Hess Road ImPaCt

Updates

2009-12-31T20:29:00.035-05:00

Site Updated 9/5/10

Sunday, September 26th:
 
The Official Re-start of ImPaCt
See you there!!

CORE TRUTHS

2009-12-30T19:39:00.010-05:00

Why do you believe what you believe?
More importantly, how confident are you in your belief?

Here are 15 questions that you should be able to answer as a Christian, so you can share your faith, defend your faith, and have confidence and assurance that your relationship with God is true and real.

1) Who is God? What is he like? Will he ever leave me or forsake me? Will he really forgive all my sins?

2) What is the Trinity and the Holy Spirit?

3) Did God really create everything.. and why is that important to believe?

4) Why does God allow evil in the world?

5) Is there such a thing as absolute truth, right and wrong?

6) Who is Jesus?

7) Did Jesus really die on the Cross and raise from the dead? What does that mean to me?

8) What is a Christian and how do I become one?

9) What is church and why should I be involved?

10) If Jesus is the only way to heaven, are all other ways wrong? What about people who have never heard of the Gospel?

11) Is the Bible really God’s word? How can I know it’s true? How does it relate to my life? How do I study it?

12) What is prayer, and how do I do it?

13) What are spiritual gifts, and how do I discover mine?

14) Who are Satan and his demons? What is Spiritual Warfare?

15) IS there a real heaven and hell What is Judgment day?

First Worship Practice

2009-12-20T21:04:00.000-05:00

01/24/10 - Listening for the Future

2009-12-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

Go get a scrap piece of paper, and write down a "plan" you have for yourself... something you plan on doing or accomplishing this year. Now set it aside.. we'll get back to it later.

Think back through the past 24 hours and what you were doing. How often were you listening to music, or watching TV, Texting/Talking on your cell phone, Checking out Facebook or Twitter, etc? How many times were you surrounded by "noise" and business?

When you do your homework, is it in front of the TV or computer, or are you in the quiet focusing on your work?

America as a whole does a really good job of trying to avoid silence... I mean, it's awkward, right? Try it... try and sit in silence for 30 seconds (especially in a room full of people). It's hard. Usually someone tries to break the silence.

We have to be careful, because this spills over into our spiritual lives as well. How often do you think God is trying to speak to you, but you can't hear... because you aren't listening?

Look up 1 Kings 19:10-13.

Wind, Earthquake and Fire... some intense things that are very attention grabbing. But, was that what God used to get Elijah's attention? No. After all the craziness died down, God was there... in a gentle whisper.

Think about some of the different ways God can try to speak to you.. your conscience, a song lyric.. a pastor's message. Many times we can miss God's signs, sometimes because we knowingly ignore what he's saying, sometimes because we're not paying attention, and sometimes because we're not "open" to what he has to say to us... we don't get open until we're at youth group, or a special event like snow camp. That's when we're ready to hear what God has to say to us. But God wants to talk to you ALL THE TIME. He always has things to tell you.

I challenge you to take some time and sit in silence, listening for what God wants to tell you. It might take you a couple minutes to truly because silent, because our minds like the "noise" and will come up with all sorts of crazy thoughts. Work through it.. you can get to the silence.

Remember those plans you made at the beginning? Pick them back up.... and tear it up. You can make all the plans you want.... and they may be good plans, things you will actually get to accomplish. Just make sure you remember who is actually the one in charge of making our plans... who might lead us in another direction if we just stop and listen.

Student Alpha

2009-12-01T14:23:00.004-05:00

studentalpha

The Alpha course is a great way to get back in touch with the foundation of your Christian faith, or to refresh yourself with the basics so you can share your faith more easily with others.

For more information, visit www.studentalpha.org

Student Alpha is a course introducing people to the Christian faith. Over the last ten years Student Alpha has proved to be one of the most effective tools for university students and young adults to explore the Christian faith, with over 600 courses now running worldwide.

WEEK ONE:

Who IS Jesus? Watch the video clip and you will be able to answer all the below questions easily!

               - Is Jesus a real historical figure?

               - Do the Surviving copies of the New Testament faithfully provide us with the original accounts of Jesus' life on Earth?

                - Did Jesus claim to be more than a mere man?

                - If Jesus claimed this, what are our 3 options to believe about him?

                - Is there evidence to support Jesus' claims?

                - Is there evidence for His resurrection?

WEEK TWO:

Why DID Jesus Die?

                - All have sinned and fall short of God's glory. Mother Teresa and Hitler are equal in the fact that we are sinners separated from God. There aren't "degrees" of which sin is worse that another. All sins are bad!

                - There are consequences from our sin. Sin pollutes us- it corrupts. It also has power over our lives and the decisions we make. All of that causes a partition between us and God- it separates us from having an open relationship with God. And as with all actions, sin has a consequence! There is a penalty that must be served in order for there to be justice.

                - Jesus died to remove that sin from our lives. He does so by forgiving us and getting rid of the pollution, giving us freedom from sin's power, and restores fellowship by repairing our relationship with God. Then, he gives us hope for the future because the penalty has been paid- and that means we will get to spend eternity with Christ!

                - We can get this gift Jesus gave so freely by simply believing in him and what he's done for us. How cool is that?

"Living Nativity"

2009-11-11T22:12:00.001-05:00

Dec 6, 2009

What is Church? - 11/15/09

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The greek root word, "ekklesia" means assembly. It was mainly used to refer to a military group.

As Christians, we call the building we meet in the "church", and we also call ourselves the church.

Out of my age group, the "twenty-somethings," 61% of those who went to church regularly as teens don't attend anymore, or pray, or read the Bible. That's a high number!! If you look around you, you might notice a drop. It's scary to think of... your friends slowly turning their backs on their relationship with Christ.

No mattwe how old you are, going to "church" (as in the building we meet in and fellowshiping with other believers) is important for several reasons:

1) Church is a place to belong. You are a part of God's Family!
2) Church is a place to serve. God designed you with a purpose. He gave you spiritual gifts and talents to use
3) Church is a place to be served. James 5:13-14 reminds us that in addition to giving to others, we in turn are given to when we are in need.
4) Church is a place to grow. We need spiritual food to mature... and we need different kinds of spiritual food that we can only get from spending time with fellow Christians of different generations. We need the variety!
5) Church is a place to follow God's Commands. Christ loved the church so much that he gave up his life for us. He wants us to meet together and to love each other. Attending church is the perfect opportunity to accomplish what he wants for our lives!

Being a Christian means fellowshipping with others. Our faith is personal, but it's NOT private. Jesus's entire message was about love and building relationships with other people.

Out of all the teenagers that stop attending church, there are generally two categories of why they changed.

1) Stopped believing in the Bible, because they never really did in the first place, or they didn't have a solid foundation or good understanding of God and the Bible.

2) Don't like the church because it's full of hypocrites. There really isn't any defense to this... it's true. the church is full of hypocrites. The church isn't perfect... and you know what? It won't be until Jesus returns again. And consider this- if there was a perfect church, we wouldn't be allowed to attend it!

We are called to love and fellowship with each other- despite our differences and disagreements. If there is a problem in the church, don't jump ship... help be the change.

Remember, even the early church messed up! Paul's letters are filled with both encouragement and correction.

Sword Drill Champions

2009-10-26T19:20:00.007-04:00

Each week we do 5 Sword Drill Challenges, and you have an opportunity to be in the running as Sword Drill Champion! Every 6 weeks the person who was able to win the most Sword Drills earns the right to have their name on the coveted "Sword Drill Champion" Trophy on our wall (filled with candy for you, of course!)

2009-2010 Winners:

Jake Greenwald (x2)

Jed Platt (x3)

Congrats to Jed Platt for holding on to the trophy for three consecutive matches!!!

Sword Drill Championship

2009-10-26T19:20:00.001-04:00

10/18/09

Jen vs Jake

Haggai 1:7

Jake wins!

10/25/09 - Filling the Void

2009-10-26T19:18:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been hungry? What do you do to take care of the hunger pains? Go to movie until it goes away? No! You eat something, right?

Just like what happens in our stomachs, spiritually we have a “void” in our lives that we are constantly trying to fill with something… family, friends, sports, hobbies… only it doesn’t work, does it?? Just like none of those things could fill the hunger void in your stomach, they can’t fill the spiritual void in your life. Only a relationship with God through Jesus Christ can take care of that.

We can take the hunger illustration a little further. Revelations 3:20 says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” That means that just like looking at a sandwich isn’t enough to fill you up, just realizing you need a relationship with Jesus… and realizing he died for your sins… isn’t enough to take care of the Spiritual void in your life. You need to actively invite him in to change your life!

Let’s get back to that sandwich. You were running late for school this morning, so you missed breakfast. Then, when it was time for lunch, you had to spend it in the library finishing a paper. After school you had practice. Needless to say, come dinner time when you get home, you’re pretty hungry! Do you fill up your plate with food and then only take one bite? No!! You eat it all- and maybe even more until you’ve stuffed yourself.

To fill that spiritual void, you can’t just turn over one aspect of your life to God. You can’t say “Lord, I’ll give you Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursday nights.” That won’t work… you’ll still be hungry. Revelations 3:15 talks about how we need to commit completely to Christ- not just in part. It says “I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either one or the other!”

It’s easy to talk about, but not so easy to put into practice. What are some ways you can make sure you are giving all of yourself to God?

- Constant communication with God through prayer and Bible Study

- Having a fellow Christian friend hold you accountable

- Meeting with other Christians on a regular basis at church and/or youth group

Now, once you’ve made a commitment to actively pursuing your relationship with God, I have a pointer for you; there will be days when you’ll forget, or actively don’t do what you said you would. THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU FAILED YOUR COMMITMENT. All it means is that you need to try harder the next day. You don’t fail until you decide to quit altogether. Don’t get discouraged! Change won’t happen overnight.

01/17/10 -

2009-10-21T23:02:00.001-04:00

1) James 4:4
2) 1 John 2:15
3) John 17:14
4) Matthew 16:24-26
5) 1 Timothy 6:7

What do all these verses have in common?

Easy to look up and read.... but much more difficult to follow, isn't it?

As humans we want worldly things, like money and acceptance.

The world will accept you.... but the world will leave you in a heartbeat if things go wrong.

As Christian's we're called to be in the world, being an example of Christ's love. We are NOT supposed to be of the world... pursuing the things it stands for. We don't need it- we have something much greater waiting for us in heaven.

That's why it's important to have accountability partners (like we talked about last week), and surround yourself with people who are godly. Bad friends will lead you in the wrong direction. That doesn't mean you should ignore ungodly people. We are called to show love for them. Invite them to youth group... demonstrate Christian behavior; let them see you are different. DON'T follow them to the corner bar or a party and think you can witness to them!!

Also, to note.. just because you are following the right path doesn't mean you are following the easy path. There's a picture that explains this very well by German artist Charlotte Reihlens called the Narrow Path Picture:

When you look at the bigger picture of where both paths end, it's easy to see which one we should be picking!

Bible Study Methods

2009-10-18T13:00:00.002-04:00

What's your favorite food? music style? Color? Vacation spot? TV Show? School Subject?

If you went and asked someone those questions, chances are their answers would be different than yours. If they were the same, keep asking questions, and I'm sure you'll come up with a difference!! The point is, we are all unique, with our own special likes and dislikes and preferences for doing things- including how we study the Bible!

You need to find the Bible Study Method that works best for YOU... which may be different than the way your parents or siblings or friends like to study the Bible. Also, sometimes its a good idea to mix things up a little bit and try something new.

Before listing some good ideas for you to try, I want to highlight a couple methods that aren't necessarily "wrong", but they can lead to dangerous and wrong conclusions if it is the only way you study your Bible.

1) Speed Reading: There isn't anything wrong with the "through the Bible in a year program"- that's an awesome thing to stick with and accomplish. But after that year is up, how much do you remember? We need to be reading for quality, not quantity.

2) Point & Read: Sometimes the Holy Spirit can use this "random" method to show you an important verse, but you need to be careful if this is the only way you read your Bible. It's important to understand the context of a passage by reading what came before and what comes after. If every day you simply open your Bible, point your finger and read the nearest verse, it is going to be difficult for you to understand Scripture and to grow with it.

3) Proof Reading: This is not talking about remembering a certain verse and trying to find it to help prove a point or teach a lesson; Proof Reading is searching through the Bible for a verse that you can use to support a belief you already have. That is backwards!! We are supposed to read the Bible and understand what it says, and from them form our beliefs. Believe me, you can manipulate and remove a verse from context to find one to say anything you want. That's not what we are supposed to do with God's word, though.

-

Now, for the good part!! Here are some ideas for Bible Study Methods. I recommend looking through this list and seeing what you currently do, and what you would like to try. Then, make a written commitment to yourself and figure out when (what day, time) that you are going to try studying your Bible that way. You may discover a whole new meaning to Scripture that you've read dozens of times before just by looking at it from a different angle!!

1) Meditative Method: focusing verse by verse and really thinking about the meaning. This can take awhile!

2) Fly on the Wall Method: Recreate the scene as if you are watching it happen based on the description in the verses.

3) In Their Shoes Method: Pretend you are the person in the verse. How would you feel and react if that happened to you? If you saw it happen to someone with you?

4) Question & Answer Method: Write down all the questions you have from a passage, then find the answers! This can take a lot of research and talking to people like youth leaders and pastors, but it's worth it to fully understand a passage of Scripture.

5) Topical Method: Research all the passages on a specific topic, such as forgiveness, love, unity, and their context. A concordance or search engine like www.biblegateway.com can help with this.

6) Research Method: Read commentaries, guides, sermons, etc that go along with the passage you are studying

7) Investigative Method: Answer the 5 Ws: Who, What Where When and Why

8) Guide Method: Pick a certain teacher/pastor/book that you enjoy and use their resources to study through the Bible.

9) Parallel Passage Method: Check for parallel passages (check the footnotes!) that are a different version of the same story, or quote another passage.

About Us

2009-10-17T16:45:00.024-04:00

We are ImPaCt, the teenagers of
Hess Road Wesleyan Church

As a group, we have adopted 1 Timothy 4:12 as our "theme verse"
because it states exactly what our goal is- to be an example to others
"in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity."

The leadership of ImPaCt is committed to....

1) Giving teens an opportunity to share what God has done in their life.
2) Providing an opportunity for teens to witness and serve others.
3) Focusing on the Great Commandment and Great Commission in Scripture.
4) Teaching "Core Truths" to help students have a firm foundation in their faith.

For more information, please contact the Hess Road Wesleyan Church, or Katie Rose

Contact Information

2009-10-12T16:54:00.001-04:00

Katie Rose
Director of Youth Services

E-mail: kt.olson@yahoo.com

Cell Phone: (716) 471-3452

Church Telephone: (716) 778-5343

Church Address: 2514 Hess Road, Appleton, NY 14008

Instruction Manuals

2009-10-11T22:09:00.001-04:00

These days, anytime we buy something, it comes with an instruction/user manual. Sometimes they are very thick and complicated, sometimes they are short and simple. Their purpose? To show us how to put something together, or what to do if there are problems, etc. Let's be honest though- we hardly ever read the instruction manuals, let alone actually follow what they say!!

Take a cellphone, for instance. If you read the instruction manual, it says (unless you have a special phone) not to immerse your phone in water- but I bet we both know people who have dropped their phone in water and it still works fine.

Or, for your computer monitor, you're not supposed to write on the screen with a sharpie marker. You're supposed to use the keyboard, right?

Even though those are the "rules", there's nothing stopping me from dropping my phone in water.. or from writing on my computer screen. But it would be pretty silly if I did those things on purpose, wouldn't it? Why? Because it would ruin my stuff.. it makes more sense to follow the instructions, doesn't it?

The Bible is our "instruction manual" from God on how we should live, and what we should do when trouble comes... but God doesn't force us to listen to him; it's our choice to obey what he says or not. But what happens when we choose to ignore him?

We can get hurt, get in trouble, or even damage our witness as a Christian! All bad outcomes.

John 14:21 (an especially favorite verse of mine) says "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father, and I too will love him, and show myself to him."

Whoever has my commands and obeys them- he is the one who loves me. Hmm.. that means, if we love God, we need to show it to him by obeying him. That is the true test of Christianity!!

I want to leave you with this final thought: If I was to hide a $50 bill in a room... or even a $20 bill... and said if you could find it you could have it, how hard would you look? (We tested that with $5 in youth this week, and couches were flying across the room as you searched!!!)

Proverbs 2:1-6 talks about how we should store up God's commands in us, and search for understanding like you would search for hidden treasure.

If you love Jesus, and want to keep his commands, then you should be searching through his word- the Bible- for direction and wisdom just as hard-if not harder- than you would search for money.

Taming the Tongue

2009-10-04T22:11:00.001-04:00

When was the last time you read James 3?

The majority of the chaper is about how we use our tongues. As Christians, we need to be extra careful of how we use our words, because everyone is watching us.

In James 3 it talks about horses; creatures that weight 1,000-1,200 pounds and how they can be controled by a simple tug on the reins, or a massive ship that is steered by a small rudder. That compares to our tongues. How, you ask?

Our tongues are a small body part, but they can have a huge impact on us and on everyone around us.

How do you use your words? Remember; people will judge you and your character by what you say. Are youo critical of others? Do you gossip? Are you quick to lash out when angry?

Take careful consideration of how you use your words, and think before you speak.

What do you know?

2009-09-29T13:20:00.001-04:00

Here's a little Bible knowledge test; see if you can answer the questions without looking up the answers.

1) What passage of Scripture is found in Exodus 20?
2) What passage of Scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 13?
3) What passage of Scripture is found in Matthew 5?

How'd you do? Do you give up yet? Here's a couple more questions based on those passages- try to answer them without looking first:

1) Can you name all of the Commandments?
2) Can you describe what Love is?
3) Who does Jesus say is Blessed?

The second set of questions was a little harder than the first, wasn't it? All 3 are fairly well-known passages, but the point is, we don't remember everything that's in Scripture. That's why it's important to read your Bible and memorize scripture; even if it's over and over again. Chances are you've forgotten something and need to be refreshed.

01/10/10 - Resolutions that Last

2009-09-21T22:56:00.000-04:00

Not to many days ago we celebrated a new year... and what comes with the new year? Resolutions, of course! Across the world people of all ages and nationality choose to make January 1st the day they start over... the beginning of a new "you". What are some examples of the resolutions people make? I'm sure you can think of them... loose weight, save money, stop swearing, spend more time with family, eat healthier.

Why do we make resolutions to start a good habit.. or stop a bad one? Mostly because we want to better ourselves.. but sometimes, more accurately, we want to feel better about ourselves.

And how long do those resolutions last? A day.. a week.. a month? Not long.

There's "good" resolutions we can make too- grow closer to God by reading our bible daily and finding more time to pray.. being nicer to kids at school and act more "christian-like"... those resolutions usually only last as long as the other ones we made! And that's a scary thing. Revelations 3:15-16 is a warning to the church of Sardis. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Which resolutions do you think are harder to make? The 'wordly' resolutions, or the 'christian' ones?

The wordly, everyone talks about with each other. It's almost considered cool to make-and break- New Year's resolutions.

The "christian" resolutions, though.. we don't have to do those alone. In addition to have God to lean on, we have family and friends that can help us. A great way to get support is to have an accountability partner. An accountability partner is a fellow Christian that you can count on to help you keep going the right path. When they tell you you're starting to do something wrong, it's not that they judge you, it's that they don't want to see you get hurt and fall away from who is supposed to be your first love... God.

An accountability partner needs to be someone you can trust and who has a strong relationship with God. you can have a one-way accountability partner, someone older (parent, family member, adult from church you respect, etc) who you share with, but they don't necessarily rely on you to keep them in check. Another type of partner is a peer accountability partner, someone your own age you trust, and you can share with each other and try to help each other out.

You'll find that when you have an accountability partner praying for you, when you get serious about keeping your goals, amazing things can happen!

Shining for Christ

2009-09-13T21:37:00.000-04:00

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” - Matthew 5:14-16

A new school year has started- and with it the challenges and struggles of being a Christian surrounded by non-Christians.

You have a choice to make on how you present yourselves. Are you going to let your Christianity shine, or hide it? It’s all up to you.

Will you be a SHOOTING STAR?

You start the year off great, on fire and ready to witness to your friends. But something happens, and have the first week – maybe the first day – your passion fissles out and pretty soon you look just like all your other friends; you don’t have any glow at all.

Will you be a DWARF STAR?

A dwarf star gives off a low, dim light, and is close to burning out all together.

Will you be a HEALTHY STAR?

A healthy star is bright and intense, giving off a lot of heat and light and easily noticed by everyone around.

The choice is yours!

SOME VERSES ABOUT SHINING:

Daniel 12:3 “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke to the people, he said ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Philippians 2:14-15 “Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.

~ Jamie

Lesson Outlines

2009-09-12T12:58:00.014-04:00

Student Alpha Course
01/24/10 - Listening for the Future
01/17/10 - True Acceptance
01/10/10 - Resolutions that Last
11/15/09 - What is Church?
10/25/09 - Filling the Void
10/18/09 - Bible Study Methods
10/1109 - Instruction Manuals
10/4/09 - Taming the Tongue
9/27/09 - What do you know?
09/13/09 - Shining for Christ
09/03/09 - Bearing Fruit

08/30/09 - Spiritual Strength

Bearing Fruit

2009-09-03T12:48:00.005-04:00

When we read through Scripture, there are a lot of references to fruit, especially in Jesus’ teaching. Jesus was talking to people who were primarily farmers, so they understood fruit; it’s a perfect illustration, because to get fruit, you need to plant a seed, watch it grow, and then go out and harvest it. It’s a long process that requires hard work, patience, and dedication.

Since we also live in a farming community, we have the opportunity to see orchards of fruit almost everyday, all around us. I want to challenge you when you do pass by an orchard to stop and think about your own spiritual relationship with Christ, compared to the condition of the orchard.

For example, what’s wrong with this apple orchard?

As you can see, the trees are all overgrown, until the branches are twisted together. There are weeds all over the place and what look like dead branches still on the tree. What fruit is there is small and doesn’t look very tasty.

There is a passage in John 15:1-2: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

To ‘prune’ something means to cut off the extra or the undesirable parts.

Personally, for me it doesn’t make much sense that in order to have more fruit you’re supposed to cut off some of the branches, but we can see from the un-pruned tree above how important it is. Sometimes, in our own lives, being pruned can mean stopping doing something that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is taking your time and focus away from something that you should be paying more attention to!

Let’s look at another orchard:

This orchard was planted about 4 years ago, and it just started to bear fruit, but then entire orchard had to be destroyed because the fruit was infected with a disease called plum pox. Plum pox causes ringed-spots and blemishes on the fruit, making it look bad for eating, and eventually hinders the tree from producing any fruit at all. So, rather than have trees that are producing bad fruit, the farmers cut down all the trees and have them burned.

Does that remind you of another passage in Scripture?

Matthew 7:16-20 talks about the two types of trees and their fruit, and what happens to each of them:

”By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

Just to clarify, I want to make sure you don’t confuse bearing good fruit, with doing good deeds. Examples of fruit can be found in Galatians 5:22-23. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Good deeds can come from having the fruit of the spirit in your life, but that’s not the same as good deeds being good fruit.

So in conclusion, as I stated in the beginning, I want to challenge you: when you pass an orchard do an examination of your spiritual maturity, and ask yourself what kind of fruit you are producing.

~Katie

Spiritual Strength

2009-08-30T21:59:00.001-04:00

Our physical bodies are determined by our genetics, diet and exercise/activity. While we cannot do anything to change our genetics, we can use diet and exercise to improve our physical condition.

Likewise, our spiritual condition is determined by our fallen nature, our use of resources (Bible, Fellow Christians, Youth Leaders, Pastors, etc) and our patterns of life (How we spend our time). Through hard work, we can improve our spiritual condition. Two of the best ways to do this is through practicing Prayer and Bible Study. Below are some ideas to help you improve your Prayer life and Bible Study. Trying something like this helps you find what methods work best for you, and its fun to add in some variety!

PRAYER EXERCISES

1) Conversational Prayer: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray without ceasing". Throughout the day, carry on a conversation with God, like you were talking to your best friend on the phone.

2) Fixed Hour of Prayer: If you are a busy person, it might be a good idea to set aside a specific time each day to spend in prayer. Psalm 55:17

3) Silent Prayer: We often forget that we're commanded to be "Be still" like in Psalm 46:10. In this technology age, with all the noise that radios, ipods, televisions, portable DVD players, video games etc bring, silence seems awkward. But how else are we going to hear God speak to us? Try practicing spending time in silence.

4) Morning Prayer: Psalm 88:13 mentions a morning prayer; this is a great way to start your day on a great note. This doesn't mean getting up an hour early to spend your time in prayer (though if you want to do that, it's not a bad idea!) A morning prayer could be a simple sentence that is a meaningful to your relationship with God, or even a chorus that you enjoy.

5) Praying Scripture: Acts 4:24-26 has an example of the believers praising God through praying Scripture, and reciting promises that were made in the Old Testament.

6) Nature Walk: In Acts 16:13 Paul and his companions go to the river, looking for a place of prayer. What is a better place to communicate with God than in his creation?

7) Prayer of Examen: "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting life." Psalm 139:23-24. 'Nuff said. It's important to examine ourselves and see if God reveals something in our own lives we need to take care of in order to grow closer to Him.

8) Saying Grace: Perhaps the most 'common' of prayers, but not unimportant! We should give thanks to the Lord for the blessings he gives us. 1 Timothy 4:4-5

9) Fasting Prayer: Ezra 8:23 mentions God answering prayer after they fasted. Most people immediately recognize fasting as going without food. The part they forget is to replace the time spent eating in prayer!

10) Intercessory Prayer: 1 Timothy 2:1- Intercession means praying for other people and lifting up their needs to the Lord instead of praying for yourself.

11) Prayer Group: Meeting together with other Christians to pray is important. There is strength in numbers, and by having other solid Christians involved, you can make sure you are focused on the will of God. Acts 1:14

12) Watching Prayer:Watching is similar to Fasting, only it involves giving up sleep instead of eating. The other key element? Replacing the sleeping time with praying! Psalm 63:6

BIBLE EXERCISES

1) Meditative Method: focusing verse by verse and really thinking about the meaning

2) Fly on the Wall Method: Recreate the scene as if you are watching it happen based on the description in the verses.

3) In Their Shoes Method: Pretend you are the person in the verse. How would you feel and react if that happened to you? If you saw it happen to someone with you?

4) Question & Answer Method: Write down all the questions you have from a passage, then find the answers!

5) Topical Method: Research all the passages on a specific topic, such as forgiveness, love, unity, and their context.

6) Research Method: Read commentaries, guides, sermons, etc that go along with the passage you are studying

7) Investigative Method: Answer the 5 Ws: Who, What Where When and Why

8) Guide Method: Pick a certin teacher/pastor/book that you enjoy and use their resources to study through the Bible.

9) Mirror Method: Check for parallel passages (check the footnotes!) that are a different version of the same story, or quote another passage.

~Katie