When challenging his leaders in relation to serving students he said there are three things he asks them to do:

1.  Pray

You can’t lead someone spiritually if you haven’t asked the Spirit to guide and help.  Prayer is one of those “must” that rarely ever happens.

2.  Prepare

Be ready to for what might come up with students.  Know what they are going through.  And if you are teaching a lesson, definitely take the necessary time to know and ingest the topic you are discussing.

3.  Pursue

Teens like to know they matter and one of the best ways to do that is to pursue them.  I’m not talking about during church or the EPIC teaching times, but outside of GPCC and EPIC.  Contact them through Facebook, text, or call them.  Meet with them for a shake or a burrito.  Show up at one of their sporting events.  Really, just love them throughout the week.

Thanks Adam, for this great reminder!

Turning the Page—Liberty HS Baccalaureate (June 3, 2010)

As the Pastor of Student Ministries at GPCC, I have had the privilege and responsibility of casting the vision for what I believe God wants for our students. As I prayed and sought God’s direction, He seemed to be pointing back to this idea of a STORY and hence, the reason we have called our ministry, EPIC.

EPIC is defined as a “grand” story that highlights the adventures and achievements of a hero. A list of EPIC stories would include:

1. The Epic of Gilgamesh

2. The Iliad

3. The Odyssey

4. Beowulf

5. Star Wars

6. The Lord of the Rings series

I haven’t always been a reader but over the last 12-13 years I can’t stop reading. I didn’t use to enjoy reading because it was something I HAD to do. Of course, school always had us reading and not necessarily “fun” books and having a mother as a teacher meant my summers were consumed of weekly trips to the library and “countless” quiet hours for reading. Now, I always have a book on me, and though they are normally “non-fiction” books about ministry, leadership, or creativity, I do wander upon a good Fiction book every now and then. But not every story grabs my attention. To me, the characteristics of a great story are:

· Intriguing characters

· Depth and yet ease of plot

· A story that is bigger than the characters

· A deep longing for the next chapter

You are about to turn the page and enter a new chapter of your life . . . literally. The next chapter of your life, for many of you the next 4-8 years, will be some of the most rewarding and yet challenging times in your life. It is during this chapter of life that:

· Ties from friends are stretched and yet new ties are made with new friends.

· The role of parents move from parental authority to counselors, friends, supporters.

· You will determine who and what you want to be for the rest of your life.

· For many of you, this chapter of life is where you will meet your damsel in distress or your knight in shining armor.

This new chapter in your life is HUGE!! So how does God want you to handle this new chapter? Four things I want to share with you tonight from Ephesians 5.15-17, concerning how you need to live this chapter of your life:

1. Be Prepared–prepared for the twist and turns (v.15)

a. There will be ups and downs during this phase of life. Seeking godly counsel from parents, wise friends, etc. is essential during this time of life.

b. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

2. Live life on purpose (v. 16)

a. Don’t hold back.

b. God didn’t design us to live a mediocre life.

c. God designed us to live life on purpose for Him.

d. But in doing so, live for God, not for self.

3. Keep God as your focus. (v. 17)

a. It is easy in life to go with your plan, your parent’s plan, or someone else’s plan, but ultimately you must go with what God want for your life.

b. If God is not the main character in your story than you are not living the right story.

c. The most important part of God’s plan is for you to be a part of HIS story.

God desires that you play a part in a GRAND story—a story that is bigger than yourself but a story in which you are one of the main characters. So how do you become part of God’s story?

Roman 10.9-10 states, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”

You must choose to be a willing participant in God’s story. It is not up to your parents, friends, church, pastor, etc. It is solely up to you. So have you entered God’s story? If not, I am asking you to please find me after the service and simply say—“So I want to be part of God’s story!” and I would LOVE nothing more to help you enter this amazing Story God has planned for you.

If you are here tonight and you already have made that chose and you are living out the story, as you turn the page and begin to live out this next chapter, make sure God is your focus, that you are living on purpose, and that you are prepared for what life brings your way.

Prayer

God, thank you for allowing us to be a part of Your story. Thanks for this moment in the life of these graduating seniors where they turn the page and enter a new chapter. Yet as they do so, God remind them of their need for you. Remind them that life isn’t worth living if you are not the main character. For the parents, we ask that you give them the strength and wisdom to help their seniors in this new chapter. Thanks again for the opportunity to stand here and to talk to this group. Use them in mighty ways to enrich and bring depth to your story.

Here are some questions we posed to our leaders:

What do you want to see accomplished in EPIC in the next 365 days?

What does the process look like to achieve that goal?

What needs to be done to see that accomplished?

Who might we need to bring on to the team to help us achieve this goal?

Please pray that God would give us direction and peace concerning the vision for EPIC and the focus for the next 365 days for our students and their family’s. 

• What is the biggest challenge in your life right now?
• What is going well/celebrating in your life?
• On a scale of 1-10 (1 being non-existent, 10 being phenomenal) where is your relationship with God right now?
• What can I do to help you take the next step in that journey?

What other questions might be good to ask students this summer?

I will still keep My EPIC Journey but it will be more personal thoughts on life, God, and ministry and won’t be so much about EPIC.

Here is the outline from this past week:

Text:  Romans 15.7

1.  God accepts us

     a.  Unconditionally (1 Corinthians 6.9-11)

     b.  Completely (Psalm 139)

2.  We MUST accept others

      a.  Unconditionally

      b.  Completely (Galatians 6.1)

Here are the teaching notes:

The believer is to present his body as a living sacrifice to God. Note three facts.

1.  God demands the believer’s body. God is not only interested in man’s spirit; He is vitally interested in man’sbody. His interest could not be any stronger nor made any clearer. This is clearly seen by contrasting the world’s view of the body with God’s view.

2.  The believer is to present his body to God. The dedication…

·  is not to be made to self: living as one wishes; doing one’s own thing.

·  is not to be made to others: living for family, wife, husband, child, parent, mistress, companion, sexual partner, or employer.

·  is not to be to something else: houses, lands, property, money, cars, possessions, profession, recreation, retirement, luxury, power, recognition, fame.

The body is to be offered to God and to God alone. God demands the body, demands that it be presented to Him. God wants the body to be sacrificially living for Him.

3.  The believer is to present his body to God as a living sacrifice. Note the believer’s offering of his body is to be sacrificial. This is the picture of Old Testament believers taking animals and offering them to God as sacrifices. The believer is to make the same kind of sacrificial offering to God, but note the profound difference. The believer’s offering is not to be the sacrifice of an animal’s flesh and blood. The offering and sacrifice of the believer is to be his body: he is to offer his body as a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice means at least four things.

·  A living sacrifice means a constant, continuous sacrifice, not just an occasional dedication of one’s body. A person does not sacrifice his body to God today, and then take his body back into his own hands and do his own thing tomorrow. A living sacrifice means that a person dedicates his body to live for God and to keep on living for God.

·  A living sacrifice means a sacrifice of a person’s body wherever the body is. A particular place is not needed. The sacrifice of the body is a living sacrifice; it can be made while the body is living right where it is. And the offering of a living sacrifice is to be made right now while the body is living.

·  A living sacrifice means that the body sacrifices its own desires and lives for God. The body lives a holy, righteous, pure, clean, and moral life for God. The body does not pollute, dirty, nor contaminate itself with the sins and corruptions of the world: neither the lust of the flesh, nor the lust of the eyes, nor the pride of life. The believer’s body is sacrificed for God and dedicated to live as He commands.

·  A living sacrifice means that the body lives for God by serving God. It means that the body sacrifices and gives up its own ambitions and desires, and it serves God while upon this earth. The body gives itself to the work of proclaiming the love of God and of ministering to a world reeling in desperate needs. The body sacrifices itself to serve God and Him alone. The body is dedicated to God as a living sacrifice.

In summary, the believer is to dedicate his body to God as a living sacrifice in the home, church, school, office, plant, field, restaurant, club, plane, car or bus. No matter where the believer’s body is, his body is to be sacrificed for God. Sacrificing to God is not something that is transacted in a church. Sacrificing to God is transacted in every act of the human body. The world, that is, the whole universe, is the sanctuary of God; and the believer’s body is the temple of God. Therefore, every act of the believer’s body is to be an act of service to God.