With youth scheduled at the Helton house tonight and a lot of sick kids in the Helton house, youth group is canceled.

Next week will be our night out and the following week will hopefully be in our new location.

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Notes from Wednesday night high school lesson on 2-09-11

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This Saturday, we'll be visiting a nursing home in Hemet, California. Earlier this week, many of the youth got together to make 80 unique cards to hand out as we sing carols and show the love of Christ to the oft forgotten elderly. There are few better ways to celebrate the birth of Christ!

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In all of it's glory...

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Of these four types of people described in Proverbs, which one are you? Which would you like to become?  Who do you hang out with most? How do you deal with a fool?

Take time this week to think about which of these best describes you. God calls us to seek out the wise at to become wise in our knowledge of Him. James wrote, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." (James 1:5). Seek wisdom. Ask God to lead you to wiser friends.

It is time we take the foolishness in our youth group seriously, to take every effort to become a wise and humble group, living united and in a way that is worthy of the Gospel.

Thank you, Pastor Jason, for your lesson this past Wednesday night. 

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2010.avi Watch on Posterous

2009-2010 School Year Fun!

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"Everything is meaningless, utterly meaningless." -Solomon

What is the meaning of life? Money, success, love, family, power, nothing? Solomon gave his testimony in the book of Ecclesiastes. He had lived it all, owned it all, and done it all. Yet, when he came to his conclusion in the last few verses of the book, he said that what we need to do is fear God and obey God. Why? Because God cares how we live our life. Solomon writes that God will hold us accountable for everything we do...good or bad...visible or hidden.

Salvation is a free gift, but the pursuit of holiness is hard work. Glorifying God in all we do is hard work. Obedience is hard work. Fear is hard work. 

Fear

What do you fear? Clowns? Spiders? Small spaces? Heights? Your Parents? 

Do you fear God, I mean really fear God? I hear a lot that fear God means respecting Him and recognizing His power. This is true, but the proper fear of God does not end there. The fear of God was shown when Isaiah envisioned God on the throne and exclaimed, "Woe is me, for I am undone!" The fear of God was shown when John envisioned God and fell to the ground and worshiped Him.

Obedience from Love

Solomon charges us to obey God. Why? Well first, God knows the best for us. He knows that pursuing anything besides Him will lead to disappointment and destruction. But also, we show our love we have for Him when we obey him. Jesus said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." Our motivation for obedience is our love for God.

What You Fear Determines How You Live

How does a child who doesn't fear his parents act? How does a student who doesn't fear her teacher act? How does a criminal who doesn't fear the justice system act? 

How does the man who does not fear God act?

Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear

Since now we have God as our heavenly Father, we do not have to fear anything in this world! We even don't have to fear God's eternal wrath. Before Christ died on the cross, God's presence resided in the Holy of Holies, a small room in the temple. Only the high priest could enter, and he only once a year. People were fearful to enter because those who entered who were not clean would died, instantly. But then Christ died. The curtain separating the Holy of Holies was torn in two! Now, the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, can come and live inside of every believer! We can approach God ourselves! We have peace with God! We are the friends of God!

The Meaning of Life

Fear God and Obey Him. Fear Him above all else. Obey Him above all else. Love Him above all else. It's our meaning. It's what we were meant to do.

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Youth tonight is at the new week night location right off Baxter and the I-15 in the Pizza Factory shopping center from 6:30-8:30. Along with our regular activities, we will also be cleaning up the outside patio to prepare for the meeting of the members this coming Sunday. Please bring brooms, dust pans and trash bags to help speed things up! High schoolers, the dating series continues....

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Important Announcement!

Youth group week nights will be moving to Wednesday nights starting April 7th! The last Thursday will be April 1st. Please spread the word to other youth and parents. The move is to help consolidate regular weekly ministries in the church to a single night.

That's all for now. See you all this Thursday night!

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The songs are over, the music has stopped, and the noise of shuffling chairs fill the air. As Pastor Jason comments on how great the drumming was this morning, a surprising amount of church goers prepare for the message by not placing their Bibles on their laps. Instead, they plan to rely on PowerPoint slides or the draw of Pastor Jason's voice to provide the necessary scriptures references. The youth-aged are no exception. 

Why should we bring our Bibles to church?

When I first attempted to answer this question, I quickly thought it would be a simple, matter-of-fact reply. But the more I thought about it, the more I wrestled with the correct answer. With the verses mentioned on TV screens, the sermon notes posted online, and the pastor both referencing and reading the passages, is it really necessary to hold a personal printed or electronic copy of God's Word? Is it possible that sifting through the Book will distract us and lead us into missing the main message the pastor is trying to get across? I believe the answer to both questions is "Yes!"

Bringing your Bible will familiarize you with your Bible

Hearing and viewing a passage will do you little good later on when you're looking for that verse from last Sunday's message but you don't know where to find it in your Bible. Many times, I know where to find a verse because I know about how far into the Book it is, the side of the page, and the location on the page. It goes something like, "Oh, it's about three-quarters, right side, middle of the page." Being able to located passages is necessary when you're on your own.

Bringing your Bible will help you focus on the sermon and not your friends

Note #1: "Did you see what Johnny was wearing? What was he thinking?"

Note #2: "Umm, yeah. Does he think the 80's are making a come back or what? What are you doing after church?"

(Preacher in background: "This passage is one of the most critical passage for those who...")

Note #3: "IDK. Maybe lunch. I can ask my mom if I can go over to your house."

We meet together to sit under the teaching of a man who has been called to prepare us to go out into the world and proclaim the message of Christ. As he expounds the scripture, it really can be difficult to hold on and follow along. But when we have our Bibles in our hands, we tend to focus on the message at hand. We can hold all of the notes God has written to us and save our notes to our friends for later. 

Bringing your Bible will help you to better understand the message

The Bible wasn't written verse by verse but as letters, songs, and accounts of events. Let's take John 14:15 for an example. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." If this is all we're given, it will not mean much to us. Who is talking? Who is he talking to? Why did he say this? What are his commandments? You see that the context of each verse is extremely valuable to understanding the message. Many times the pastor cannot go into details of the verse, but with Bible in hand you certainly can enlighten yourself!

The Bible is living and active. Yes, it has the power to change you. It is like no other book on earth. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16-17). The Word of God became flesh, lived that perfect life we could not, died and rose again for our salvation. We can hold His Words in our hands any time we'd like. What a privilege we often neglect when we "forget" our Bibles. Like a soldier in battle without his weapon or a doctor in surgery without his scalpel, we are identified in Christ but lacking our most important tool. How can we not forget to style our hair, tie our shoes, and bring our cell phones and yet leave God's Gift for us on the table at home? 

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Aaron is definitely the most natural...

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Welcome to the new MVC Youth Blog. This will be home to a wealth of information, devotionals, thoughts, photos, and other amazingly interesting posts for youth and parents alike. Please bookmark and check back frequently. We've tried many different means of communication and have yet to find one that best fits our people. We think a blog like this will do the trick.

MVC Blog, Twitter, and Facebook Unite!

Did you know we have a Twitter account? If you have a Twitter account, follow us! Check out our profile at www.twitter.com/mvcyouth.

Chances are you have a facebook account, too. Every post on this blog will automagically appear on my status, so be on the look out.

Really, you can put photos on here?

Oh yeah! We cannot guarantee that they will not be embarrassing.

How do I get to it?

We're so nice, we made it easy for you. Simply point your browser to youth.gomvc.com and you'll end up right here. Easy, eh?

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Youth Group this Thursday will be at 6:30 at the Mata home. Please take note of the new end time of 8:30. Yep, that is 2 full hours of God glorifying goodness.

Bring your Bibles! As we fellowship, discuss, and study we need to be bringing the Word of God which God tells us to "treasure in our hearts". You don't have class without textbooks so lets not live life without the living Word of God!

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