting Father, or is he the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?  Is He the first and the last or is He sharing the positions with other persons.

Is He the creator or is he just something that was used in creation.  Who is Jesus? Who is Jehova?  What are His attributes? What is His personality?  What did He say He would do, and what did He already accomplish. What does He have in store for this world? What does He have in store for you?

If God really revealed Himself to you and told you all about his plan, would you be interested in hearing it?  Would you be willing to follow Him?  Are you too fearful to really know Him?

God:Revealed

Supreme Ruler

Here is the information each parent should know before you allow your special child onto our van for NAYC, 2011.  We have a couple of documents for you: First, the dress code and second, the rules for the road, some of them.

• Dress Code (PDF)
• Rules for the Road (PDF)

Some of these rules may be silly to some, but they are in place to for the betterment of the entire group experience.  They are handed down by the Supreme Ruler and we kind of like them.

Things to Remember:

• Be at the church, ready to load up and go at 9:30am on Tuesday.
• Bring some clothes to go to the park in on Saturday. (You may ride water rides)
• You may want some extra money for the Saturday thing, we will be there all day. Park food is more expensive than regular food.
• Please, one, as in 1, suitcase per person.
• Your expensive belongings are your responsibility.  We can’t turn around and drive 5 hours back to pick up your iPod you left the waiter as a tip.
• Any questions should be directed toward the supreme ruler.

For the next few weeks we are going to be focusing on the Revolution that we are supposed to be.  Can there be a revolution without a fight? No.  Can there be a Revolution without sacrifice? No.  Can there be a revolution without dedication, consecration, change, determination?  No, no, no, and finally, no.

What would you change about yourself if 20 years from now you could look back and change it?

Area 19 was a fun time.  Complete with Mr. Purplestick and the engagingly bright mind of Bildgewater. Next time we do a lockin you don’t want to miss it. Trust me.

Strange things have been recorded in history.  Sometimes, fact is stranger than fiction.  This is certainly true about a small triangle portion of the ocean off the southern tip of Florida.  It all started as Christopher Columbus entered into the area that would become known as the Bermuda Triangle. Columbus recorded in his journal that, as they entered into these waters, him and his crew saw strange lights in the sky.  Lights they could not explain.  There are many theories as to what these lights may have been but, one thing is sure, this was the first noted event that took place in this mysterious patch of ocean.

On December 5th, 1945, five TBM Avenger Torpedo Bombers took off from Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  What was supposed to be a routine training mission turned into a tragedy as all five aircraft, and the nine airmen in them, disappeared into thin air. Fearing the worst, a PBM Mariner Flying Boat was sent on a rescue mission to find and rescue the missing airmen.  Only a few minutes later, that plane also disappeared into thin air.  No distress calls, no maydays, just silence.  Many ships and aircraft have been mysteriously lost in the triangle since then with no warning or explanation, they just disappeared without a trace.

It’s not surprising that this little patch of ocean has been nicknamed, the Devil’s Triangle.  It is an eery symbol of the very thing we fly through every day.  A deadly, mysterious triangle where, every now and then, young people disappear without a trace.  It’s something that can also be called the Devil’s Triangle.

I John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Lust of the Eyes

The Desire to have all the world offers.  This is one of the major downfalls for Christian youths.  They are taught from the time they are young that they should reach for the stars.  To make good grades, get good jobs, make a lot of money, and that equals success.  They are taught that if they want anything bad enough, they can get it.  It’s the American Dream!

However, the American Dream isn’t really the main objective to a Christian.  The main objective is to do the will of the Father.  Sometimes the will of the father makes us do things that don’t line up with the world’s philosophy.  For instance, how many missionaries have given up the dream of being a wealthy business owner to go into a poverty-stricken country and risk life and health to spread the Gospel?  It doesn’t match up with the world’s idea of success.

As young people, we need to realize that the ambition to succeed is not evil.  It is a very powerful engine that can drive us to succeed.  However, that drive to succeed must never be focused on the shiny things that the world has to offer.  Yet, it needs to be focused on being successful in our pursuit of the will of the Father.  If we achieve or attain to any of the shiny things the world offers, let it come as a blessing from God rather than being the ultimate goal for our lives.  When our ultimate goal in life is to attain something of the world, the ultimate outcome is always disappointment.

Lust of the Flesh

The desire to do what the world does.  This is also a very tricky point in the Devil’s Triangle. The desire to be involved in the things that the world pressures us to be involved in. Peer pressure is something that is always going to be present.  And it’s not just in young people, old people feel it to.  There is an expected behavior attributed to demographics of the group.  Old men should talk about the weather and baseball.  Young men should talk about girls and basketball.  Old women talk about sewing, knitting, and quilting, and old men.  Young women talk about clothes, shoes, and young men.

This peer pressure goes overboard sometimes from the world’s perspective.  Young people are pressured to act certain ways, dress certain ways, be involved in certain things, and take part in certain things.  Parents are also a driving force in pressuring their teens to conform to the “norm” for kids.  If a young girl wants to dress modestly, sometimes parents will worry that her friends might make fun of her for dressing different.  If a young boy wants to forgo football to focus on other things, parents and peers will think it’s strange.

Another thing we cannot get away from, like peer pressure, is the fact that REAL Christians are always going to be labeled weird. As a matter of fact, the Bible says that we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood… we love those titles… a peculiar people- HOLD ON!

You’re telling me that, if I am a Christian I’m going to be peculiar? To who?  Yes, and to the world.  You will be weird. People will wonder why you don’t dress normal, act normal, participate in normal adolescent behavior.  There is a very simple explanation as to why.

If you take a president’s kid or a king’s kid… Prince Soandso.  When he is in a crowded room with a bunch of strangers, he will act differently than a normal adolescent.  First, the normal young person will do things to fit in and become a part of the group.  Prince Soandso doesn’t care if he fits in, or if the group accepts him because… he’s a prince. Second, He will never dress, act, or speak like everyone else because, he’s a prince.  He has to act, dress, and behave like royalty.

How come we can’t think the same thing about being a child of God.  We claim we are God’s children but we go above and beyond to make our peers think we are just like them.  No, we need to be different.  Children of THE KING should act like they are children of the King.   There should always be something peculiar about a real child of God.  They just don’t do everything the world calls “normal.”

The Pride of Life

This is the top of the triangle.  Who do you want to please?  Do you look for the world for approval of how you live your life, or do you look to God? Which one do you want most.  Would you rather please God and disappoint the world or please the world and disappoint God.

Many times we choose the approval of the world rather than God because God is invisible.  We push him out of our minds and do whatever it takes, dress however it takes, and act however it takes to gain the approval of those in the world.  We get our worth from them and put everything we can into gaining their approval.  The sad thing is, it always lets us down.

Brittany Spears & Lindsey Lohan are two names that spring to mind.  They both gave everything to gain the approval of the public.  As children they had fans.  Young girls idolized them.  They had the approval.  However, as they became older they turned their attention to being approved by the opposite sex.  They still had girls idolizing them but now it wasn’t because of their talents and abilities but only because foolish boys found them attractive.  So now the girls had to dress more provocative to gain the boys approval because they boys thought these two girls were “it.”

Where did this approval lead them?  Mental breakdowns, unhappiness, drug addiction, depression, rehab…. the list goes on and on.  And, sadly, a lot of teenagers followed right along with their example and are falling into the same trap.  Even worse, people are continuing in the pattern.  Miley Cyrus is traveling down that same road… it’s only a matter of time.

Who do we get our worth from?  Foolish boys that think showing skin is what makes a girl valuable?  Foolish girls that degrade themselves into non-persons to be accepted by the boys?  Do we get our worth from a world that pushes those foolish boys and girls on us as role models for all teenagers?

How about getting our identity and self-worth from a God that teaches you don’t have to degrade yourself for approval.  A God that says to boys, “you will find unhappiness as long as you pursue a foolish girl” or to girls, “you will find unhappiness as long as you pursue a foolish boy.”  A God that lays happiness and peace at our doorstep.  How can you compare that type of a life with the life filled with substance abuse and rehab?

This is a major, extreme example but the same thing happens to our teens everyday in school.  They need to be taught to get their identity, self-worth, and approval from God, and not a bunch of over-hyped foolish teenagers who are like a pied piper, leading all those that follow to destruction.

The Devil’s Triangle – The Mystery

These three points that make up the triangle is why a lot of young people have disappeared without a trace.  The statistics show that the majority of teens leave their church’s teachings and faith as soon as they exit high school.

The reason is, they get enveloped by those three areas of their life and, with little or no warning, these teens disappear from the pew with no warning and no distress calls.  Many times they are never found and nobody knows exactly what happened.

For some it’s a mystery how teenagers that used to have a relationship with God can disappear from church without a clue as to why or how.  But the mystery is solved now.  Now you know that, if your teen ever leaves their relationship with God to disappear into a lost and dying world… it’s because they have become another statistic along with all of those who have become lost in the Devil’s Triangle.

Just reminding everyone that Saturday is the Section 9 youth service and volleyball tournament at Union Station. The service is starting at 3:00pm and then everyone will move to the U to eat pizza and take part in the Volleyball Tournament.

Things We Will Need:

• Line Judges (Vball Court)
• Pizza/Drink Sellers
• Trash Picker Uppers
• Light Operators (Talk to Bro. Scott)