What's the Goal?
The goal of the High School Ministry (HSM) at Immanuel is this:
"A fired up youth group, radically obedient to a passionate pursuit of knowing, believing, living, and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Everything we do is to that end.
I'll be walking through the different parts of that statement in the coming weeks.
In the meantime...
A HUGE THANK YOU to all the parents who have recently come on board and are helping out at SIX33 once a month. I really enjoy having parents around involved in what's going on. (for a detailed explanation of the philosophy behind that statement, go to the SIX33 website: www.ibchighland.org/six33 and click on "Parents Only."
Another HUGE THANK YOU to Kim Mast who is now coordinating the "Snack Time" each week at SIX33. A different Sunday School class is hosting SIX33 each week and bringing snacks. Thanks Kim for getting this ministry rolling.
Tonight: eTeams
I love eTeams. Going out with a few students to practice sharing the Gospel is always a fun thing to do. We have some great conversations about theology during our "travel time" as well.
Meanwhile - I'm back to work!
Back soon with more...
Rob
<><
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Beauty of Creation
So I'm sitting at my friend's apartment in Long Beach, where I came to hang out for the day.
His apartment is amazing. It's directly on the beach. By "directly" I mean that "when you walk down the stairs, you step off the stairs onto the sand directly." I'm surrounded by the amazing beauty of God's creation. As I sit at his computer typing this, I'm looking out the window at some snow covered mountains.
So here I sit, surrounded on both sides by two of the things I love most. The beach and the mountains (especially when they're show-covered). I'm so blessed to be able to live here in Southern California working alongside the people of Immanuel.
It reminds me of something from last night's sermon. God has revealed Himself in His creation. How you can look at the amazing beauty of the earth and not see the hand of a Creator I don't know. But as I pointed out last night, while creation distinctly points to God, it won't save us. We are saved not only because God chose us, but also because Jesus accomplished God's plan, and the Holy Spirit "applied" or "connected" what God set out to do and what Jesus did. I've been really emphasizing the necessity of studying the Bible in my sermons at SIX33 the past few weeks.
The more I read and study myself, the more I'm convinced of this. The Spirit always speaks through and with God's Word. Do you want to hear from God? Read and study His Word. Do you want to know God's will for your life? Read and study His Word. Do you want to be on His Path? Read and study His Word. I just can't get away from this. I don't know if I read it somewhere, or came up with it myself, or if it's a hybrid of the two, but here it is: If you're not consistently in God's Word, reading AND STUDYING it, you won't be growing as a Christian.
So there it is. Read and Study God's Word. Make sure you have the tools. A good study Bible is the starting point. There are three that I recommend: The MacArthur Study Bible (it simply has no equal), The ESV Study Bible was published a couple of months back and so far, I'm really liking it, and the Reformation Study Bible, edited by R.C. Sproul. All three are good. I use all three of them pretty regularly. If you don't have a good study Bible (I hate to say it but there are some that aren't so good), you need to make getting one a priority.
So on that note - I'm down to hop on my sweet new bike (Thanks for the great Christmas present Mom & Dad), ride down the beach to a coffee shop (There's an It's A Grind real close), grab some coffee, and do some reading.
Seeking Him,
Rob
His apartment is amazing. It's directly on the beach. By "directly" I mean that "when you walk down the stairs, you step off the stairs onto the sand directly." I'm surrounded by the amazing beauty of God's creation. As I sit at his computer typing this, I'm looking out the window at some snow covered mountains.
So here I sit, surrounded on both sides by two of the things I love most. The beach and the mountains (especially when they're show-covered). I'm so blessed to be able to live here in Southern California working alongside the people of Immanuel.
It reminds me of something from last night's sermon. God has revealed Himself in His creation. How you can look at the amazing beauty of the earth and not see the hand of a Creator I don't know. But as I pointed out last night, while creation distinctly points to God, it won't save us. We are saved not only because God chose us, but also because Jesus accomplished God's plan, and the Holy Spirit "applied" or "connected" what God set out to do and what Jesus did. I've been really emphasizing the necessity of studying the Bible in my sermons at SIX33 the past few weeks.
The more I read and study myself, the more I'm convinced of this. The Spirit always speaks through and with God's Word. Do you want to hear from God? Read and study His Word. Do you want to know God's will for your life? Read and study His Word. Do you want to be on His Path? Read and study His Word. I just can't get away from this. I don't know if I read it somewhere, or came up with it myself, or if it's a hybrid of the two, but here it is: If you're not consistently in God's Word, reading AND STUDYING it, you won't be growing as a Christian.
So there it is. Read and Study God's Word. Make sure you have the tools. A good study Bible is the starting point. There are three that I recommend: The MacArthur Study Bible (it simply has no equal), The ESV Study Bible was published a couple of months back and so far, I'm really liking it, and the Reformation Study Bible, edited by R.C. Sproul. All three are good. I use all three of them pretty regularly. If you don't have a good study Bible (I hate to say it but there are some that aren't so good), you need to make getting one a priority.
So on that note - I'm down to hop on my sweet new bike (Thanks for the great Christmas present Mom & Dad), ride down the beach to a coffee shop (There's an It's A Grind real close), grab some coffee, and do some reading.
Seeking Him,
Rob
Friday, February 13, 2009
Checking in on things...
Just a note to any who might be interested in what's being taught at SIX33 on Wednesday nights right now.
Currently we're in the book of Ephesians. I'm stoked about this! It's such an amazing book with so much in it. It addresses many key doctrines in a very relevant way.
If you aren't able to make it to SIX33, you don't have to miss out on the teaching. I've just got our "recording" capability back up and running, so you can download the messages from our official website.
Just go to www.ibchighland.org/six33 and click on "Downloads" then you'll see the list of messages from Ephesians.
Download them, listen to them, and let me know what you think.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and Valentine's Day.
See you Sunday!
Rob
<><
Currently we're in the book of Ephesians. I'm stoked about this! It's such an amazing book with so much in it. It addresses many key doctrines in a very relevant way.
If you aren't able to make it to SIX33, you don't have to miss out on the teaching. I've just got our "recording" capability back up and running, so you can download the messages from our official website.
Just go to www.ibchighland.org/six33 and click on "Downloads" then you'll see the list of messages from Ephesians.
Download them, listen to them, and let me know what you think.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and Valentine's Day.
See you Sunday!
Rob
<><
Monday, February 9, 2009
Discipleship
So on Monday nights, I have a group of High School guys that come over for Discipleship. We're doing a variety of things, including accountability.
Mostly - we're looking deeply at the Biblical Doctrines of Grace. How great it is to simply look at Scripture and see where it takes us.
One of the other thigns we're doing is memorizing some pretty good chunks of Scripture. This seems to be a discipline that's not talked about very much these days. I know for myself, I need to do more of it.
And by "memorize" I mean that you really know it. No stammering and trying to remember what comes next. I know I can do it, I just don't apply myself. I don't repeat and repeat and repeat the passages like I should.
Now, however, is a different story. I've got copies of the passages we're memorizing taped to the instrument panel of my car (an idea I learned from Jerome Smith, the first youth pastor I learned from), taped to my computer monitor, on my desk, sitting on the coffee table at my house, and a couple of copies in my Bible.
My thinking is that if I still know word-for-word songs from when I was in High School, I should be able to memorize something that has some substance to it.
So here's the question - are you memorizing Scripture? I mean really memorizing it. Are you coming to the point where you know the passage so well that you could stand up in the main Worship Service on Sunday morning and open the worship time by quoting the passage?
If we are seeking to truly know God, then saturating ourselves with Scripture is an absolute necessity. Study the Bible. Memorize Scripture. Make it a daily priority.
Seek God First!
Rob
<><
Mostly - we're looking deeply at the Biblical Doctrines of Grace. How great it is to simply look at Scripture and see where it takes us.
One of the other thigns we're doing is memorizing some pretty good chunks of Scripture. This seems to be a discipline that's not talked about very much these days. I know for myself, I need to do more of it.
And by "memorize" I mean that you really know it. No stammering and trying to remember what comes next. I know I can do it, I just don't apply myself. I don't repeat and repeat and repeat the passages like I should.
Now, however, is a different story. I've got copies of the passages we're memorizing taped to the instrument panel of my car (an idea I learned from Jerome Smith, the first youth pastor I learned from), taped to my computer monitor, on my desk, sitting on the coffee table at my house, and a couple of copies in my Bible.
My thinking is that if I still know word-for-word songs from when I was in High School, I should be able to memorize something that has some substance to it.
So here's the question - are you memorizing Scripture? I mean really memorizing it. Are you coming to the point where you know the passage so well that you could stand up in the main Worship Service on Sunday morning and open the worship time by quoting the passage?
If we are seeking to truly know God, then saturating ourselves with Scripture is an absolute necessity. Study the Bible. Memorize Scripture. Make it a daily priority.
Seek God First!
Rob
<><
Sunday, February 1, 2009
WOW!!!
Has it really been that many months since I've posted anything?
Well - no more of that!
Okay - so here's the latest:
I'm becoming more and more obsessed with the Gospel day by day.
I'm loving the idea and reality of being saturated in Scripture.
The more I stay in Scripture, the more I want to stay in Scripture.
So my question for you is pretty much what I asked my students a couple of Wednesday nights back:
Why are you reading your Bible? Is it out of a sense of some sort of obligation? "Well, I know I'm supposed to read my Bible..." or "My Youth Pastor/Parent/Sunday School Teacher/etc. told me I should read it"
OR...
Are you reading it because you want to know Christ more deeply? Because of all the things that you can spend your time doing. Of all the things you could be reading. Of all the "stuff" that's out there - Only in Scripture do you find what you're truly looking for. Only in Scripture do you find the words that strike you deep in your soul. It just does something for you.
If you were to read through the "Gospel" verses right now, what would be your response? Would it be, "yes - I like these, I've read them before. They're nice..."
OR...
Do you read them and just smile, because it brings you back to meditating on the full reality of what Jesus has done for you. How He bore YOUR sins on the cross and was punished for YOUR sake. He chose you specifically from before the foundation of the world and came to die for YOU.
When I read them - it just gets me. It's hard to describe, but I'm hoping I don't have to describe it to you. I'm hoping you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Want a list of verses? Try this one:
Psalm 96
Ephesians 1:3-14
Romans 3:10-23, Genesis 6:5
Romans 5:8 - it's starting to get good!
2 Corinthians 5:21 - this is just about as good as it gets.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Peter 3:18
Romans 10:9-10 - this is very important.
and my favorite Gospel summary passage:
Titus 3:3-7
Seeking Him,
Rob
<><
P.S. - go to YouTube and find the video "Barabbus" by Caleb and Sol Rexius. I'll put it here when I figure out how to do that. It's an incredible video.
Well - no more of that!
Okay - so here's the latest:
I'm becoming more and more obsessed with the Gospel day by day.
I'm loving the idea and reality of being saturated in Scripture.
The more I stay in Scripture, the more I want to stay in Scripture.
So my question for you is pretty much what I asked my students a couple of Wednesday nights back:
Why are you reading your Bible? Is it out of a sense of some sort of obligation? "Well, I know I'm supposed to read my Bible..." or "My Youth Pastor/Parent/Sunday School Teacher/etc. told me I should read it"
OR...
Are you reading it because you want to know Christ more deeply? Because of all the things that you can spend your time doing. Of all the things you could be reading. Of all the "stuff" that's out there - Only in Scripture do you find what you're truly looking for. Only in Scripture do you find the words that strike you deep in your soul. It just does something for you.
If you were to read through the "Gospel" verses right now, what would be your response? Would it be, "yes - I like these, I've read them before. They're nice..."
OR...
Do you read them and just smile, because it brings you back to meditating on the full reality of what Jesus has done for you. How He bore YOUR sins on the cross and was punished for YOUR sake. He chose you specifically from before the foundation of the world and came to die for YOU.
When I read them - it just gets me. It's hard to describe, but I'm hoping I don't have to describe it to you. I'm hoping you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Want a list of verses? Try this one:
Psalm 96
Ephesians 1:3-14
Romans 3:10-23, Genesis 6:5
Romans 5:8 - it's starting to get good!
2 Corinthians 5:21 - this is just about as good as it gets.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
1 Peter 3:18
Romans 10:9-10 - this is very important.
and my favorite Gospel summary passage:
Titus 3:3-7
Seeking Him,
Rob
<><
P.S. - go to YouTube and find the video "Barabbus" by Caleb and Sol Rexius. I'll put it here when I figure out how to do that. It's an incredible video.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
SIX33 Redone!
I'm very excited!
Tonight begins a whole new SIX33 year.
New Year
New Freshmen
New Band
New Agenda (including some "special activities" you might call games)
New Snack Time
New Prayer Fellowship
It's going to be a great year! I can't wait until tonight to get things going. Tonight, I'll be speaking about the basic expectations of a Christian. Sort of a starting point. What does God expect of us as Christians?
In coming weeks, we'll be taking a deep look at many of the different characteristics that should define the life of a Follower of Christ.
So - make sure you're there.
One more thing - we have two things to sign up for tonight.
1. Movie Night - we're hosting movie night this Friday and need everyone's help.
2. Snack Time - we want to have snacks and fellowship each Wednesday night from 6:00 - 6:30. I'll fill the refrigerator with sodas, but I need you guys to sign up to bring snacks from time to time. If everyone brings a snack once every few months, we can all have snacks every week. And if you eat dinner on the way to SIX33, come a few minutes early and we'll eat together.
See you at SIX33 at 6:33
Rob
<><
Tonight begins a whole new SIX33 year.
New Year
New Freshmen
New Band
New Agenda (including some "special activities" you might call games)
New Snack Time
New Prayer Fellowship
It's going to be a great year! I can't wait until tonight to get things going. Tonight, I'll be speaking about the basic expectations of a Christian. Sort of a starting point. What does God expect of us as Christians?
In coming weeks, we'll be taking a deep look at many of the different characteristics that should define the life of a Follower of Christ.
So - make sure you're there.
One more thing - we have two things to sign up for tonight.
1. Movie Night - we're hosting movie night this Friday and need everyone's help.
2. Snack Time - we want to have snacks and fellowship each Wednesday night from 6:00 - 6:30. I'll fill the refrigerator with sodas, but I need you guys to sign up to bring snacks from time to time. If everyone brings a snack once every few months, we can all have snacks every week. And if you eat dinner on the way to SIX33, come a few minutes early and we'll eat together.
See you at SIX33 at 6:33
Rob
<><
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The much-anticipated cellular device
So I haven't posted in what seems like forever.
The Wildwood reflection is being printed in the church bulletin, but I'll post it here in the next day or so.
Waiting in line - I've never done the "wait in line all night" thing before, so when I ran into a former student-turned-allthingsmac-fanatic/expert a couple of weeks ago, it just made sense to join him and wait in line together all night for a new iPhone.
So in preparation for the iPhone purchase this past Friday (the 11th), I went to the AT&T store on Monday (the 7th) to open my AT&T account (I've been with Sprint for the last 8 years or so) and be ready for the iPhone on Friday. The sales guy was great and got it all set up (including a free 2nd line phone) and ready to go. I was in and out of the store with a new working phone in about 20 minutes.
Fast Forward to Thursday night. My buddy Jack was going to the midnight showing of "Hellboy 2" then heading over to get in line. I was going to meet up with him sometime during the night. I was going to a movie myself at 8:15, so on the way to the movie, I drove by the AT&T store to check the line. No line started yet - a good thing. On to the movie (Wall-E, very cute by the way. I liked it)
After the movie, on the way home, another drive by. This time, there were about 4 or 5 people in line, with a tent set up in a parking spot. Well, I decided to go ahead and get in line. I mean, if I'm staying up all night anyway, I might as well be closer to the front of the line. I went home, grabbed a chair, blanket, pillow, and snacks and headed back up to the store. I was 10th in line.
I texted a couple friends "hey - come by and say 'hi' if you're not busy." I was joined by Randy and Chris, who ended up staying all night and getting a phone. Jack showed up around 3:15 after taking his brother home and we settled in for the rest of the night.
Starbucks opens at 5:30, so I kept our places in line, while the others went for coffee. By this time, we were getting a big draggy, so the coffee was a welcome addition to the party. The last hour was really long (the anticipation, mixed with coffee, snapple, and no available restroom enhanced the 'longness' of the wait).
Finally, I'm in and "Sky" was helping me. He got me my white 16GB iPhone (after much deliberation, I went with white - I think it was a good choice, I like it). Now begins the real dragging....
Somehow, bringing my number over from Sprint wasn't the smooth transaction I'd hoped for. After many "activation failed" messages on the screen, along with many codes and clicks I didn't understand, Sky called tech support. They eventually got the number ported. But now, because the number I was bringing over from Sprint is an "existing" number on my account, they can't sell me the iPhone for the number. Some crazy computer glitch. Well, they finally just sold me the phone with some sort of override and after slightly more than an hour, I'm walking out of the store with my phone.
Of course, it still has to be "activated" with iTunes. "No problem" thinks I - I'll just stop by the office (no computer at home), plug in the phone, activate it (they told me it was simple), then go home and sleep.
So I plug my phone into iTunes only to discover that the newest version of iTunes (7.7) is required. It came out that morning. The new problem is that the firewall at the church prevents me from downloading the new iTunes and our computer guy is out as the office is closed on Friday. I'm thinking "I waited all night only to have to wait until Monday to activate this thing?" Creative problem solving enters.
Fortunately, Randy saved the day. He downloaded the new iTunes and burned it to a disk for me. I picked it up, returned, installed the new iTuntes, plugged in my iPhone, only to discover that the servers were overloaded and once again I couldn't activate the phone.
Home to sleep.
1 hour passes.
Chad wakes me up - "Hey! Are we still on for lunch?"
Groggily, I get up and get ready. We stop by the church on the way to lunch to try one more time. It works in about 5 minutes.
So.... finally I have a working iPhone. Only, I can't get iTunes to transfer all my phone numbers, so I have a phone with nobody's number in it. But still, it works and I can play with it (finally).
Over to lunch (Wahoo's, one of my favorites - that's why I actually got up and went out after an all-nighter). Walked by the Apple Store at Victoria Gardens and marvelled at not only the 150 people in line to get an iPhone, but also the 30+ people in line just to get in and look around. I'm not waiting in another line.
Play with the phone a bit on Friday night before falling asleep.
Get up on Saturday, back to the computer. 2 hours on the phone with customer service. We figure out that the church's firewall won't let iTunes access my phone number info. That'll have to wait until Monday when Terry gets back in.
All in all, a pretty eventful event getting this new phone. Quite a hassle.
Was it worth it?
Absolutely. I LOVE the phone.
(now if only OliveTree will put out their Bible for the iPhone...)
Rob
<><
The Wildwood reflection is being printed in the church bulletin, but I'll post it here in the next day or so.
Waiting in line - I've never done the "wait in line all night" thing before, so when I ran into a former student-turned-allthingsmac-fanatic/expert a couple of weeks ago, it just made sense to join him and wait in line together all night for a new iPhone.
So in preparation for the iPhone purchase this past Friday (the 11th), I went to the AT&T store on Monday (the 7th) to open my AT&T account (I've been with Sprint for the last 8 years or so) and be ready for the iPhone on Friday. The sales guy was great and got it all set up (including a free 2nd line phone) and ready to go. I was in and out of the store with a new working phone in about 20 minutes.
Fast Forward to Thursday night. My buddy Jack was going to the midnight showing of "Hellboy 2" then heading over to get in line. I was going to meet up with him sometime during the night. I was going to a movie myself at 8:15, so on the way to the movie, I drove by the AT&T store to check the line. No line started yet - a good thing. On to the movie (Wall-E, very cute by the way. I liked it)
After the movie, on the way home, another drive by. This time, there were about 4 or 5 people in line, with a tent set up in a parking spot. Well, I decided to go ahead and get in line. I mean, if I'm staying up all night anyway, I might as well be closer to the front of the line. I went home, grabbed a chair, blanket, pillow, and snacks and headed back up to the store. I was 10th in line.
I texted a couple friends "hey - come by and say 'hi' if you're not busy." I was joined by Randy and Chris, who ended up staying all night and getting a phone. Jack showed up around 3:15 after taking his brother home and we settled in for the rest of the night.
Starbucks opens at 5:30, so I kept our places in line, while the others went for coffee. By this time, we were getting a big draggy, so the coffee was a welcome addition to the party. The last hour was really long (the anticipation, mixed with coffee, snapple, and no available restroom enhanced the 'longness' of the wait).
Finally, I'm in and "Sky" was helping me. He got me my white 16GB iPhone (after much deliberation, I went with white - I think it was a good choice, I like it). Now begins the real dragging....
Somehow, bringing my number over from Sprint wasn't the smooth transaction I'd hoped for. After many "activation failed" messages on the screen, along with many codes and clicks I didn't understand, Sky called tech support. They eventually got the number ported. But now, because the number I was bringing over from Sprint is an "existing" number on my account, they can't sell me the iPhone for the number. Some crazy computer glitch. Well, they finally just sold me the phone with some sort of override and after slightly more than an hour, I'm walking out of the store with my phone.
Of course, it still has to be "activated" with iTunes. "No problem" thinks I - I'll just stop by the office (no computer at home), plug in the phone, activate it (they told me it was simple), then go home and sleep.
So I plug my phone into iTunes only to discover that the newest version of iTunes (7.7) is required. It came out that morning. The new problem is that the firewall at the church prevents me from downloading the new iTunes and our computer guy is out as the office is closed on Friday. I'm thinking "I waited all night only to have to wait until Monday to activate this thing?" Creative problem solving enters.
Fortunately, Randy saved the day. He downloaded the new iTunes and burned it to a disk for me. I picked it up, returned, installed the new iTuntes, plugged in my iPhone, only to discover that the servers were overloaded and once again I couldn't activate the phone.
Home to sleep.
1 hour passes.
Chad wakes me up - "Hey! Are we still on for lunch?"
Groggily, I get up and get ready. We stop by the church on the way to lunch to try one more time. It works in about 5 minutes.
So.... finally I have a working iPhone. Only, I can't get iTunes to transfer all my phone numbers, so I have a phone with nobody's number in it. But still, it works and I can play with it (finally).
Over to lunch (Wahoo's, one of my favorites - that's why I actually got up and went out after an all-nighter). Walked by the Apple Store at Victoria Gardens and marvelled at not only the 150 people in line to get an iPhone, but also the 30+ people in line just to get in and look around. I'm not waiting in another line.
Play with the phone a bit on Friday night before falling asleep.
Get up on Saturday, back to the computer. 2 hours on the phone with customer service. We figure out that the church's firewall won't let iTunes access my phone number info. That'll have to wait until Monday when Terry gets back in.
All in all, a pretty eventful event getting this new phone. Quite a hassle.
Was it worth it?
Absolutely. I LOVE the phone.
(now if only OliveTree will put out their Bible for the iPhone...)
Rob
<><
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