Some ideas for Christmas

Christmas can and is always a hectic time of year. Everybody is going to the store, fighting the crowds and hoping to find that perfect gift. Some people wait until the last minute and shop for hours and come home with a gift they are not to proud of. Sometimes, Christ gets pushed a little too much to the side during the hustle and bustle of the season. With that said, I have put together a list of some ideas to help us all get centered around Christ.

• Grab your Bible, go to a quiet place with no interuptions, and read Luke chapters 1 and 2. Take a note of all the different people mentioned (Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, the angel Gabriel, the Shepherds, Simeon and Anna) and really think about what might have been going through their minds as the birth of Jesus happened
• take some time to send a personal Christmas card to someone. Get creative and make the card and then write a special note to that person wishing them a Merry Christmas
• make a playlist of your favorite Christmas songs. While making that list ask yourself "why is this one of my favorite Christmas songs?" and then answer the question.
  
• go rent It's a Wonderful Life
• in whatever way possible, spends some time with Jesus, thanking him for coming to Earth for our salvation
  

Mission Monday- Israel

Keeping with our Christmas theme of praying for the countries where Jesus lived, our focus this week is on Israel.

If you watch the news on any day of the week it is a great possibility that you will hear something about Israel. Whether it be a bomb going off, a president visiting with Israeli leaders, or the "normal" conflict that continues there on a day to day basis, Israel is always in the news. Eighty percent of the population in Israel follow Judaism. Fourteen percent follow Islam and a mere 2% are Christian. The number of Messianic Jews (Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah and fulfillment of the Old Testament) has increased greatly since 1967. There where approximately 250 Messianic Jews in 1967. In 2000 there was an estimated 7,000 Messianic Jews.

Let's Pray:

• that more Jews would see Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah and place their trust in him.
• Outside of Israel the Messianic Jew Churches have grown. Pray that they may continue to be a strong witness for Jesus to the other Jews living in their midst.
• There is much tension between the Israelis in Israel in the Arabs in Israel. Pray for a peace resolution on both sides and that both would find true peace in Christ.
• With so many branches of Christianity seeing Israel as an important part to their faith (which is certainly is), this leads to some tension among the Christian churches, especially in Jerusalem. Pray that those different branches of Christianity may be able to come together under the cross of Christ and respect each others beliefs.
• there will not be true peace in Israel until Christ returns. However, pray that the Christians in Israel may live in such a way that the kingdom of Heaven is experience on Earth and that the presence of Christ is felt.
  

Mission Monday- Palestine

Since it is December and all the talk is about Christmas I think it would be good for us to look at the place of the world where Jesus lived and pray for that area. We will start will Palestine this week and next week we will look at Israel.

There is much tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Simply put, the two countries hate each other. This stems from a long history dating back to Biblical times.

The major religion in Palestine is Islam with almost 87% of the population adhering to Muslim beliefs. The next is Judaism (Jews) with almost 10%. The Christian percentage is almost 2%. As one can see, the very area where Jesus walked and taught has not responded to his message.

Pray:

• that the gospel or good news of Jesus to be received and accepted by the Palestinians.
• for peace between Israel and Palestine, so that the bombing and killing will end
• for a land settlement that both Israel and Palestine will agree to (they both claim Jerusalem as their capital so there is much fighting over this)
• that the 2 million Palestinian refugees will be able to return home
• for the Christians who live in Palestine. Pray that they may be able to stand firm in the face of persecution and that their lives my be a witness to all that would cause people to come to know Jesus.
  

Mission Monday on Tuesday-Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Watching on the news the current activity that has happened over in Mumbai I think it would be good to spend some time in prayer for the people over there as well as praying for the gospel to go forth into that nation.

Here are some numbers so that you can get acquainted with the Maharashtra state in India. 95,000,000 live in this state (that is a lot) in only 308,000 square feet. Mumbai is the capital of the state (like Austin is the capitol of the state of Texas) The main religion is Hindu with 80% of the people belonging to the Hindu faith. 10% of the people are Muslim and 6% of the people are Buddhist. The Christian population is only 1%.

Pray for:

• the city of Mumbai. There has been recent terrorist activity there leaving many dead and wounded. Pray that healing that comes from Christ would take place
• Mumbai is also the home of the continent of Asia's largest slum, 100,00 street children, as well as an alarming number of child prostitution and AIDS suffers. Pray that the Christians in Mumbai may be able to reach out to those children and save them for the horrendous things they may face.
• The church in Maharashtra needs a lot of help. Seeing that only 1% are Christians that means the church is small. Pray that those 1% of Christians may be able to be salt and light and bring the hope of Jesus to the people around them.
• Pray for the government of India and its leaders as they rule their country.
  

Disciples...Now

This coming weekend we are doing our first ever Disciple Now. A disciple now fulfills a couple of our purposes as a youth ministry but the main purpose is a focus on becoming a better disciple of Jesus. Throughout the weekend there will be game times, Bible study time, and a whole lot of fun.

Why focus on becoming a disciple of Jesus? What is the big deal?

Back in Bible times, the most ultimate job was that of a rabbi or teacher of the Old Testament (the New Testament wasn't written yet). All the schooling was based around the teachings of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the prophets and the rest of the Old Testament. When boys started to turn 15 years old, Rabbis would come to their schools and start asking them questions concerning the Old Testament. The rabbis were doing this because they were looking for disciples. The only way to become a rabbi, which was the ultimate job, was to become a disciple of rabbi first. As the rabbis asked questions of the young boys they would give one of two responses. One response would be "You are a well educated young man, but you are not what I am looking for as my disciple." With that said, the schooling would be finished for the boy and he would return to his father's house and continue the family business. The other response would be, "Follow me." The rabbi would say no more then that. Those two words meant that the young man had what it took to be a disciple and he would now devote his time to the teachings of his rabbi.

When Jesus, who was a rabbi, called his first disciples they were fishing. That meant that they "did not have what it took" to be a disciple, or so they thought. When Jesus called out to Peter and Andrew, "Follow me!" they immediately dropped their nets to follow rabbi Jesus. Jesus' words of "follow me" restored hope to these two young men who had been told they were not good enough. Jesus words let them know that they had what it takes to be a disciple.

Likewise, Jesus calls out to all of us, "Follow me!" It is an invitation to follow the true King of the world. It is an invitation that goes out to the most wealthy, popular person as well the poorest and loneliest person. Jesus calls us to be his disciples.

Since Jesus calls us to be his disciples...NOW, we are going to focus on that this weekend as we go through the first ever DISCIPLE NOW weekend at PV. My prayer is that you would be able to connect more with Jesus and become a better follower of him!

I hope to see you there.

Mission Monday- El Salvador

Seeing that we sent a group of students from our church to El Salvador I figured we would focus this week on the prayer needs of El Salvador. El Salvador is Spanish for "the Savior".

Pray for:

• there has been a growth of Evangelical Christians, but now they need prayer for effective discipling that motivates the believers into service, witness and missions for others.
• increased unity among the different churches, renewed vision of the church, and effective outreach that this nation might belong to Jesus.
• leadership in the churches. Pray for the Bible school and seminaries that they may have funds to provide the best education and equipping means possible for its students.
• Pastor Figueroa and his wife Elba as they lead the Spanish mission here at Palm Valley.
  

United States of America

Okay, so it isn't Monday so I am either early with the post or late, but any event I figured we would pray for the USA. Seeing that we have a huge election coming up on November 4th it would be good to pray for our own country.

Pray for:

• the next president and all the leaders of the government. Pray that they may have wisdom in making tough decisions as well as the support of the country.
• the churches and church leaders that they may be able to use the blessing of being in the USA to bless and reach out to those in their communities as well as around the world.
• the jr. high and high school students. Pray for the Christians to bold in sharing their faith and inviting others to church. Pray for the non-Christians to begin to see their need for a savior and that they would see in Jesus everything they need.
• those who are sick. Pray that they may be healed, but that God's will be done
• anything else you can think of, that needs prayer.
  

Mission Mondays

Last week we had many different prayer stations that all focused around the Lord's Prayer. One part of the Lord's Prayer is "your kingdom come, your will be done" which is such a vital part to that prayer. In praying those words we are asking that God's kingdom be established here on Earth and it is every day. God's kingdom comes to Earth whenever the gospel is proclaimed and people come to know Jesus Christ as their savior. In keeping with the Lord's Prayer I am going to post on Mondays a country that we can be praying for throughout the week. We will pray for many different aspects of the country, but most importantly we will be praying for the salvation of the people living world wide.

I will post a country tomorrow, but for today, pray through the Lord's Prayer and focus on every word. You can find the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.

Game Show on Wednesday

This coming Wednesday, June 18, we are going to have a game show for youth group. We will have prizes for the winners and maybe a Rob Dubois' CD if it gets here in time.

All of the questions are going to come from what we have studied this past semester so all the questions are going to be about Jesus or what he taught.

Here is a list of the passages of Scripture that we have studied in order from January to last week.

Temptation Luke 4:1-14
Jesus Purpose Mark 1:14-15
Follow Me Mark 1:16-20, Luke 9:57-62
Peter Walks on Water Mathew 14:22-33
Peter confesses Christ Mark 8:27-30
Peter denies Christ, but is restored John 18:15-18, 25-27; 21:15-19
I am the bread of life John 6:22-35
I am the light of the world John 8:12
I am the door and the good shepherd John 10:1-18
I am the resurrection and the life John 11:25
I am the way, the truth and the life John 14:1-6
I am the vine John 15:1-6, 11
Beatitude 1 Matthew 5:3
Beatitude 2 Matthew 5:4
Beatitude 3 Matthew 5:5
Beatitude 4 Matthew 5:6

The Beatitudes

Our current series is over the beatitudes. Check them out below:


2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.