Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice

In 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel tells Saul “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

- Why is it better to obey is better than sacrifice?

  You can sacrifice something to the Lord, without having a relationship with him. You can give up watching TV for a week, and after that still be living in the same amount of sin as you were before you started.

  But in order to obey the Lord, you must spend time with Him and listen to him; which naturally requires sacrificing your heart and will to the Lord's.


In the end, the Lord doesn't want your stuff, he wants you!

Who Fills Your Void?

In this life there always seems to be things we want. If I can just have ________ than life would be perfect. Oh God, I need this. I have to have it. It is a good thing. I have to have it. God answers our prayer, and then we move on to the next thing. Our next desire. The next thing we have to have.

So many times in this life we look to things to fill the void in our life. That void is for only God to fill. What ever you are "lacking" today, seek the Creator of all. What ever your desire is today, seek the one who fills our desires. God is the one who will never let us down, who loves us unconditionally, and who is our ALL in ALL.

Love on God tonight, not for any other reason but because he is the lover of our soul.


Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Bought For A Price

Last Wednesday, we discussed Numbers 22. In it Balak sends messengers to summon Balaam. Verse 7 states that the messengers went "taking with them the fee for divination". Balak wanted Balaam to curse the Israelites, and he knew that Balaam could be bought for a price.

Has there ever been a point in your life that you could be bought?
Maybe, someone bought you gifts to get you to help them with something you knew was wrong? Maybe, someone buddied up to you so they could cheat off you during a test?

Remember:
God bought you for a price, so that you wouldn't have to be bought for a price!

Are We Really Following Christ?

Sometimes there is a big difference between Following Christ and "going to church".

Which one do you do?

Change Is Coming!

2012 is a New Year!
I am encouraging everyone to begin to read the bible in one year. If that is a little too much for you, start by just reading the bible everyday. We need to take every opportunity to get the word of God in us. The WORD OF GOD will change you!
Romans 10:17 - "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Hosea 4:6 - "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."

If we take the time to read the bible, which is the living word of God, we will see change in our lives!

What does it mean to be SOULED OUT?

This is sort of our unofficial Youth Group song, Souled Out by Lacrae. Saying that you want to be SOULED OUT is not something that is to be taken lightly. Lacrea asks God in the song to Break him, Shake him and Mold him.

That is an awesome prayer that we should all be asking God on a daily basis....
- Break me, of the chains that are holding me back from being closer to you!
- Shake me, so that all the junk I collect on a daily basis is removed!
- Mold me, into the image of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Do you want to be SOULED OUT for God?
If so, ask God to help you..... to break you, shake you, and mold you. Start your journey by reading one chapter of the bible a day, then make it two. Or start by devoting 15 interruption-free minutes a day to God in prayer, then make it 30. Before long, you will be well on your way to becoming SOULED OUT!

The Seed And The Sower

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of The Seed And The Sower. Jesus tells how seed was sown on different types of ground. About a month ago, we took learning about this parable a step further. We took seed and gave it to a few youth members. The first, threw seed along a path. The second, planted their seed in a pot with rocky soil. The third, planted their seed in a pot with high grass and weeds. The fourth, planted their seed in a pot with very good mulch, but was not to take care or even water their seed. The fifth, planted their seed in a pot with very good mulch as well, but was asked to take very good care of it. We asked the youth members to take home their seed project and bring it back in a month, so we could gauge the results.

The results were as follows:
- The seed along the path: No harvest at all. We could not even tell there was seed that was sown.
- The seed in the rocky soil: A small plant sprang up quickly, then died when a dog knocked over the pot. In the end, we could not even tell that there was anything planted in it.
- The seed in the weeds: A small plant sprang up quickly, but then died almost immediately. Like the bible states the plant was not able to draw enough nutrients, water and sun from the soil to survive.
- The seed in the good soil, not cared for: A tiny plant sprang up quickly, but also died quickly. The moisture in the soil allowed a tiny plant to spring up, but without consistent water the plant died. In the end, we had a hard time finding the seed/ plant in the soil.
- The seed in the good soil, cared for: A plant sprang up quickly, and continued to grow with very good results.


What we learned:
We must prepare our hearts to receive the word that is sown into our lives. But it doesn't stop there... we must continue to nourish the word that was sown in our lives with bible study, prayer, and fellowship. By continuing to nourish it, we guarantee it's survival and ours!