What were the marks of the early Christians?
What made them different?
And when they gathered together, what did they do?
What was unique about them?

Acts 4:8-13 l Acts 2:42 l Acts 2: 38

We are not only discussing these questions the next few weeks but actually doing the very
things that made thier gatherings unique.
In our small groups every week, we are committing to , Praying for one another,
sharing spiritual stories,
sharing how God has spoke to them through the bible the past week. 
We're asking questions of faith, and writing out what do we actually believe.

The following three weeks we will be discussing what "the mark" of every believer is.
The mark is eternal, its a person, and it's not Jesus.  
We will discover together in the scriptures what the purpose of "the mark" is,
ask the tough questions like "do I even possess this mark?"
We are examining questions of faith to discover what is it that we actually believe.

The reason for this discussion just as important.
The key to discovering  what "the mark" is , will give us direction for our lives daily.
It will give us a whole new perspective for why we gather every Wednesday at twotwenty2.
We are not a support group.  We are not a youth group.
We are an extention of a movement that began 2000 years ago. 
We gather every week to Go. 
Going out in the world, living out the ways of Christ in the world,
being an example of how God intened us  to live and know Him.
We share the Gospel with others when they are astonished at our lives. 
But are they?  Are people astonished at our lives? Do we look like everyone else?
Are we different?
If not, perhaps we don't have "the mark?"
Perhaps we do, but we are more concerned about making our own mark?
This is what we look to have conversation over the next few weeks together.

This past October at our "Together" retreat,
we took time to write letters and purchase candy for students at
Gowanda Elementary.  Some of thier homes and families where affected by flooding.
and our teens desired to offer words of encouragement.  Today we received
this email as a follow up.

"I've been around today to read cards and deliver candy to the 4th graders. I feel bad that it took so long but we have had many students out sick the last couple of weeks and report cards/parent conferences and many stressed out people. So today was a good day to do it as we are winding down for Thanksgiving break. The kids have enjoyed hearing the good wishes, drawings and of course the candy. Even though it has been 3 months since the flood it is still fresh in many of their minds. A lot of  the letters mentioned "things will get better and good things often come from bad situations" many of the students were able to see how things have gotten better and talk about things learned and gained from all of this. Thanks so much for the warm wishes it has been appreciated and made the kids feel good. Please thank your youth group for a job well done."

Welcome back to week #4 of Backpack.  We are talking about what is in your backpack.  What is it that weighs you down? Things that we tend to carry around with us.

Week #1: We talked about running the race of life from Hebrews 12:1

Week #2: We talked about decisions made in our lives that leave us with GUILT

Week #3: We talked about BAD RELATIONSHIPS – we discussed how that a wise person will choose the right friends to avoid bad relationships

TODAY: I want to wrap up this post with thoughts about our REPUTATION

QUESTION: How many of you have been worried about what people at school might think if they knew you were a follower of Christ?

If you’re like me, I really struggled a lot in this area when I was in school.  You see there were times where I was way more concerned with what people thought about me than what God thought about me.

We see an example of this in scripture where this guy named Peter, who had been one of Jesus’ closest friends, pretty much disowned Jesus because a young girl was accusing him of being one of those guys that was with Jesus all the time.

You can read an amazing story in Matthew 26:69-75 of how one of the BFF’s of Jesus totally acted like he did not know Him.

QUESTION: Has there ever been a time when you had the chance to stand up for God but maybe you didn’t because you didn’t want to look weird in front of your friends or people at the lunch table?  Maybe your friends were telling a dirty joke and instead and walking away you just kind of sat there and laughed but inside wishing you had the courage to walk away.

Text: Proverbs 29:25 (The Message) says this:

 Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety. (NLT)

Listen very carefully…..caring about your reputation above living for Christ will weigh you down and become a burden for you. 

Honestly, one of the best ways I’ve found to feel close to God is to stick up for Him every chance you get.  When the people you’re hanging out with start bashing other people or even bashing Christians…stand up for God and talk about how He changed your life…

Jesus saved your life.  Don’t let your fear of people be stronger than your desire to stand up for Christ at your school. 

One thing I know is true....people don’t always accept you for who you are….but God loves you regardless.

What’s in your backpack?

PD

Welcome to week #3 of backpack.  Just in case you don’t know, backpack is a series about the stuff that we carry in our lives that God wants us to get rid of so that we can live this life without being weighed down.

We examined a Timeless truth from Hebrews 12:1

Week #1 Text: Hebrews 12:1.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Week #2 Text: Matthew 11:28-30

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?  Come to Me.

Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I will show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

Today, I want to write about carrying around bad relationships

I have had some bad relationships.  I have blown it so many times in relationships – and here I find myself talking about them.   The reason that I can talk to you about this issue is because of Christ.  My senior year of high school – life change!  I gave my life to Christ and my relationships have been seen through a different lens since.

Bad relationships will weigh you down quick.  Look at how the wisdom of Proverbs tells us to approach the critical choices of friendship:

Text: Proverbs 12:26

A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”

Question: Are you cautious in your relationships? 

Question: What decisions about your relationships do you need to make? 

Remember what’s in your backpack says a lot about you.  And if you carry around bad friends or a dating relationship that doesn’t have Christ at the center of it, they will weigh you down and become a burden to heavy for you to carry…. 

I challenge you to look in your backpack…..

What do you see?

Welcome to week #2 of backpack.  Just in case you don’t know, backpack is a series about the stuff that we carry in our lives that God wants us to get rid of so that we can live this life without being weighed down.

We examined a Timeless truth from Hebrews 12:1 last week:

Text: Hebrews 12:1.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

This week I wanted to talk with you about guilt. Man, guilt over a past mistake or past failure will weigh you down like no other.   In fact, how many of you have ever done something wrong and you felt guilty afterwards?  Raise your hands…I can see you through this monitor!

Stuff happens in our lives that causes us to hide from God. I mean stuff happens and we make mistakes and we tend to carry those mistakes around with us wherever we go and we think, “ well these are things that I’ve done so that must make up the person that I am….

But here’s the deal, Jesus came so that we wouldn’t have to carry guilt around with us.  In fact in Matthew 11:28-30, Eugene Peterson translates this passage in this way:

Text: Matthew 11:28-30

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?  Come to Me.

Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I will show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.

So what does that mean for you?  It means that the guilt you’re carrying around with you, from a bad decision or a mistake, is weighing you down, it’s a heavy burden to you.  And you were not created to live life under a heavy burden like guilt, instead God wants you to live free. 

You know what’s in your backpack says a lot about you.  And if you’re carrying guilt around in yours……it says that sin has gotten the best of you and has left you with a heavy burden to carry around. 

I challenge you to do what scripture says to do. Remember Jesus said in Matthew 11:28

“If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to Me and I will give you rest.”

Don’t let guilt over a past mistake weigh you down and keep you from living a life of freedom in Christ.

PD

Attached is a sample support letter you can refer to while writing your letters!