So….it’s been three weeks of us continually telling ourselves “CONGRATULATIONS, I’M A LOSER”!!!  Let’s face it, we are!! Now we can be dishonest with ourselves and say “man, I’m not a loser” or we can keep our prideful/arrogant noses in the air and say “well, if I’m a loser then I know there are so many others way worse off”…but in all honesty – until you and I realize how big of a loser we are/how much we DO NOT deserve God’s grace and will never deserve it!!!…in other words when we realize how BAD we are at living this Christian life we begin to make progress.  Progress that starts by falling before a God and begging forgiveness for taking a love that we’ve never known or yet to even understand for granted and confessing that this loser on their face before this GOD needs Him daily to carry them through life.

Having said all of that, let’s move on to our recap of the third weeks lesson.  During this halfway point through our six week series I felt that it was important to bring up the topic “Who am I when bad things happen to other people?”  When things are falling apart for those around me who am I?  How do I react?

Love them

Laugh at them

Cry with them

Pray for them

Hurt for them

Help them

Obviously these are only a few, of many, responses I may have towards others when crap happens!  Therefore, I have to ask the question which do I do.   Think about the circumstances you faced today: Some of you sat in traffic and immediately began to think “less than loving” thoughts regarding those causing the traffice (what if someone lost a family member in the accident) — some of you sat down at a restaurant and had to suffer through another meal with a baby crying in the booth behind you (what if that was the parents first date since the child was born and they couldn’t get a sitter) — some of you went to school today and a good friend of yours snapped at you for “no apparent reason” so you didn’t speak to him/her the rest of the day (but what if that child just found out that their parents are getting divorced and they’ve never had to deal with this kind of pain before).  You see where I’m going with this?  I want us as believers to quit examining the surface and start to think that THERE’S MORE…Listen guys, you all walk past hundreds of kids and adults alike on any given day and probably 70% or more are hurting in some way/shape/form or fashion.  My challenge to you is to always be on alert.  Be attentive and learn to listen for those who are hurting and be there to love them like God has done for you time and time again.

These past three weeks have been a blast guys!  Thank you so much for all your attention and the heart that desires to mirror Christ’s.

I love you all,

Chris

Decisions are a part of life.  Daily we are faced with decision after decision and must choose.  Think for a moment how many decisions you made today.  From getting out of the bed this morning to the clothes you are wearing now (hopefully), if you’re parents still dress you then we’ll discuss that later on in the “GROW UP” lesson!!  Seriously, decisions are a large portion of our daily activities so we need to determine “who/what is responsible for the decisions we make?”

Other people and their opinions?:  When weighing the pros and cons of the situations that I am faced with daily do I think about others reactions?  Am I more concerned with what someone will think of me or my decision than I am about the consequences or end result?  What drives me to do what I do?  What motivates me?  Have you ever stopped to think about it?  Honestly, when I sit back and wonder why I do the things I do I get answers like “because Holly will be happy,” “because it’s what a Student Minister should do,” “what will people say about these shoes (you know me–love the fashion),” etc.  However, shouldn’t my response really be “because God will be happy,” “because it’s what a Christ follower would do,” “What would God’s reaction be”, and so on. 

Scripture Reference: Galatians 1:10

Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men?  If I were trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Love you all,

Chris

We began this six week series with a simple question: “Does appearance really matter?” 

In our day-to-day walk through life are we concerned with appearance?  The appearance of others, our own appearance, how others view me and what distorts my view of others. 

My friends: How do I choose them?  Why do I choose them?  It’s painful to admit, at times, but there are several occasions when we choose friends based on things like popularity, other people’s opinions, skin color, weight, gender, ethnic background, etc.  Is this okay?  Should appearance (what we see) determine who we love?  From a biblical perspective the answer is easy.  No, appearance shouldn’t determine who we share the love of Christ with.  However, what about from something as simple as a “moral perspective”; I mean, would it be okay for your mother or father to decide not to love you simply because you weren’t as attractive as they wanted, weren’t the gender they’d always dreamed of having or because you weren’t a healthy child.  When given those choices we can easily say “absolutely not” there is no way a parent should be allowed to act in such a way.  If we believe this to be true then the love of God should never be witheld from anyone we come in contact with – regardless of appearance.

Stereotypes: What stereotypes am I guilty of?  It can be as simple as assuming a certain race deserves less than yours,  never dating athletes because they are “full of themselves” or never befriending someone of another religion because they don’t believe the same as you.  Regardless of how it makes sense in our minds we have to be careful of judging others based on appearance.  Stereotypes play a large role in this area. 

If we can agree that we all struggle in at least one, if not many, of these areas then that means room for improvement exists.  We must strive to get past our own selfishness.  Desire to move above tradition and “how it’s always been” and advance towards a life that leads others to a God that loves regardless of appearance.  A God that looks at the heart, not as man see’s but as God does!

Scripture reference: 1Samuel 16:7

But the lord said to samuel, “do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.  For the lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the lord looks on the heart.

Love you all,

Chris

Four weeks ago we began a journey that would lead us into examining our lives, motives, friendships, Christianity and so much more.  It is my prayer that everyone has accepted the challenge of going deeper into their minds in the attempt to transform this person I’ve become into THE PERSON God has called me to be.  Let’s take a look at how big of a loser we really are.