Youth Alive - 5th Quarter

Youth Alive - 5th Quarter

Friday, September 28th after Red Lion's football game

Who: ALL TEENS (7th-12th graders) are welcome!

Location: Red Lion Community Center

Time: approx. 10:00-11:30pm (starts 15 min. after the game)

Free: Pizza and Soda.

Receive a ticket and be part of the drawing for the gifts cards and prizes!
Fun, games, competition and
Guest speaker: Evangelist Eric Ramos

Delighting In God's Word

"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:16)

"O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day." (Psalm 119:97)

As best we know there are currently 6,912 known languages in the world today.(1) The Bible has been translated into 2,287 languages.(2) Of that 883 are portions of the Bible. 1,012 are Testaments, and 392 are complete Bibles. If the statistics are true, that means that only 5.6% of the world's languages have a complete translation of the Bible. What, pray tell, are you doing with this great and providential opportunity? Are you delighting in God's Word?

(1) http://www.ethnologue.com/

(2) http://www.ibs.org/bibles/about/19.php

Faith (part 6) - What it does

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

Faith is radical not stagnant. The rest of the chapter illustrates the various operation of faith in the lives of the Old Testament saints. The author had a goal of encouraging his audience to keep on keeping on, despite severe religious persecutions. The Hebrew Christians needed to be reminded of the insurmountable attacks their predecessors faced, and yet by faith, they were able to ‘please God.’ And so it is true for us today. We are faced with a varying degrees of attacks to abandon our faith, or even to slightly change the faith once delivered to the saints.

In chapter 11 we see:

By faith Abel offered…
By faith Enoch…pleased God.
By faith Noah moved with fear…
By faith Abraham… went
By faith Sarah conceived when she was past age
By faith Abraham…offered up Isaac…
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob
By faith Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph…
By faith Joseph gave a commandment regarding his bones
By faith Moses was hid
By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
By faith Moses forsook Egypt
By faith Moses kept the Passover
By faith the Israelites passed through the Red Sea by dry land
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down…
By faith Rehab did not perish with the unbelievers
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthae, David, Samuel, and the prophets...

The rest of the chapter states: Hebrews 11:33-39 "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:"

By human standards it would appear that they have failed, suffered severe loss, even losing their very lives. Yet the Bible, commends them for their faith. Sometimes doing God's will doesn't 'look good,' but faith allows us to please God despite our worse trials.

Just a Labor Day thought

"1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish." (Psalm 1)

A good Christian is not one who believes in God’s Word, necessarily; rather a good Christian is one who delights in His Word. Do you enjoy God’s Word? Is it your meditation all the day? Do you have a regular time wherein you ‘get in the book?’ Our prayers should not only be for God to give us sharp minds to comprehend His Word, but also burning hearts to love God’s Word. This verse contrasts the character traits of a blessed man vs. the ungodly. The blessed man stays away from ungodliness, sin, and scorning. He is a man who enjoys or delights in the Bible. He constantly thinks about the Word of God. As a result he becomes strong and like the tree planted by the rivers of water, he becomes fruitful and prosperous. He truly is a blessed man. Blessings are deeper than happiness. If the idea of blessedness can be conveyed by the word ‘happy,’ then many drunkards are blessed since they are having a ‘good time’ and are relatively ‘happy.’ But we know that is utterly foolish to say that drunkards are blessed. Therefore, blessedness is more than happiness. The man who delights or enjoys God’s Word is blessed because of God. God takes care of such a man, and God makes all the difference. Just a “Labor Day” thought! Have a blessed day!