Every Wednesday and Sunday MOVI inserts are available for you to pick up.  These sheets provide scripture verses for you to read, study and journal on for every day of the week.

Attached are the verses for the week of February 7th - 13th!

We began tonight reading Matthew 22:37-39..."Love your neighbor as yourself."

We began to ask WHY though?  Why love your neighbor?  Yes we know its a commandment, 

but do we ever do anything we are commanded to do if thats the motivation?  When we are commanded as children to clean our rooms, yes we do it, but do we keep up with it.  Yes its a commandment but perhaps there's more behind this when it comes to motivation. 

So before we can answer, WHY love your neigbhor, we asked the question WHY did Jesus come to die?

We did this  through music, reflection, poetry written by one of the teens gathered, another teen sharing their story of how making a decision to follow Christ has changed their life. Candles gleamed and the atmosphere was just right. The Cross stood tall as a great reminder of sacrifice. 

A short video challenged us to think

Do you remember the moment you loved God with all your heart?

Do you remember the moment when you "got it", when you first realized you loved God with all your heart, mind and soul?

Teens where challenged and asked if you "got it"  have you ever taken the first step to go public with your belief and be baptized?  

So where did this all lead us to?  WHY love your neighbor?  WE asked why were our small group leaders here?  Do they have an agenda?  Is there a checklist of good deeds they have to do and one of them is spend time encouraging teens on Wednesdays?  Do they just look at the teens as a "project?"    OR is there another motivation than just commandment.

For our leaders its Love.  First their love for God in response to what God did for them. They "got it"  they know why Jesus came to die and they desire to show our teens God's love and share His story with them. 

Love is a great motivator.  WE love, because HE first loved us. 

Leaders took time with their small groups and shared their story of how making a decision to follow Chirst has changed their lives. 

And that love motivates them to be here every Wednesday at 2t2, showing the Love of Christ and sharing His story with our teens.... and thats what makes twotwenty2 a great community. ..

We continued this week with our discussion on Character. 

With all that is going on in Haiti, we know that teens are asking questions.

Why?  Why God?  During these times often we as Christians may say things that are not consistent with the character of who God is.  Things like, "God is punishing those people."  These kind of comments can be devistating to peoples understanding of who God is.  Thats because what we "say" is directly connected to peoples understanding of who God is.

This week my Pastor Jerry Gillis communicated to our staff some thoughts on this topic and on His blog.  Two things specifically where very insightful to share with people when they begin to ask these questions.  We talked about them tonight and in small groups. 

Point people to action and point people to the Cross. 

During this time our initial response should be on of action.  Helping those in need.  We asked the question tonight,  

What are you going to do?

Second as people wonder why, you can point them to the Cross.  

The Cross is a place where you can share what is consistent with God's character. 

His love for humanity.  How He suffered with us.  His compassion for us.  

Those are things you lead people to with confidence.

We opened up the Gospels tonight in small groups reading passages about Jesus Character. 

In times of crisis, like we currently are in, don't let what you say be hijacked by the "Why God assassin?"  

What you say is important, it may be someones only understanding of who JESUS is. 

Attached are the daily movi scriptures!

"Peoples understanding of who Jesus is, directly related to who we are."

This is why we are looking at character. We began last week to examine ourselves asking the question,

"Am I a good Christ?"  

Our small groups opened up the Gospels and wrote down the Characteristics of Christ.

This week we discussed the forces or obstacles to having Christs' character. 

We talked about the small compromises we make in our daily decisions that begin to affect our character. We draw a line in the sand,  and then we make small compromises and creep towards that line, eventually crossing it and then making a new one.  At the end we often find ourselves have done things we never indented to doing, and find ourselves looking nothing like Christ.

People often drift away from God not because they don't theologically believe He exists, but because their current behavior.  Often we choose to change our beliefs before we change our behavior.  This often begins with small compromises that begin to creep in our character. 

In small groups we took this principle and applied to the music we listen to.

Groups opened up the scriptures and began to ask questions, like, "is there a such thing as Christian music?" 

Examine your own life? Are they're areas where compromise has crept in?   

Who you are is important!  It will affect who people think Jesus is.

The Missions Trip Itinerary and Packing List are attached below.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! 

Mchiaravalle@thechapel.com631.2636 x265