Alive Youth Church Weekly

Alive Youth Church Weekly What have you been praying for lately? What has been occupying your prayers? And maybe an even better question: Do you sometimes undervalue the power of prayer? I want to share two quotes from the book "Draw the Circle" that have radically changed the way I view and practice prayer. "God won't answer 100 percent of the prayers we don't pray." And: "Why do we mistakenly think that God is offended by our prayers for the impossible? The truth is that God is offended by anything less! God is offended when we ask Him to do things we can do ourselves. It's the impossible prayers that honor God because they reveal our faith and allow God to reveal His glory." - Mark Batterson Those words challenge me every time I read them. How often do we pray safe prayers? Manageable prayers? Comfortable prayers? Prayers that don't really require God to show up? Yet throughout Scripture, we see a God who specializes in the impossible. T...

Alive Youth Church Weekly, What does it really look like to love our neighbor? Should I knock on doors on my street? "Hello, sir, how can I love you today?" I can confidently tell you I will not be doing that. So what then? Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It's one of the most quoted commands of Jesus and most well-known even outside of church circles, and yet it might be one of the most misunderstood. When most people hear “love your neighbor,” they think of being nice, polite, or helping someone in need every now and then. Those things matter, but Jesus had something much deeper in mind. When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” He responded with the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). In the story, a man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road. Several religious people pass by without helping. Then a Samaritan, a person who would have been viewed as an outsider and even an enemy by many of Jesus’ listeners, stops, cares for ...

Alive Youth Church Weekly, I sat down to read Psalm 23 today. You know, the Psalm. The one everybody knows. The one on coffee mugs, wall art, t-shirts, and church merch. I decided to read it because it was popping up everywhere. Conversations throughout the week, our church's women's conference made it their theme, a prayer Sunday night with a student, I even flipped open my bible the other day to find it randomly on the exact page of Psalm 23. Sounds like I'm making this up just for the purposes of this blog, but it's true. You'll just have to take my word for it.  I decided to take the hint and give it a read once again.  Psalm 23 is popular for a reason. It's so good.  But then I kept reading. And honestly? Psalm 24 grabbed my attention even more. Everyone talks about Psalm 23 What About Psalm 24?! Read the first 6 verses with me. Psalm 24 A Psalm of David.  1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he foun...

Alive Youth Church Weekly, Are you: Tired? Worn out? Feeling the weight of it all? Overworked? Stressed? About to give up? Confused? Don't know what to do next? Trying your hardest but not getting there? Weakened?  “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” - Nehemiah 8:10 Not: The emotional worship moment is your strength The conference you attended The camp you loved Or the perfect life circumstance you manufacture The joy of the Lord is not the absence of pain, loss, fear, or any of the things we normally try to avoid.  The joy of the Lord is our strength . I have been thinking back on the moments in my life where I experienced the deepest joy. I encourage you to take a few moments with a pen and paper and write down the moments you can remember where joy felt real. Not happiness. Not excitement. Joy.  Seriously, do it now if you can. Make a list. Take the time. When I did this, I started looking for the common denominator. Why were these moments marked with joy? What was...

Alive Youth Church Weekly, Most of us know the story of Jesus calming the storm in the Gospels. It gets preached often because it’s comforting to us, it displays our powerful God, and is easily understood and applied to our lives. Jesus speaks, the wind stops, the waves settle, and peace comes instantly. Who wouldn't love that? But there’s another storm story in scripture that doesn’t get talked about as much. I read the book of Acts often. One of my all-time favorite books in the Bible. When I don't know what to read, I usually find myself in the book of Acts. And I found myself reading Acts 27 today. In Acts 27, Paul is trapped in a violent storm at sea for fourteen days. The ship is breaking apart from the waves and wind. The crew begins throwing cargo overboard. The sun disappears behind thick clouds. Paul even tells those on board that he fears this journey will cost them their lives. This is the Apostle Paul on board. The writer of the majority of the New Testament. Evang...

Alive Youth Church Weekly, I have to go straight to business with you quickly before we begin.  - No Alive Youth Church 5/10 for Mother's Day! - Camp Preview Night 5/17! - Camp price increase at midnight on 5/17 (SIGN UP NOW) Bring a friend to Camp Preview Night to see what camp is going to be like this year! And remember its not too late to sign up. Save yourself a little bit of cash by signing up before Midnight on May 17th! We are so excited about camp this year! Ok AYC, let's get into it... Color Coded Christian Chore Chart   Why talking to God changes when you realize how much He loves you Growing up, my family had a chore chart. Color-coded. Unload the dishwasher. Take out the trash. Dust upstairs. Dust downstairs. Clean the bathroom. And if I’m being honest, I hated it. I mean, what kid would like it though? We sometimes would get a little allowance of like 5 or 10 dollars when the week was over if we did all our chores. But looking back, I don't know if it was wor...