Thursday, January 21, 2010

....please stand by...

So the video below isn't working. Not sure why. I'm working on it.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Karaoke Preview


Our next Friday Fellowship is in February. It's going to be a Karaoke night. Here's a little preview of what's in store. This is Tyler, Sara, and Jenna singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing."

Separating the Sheep from the Goats

So a few months back I took this picture while at a "Circus Sideshow"
thing out at the beach. Not sure if this is real, and there's
certainly no real value in it either way, but I just thought I'd post
it. Just for fun. :-)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

10 Things...

So this week at SIX33 (1/20), we'll be looking at James 4:7-10. There are 10 specific commands found in this passage. They give us a lot of help in our walk with Christ.
Take a few minutes to read through James 4:7-10 and notice these *10 things:

1. Submit to God
2. Resist the devil
3. Draw near to God
4. Cleanse your hands
5. Purify your hearts
6. Be wretched (lament)
7. Mourn
8. Weep
9. Without laughter (the mourning and weeping)
10. Humble yourself

We'll be looking at these 10 things more closely this week and how they can be so helpful to our daily lives as we seek to honor Christ through all that we do.
Check out the IBC website for "Sermon Recap" notes each week. Audio files of the sermons will be coming soon. They take a little bit to get formatted properly for posting on the site.

Speaking of the website - it's all new! If you haven't had a chance to check out the new IBC website, take a couple minutes to look through it. It's vastly improved and with the additional features, we'll be able to do a lot more with it. Check back often as we keep it updated with all the current info for pretty much all that we're doing at Immanuel (and that's quite a lot!).

Seeking Him,
Rob
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* These 10 Commands are from the MacArthur New Testament Commentary

Friday, January 8, 2010

Keeping things Current

So it's the new year.
Everyone's always making resolutions.
Few people carry through with them.
Wednesday night at SIX33, my sermon was titled "10 Questions for 2010" (not a super clever title, but what can I do? "Always have a super-clever Sermon Title" was not one of my resolutions for 2010) I believe that the key to spiritual growth is essentially two things:
1. Studying Scripture (don't be a Bible reader, be a study-er)
2. Being consistently taught the Word of God
(this comes with consistent church involvement, which is a whole other post)
A common thread that runs through both of these is discipline and actual effort. You cannot just decide that you're going to "grow spiritually" or "study the Bible more" this year. You have to, as 2 Peter 1 tells us to "make every effort."
I believe that the key to making everything happen is discipline, focus, and some actual work.

Resolutions are not a bad thing. They fail for a number of reasons. One big reason is that we often make resolutions and don't keep them is because we "file them away" after making them. We must re-visit them regularly and consistently.

The church website is new and very improved. It offers us many new features that we didn't have before. We're going to be using as many of the features as we can to be as helpful as possible toward encouraging and catalyzing the spiritual growth of our people this year.

So check back here often. Check the church website often. (www.ibchighland.org go to "Get Involved" and "High School Ministry")
We've got a lot of plans to make the website truly helpful beyond just finding service times.
In the HSM section is a new page titled "Sermons & Such" where you'll find resources from the current and past sermons that I hope will be very helpful to you as you "make every effort" in your walk with God this year.

Rob
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Pointing you to another Blog

Occasionally, I'll read a blog that I just want to copy and paste into my own.
Not to be stealing someone else's thoughts, but because it's so good and I want people to read it.
For those that are a part of SIX33 and attend our youth group worship services on Wednesday nights (at 6:33 p.m.) you've noticed over the past couple of years that we've toned down the "game scenario."
Well I read a blog this morning that totally captures the essence of where we're trying to go with our Worship Services.
Check it out, then read the rest: TeamPyro Post

I enjoy playing and having fun as much as the next guy (perhaps even more) and we will continue to go places and have events where we can foster genuine Christian relationships and enjoy being together. That's why we have SIX33 Saturdays (coming Jan. 23) and Friday Fellowships (Karaoke Night this month). Wednesday nights, for us, are about gathering together as a community of believers for worship and Bible teaching.

The goal of the HSM at Immanuel is simple: "passionately knowing, believing, living, and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Hope that makes sense.

Seeking Him,
Rob
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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Reducing My Carbon Footprint

So one of the things I'm going to do this year is ride my bike to work at least once a week. Hopefully, it'll be more than that, but at least once a week.
Today was my first day. I've got an app on my phone from REI (just about my favorite store) called "Bike Your Ride" that maps your ride and gives you quite a bit of information about your ride. Their goal is to get more people doing bike commuting, which I like.
The app actually tells you lots of info (calories burned, pounds of carbon offset, $ saved, etc.) but I haven't figured out how to save that info just yet. Below is what I remember from my ride today.

Here are the stats from my bicycle commute today:
Total miles (including a stop at the coffee shop on the way to work): 7.81
Total Time: about an hour
$ Saved: $1.25
Calories: I'm guessing - 5-600

I'll keep you posted as to how the commuting situation is going. There are obviously days when I need my car at work, but if I don't need it, why drive?

I'll be talking about the whole idea of "resolutions" and such at SIX33 tomorrow. So if you're around, come to SIX33 and hopefully you'll leave with a good start on the new year.

Rob
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