Construction Zone

It's true, Gangway is under construction.

We have been in serious need of a facilities update for some time now.  Now, thanks be to God, we are seeing some of that update taking place.

We are getting fresh paint throughout the meeting and game rooms, new ceiling tiles and lights and some new furniture.  This is just the beginning of the update and we are hoping to see our audio/visual upgraded in the near future.  

We are extremely excited about this update and are hoping it will create a new and refreshed atmosphere in the Student Ministries.  

For His Kingdom...

Membership: Why Join a Church?

Today in Sunday school we discussed the importance of being plugged into a a local church community. In my preparation I came across this quote. 

"God has given us four pictures of the church, not one. This is not just to emphasize and prove the point by repetition, but also to say four different things about what it means to be a member of a church. To be a stone in his temple means to belong to a worshipping community. To be part of a body means to belong to a living, functioning, serving, witnessing community. To be a sheep in the flock means belonging to a community dependent on him for food, protection, and direction. To be a member of a family is to belong to a community bound by a common fatherhood. Put together you have the main functions of an individual Christian. Evidently we are meant to fulfill these not on our own but together in the church. Now can you see the answer to the question why you should join a church?"--G. Eric Lane, I Want to Be A Church Member (Bryntirion, Wales: Evangelical Press of Wales, 1992), p. 21.

I often hear people say, "I don't need to be part of a particular church because I'm part of the universal church." While it is true that those who are in Christ are apart of His universal church, I believe the best way to demonstrate our commitment to Christ's church is to give ourselves in service of a local community of believers. If everyone faithfully invested themselves in their local church I believe the needs and mission of the global church would be met. All this to say their are many blessings and benefits to be had from becoming a member of a church. But one of the greatest things about being a member of a local church isn't what you get, but the opportunity to be used by God to be a blessing. 

Beautiful Pandemonium

Last night we gathered all our Middle School and High School students together for a "pre-summer party." There had to have been at least 100 students, a handful of leaders and a few parents - it was awesome!

Actually, it was more than awesome, it was a beautiful pandemonium. There were students everywhere, all thoroughly enjoying themselves. We played some silly, summer camp style games, ate popcorn, cookies and drank cheap Publix soda - it was quite the event.

By the time the night was over, I was so humbled by the shear amount of students God has placed in our care. I love each and every one of them, even the ones I'm constantly getting on to. Thus, I pray that even in the midst of a beautiful pandemonium our students would know not only our love for them but Jesus'.

So, Summer is right around the corner and I am excited about the opportunities we will have for some more pandemonium, some intense worship, devoted prayer, deep study and zealous living. Please be in prayer for both our students and us as a Student Ministry staff.

And remember, even pandemonium can be beautiful if you see it through the eyes of Christ.

For His Kingdom...

Prizes for everyone!

We had a wonderfully crazy time in Middle School Sunday school this past Sunday! We began a discussion on "Spiritual Gifts." This was the first of many more conversations we are going to have relating to the topic of Spiritual gifts.

We looked into the subject of Spiritual gifts via 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

To begin the discussion I thought it would be helpful to use a fun and easily transferable object lesson. So...

We played a trivia game. For each right answer a prize was given. Often it was multiples of the same prize. The prizes that were given were: a notebook, several unsharpened pencils, a couple of pencil sharpeners, some highlighters and a bunch of erasers.

After all the prizes were handed out and the pandemonium had ceased to a tolerable level, we discussed what each of the prizes could be used for. Then I asked what could happen if all the prizes were used together? Some said "homework," others said "take notes." I agreed and pointed out that if taking notes, for instance, was the main objective, then you would need all the prizes used together to accomplish that task.

I then related this to Spiritual gifts; pointing out that though there are many gifts, there is only one gift giver and He expects all the gifts to be utilized together for His great task - building His church!

We then talked about how every genuine Christian has received a Spiritual gift. As such, it is our responsibility to find out what that gift is and use it for the accomplishing of God's purpose! We are to use our Spiritual gifts for the common good of the church; for the work of the ministry and the building up of the body of Christ! No man has received a gift for private use, but for the benefit of others.

Thus, I challenged the students to find out what their Spiritual gifts are. I told them that if they don't it would be like sitting in front of all your Christmas presents on Christmas morning and saying "I don't care about those presents, I'm not going to open them and play with them." That's just crazy!

So, here are a couple of links to websites that will assist both students and parents in discovering their Spiritual gifts.

http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com

http://elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test

http://www.churchgrowth.org/analysis/intro.php

For His Kingdom...

Summer Camp/Conferences

For all parents and students who want to check out a few of the details regarding our summer trips you can check out the Southland Student conference website.

Prices on the website are subject to change with transportation costs. We will be sending out a full info. packet ASAP.


http://southlandcamps.com/home.htm

Sundays Song

Every week in the high school Sunday school class we will be looking at great songs of our faith from the present and the past. This weeks song was 

Before The Throne Of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love, 
Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands, 
My name is written on his heart; 
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair, 
And tells me of the guilt within, 
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.

Because a sinless Savior died, 
My sinful soul is counted free; 
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Praise the One, 
Risen Son of God! 

Behold him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness, 
The great unchangeable I am, 
The King of glory and of grace! 

One in himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by his blood
My life is hid with Christ on high, 
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God

A Few Sunday School Notes

Another great Lord's day! As I was sitting down after greeting people this morning I was reminded how much I need to be in worship Sunday mornings. It's medicine for my soul. As I sat watching the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic I thought it would possibly be beneficial to post a few points from the high school Sunday school. 

Today we had the privilege to continue in the book of Romans. We found ourselves moving from our discussion of Christ as the greater Adam (chapter 5) to our union with Christ (chapter 6).  We also moved from the issue or topic of our Justification (God's pardoning of sinners, accepting them as righteous through Jesus.) to Sanctification (God's gift of grace to the Christian which enables one to die more to sin and live for God). Here are some distinctions between the doctrine of justification and sanctification.

Justification declares the sinner righteous. 

Sanctification makes the sinner righteous. 

Justification is a once-and-for-all act. 

Sanctification is a continuous work. 

Justification causes salvation. 

Sanctification is the result of salvation. 

Justification deals with the Christian’s standing before God. 

Sanctification deals with the Christian’s experience in life. 

Justification is objective. 

Sanctification is subjective. 

Justification removes the guilt and penalty of sin. 

Sanctification removes the growth and power of sin. 

Justification changes a person’s position before God. 

Sanctification changes a person’s nature and character. 

Justification, again, changes a person’s position before God. 

Sanctification changes a person’s disposition in relation to God. 

Justification deals with the imputation of righteousness. 

Sanctification deals with the impartation of righteousness. 

Justification is for the sinner. 

Sanctification is in the saint.

Great Time At Gangway!

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to give shout out to all the middle school Gangwayer's. I had an awesome time scavenging around the campus. I still don't know exactly who won the competition. The girls came through with a pretty strong performance, but Nate Tchividjian stepped up and threw down 10 one handed push-ups! I guess we'll have to settle this next time. Remember Gangway next Wednesday for our end of the year beginning of the summer youth group extravaganza. 

Do you know what you're listening to?

My wife and I (Dylan) were watching American Idol this evening. I know it’s played out and it’s been around for years, but my wife and I really just started watching it last year so it still has a freshness to it. Anyhow, the last three performers are pretty talented young guys. I especially enjoyed Kris Allen’s performance. He performed The Fray’s arrangement of Kanye West’s song Heartless. All of this music listening got me thinking about, well, music. I think that music is one of the most powerful mediums there ever has been or will be. Great music has the ability to inspire, it can heal a broken heart and even make me cry. If you’re anything like me, you love music. I would go so far as to say I couldn’t imagine life without it and wouldn’t want to for that matter. I looked up the definition of music and it read:

Music: an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner.

Music is defined as a form of communication. I often ask people what they like about a particular music group, genre or singer and they typically say, “I just like the music” (beat, groove, rhythm, etc.) These individuals say they focus more on the instrumental. I too enjoy a great instrumental. But, where does the communication part come in? So many people I talk to say they really don’t care or pay attention to lyrical content. I then ask, “how can you sing the lyrics without even knowing the message being conveyed?” They respond with something like, “I dunno?” The only reason I bring all this up is because a lot of popular music today communicates a totally different world view from what Christians believe. By world view I mean how one sees or interprets life in this world. 

 I checked out iTunes top 10 songs. Some of the songs on the top ten were these:

# 3 Poker Face by Lady GaGa

# 4 Sugar by Flo Rida

# 5 Don’t Trust Me by 3OH!3

# 6 I Know You Want Me by Pitbull

# 10 Blame It by Jamie Foxx

I wasn’t surprised by the songs that made the top ten. Why? Because that’s the world. All of the songs above are sexually supercharged. The world view they convey is one of substance abuse for the sake of inhibition and sexual promiscuity. This is totally contrary to the biblical world view. We know that people aren’t to be used as objects to be had, but people to be loved. And furthermore sexuality is beautiful within the context of marriage, but practiced out of the confines of marriage brings hurt and brokenness. I think that most people know that to live like this is wrong so in order to suppress this knowing they inhibit themselves via drug and alcohol abuse. 

Ultimately, I’m not saying don’t listen to modern contemporary music. What I’m advocating is that we need to become critics of the media we choose to watch or listen to. Whether you think so or not media has an influence on you, me and everyone. And even if you feel able to not be affected by music and lyrics what about your neighbor? How do your choices of music, movies and media impact the relationship you have with others. 

Paul calls us (more important Jesus calls us) to practice deference when we read 

1 Corinthians 8:9-12 (NLT)

9 But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. 10 For if others see you—with your "superior knowledge"—eating in the temple of an idol, won't they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? 11 So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed.12 And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 13 So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don't want to cause another believer to stumble.

All this is simply food for thought. We are each called to 

Romans 12:1-2 

“give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

So I call to all who will hear. Let us strive to follow Christ with our whole beings music, media and all.

It's just another manic Monday...

Well... here we are, back in the 'ol office.

Mondays are always so mixed up for me. This is usually because I didn't get enough sleep during the weekend. Or, it could be that over the weekend I ate so unhealthy that I can't believe my arteries haven't completely clogged. But sometimes it's because I encountered God in the worship service on Sunday and He has began working on some area (or multiple areas for that matter) of my life. Thus, I begin to wrestle with Him in an attempt to rightly understand the work He is doing and how it is to change my life.

This is the case today. God met me in the evening worship service (Tullian's installation service) last night and began working on my heart and mind. How did God meet me you may ask? Well, it happened when Dr. John Wood issued the charge to "Die." God began to speak to my heart urging me to take this charge seriously and personally. He reminded me that He was willing to go to that far for me and as such I should be willing to do no less.

Now, the perplexing part is not that God is working on me, for I am in desperate need of His work, but that as He does this will inevitably affect the ministry He has called me to here @ CRPC. For if I am to die to self that I might live to Christ, then it should be Christ alone that is visible in the Student Ministries. It should be His will that drives the ministry not my desires, dreams or ideas. It should be His Word that shapes us not my suggestions, or insight. It is His work and thus needs to be done His way and in His power, not mine. For I am but a tool in the master's hand.

However, this is precisely where God is doing His work. You see, I have a very strong, dynamic and outgoing personality. I love people! I enjoy meeting new people, hanging with friends, talking to people, gathering crowds and being the life of a party. This is both a blessing and a curse. The last thing I want is for anything to have my stamp on it. I don't want a growing ministry because of me (don't get me wrong, I want a growing ministry), but because of Christ. I desire nothing more than if I were to be marooned on a desert island for the rest of my life that the Student Ministries here would continue to grow and change the world. Why? Because Christ is central!

Therefore, I request your prayers; in fact, we all do here in the Student Ministries. We desire to decrease that Christ may increase. So, as we are planning and working, please pray that we are doing so according to the will of God, for His glory alone and by His grace. Pray that we don't push our agendas or attempt to do things just because we think we need to. This is the Lord's ministry and His students; we are but His instruments. Please pray that as God so chooses to use us that we would be a beautiful sound in His ears and an enticing and piercing melody to a deaf world.

For His Kingdom...

Soaking wet...

This past Wednesday night was our 2nd annual middle school "Pool Party." It was a marvelously crazy time; but then again any time you have 20 pizzas, 40+ students, a pool with a diving board and water polo goals it's sure to be a wild event.

We met over @ the Westminster Academy pool to wet every one's appetite for summer. We inhaled a few pizzas, washed it down with some H2O and Capri Sun's and headed for the water. It really was a magnificent time of fun and fellowship, bonding with old friends and meeting new ones. We played water polo and hosted an ever popular belly-flop contest.

We had a great time and want to thank everyone who came out to share in the extravaganza. We'd also like to thank W.A. for letting us use their pool facilities and our wonderful life guards - Jeremiah Borton, Joey D'Onofrio and Austin Saunders.

With that... be on the look out for our next big middle school event - "Bigger-Better" on May 14th.

For His Kingdom...

What a weekend...

"Whew" - not sure how to spell that, but it's that sigh of weary relief.

We had a busy, fun (and sun) filled weekend in the Student Ministries.

Saturday we hosted our pre-summer, high school "Beach Bash" @ Pompano Beach. It was a blast!!! We had a good number of students show up for the fun and festivities. We played volleyball, beach football, swam and just hung out together. Derek and Kaitlin Kelmanson were our grill masters for the day; so it was inevitable that the burgers, dogs and hot-wings would turn out to be so amazing! Also, a number of our leadership team showed up to meet new students, grab a bite to eat and soak up some beautiful south Florida sun.

So, from all the Student Ministries staff, we'd like to just thank all of you who came out. We hope you had as much fun as we did :)

Sunday boasted another great time of learning and laughter in Sunday school. Dylan again taught the high school group and I took those wonderful, rowdy middle schoolers. We talked about friendships; how they're important and upon what foundation they are to be built.

We looked at numerous passages of Scripture talking about the importance of choosing friends carefully and wisely because they help to shape who we become. Our friends play a huge part in our lives, influencing us for either good or bad. Thus, it is extremely vital that we choose our friends with the utmost care and concern.

We then talked about how to treat the good friends we have. We noted that Jesus laid down His life for His friends and subsequently calls us to do the same (John 15:12-14). However, this doesn't necessarily mean that we have to lay our physical lives down for our friends; although some may one day be called to that. We talked about what it looks like in our everyday life to love our friends like Jesus loves us; to lay our lives down for them. We noted that it means we are to love our friends sacrificially; seeking their good and well-being above our own. We are to take into account our friends feelings, issues and ideas above our own. Our lives need to be an encouragement for our friends, as well as a challenge when they are in the wrong. For if we are truly to be the disciples of Jesus, he tells us that the world will recognize us as such by "our love for one another" (John 13:35).

Thus, it is our sacrificial, all encompassing love for our friends that will be a tip off to the watching world that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

"So no faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor. 13:13)

For His Kingdom...