Vitals - July 4th

The Spark (Jr. High) - July 4th
Message - "Storytellers - Part 1" by Emily Stoen
Key Verses: Matthew 13:18-23
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 128
1st Service: 34 (28 students, 6 leaders)
2nd Service: 50 (41 students, 9 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) -July 4th
Message - "Storytellers - Part 1" by Emily Stoen
Key Verses: Matthew 13:18-23
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 61 (52 students, 9 leaders)

BIG STUF CAMP - Student & Parent Meeting This Sunday (June 20th)!

If your student is going to BIG STUF Summer Camp with us next week, remember that you and them need to both be at the BIG STUF Meeting this Sunday from 12:00-1:00p in the Student Zone at Point of Grace Church. We we go through all the important camp information that you will need to know as well as what to expect the week we are at camp. We will also go over the behavior guidelines that your student will be held to, so that you as parents will know beforehand exactly how we will respond should certain unfortunate circumstances arise. We will be able to answer any questions that you have and prepare you so that registration on Tuesday is as smooth of a process as possible. If you have any questions before Sunday, please feel free to email us at students@pointofgrace.com or call the church office at 515.987.9595. Hope to see you all there!

Vitals - June 13th

The Spark (Jr. High) - June 13th
Message - "ONE PRAYER:: Unstoppable Courage" by Craig Groeschel
Big Idea:
"The path to you greatest potential is often straight through your greatest fear."
Key Verses: 2 Timothy 1:7
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 128
1st Service: 37 (31 students, 6 leaders)
2nd Service: 51 (42 students, 9 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) - June 13th
Message - "ONE PRAYER:: Unstoppable Courage" by Craig Groeschel
Big Idea:
"The path to you greatest potential is often straight through your greatest fear."
Key Verses: 2 Timothy 1:7
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 70 (59 students, 11 leaders)

New Summer Series: ONE PRAYER 2010

This Sunday, June 13th, we will be starting our new Summer series called ONE PRAYER. In John 17, Jesus prayed that His followers would join together and be ONE, just as He and God are ONE. That is the heartbeat behind ONE PRAYER... That churches and Christ-followers from literally across the globe would come together and learn, pray, give and serve, not for their glory or to promote their church, but simply to love like Jesus.

For this series we will join with over 10,000 other churches, with a combined attendance of over 1 million people to lift Him high. We will hear from some of the most influential pastors in America, (and even one that has a funny accent) and be challenged to become UNSTOPPABLE! We hope that your student will join us for this incredible series experience!

Rising 6th Grade Parents...

Welcome Rising 6th Grade Parents!

We are excited about the opportunity to partner with you in the continued growth of your rising 6th grade student. We know that the transition into middle school can be a curious and uncertain season in your student's life. Our mission is to create environments where student can begin to see as God sees, and love as God loves.

The FIRST STEP in this process is Move Up Weekend! Your student will not want to miss this weekend (June 6th)! It's the first week of Summer and it is always a blast! Check your student into Zone 45 at your normal service hour, 9:00 or 10:30a, as usual. Then, the Student Ministry Leaders will "invade" Zone 45 and all the 5th graders will be led as a group to the Student Zone. The new 6th graders will be welcomed into Student Ministries and get to experience The Spark for the first time! After The Spark, we will have a Move Up Party to celebrate the beginning of Summer and to welcome the new incoming 6th graders to The Spark. This party is from 12:00-2:00p out on the front lawn of Point of Grace and is for all new 6th-8th graders! There will be tons of free food (Shane's Rib Shack!), fun games, prizes, great music and tons of water slides and inflatables! Have your student bring an appetite, a swimsuit and a friend! (If you would like to stay and hang out or help out, feel free to visit http://www.SignUpGenius.com/go/move2/161086 to sign up. Thanks!)

The SECOND STEP is for you, the parent, to attend The Spark with your student some time this summer. We want to partner with you in your students growth and the best way for that to happen if for you to know what your student is learning! Summer is a great time to casually drop it to either of The Spark experiences, either at 9:00 or 10:30a on Sunday mornings, and check out the environment. You and your student will hang out for The Spark, or you can chill in the back and just watch. Just know that you are always welcome!

The THIRD STEP is to get your student connected into a Life Group for the Fall. To have your student placed in a group, you MUST fill out the enrollment form. Life Groups are THE MOST IMPORTANT thing we do! We believe that we grow spiritually as we grow relationally, so we prioritize student involvement in Life Groups! Life Groups are a commitment to consistent attendance and consistent participation. Life Groups are student small groups with 8-10 students and 2-3 adult leaders, which are divided up by grade, gender and service. To get the most out of The Spark, be sure your student attends the same service, with the same group of friends and the same leader, every week. It is imperative that students have the same familiar leaders in order to build trust, which will lead to transformation. We hope that leaders can remain with their Life Group as many years as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to contact us at:

students@pointofgrace.com
515.987.9595

Or you can check out the Parent LifeLine blog for all the most current important information at:
http://pogparents.blogspot.com

Thanks! We look forward to partnering with you in helping your student grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Point of Grace Student Ministry Team

Move Up Weekend!

Your student will not want to miss this weekend! It's the first week of Summer and it is always a blast! For Junior Highers (new 6th - 8th graders) the new 6th graders will be welcomed into Student Ministries and get to experience The Spark for the first time! After The Spark we will have a Move Up Party to celebrate the beginning of Summer and to welcome the new incoming 6th graders to The Spark. This party is from 12:00-2:00p out on the front lawn of Point of Grace and is for all new 6th-8th graders! There will be tons of free food (Shane's Rib Shack!), fun games, prizes, great music and tons of water slides and inflatables! Have your student bring an appetite, a swimsuit and a friend! (If you would like to stay and hang out or help out, feel free to visit http://www.SignUpGenius.com/go/move2/161086 to sign up. Thanks!)

And then, from 3:00-5:00p is the 4ORTY 2WO Move Up Party to welcome the new Freshmen to 4ORTY 2WO! There will be even more free food (Shane's Rib Shack!), fun games, prizes, great music and tons of water slides and inflatables! Have your student bring an appetite, a swimsuit and a friend! This party is also out on the front lawn of Point of Grace and is for all new 9-12th graders and graduating seniors! That means if your student was in the Spark last year as an 8th grader, this is their party, not the one in the afternoon. (If you would like to stay and hang out or help out, feel free to visit http://www.SignUpGenius.com/go/move2/161086 to sign up. Thanks!) After the Move Up Party, we will have 4ORTY 2WO, where we will welcome new freshman and celebrate what God is doing in the lives of our graduating Seniors! Its going to be an incredible weekend that you will not want to miss!

If you have any questions or if we can help in anyway at all please feel free to email us at students@pointofgrace.com or give us a call at 515.987.9595.

Parent Meeting This Sunday! (May 2nd)

Hey Parents of 5th-12th Graders!
We will be having a Parent Meeting this Sunday, May 2nd, from 12:00 - 1:00p in the Student Zone at Point of Grace. This will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions that you have about Katie and Kurt's transition, get important information about Move Up Weekend, and the events this summer. We hope that you will make every effort to be there and invite other parents of 5th - 12th graders to come with you...

We will have some refreshments for you as well as some high school students to watch your younger children in Zone 45 so that you can make it to this important meeting.

Thanks!

The Student Ministry Staff

Purity Celebration - Cancelled

Unfortunatley, due to lack of sign ups, the Student Ministry Purity Ceremony had to be canceled as an event. We know that this is bad news, and if you have any questions, feel free to contacts us by sending us an email at students@pointofgrace.com or you can call us at the church office at 515.987.9595. For those of you who would like to do a special night with your family to mark and celebrate this decision for purity that your student has made, we would love to be a partner with you in that if you would like. If we can help with any creative ideas, be an encouragement to you or you student, or be a part of your evening, we would love to, just let us know how we can serve you. Again we are sorry that this event had to be canceled, but we hope that you as parents can support and celebrate the choices that you students make towards a more God-honoring life!

No Student Services This Weekend!

Due to the Easter holiday, we will not be having The Spark or 4ORTY 2WO this Sunday, April 4th. We hope that you enjoy this weekend to celebrate Jesus' resurrection as a family. We will resume The Spark and 4ORTY 2WO on Sunday April 11th, with a weekend that you will not want to miss, as we wrap up our Invisible Kingdom series! Have a great weekend!

Vitals - March 28th

The Spark (Jr. High) - March 28th
Message - "INVISIBLE KINGDOM: Can You See In The Dark?" by Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"God is often most active in the situations where there seems to be almost no evidence of His existence."
Key Verses: Mark 14:17-21
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 128
1st Service: 52 (41 students, 11 leaders)
2nd Service: 76 (63 students, 13 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) - March 28th
Message - "INVISIBLE KINGDOM: Can You See In The Dark?" by Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"God is often most active in the situations where there seems to be almost no evidence of His existence."
Key Verses: Mark 14:17-21
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 79 (66 students, 13 leaders)

30 Hour Famine!

Don't forget! 30 Hour Famine is today (Friday, March 26th) from 8am until 3p tomorrow (Saturday, March 27th)! Be sure that your student eats breakfast before 8am & then only drinks water and juice after (We recommend Apple Juice, not anything citrus... Its easier on the stomach!)! Then we meet @ church for all the fun stuff tonight 6pm! If you haven't filled out a permission slip, they will be available at the door. The cost for this event is free, however students will only be allowed to bring 3 (three) personal items in with them. For example, a clean shirt, deodorant and a pillow. (Medications, glasses/contacts, or specific needed items do not count as 1 of the 3 items. Can't wait to see you tonight for the 30 Hour Famine. Students can change the world!!

Vitals - March 21st

The Spark (Jr. High) - March 21st
Message - "INVISIBLE KINGDOM: Comfort and Fear" By Katie Duggleby
Big Idea:
"Following Christ requires that we step out of comfort to live courageously."
Key Verses: Philippians 1:29
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 93
1st Service: 38 (26 students, 12 leaders)
2nd Service: 55 (41 students, 14 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) - March 21st
Message - "INVISIBLE KINGDOM: Comfort and Fear" By Katie Duggleby
Big Idea:
"Following Christ requires that we step out of comfort to live courageously."
Key Verses: Philippians 1:29
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 72 (59 students, 13 leaders)

Vitals - March 14th

The Spark (Jr. High) - March 14th
Message - "INVISIBLE KINGDOM: Cause and Effect" by Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"Living in God’s Kingdom means that we care about the things that we cannot see, rather than just the things we can see."
Key Verses: Mark 4:10-12
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 85
1st Service: 39 (28 students, 11 leaders)
2nd Service: 46 (34 students, 12 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) - March 14th
Message - "INVISIBLE KINGDOM: Cause and Effect" by Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"Living in God’s Kingdom means that we care about the things that we cannot see, rather than just the things we can see."
Key Verses: Mark 4:10-12
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 68 (54 students, 14 leaders)

Purity Celebration - Friday, April 9, 2010

On Friday, April 9th, 2010, we will be hosting an incredible night of celebration and inspiration, as students pledge themselves to pursuing purity in their sexuality. This will be a great night for parents to stand with their students and express their words of challenge and encouragement and for students to be honored for making this promise. For more information, to learn how to have your student/family involved, or to buy tickets, please visit the Student Zone or contact us at students@pointofgrace.com or call the church office at 515.987.9595. You will not want to miss out on this incredible evening for your student and your whole family!

Vitals - March 7th

The Spark (Jr. High) - March 7th
Message - "PURE:: finding true love" by Katie & Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"There is nothing you can do to make God love you less, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more than He already does."
Key Verses: Romans 8:36-39
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 110
1st Service: 48 (36 students, 12 leaders)
2nd Service: 62 (49 students, 13 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) - March 7th
Message - "PURE:: finding true love" by Katie & Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"There is nothing you can do to make God love you less, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more than He already does."
Key Verses: Romans 8:36-39
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 73 (59 students, 14 leaders)

(We had 23 students pray to start following Jesus this past Sunday! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY! We are so excited for them as they join God's family and begin their own journey of following Jesus!)

PURE Series Preview - March 7th

Pure [week 4]... What Now?

This week we will wrap up the series by really focusing on God's forgiveness and the immense power there is in His grace to remove our guilt from past sexual mistakes. We want every student to know, whether they have sexual mistake already in their past or not, that God's forgiveness is big enough to cover all. We want them to understand that while different sins have different physical and emotional consequences, nothing to too big for God. Many students experience immense guilt after a bad sexual decision and often they feel like they are too far for God to reach them. We want them to know that God is not only looking and longing for them, but is actually chasing after them to bring them back to fullness in His forgiveness.

The first week of this series, we learned that purity is bigger than we think. It is important to remember that even though purity is big, and that sexual decisions are important and have far-reaching consequences, there is nothing bigger than God. Often people feel or talk about sex and God as if there is some eternal disconnect between then, but in fact God is intimately connected with our sexuality, He created and designed it, and He is always willing to help us back onto the path of pursuing purity. Virginity is a one-time reality, and when that is gone, it’s gone, however it is never too late, no matter what choices you have made in the past, or what you have done, to begin to pursue purity and allow God’s transforming love to begin to heal and direct you from this point on in your life.

It is important that while we make every effort to pursue purity at all costs, that we also know that God is not looking to us to fail, but rather took it upon Himself to make a way for us to be forgiven. God loved us so much that He allowed His Son to suffer and die a horrendous death in order to be able to reconnect with us. Therefore, it is important that we all know that there is nothing too big or too small to bring to God and ask Him for forgiveness, nor is there any sin that is unforgivable.

“Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture… None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing - nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable - absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”

Romans 8:36-39

The idea of purity is because God is holy. Holy means set apart. He is totally pure.

When something impure comes in contact with the pure God, his purity transforms what is dirty, into something that’s clean, sinful into something that holy, old and broken in to some that is new and restored. I have this really annoying habit, and it’s something I know bugs me but for whatever reason every time I tell myself I’m not going to do it, I continue to do it… many times when I do my laundry, I leave the clean clothes in the laundry basket and tell myself I’ll fold them later when I have more time, for whatever reason I never remember to come back and fold them and I end up putting dirty clothes on top of the clean clothes and they end up getting mixed in with the clean ones. Ugh this is so annoying because then I have to end up washing them all again because the dirty clothes got the clean clothes dirty… This happened again the other day and it got me thinking about how God’s love works in the exact opposite way. See God is so pure, but what is interesting about God is that he loves being mixed in with dirty, impure, imperfect, flawed people. Unlike my laundry pile when God comes into contact with our dirty, sinful lives, he makes us clean, not the other way around. When we open our impure lives to a perfectly pure God, the power of His love transforms us.

Guilt drives us to maybe just change our behavior, but experiencing God’s forgiveness drives us to a freedom in Christ’s love. This freedom is the confidence of knowing that nothing can separate us from God, that when he sees us he sees us pure as we are meant to be, this doesn’t mean we won’t still struggle or be tempted sexually, it simply means that God has started a process in us to change us from the inside out. This security in Gods love comes down to a simple truth that is your Big Idea for the day that There is nothing that you can do to make God love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you less.

Vitals - February 28th

The Spark (Jr. High) - Feb. 28th
Message - "PURE:: what girls wish guys knew.../what girls need to know about guys..." by Katie/Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
Guys: "Are you willing to show true strength by revealing your weaknesses to others?"
Girls: "You are designed to improve creation so don't settle for 'good enough.'"
Key Verses:
Guys: Jeremiah 17:9, Hebrews 3:13, Ephesians 5:25-26
Girls: Genesis 2:18-21, Colossians 3:17
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 125
1st Service: 48 (36 students, 12 leaders)
2nd Service: 77 (62 students, 15 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) - Feb. 28th
Message - "PURE:: what girls wish guys knew.../what girls need to know about guys..." by Katie/Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
Guys: "Are you willing to show true strength by revealing your weaknesses to others?"
Girls: "You are designed to improve creation so don't settle for 'good enough.'"
Key Verses:
Guys: Jeremiah 17:9, Hebrews 3:13, Ephesians 5:25-26
Girls: Genesis 2:18-21, Colossians 3:17
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 79 (64 students, 15 leaders)

PURE Series Preview - Feb. 28th

Pure [week 3] - What Girls Wish Guys Knew...

Last week Kurt talked to you guys about some of the struggles guys face when it comes to sexual purity and how to please God instead of give in to the pressures you see around you that simply lie to you about what it means to be a young man. Becoming a man of God is not easy, it’s a battle, and it requires God’s strength not just your own will power. I’m really excited to talk to you guys today and hopefully give you the girl’s perspective on what we’ve been talking about the last 2 weeks.

So as many of you have probably figured out, girls and guys are very different and as guys this probably confuses you quite often to try to figure out why girls act the way they do. Trust me I’m a girl and I love being a girl, but sometimes I can’t even figure out my own kind. When it comes to relationships girls by nature are much more in tune with their feelings and they are much more driven by their emotions. Not that guys don’t have feelings too, but usually guys tend to be more driven visually. What you see is what you get, most guys like to keep it simple. Girls usually seem much more complex than guys because the relational and emotional parts of their brain develops faster than guys do. They actually like to analyze details and talk to each other about their feelings… I know, weird!

[Girls are like spaghetti, Guys are like waffles]

My goal today is not to give you a bunch of smooth moves to help you get a girlfriend, but I’m going to try to help you see why it is important to become the kind of guy who knows how to respect girls and how to keep yourself in check so that you honor God in your relationships with girls.

First we need to talk about a little truth about ourselves, now just to warn you this is not a warm fuzzy verse from the Bible to make us feel better about ourselves, but it cuts right to the point. Simple. Guy style:

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Jeremiah 17:9

This is the plain truth about all of us—guys and girls—that outside of God’s grace none of us are naturally pure and none of us has what it takes outside of God’s help. The good news is that God doesn’t leave us stuck but actually guides us and helps us fix what is broken inside of us, but none of us can do it alone. The writer of Hebrews gives some wisdom to us about why its important to hold each other up:

“You must warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today,’ so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.” Hebrews 3:13

Here’s where your part comes in… See each guy has to get to the point where he realizes that there is something that matters more than just getting what he wants, or being popular, or having a girlfriend, or watching porn, etc. and he’s real enough with himself and others to admit that he needs help. You might be wondering what this has to do with understanding girls… well let me tell you a story about when Kurt and I just started dating.

When we first started going out Kurt and some other guys had decided that they were going to hold each other accountable in this area of sexual purity. And being the manly testosterone driven college guys that they were, they decided that the consequence for messing up was to have the biggest guy, we’ll call him “the enforcer,” and he basically punched whoever messed up in the arm. Now as a girl I didn’t really understand the whole punching part, that must be a guy thing, but one thing that did stand out to me was that here was a group of guys who cared more about what God wanted for their life than about what they wanted to watch on their computer while nobody else was around. They weren’t weak pansy boys who were okay with seeing women as objects… They were real men… and as a girl this was attractive. I remember thinking “Wow, that’s the kind of guy who is willing to make God his #1 priority, that’s the kind of guy I want to be with.” And I was not the kind of girl who would just date anybody, but I noticed this about Kurt. And here’s the other thing you guys need to know, when girls notice things that stand out about a guy, they tell all their friends.

When it comes to accountability, its important to know that true strength comes from acknowledging your weaknesses and being real with others. The goal is to become more like Christ, and the only way to do that is if we are willing to accept the truth about ourselves and our need for Jesus. There’s another verse from Ephesians that is challenging men to a higher level of love and sacrifice towards their wives and the writer, Paul actually compares the picture of husband and wife to the picture of Christ’s love for the church… it’s written to husbands, but I want to challenge you guys with this thought because this kind of love doesn’t just happen by putting a wedding ring on your finger, this kind of love takes years to learn and I want you guys to start thinking now about the ways you can selflessly serve the girls who God has placed in your life as practice for how you will treat your wife one day:

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her Ephesians 5:25-26

Now think about the way you treat the females that are in your life, not just your crush at school, but your mom, your sisters, cousins, friends who are girls. Would you describe the way that you treat them as “everything you do and say brings out the best in her?” do you love in a way that is “marked by giving and not getting?” or do you put down your sister or disrespect your mom when she asks you to do her a favor? I would like to challenge you guys to think of ways that you can go out of your way to do something nice for your sister, or tell a girl how special they are or how beautiful they look (not just the girl you like because you want her to go out with you) or write your mom a nice note just to tell her you love her.

Maybe this surprises you, but most girls don’t know how beautiful they are… I know they’re crazy huh? But most of that is because of the ridiculous standard that is set by beauty magazines, or because they overhear guys at the mall rating girls on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their “hotness” not on qualities that really matter like being trustworthy, smart, a good friend, honest or for their love for God and commitment to purity. Now just in case it needs to be said… “Don’t be that guy!” Don’t be that guys who see’s girls for what you can get out of it. Maybe you think that this challenge I’m giving you is for the girls’ sake, so that they feel better about themselves. Honestly, that is not the point because they are hearing a message today about how they need to believe they’re beautiful because God say’s they are, not boys. This challenge is not to benefit them, it’s to benefit you. Because when you decide to treat women with respect and love, something changes in your heart. Something in you will start to see “that hot girl” that you’d used to lust after as someone’s sister, or someone’s future wife. And in the process of developing healthy friendships with girls you’ll start to learn how they think, and how each girl is unique and special, you’ll see qualities in certain friends that you’d like in a girlfriend and others that you don’t like, and you’ll help them learn too.

Your Big Idea for today is this:

Are you willing to show true strength by revealing your weaknesses to others?

Pure [week 3] - What Girls Need To Know About Guys...

As Katie discussed with you girls last week, girls face unique challenges when it comes to this issue of purity. Many of their challenges revolve around their issues with insecurity and identity. It is possible that the single most effective way to ensure that a person’s pursuit of purity is successful is to determine their trust and dependence on God. As you learned last week, without God strength, we cannot do this alone.

As we look this week at what girls need to know about guys, the main point comes down to compromise. As girls, your struggles often involve looking to other people to convince us that we are beautiful or that we are important. As we look at the Scriptures today, we hopefully will be able to understand that our identity and ultimately our worth comes from who God has created us to be. Now this is true for both guys and girls, but specifically for girls, it is easy to forget that God has made women for a purpose and that we need to be sure that we keep focused on God as we enter into the time in our lives as we look for relationships, specifically with members of the opposite sex. Girls, it's important to remember that you are the only thing God created to make a perfect creation better... Let that sink in for a second...

“God said, ‘It's not good for the Man to be alone; I will make him a helper, a companion.’ …God put the Man into a deep sleep. As he slept he removed one of his ribs and replaced it with flesh. God then used the rib that he had taken from the Man to make Woman and presented her to the Man.”

Genesis 2:18, 21-22

As we look at the creation account in Genesis 2, we see that the first thing that God said was “not good,” was the fact that the man was alone and that we are created for relationship with another person. This relationship is designed to be spiritual, emotional, relational as well at sexual. This is God’s plan for our lives. We also see that the first relationship Eve had was not with Adam, but was with God. Too often, ladies try to bypass the process of God forming and creating them into who God wants them to be, and just run over and find a man. Eve didn’t go wake Adam up and say, “Hey, I’m hot and you’re the only guy around, so lets do this thing.” This process is very important. We know that Eve sinned by eating the fruit from the tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. Notice that what caused Eve to sin was that she took her eyes off of God, and started to focus on what she wanted. Satan’s line is still the same, “Did God really say…?”

Too often we try to entice guys to be interested in us, by the way we dress, they way we act, what we show is important in our lives, the way we text, and the way we pursue boy’s attention. Here is the deal, if you begin to get in the habit of pursuing guys now because you don’t want to be lonely, eventually you will pursue a guy and get him to marry you, and then a few years into your marriage, you will still have to be the one working to get his attention, and you will be more lonely than ever! Some of you could ask your mom about how that works. Instead, what would it be like to become the woman God wants you to be, and be so focused on God’s plan for you life, that no guy could sidetrack you... that the guys would have to actually pursue you, like run after you, to get to you. That’s called a pursuit, and each of you know that that is what you all want in your life, because that what all fairytales are about. By the way, to have guy pursue you, that means you have to say “no.” As you become more of who God wants you to be, the guys that are interested in you will be more and more like the guys that God wants you to be with.

“Let every detail in your lives, words, actions, whatever, be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”

Colossians 3:17

If you want to live the life that God desires for you, then you have to live life God’s way. Especially when it come to dating and relationships, we need to remember who we are and who God made us to be, and that if you love Jesus it will be displayed in your character. And, your character will be matched by the character of the guys that are interested in you. What would you life be like if everything you did, even your dating life and your actions regarding sexuality, brought glory to God and caused other people to look to God and thank Him and want to follow what He has to say about purity. That is the role that God is hoping for you to live.

BIG IDEA: You are designed to improve creation, so don’t settle for “good enough.”

Vitals - February 21st

The Spark (Jr. High) - Feb. 21st
Message - "PURE:: what girls need to know.../what guys need to know..." by Katie/Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"Pursuing purity will take God's strength, not just your own will power."
Key Verses: 1 Corinthians 6:16-20
Worship led by The Spark Band
Attendance:
Total: 113
1st Service: 45 (33 students, 12 leaders)
2nd Service: 68 (54 students, 14 leaders)

4ORTY 2WO (High School) - Feb. 21st
Message - "PURE:: what girls need to know.../what guys need to know..." by Katie/Kurt Duggleby
Big Idea:
"Pursuing purity will take God's strength, not just your own will power."
Key Verses: 1 Corinthians 6:16-20
Worship led by The 4ORTY 2WO Band
Attendance: 73 (57 students, 16 leaders)

PURE Series Preview - Feb. 21st

Pure [week 2] - You can't do it...

So last week we talked about how purity is way bigger than we think it is. Pursuing purity is something that involves all of who we are for the rest of our lives, it’s not just for this short time while you are a teenager or when you’re single. Purity also involves your mind and the way you think; your heart and the way you feel; your spiritual connection with God; and how you chose to honor God and your future spouse with your body. Choosing to live pure now will actually prepare you for a great marriage in the future… Oh ya and great sex too! We’re going to talk more today about how you don’t really get one with out the other. For the rest of this message, we are going to assume that nobody in the room has a desire for a bad marriage in the future… is that a pretty fair assumption? Okay, cool just checking.

If you think about anything in your life that you’ve had to prepare for like a test at school or a big game or an audition for choir or drama, you probably remember some of the things you did to get yourself ready mentally and physically before the big day. If it was a test, hopefully you read the material you were assigned and studied really hard. If it was a big game you practiced, ran drills with your team, envisioned the plays/routine over and over in your head. For an audition you warm up your voice, practice your song, or run your lines for the play over and over again. Could you imagine how embarrassing it would be if you decided to figure it out as you go on the big day when it really counted. Most likely that would be an epic failure of an attempt to pass a test if you never read the book or studied, you’d probably lose the game or not get the part for the play. The sad thing is, is that this is how most people think about relationships, marriage and sex.

The truth is that more than half of marriages end in divorce, you all know that if you were to score less than a 50% that would be an F-. This is a really sad reality that more marriages fail than succeed, and the statistic is no different for marriages between people who claim to be Christians. Just believing in Jesus is not what makes a marriage successful, and it will take much more than just “loving each other a whole lot.” Just like anything else you care about, a great marriage one day will not “just happen” by accident.

Even if you’ve never seen a healthy marriage, even if your parents are divorced or separated or were never married to begin with, its possible to have the kind of marriage that will last forever. And just like any other goal in life the preparation for a good marriage will require a lot of effort now. I can’t think of a bigger decision you’ll ever make than the decision to spend the rest of your life with a person. One of the pictures the Bible gives us of marriage is that “two become one.” It’s a lot more than just a big white dress a cake and a paper you sign at the courthouse. God describes it as every part of you is connected intimately with one other person physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Not only is it a connection with a person, it is a connection with God. This is the purest picture of what sex was created to be.

“There's more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, "The two become one." Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never "become one." There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for "becoming one" with another. Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:16-20

There is an important question that jumps out from this passage. Do you see your body as something that belongs to you? Or does it belong to God? Do you treat your body as something that belongs to God? Or do you treat it however you want to?

Ultimately, if we you are committed to purity for real, it comes down to one main question… Have you given your entire life to Christ? Not just your body, but your entire life. Are you starting to see that this is so much bigger than “just wait ‘til you’re married, okay!”? Its okay if you’re not there yet, trust me we don’t want you to decide on a whim that you’re committed to purity… it can’t be for your parents, it can’t be for your life group leader, it has to be a decision you make for God… because it is going to take God’s strength not just your own will power to help you pursue purity. It is going to take a commitment to a community of other people who can support you and hold you accountable.

Girl’s Purity Commitment Questions:

Are you willing to dress in a way that shows that your body belongs to God?

-Ask yourself “who am I trying to impress?”

-Does this draw attention to a certain body part?

How are you going to develop a healthy view of your body?

-Pick apart everything you see as a flaw? or appreciate how God made you?

-Trust God to help you beat addictions: eating disorders, cutting, sexual, etc.

Are you willing to fight the desire to compare yourself to others?

-Pride has a sneaky way of making us feel better/worse than others.

-Humility is being content with who you are, no more no less.

Are you going to set appropriate boundaries with guys?

-Viewing them as Brothers in Christ not relational conquests

-Not going to far physically (How much can you save for your future husband)

-Only dating guys who are committed to Jesus & who are pursuing purity too.

How will you value other Girls who God has placed in your life?

-Not gossiping or listening to gossip! Especially no “prayer request gossip”

-Be willing to hold each other accountable

Guy’s Purity Commitment Questions:

Are you willing to fight for purity of your thoughts & guarding your eyes?

-Do you see girls as God’s prized possession or your eye candy?

-Will you do whatever it takes to keep yourself from the trap of pornography?

How will you develop a healthy view of Manhood?

-The most masculine thing you can do is RESPECT WOMEN!

-How do you combat the pressure to please others instead of please God.

Are you sending Girls the right message?

-Avoid playing games with girls’ emotions, flirting to get attention

-Can you genuinely compliment girls & try to build them up (selflessly)

Are you going to set appropriate boundaries with girls?

-Viewing them as Sisters in Christ not relational or physical conquests.

-Not going to far physically (How much can you save for your future wife)

-Only dating girls who are committed to Jesus & who are pursuing purity too.

How will you value other Guys who God has placed in your life?

-Not putting other guys down. (search your heart if you are jealous)

-Be willing to hold each other accountable