Hello Madingga's.
We are starting a new and powerful series called the Born Identity. It focuses on the actual identity of Christ beyond the commercialized Jesus we see in TV this time of year. I think this series is going to sweep across Elevate students like Poggs on an Elementary school playground in 1993. The first night is going to be on the prophesized Messiah and what the Jews thought Jesus was going to be like. Instead of this "mighty" king on a golden chariot the world received an infant child born to a homeless teenage mother out of wedlock. Jesus' teaching were so contradictory, and his personality so out of the norm that there is now way history could have imagined Him into existence.
See you guys Wednesday night. Pauly
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Thank You part 2 - 11-14-07
Hey gang. This is John
“Thank you” is a phrase we use that we use a lot (hopefully, if you’re well mannered) day to day. But truly being thankful is something that is a lot less common. I know personally that for me being thankful is something that takes work and effort, and doesn’t necessarily come easy. But when I am thankful I notice a difference. I am more happy, less stressed out, and in general a much better version of myself. I believe that this is because when we are thankful we are more the person God created us to be. Last week Paul talked about being a blessing to God through our thoughts and actions, and the only way that we are going to start the journey of being a blessing to God and the World is by being thankful.
It is ironic that as we enter the holiday season through “Thanksgiving”, a tradition originally intended to help us “take stock” of all the blessings we’ve been given, we at the same time are entering into the most consumeristic, me-centered time of year. The focus all to quickly shifts to what we want, and what we are going to get. Therefore, as a community in Elevate we are going to help each other keep in mind all that we’ve been given and encourage each other to look for opportunities in which we can be a blessing to God and the world this holiday season.
Small Group Questions
John talked about the saying “It is better to give than receive.” Has there ever been a time that you have given something and felt really good about the experience or what happened? Share in detail your experiences.
Do you think this saying is true? Why or why not? If you do think it is better to give than receive how can that be true? (Seems like it should be the other way around)
What are some ways that we can remind ourselves of all that God has given us and not fall into the trap of just thinking about what we want, and what we will get?
Take a few minutes and talk about some of the things you are most thankful for. Often times we get familiar with our lives and take a lot of things for granted. But as the group shares, hopefully you will remind each other of all that God has given us.
Last, brainstorm ways that you can creatively give this holiday season. From gifts, to cookies, to time, and so on, really think about unique ways in which you can bless those around you and by doing so be a blessing to God.
“Thank you” is a phrase we use that we use a lot (hopefully, if you’re well mannered) day to day. But truly being thankful is something that is a lot less common. I know personally that for me being thankful is something that takes work and effort, and doesn’t necessarily come easy. But when I am thankful I notice a difference. I am more happy, less stressed out, and in general a much better version of myself. I believe that this is because when we are thankful we are more the person God created us to be. Last week Paul talked about being a blessing to God through our thoughts and actions, and the only way that we are going to start the journey of being a blessing to God and the World is by being thankful.
It is ironic that as we enter the holiday season through “Thanksgiving”, a tradition originally intended to help us “take stock” of all the blessings we’ve been given, we at the same time are entering into the most consumeristic, me-centered time of year. The focus all to quickly shifts to what we want, and what we are going to get. Therefore, as a community in Elevate we are going to help each other keep in mind all that we’ve been given and encourage each other to look for opportunities in which we can be a blessing to God and the world this holiday season.
Small Group Questions
John talked about the saying “It is better to give than receive.” Has there ever been a time that you have given something and felt really good about the experience or what happened? Share in detail your experiences.
Do you think this saying is true? Why or why not? If you do think it is better to give than receive how can that be true? (Seems like it should be the other way around)
What are some ways that we can remind ourselves of all that God has given us and not fall into the trap of just thinking about what we want, and what we will get?
Take a few minutes and talk about some of the things you are most thankful for. Often times we get familiar with our lives and take a lot of things for granted. But as the group shares, hopefully you will remind each other of all that God has given us.
Last, brainstorm ways that you can creatively give this holiday season. From gifts, to cookies, to time, and so on, really think about unique ways in which you can bless those around you and by doing so be a blessing to God.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Wednesday November 7, 2007
Small Group Questions
“Be Radical, Not Safe”
Read Miracle Story out loud to the group (on next page).
1. How does this story relate to Paul’s Talk?
2. How did the pharmacist’s brother live out the scripture reference “But when
you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for
this you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous,” Luke 14:13-14.
3. What is the resurrection of the righteous?
a.We will be held accountable for our actions and if we’ve done what God has
asked of us we will be repaid for those good things we did on earth.
Getting on to personal questions.
1. When have you taken a radical step in helping someone like pharmacist in the
story?
2. Maybe there was a time when someone did something incredible for you without
asking for anything in return.
3. What is something you can do for someone in need? Think about some
resources you have you could give, it might even be giving your time towards
something?
“Be Radical, Not Safe”
Read Miracle Story out loud to the group (on next page).
1. How does this story relate to Paul’s Talk?
2. How did the pharmacist’s brother live out the scripture reference “But when
you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for
this you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous,” Luke 14:13-14.
3. What is the resurrection of the righteous?
a.We will be held accountable for our actions and if we’ve done what God has
asked of us we will be repaid for those good things we did on earth.
Getting on to personal questions.
1. When have you taken a radical step in helping someone like pharmacist in the
story?
2. Maybe there was a time when someone did something incredible for you without
asking for anything in return.
3. What is something you can do for someone in need? Think about some
resources you have you could give, it might even be giving your time towards
something?
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Wednesday, October 24th
Hey gang. This is Kyle, not Paul. Tomorrow night we are finishing up our series on "Clique." We are continuing our look at Acceptance and Rejection. I am jumping off of Johnny's last thought two weeks ago regarding us being a set apart community. I loved how he said that we (Elevate) are the trendetters. What if the trend was that we were a radically accepting group of people? What if, all 250 of us students and leaders were passionate about accepting all people. What if we put our self-righteousness on the shelf and realized that we ALL are in need of a savior?
In my experience, we are taught that we must fight to protect ourselves. What if instead we made it our mission to include everyone? This is radical thinking to say the least. The only way to really break down cliques is to include more people. How realitic is this? What stands in our way? What if we just don't like someone? These questions lead me to think - is there ANYONE that Jesus doesn't like? I don't theologically have an answer for us, but I do feel that Jesus likes everyone, loves everyone. He does so much that he died for EVERYONE. As intense this is, I believe we are called and wired to reach out to people that we don't NATURALLY like. I think when we have that experience, it is the POWER of the Holy Spirit that leads us to a relationship with difficult people. Let us be passionate about all people in general and let's let that passion truly change our worlds.
Questions:
Follow Jesus:
1)Who did Jesus reach out to even though others wouldn't? (Lepers, sinning women, demoniacs)
2)How does the life of Jesus inspire you to follow him more?
Be For Each Other:
1)Who is someone in your life that you need to reahc out to more?
2)Who is someone NOT in your friend group that Jesus is asking you to seek out?
3) What keeps you from being FOR more people?
Look Beyond Ourselves:
1) How is reaching out to those outside of our comfort zone looking beyond ourselves?
2) How can our groups benefit from brining people outside our friendship groups in?
Reflections:
1) How was MEA?
2) When is time you felt accepted in the last two weeks? Rejected?
In my experience, we are taught that we must fight to protect ourselves. What if instead we made it our mission to include everyone? This is radical thinking to say the least. The only way to really break down cliques is to include more people. How realitic is this? What stands in our way? What if we just don't like someone? These questions lead me to think - is there ANYONE that Jesus doesn't like? I don't theologically have an answer for us, but I do feel that Jesus likes everyone, loves everyone. He does so much that he died for EVERYONE. As intense this is, I believe we are called and wired to reach out to people that we don't NATURALLY like. I think when we have that experience, it is the POWER of the Holy Spirit that leads us to a relationship with difficult people. Let us be passionate about all people in general and let's let that passion truly change our worlds.
Questions:
Follow Jesus:
1)Who did Jesus reach out to even though others wouldn't? (Lepers, sinning women, demoniacs)
2)How does the life of Jesus inspire you to follow him more?
Be For Each Other:
1)Who is someone in your life that you need to reahc out to more?
2)Who is someone NOT in your friend group that Jesus is asking you to seek out?
3) What keeps you from being FOR more people?
Look Beyond Ourselves:
1) How is reaching out to those outside of our comfort zone looking beyond ourselves?
2) How can our groups benefit from brining people outside our friendship groups in?
Reflections:
1) How was MEA?
2) When is time you felt accepted in the last two weeks? Rejected?
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
No Elevate Wednesday October 17th
So dont show up!......unless you want to pretend your Johnny and Paul
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Click. Rejection. 10-10-07
Click. Rejection. 10-10-07
Hey gang, this is John.
I feel a bit unprepared. Usually I am well versed in the topics covered at Elevate. However, I have had to collect stories from people like John Eppel, Chris Moore, and Paddy Carroll about this week’s topic – rejection. Okay, I’m just kidding. All of us have experienced rejection at some point in our lives – and if you’re like me, it was extremely tough and discouraging.
I think this topic is all the more important when talking to students at Elevate because of their age and place in life. When I think about my own life, and a time when I was most likely the worst version of myself, it was middle school. Everyone is trying to etch out his or her identity, and typically for us dudes that means being the tough, funny, cool guy -which is usually done at the expense of others. I know this definitely goes on in high school, but middle school is such a formative and fragile time for these kids. We will talk much more about this during my message and in our small groups.
What we will be talking about the most next week is the undeniable worth of every human being. That as children of God we are royalty, and should treat each other as such. Paul touched on this at the end of his message last week, and we are really going to drive it home again when talking about rejection. For those of you who were around last year you know this is something I am very passionate about!
I know this won’t be a pleasant stroll down memory lane but nonetheless begin thinking of times when you were rejected. Be prepared to share those with your group. How that made you feel, etc…Be open and vulnerable. Again, we all have these stories and the more open you are the more open your group will be.
Be for each other.
1. Share a time when you were rejected. How did that make you feel?
2. Share a time when you rejected another person. Why did you do it? How did that make them feel? How did you feel about it after?
Look beyond ourselves
1. Why do we reject people?
2. What kinds of people usually get rejected?
3. What are the consequences of being rejected and rejecting others?
Follow Jesus
1. As Paul talked about Jesus was the ultimate “accepter” of people. Why do you think that is? If you think about it, he is the only person to walk the earth who actually was “better” than everyone else, yet he took the role of a servant and loved the people that society rejected.
2. Why is it so hard to accept people sometimes? Really, what do we have to loose?
3. How can we become more like Jesus in how we treat others?
Hey gang, this is John.
I feel a bit unprepared. Usually I am well versed in the topics covered at Elevate. However, I have had to collect stories from people like John Eppel, Chris Moore, and Paddy Carroll about this week’s topic – rejection. Okay, I’m just kidding. All of us have experienced rejection at some point in our lives – and if you’re like me, it was extremely tough and discouraging.
I think this topic is all the more important when talking to students at Elevate because of their age and place in life. When I think about my own life, and a time when I was most likely the worst version of myself, it was middle school. Everyone is trying to etch out his or her identity, and typically for us dudes that means being the tough, funny, cool guy -which is usually done at the expense of others. I know this definitely goes on in high school, but middle school is such a formative and fragile time for these kids. We will talk much more about this during my message and in our small groups.
What we will be talking about the most next week is the undeniable worth of every human being. That as children of God we are royalty, and should treat each other as such. Paul touched on this at the end of his message last week, and we are really going to drive it home again when talking about rejection. For those of you who were around last year you know this is something I am very passionate about!
I know this won’t be a pleasant stroll down memory lane but nonetheless begin thinking of times when you were rejected. Be prepared to share those with your group. How that made you feel, etc…Be open and vulnerable. Again, we all have these stories and the more open you are the more open your group will be.
Be for each other.
1. Share a time when you were rejected. How did that make you feel?
2. Share a time when you rejected another person. Why did you do it? How did that make them feel? How did you feel about it after?
Look beyond ourselves
1. Why do we reject people?
2. What kinds of people usually get rejected?
3. What are the consequences of being rejected and rejecting others?
Follow Jesus
1. As Paul talked about Jesus was the ultimate “accepter” of people. Why do you think that is? If you think about it, he is the only person to walk the earth who actually was “better” than everyone else, yet he took the role of a servant and loved the people that society rejected.
2. Why is it so hard to accept people sometimes? Really, what do we have to loose?
3. How can we become more like Jesus in how we treat others?
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Click Series, Wednesday October 3, 2007
We are beginning our new series Click. This Wednesday we will start with the thoughts of being accepted. Schools have groups in them known as cliques that are made up of a certain type of individaul. Cliques have a remarkable power to make you feel like you have the world on a string or feel like you belong on Mars because you dont fit in anywhere on earth. They can lead to extreme happiness or intense depression. Since we're starting on accepted we'll be discussing the positive impact of acceptance and the dangers of having to be accepted to feel like you belong. I'm not sure why we decided to call the series click instead of clique, but what they hay.
Be For Each Other
1. Think of a moment when you were accepted by someone or something that meant the world to you.
2. Why did it have such a significant impact? Focus on the feeling it gave you.
Follow Jesus
1. Think of all the friends and intresting people He met. Was there anyone he didn't accept?
2. Why is this?
Look Beyond Ourselves
1. Remember back to that amazing feeling of acceptance back in the first question? How can you give another person that amazing acceptance.
2. Remember we are no better or cooler than anyone else. In what way's can you remember this when faced with an opportunity to accept or reject?
Reflections
1. Since John's talk last week have you come upon a tough experiece that cause you grow and mature?
Be For Each Other
1. Think of a moment when you were accepted by someone or something that meant the world to you.
2. Why did it have such a significant impact? Focus on the feeling it gave you.
Follow Jesus
1. Think of all the friends and intresting people He met. Was there anyone he didn't accept?
2. Why is this?
Look Beyond Ourselves
1. Remember back to that amazing feeling of acceptance back in the first question? How can you give another person that amazing acceptance.
2. Remember we are no better or cooler than anyone else. In what way's can you remember this when faced with an opportunity to accept or reject?
Reflections
1. Since John's talk last week have you come upon a tough experiece that cause you grow and mature?
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