The Ultimate Gift at Christmas

Jesus’ life, from the cradle to the tomb was a life enshrouded and bookended with miracles: born of a virgin and defying death from a determined King Herod, Jesus at a young age astounding everyone at the Temple, eventually healing the sick and raising the dead, saying profound things that no one else could utter nor could the most eloquent author ever construct, he preached what he practiced and he practiced what he preached. The Word of God came in the flesh.

Only God could do such things. Jesus was who he said he was.

We cannot merely say Jesus was a good moral person or teacher, or that his teachings are a good idea to consider, one of many choices of the spiritual buffet line of America. The miracle of the Christ-child at Christmas, the miracle of Jesus, doesn’t allow such a thing. The utter finality, the complete authority, the total originality of Jesus’ life and arrival, cuts like a knife through the grey morality of our world.

 Jesus is not just an option to consider: he hasn’t afforded us this option. 

 Either you believe he was the incarnate son of God or you do not, but the truth of who Jesus is stands resolute. Only God could be able to come into our world as a baby. Only God would be wise enough to see that this was the proper means for the Son of God to arrive.

Jesus didn’t just love, he was and is love. He didn’t and doesn’t just offer blessings; he is the blessing. He doesn’t only give us gifts; his very presence is the gift. The power and healing authority of Jesus is all sufficient to meet every need in your life. Do you believe this? Jesus raised the dead; do you believe he can raise the dead in you?

Jesus isn’t just an option, he is the incarnate gift of God, and you cannot escape the influence of Jesus Christ at Christmas.

And the influence of Jesus is bigger than just all the Christmas “stuff” we see.

We can call it happy holidays, outlaw manger scenes, create a Festivus pole as they did on Seinfeld, and take down all the Christmas trees. Regardless, the Spirit of Christ will always be here, and always will be. Because God is love, and God’s love can live in a place that no one can touch: in the human heart.

Love doesn’t give up; love doesn’t back down; love always seeks, rebukes, chastens, restores, and patiently endures. Love is not dependent on gifts, trees, or titles. Love is not a thing you can grab or quantify, but you know it exists. 

 You cannot see love, but you know you need it. Such is the same with God.

This whole idea that to experience the Spirit of Christ at Christmas regardless of trees, title or gifts, is eloquently packaged in that classic, theologically correct mainstay television special: "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. “

He lived on a snowy mountain with his sad little dog Max. The Grinch, hating the happy spirit of Christmas, their roast beast, their songs, their decorations, and he sought to destroy Christmas by stealing all of the fluff and stuff, all of the exteriors that the Grinch thought comprised Christmas. He even stole their roast beast! He slid across the floor like a snake and used a magnet to steal their stockings! He folded up their Christmas trees like umbrellas. Their ploo plinkas!

Confident in his success, he sat back and waited for the ensuing wails of upset Who children and their destroyed lives to come up the mountain range. Soon, he heard their songs despite their loss, and the Grinch was perplexed. And as they sang, the Grinch’s heart expanded, and his life was changed. He realized that there was something to Christmas much more special than just stuff.

Maybe he realized that the internal and spiritual was more important than just the external and material.

Greed was replaced by generosity, shame was replaced by honor. The Grinch was even allowed to carve the roast beast; what a beautiful story of grace, of second chances that in many ways God also shows us, for their is a grinch in us all.

As we know, the Grinch failed at his task to destroy Christmas. Why? Because the Spirit of Christmas lived within the people of Whoville, and nothing could ever take that away. What did Jesus say about the Kingdom of God? Ah yes, that it lives within us as Christians.

The Grinch looked at all the externals, but the Lord looks upon the heart.

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, or at least, they were designed to be so. Christmas is about two things: God and people. God coming close to people as the Christ child, and about people letting their guard down long enough maybe to let Christ in and have their heart grow three sizes.

Theologians may call it “incarnational omnipresent sovereignty”, but let’s just use plain terms: God wants to live in us all and make us new, and no grinch will ever take that away.

The existence of the grace of God implies that we are in need of grace, salvation implies that we are in bondage and in a spiritual prison. And the good news of the Christmas season, and every season, is that Christ is here to set us free.

Take a moment and picture a prison cell in your mind.

"A prison cell, in which one waits, hopes - and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, this is not a bad picture of Advent." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Revelation 3:20 - 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 that person, and they with me.

One of the great gifts of God to us is repentance. 

I know, you'd rather have a new Lamborghini (or maybe a Snuggie?) but let me explain. Repentance is a gift of God, for we cannot open the door from the inside. Repentance is the gateway to the things of God. Repentance is saying, yes Lord, open the door of my heart from the outside in.

Repentance means to change your mind, to turn around. It is not just feeling shame or to temporarily modify your behavior. The prophet Joel would say it is to rend our hearts, not our garments - To change the affairs of our heart, not just change the externals or shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

Repentance is opening up the door of our heart to let God in, and to admit that we have wronged... admitting that we know what we ought to do, but we do not always do it.

Its God that leads us to Christ. Our choice matters, but its God pursuing us. Its God that came down at Christmas. Its God that’s calling you today.

The signs of God’s mercy are absolutely everywhere, and to experience it, you have to admit to yourself that you are a sinner, that you need to receive God’s gift of repentance, that you need the love and forgiveness of God. What better time to start anew that at Christmas?

You are a beautiful, fought for, died for, pursued, wept over, sought after Temple of the Holy spirit. Do you feel defiled? Tired? Ready for a change? Ready for a fresh start? Receive the gift of repentance from God. Give back to God what he already gave you: the gift of your life. We didn’t create our lives, but we can give them back to our Creator to be remade and reshaped into the mold of what they were meant to be: a life lived in holy communion with God. Once you experience it, you are never the same. Once you receive it, you can't help but give it to others. 

This is the ultimate gift at Christmas.

Free Youth Group Game: How to Play Human Hungry Hungry Hippos

Watch the above video to see Human Hungry Hungry Hippos in action! This is an unforgettable, totally awesome youth group game and activity. I've done it many times and kids always LOVE it. 

Supply List - Here is a list of what you'll need for this Human Hungry Hungry Hippos: (product links included)

• 2-4 Wooden Dollys with casters (depending on the size of your space and how many players you want to have) - link to product
• (optional) Bungee cord (product link) - as you see in the video, you can opt to use people as the "mover" of the human hippo(s), or you can tie cord securely around the handles of each dolly and have players pull their "hippos" back (but with adult supervision and maybe gloves). They also used large squares to keep the balls in play due to the size of their space and it also got more students involved. 
• 2-4 Laundry Baskets - to collect the balls (product link) You can purchase them or borrow some from your students. 
• Plastic Balls (optional: balloons) - product link

HUMAN HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPO RULES

• You'll need a flat surface, either tile or a gym floor. We tried it on indoor/outdoor carpet. Does NOT work that well.
• At go, teams attempt to collect as many balls/balloons as they can either within 30 seconds (or any time you designate) or when all the balls/balloons are gone. Which ever team collects the most at each round either wins, or moves on to play another team (if you're doing a tournament). Make sure students take turns allowing other students be the "hippo".
• Create safe lines with tape on the floor that teams have have all their balls behind in order for their score to count. Any stray balloons/balls that don't make it behind the line before time is expired do not count. Also, if balloons pop (which they will and its hilarious) those do not count toward their teams point total. 
• OPTIONAL - Have two teams, and each team takes turns (one hippo at a time) collecting as many as they can until all the balls/balloons are gone. Creates more tension, especially if you use balloons. 

Free Youth Group Christmas Party Game Idea: Bobbing for Canes

Free Youth Group Game idea: Crack Attack (chubby bunny but with crackers)

If you've been in youth ministry long enough, you've heard of the classic game "Chubby Bunny". After each round of stuffing marshmallows in the player's mouths, the players attempt to say the words "chubby bunny". It was slobbery, it was funny, and its actually really dangerous.

A safer spin on Chubby Bunny is to use crackers. Have the students place two crackers at a time (without biting them) in their mouths. After each turn, they have to say "Crack Attack". Whomever can keep all the crackers in their mouth (without biting them) and keep saying the phrase wins! Crackers tend to spray when trying to talk so this game is super hilarious.

TIPS

have trashcans and bottles of water handy


You could do a variation where students CAN chew them up as best they can and instead of saying Crack Attack they could say 'Cracker Stack". Using "S" sounds can get a good spray of crackers, which will be hilarious.

FREE YOUTH GROUP GAME: Face-Off

The simplicity of this game is its beauty. Its hilarious and awkward and it builds community. 

Have all players stand in a circle and look down at the ground. At the count of three (1-2-3 FACEOFF!) each player looks up and stares at a random person in the circle. If that same person is looking at you, then both players are out. Play until only one player remains.

NOTE:

• all players must look at someone each time (not the floor, their feet, etc)
• players cannot look at the same person every time

Youth Group Game Idea: Jedi Master

Both of our middle and high school groups played this game this week and they all LOVED it. Its called Jedi Master. 

Here is what you'll need:

• One foam pool noodle
• One blindfold
• At least 25 close pins

Pick a volunteer to be the Jedi Master. Place them in the center of the circle with the blind fold securely on. Cover their clothing and shoes with close pins. Give the Jedi Master their foam pool noodle/lightsaber and tell them to start swinging. Those standing in the circle, on the word GO, have to attempt to grab as many close pins as they can from the Jedi Master without being struck down with fury. If someone is hit with the pool noodle, they must sit down and that player is out. Whomever collects the most close pins wins the round.

A few extra rules (that we learned via trial by error)

• If you are hit and have close pins in your hand, you must drop all your close pins and sit down.
• Don't let the whole group rush the Jedi Master. Allow only a few to attempt to steal close pins at one time. (There will be so much swinging going on not that many will want to go initially, anyway).
• The Jedi Master MUST keep their feet set. They can pivot but can not meander around the circle. They must stand still and swing all around themselves.
• To switch to a new Jedi Master, wait 5-10 minutes and let them play. Once someone is hit, you can make them the new Jedi Master. 
• If anyone is hit ANYWHERE on their person at all, they are OUT. (head shots are fine)

Enjoy!

Experiencing the new birth of Christmas

Every since I was a little kid, I have loved Christmas. Like, at a hyperactive level. Each morning in December, I used to run down the stairs first thing in order to move the Advent calendar to the next day.

When the movie Elf was released in 2003, one of the good friends at the time told me that Elf reminded them of me.

I’ll take that as a compliment.
But honestly, I was most excited about the presents, the incandescent lighting, the decorations, and that tin box full of sugar cookies. The real meaning of Christmas, as we often hear, gets lost, and looking back when I was as a young teenager, it was awfully hard not to be distracted by all the other Christmas “stuff”.

When we hear about Christmas in church, we hear a lot of “God with us”, and that is true, but what does that mean to us today? More important, why should this matter to teenagers?

The author of the gospel of John doesn’t talk about Mary, Joseph, the wise men, or the shepherds. As John often does, he attempts to display a different angle on our Christology. Instead of beginning his gospel in a literal fashion, he does so in a philosophical and theological manner:

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Jesus’ birth occurred for a host of reasons, one of which was to bring “his life (that) brought light to everyone”. This life and light that Jesus brings is undefeated, inextinguishable, forever glorious and illuminated.

The Incarnation is a powerful mystery in its origin and reality, and yet it is simultaneously accessible to all humans on our most fundamental levels of existence.

God came to be with us so that God could live IN us. The good news of the Incarnation is that, through the new birth of the Holy Spirit, we can not just “go to heaven when we die”, but actually become like Christ here on earth, (hopefully) bringing light and life to all WE encounter as well. The Christmas story is indeed a gift to receive, but it is equally important as a gift to share.

May you experience this new birth for yourself this holiday season. Let us encourage our teenagers to do the same.

Pastoral Response/youth group response to teenage suicide

Last year I had the unfortunate and difficult task of responding and ministering to a teen suicide in our community. Adam was a young man in our youth group that took his own life. For me, it is the first time I have ever lost a close member of our youth group to death; suicide or otherwise.

It still feels surreal.

I still can’t quite believe I won’t see him again, hear his laugh, or have a great conversation with him. I’m not sure it has really sunk in yet.

All death can create feelings of mourning and sadness, but suicide is different. It is so sudden, abrupt. You feel as if a piece has been taken out of you that will never be replaced. This bright, young life with so much promise is over.

Its a punch to the gut, because so many would have told him how much they loved him. So many people would have talked him down, or tried to stop him. The 600+ people who came to the viewing or the 200+ who attended the funeral I officiated would have told him they loved the beautiful, uniquely made child of God that he was.

Ironically, I was reading the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” two days before Adam’s death, and I highlighted this phrase in my Kindle, after Morrie attended a funeral of a friend, Irv:

He came home depressed. “What a waste,” he said. “All those people saying all those wonderful things, and Irv never got to hear any of it.”

Indeed. What a waste.

As I unpack the emotions involved with this sort of tragedy, I hope and pray that my story and advice may help someone else as they walk along those who deal with the ramifications of teen suicide, and hopefully, to avoid it.

There are no easy answers, but there are specific things you can do to lend effective pastoral care:
Give clear guidance & leadership to the family – in moments of trauma, surviving family members operate in a fog or shock. They need you, as the minister, to give clear and affirming leadership. Take as much off their plate as you can.

• Keep your phone at your side at all hours – be ready to reach out, call, and text youth and parents at any hour. 
• Run to God in your pain – encourage others to leverage their pain as a way to lay hold of God, and not the opposite. 
• Keep the focus on Jesus – if officiating the funeral, keep the focus on Jesus as the Good Shepherd, God’s loving sovereignty, and positive memories of the deceased. 
• Keep the focus on love – people need to be reminded of why they are at a viewing or funeral: its because they love that person. All are gathered because they care, and that is to be celebrated. If you love someone, tell them immediately. 
• And mean it – Youth ministers and parents fight for teenagers daily and love them with a passionate love. Live each day to the fullest, and if God ever brings a teen to mind to pray for or reach out to, act immediately. Keep fighting for your kids, and “leave it all on the field” so that if suicide does happen, you can know you did all you could. 
• Mourn with those who mourn – don’t give advice and for goodness sakes don’t say “Everything happens for a reason.” Just be present and weep when you want to weep. 
• Avoid “If only…” – it is so tempting to torment yourself with thoughts of “if only I had done this, etc”. I chose to affirm the fact that we have loved Adam well as a Christian community, which we have. Focus on the positive memories and how you have worked on someone’s behalf. Ultimately, the choice of someone to take their own life is just that: their own choice. Beating yourself up after the fact will not change what has happened. While incredibly sad that someone has taken their own life, there are also other potential suicides you have also possibly prevented over the years. If there is any positive side to “if only” thoughts, let it be an inspiration to reach out to teenagers that much more. God will do what is absolutely best – You will be asked the question, “Is he/she in heaven? Is he/she in hell?”. The short answer is: you don’t know. The long answer: God is perfect. Honestly, none of us really know at the time of death, especially in terms of a suicide where the profession of faith of the individual is in question. It is dishonest to give a false hope, or conversely, a false judgement. The grave is very silent and death is final on this side of eternity. What we can do, however, is trust in Jesus’ words, remember Jesus as the Good Shepherd, remember that a teenager is still a child, and that God will do what is perfect, just, loving, and eternally secure. We are not God, but we can trust in God’s perfect Word and God’s perfect character.

I will always love and miss Adam. I will think of him for the rest of my life. He has made an indelible mark on my life.

Ministry and loving others is a risk. You never know what is going to occur.

However, I think we can all agree its a risk worth taking.

It is always better to love and lose someone than not to love at all.

Keep up the good fight.

Dealing with teenage suicide

Last year I had the unfortunate and difficult task of responding and ministering to a teen suicide in our community. Adam was a young man in our youth group that took his own life. For me, it is the first time I have ever lost a close member of our youth group to death; suicide or otherwise.

It still feels surreal.

I still can’t quite believe I won’t see him again, hear his laugh, or have a great conversation with him. I’m not sure it has really sunk in yet.

All death can create feelings of mourning and sadness, but suicide is different. It is so sudden, abrupt. You feel as if a piece has been taken out of you that will never be replaced. This bright, young life with so much promise is over.

Its a punch to the gut, because so many would have told him how much they loved him. So many people would have talked him down, or tried to stop him. The 600+ people who came to the viewing or the 200+ who attended the funeral I officiated would have told him they loved the beautiful, uniquely made child of God that he was.

Ironically, I was reading the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” two days before Adam’s death, and I highlighted this phrase in my Kindle, after Morrie attended a funeral of a friend, Irv:

He came home depressed. “What a waste,” he said. “All those people saying all those wonderful things, and Irv never got to hear any of it.”

Indeed. What a waste.

As I unpack the emotions involved with this sort of tragedy, I hope and pray that my story and advice may help someone else as they walk along those who deal with the ramifications of teen suicide, and hopefully, to avoid it.

There are no easy answers, but there are specific things you can do to lend effective pastoral care:
Give clear guidance & leadership to the family – in moments of trauma, surviving family members operate in a fog or shock. They need you, as the minister, to give clear and affirming leadership. Take as much off their plate as you can.

• Keep your phone at your side at all hours – be ready to reach out, call, and text youth and parents at any hour. 

• Run to God in your pain – encourage others to leverage their pain as a way to lay hold of God, and not the opposite.

• Keep the focus on Jesus – if officiating the funeral, keep the focus on Jesus as the Good Shepherd, God’s loving sovereignty, and positive memories of the deceased. 

• Keep the focus on love – people need to be reminded of why they are at a viewing or funeral: its because they love that person. All are gathered because they care, and that is to be celebrated. If you love someone, tell them immediately.

• And mean it – Youth ministers and parents fight for teenagers daily and love them with a passionate love. Live each day to the fullest, and if God ever brings a teen to mind to pray for or reach out to, act immediately. Keep fighting for your kids, and “leave it all on the field” so that if suicide does happen, you can know you did all you could.

• Mourn with those who mourn – don’t give advice and for goodness sakes don’t say “Everything happens for a reason.” Just be present and weep when you want to weep. 

• Avoid “If only…” – it is so tempting to torment yourself with thoughts of “if only I had done this, etc”. I chose to affirm the fact that we have loved Adam well as a Christian community, which we have. Focus on the positive memories and how you have worked on someone’s behalf. Ultimately, the choice of someone to take their own life is just that: their own choice. Beating yourself up after the fact will not change what has happened. While incredibly sad that someone has taken their own life, there are also other potential suicides you have also possibly prevented over the years. If there is any positive side to “if only” thoughts, let it be an inspiration to reach out to teenagers that much more. God will do what is absolutely best – You will be asked the question, “Is he/she in heaven? Is he/she in hell?”. The short answer is: you don’t know. The long answer: God is perfect. Honestly, none of us really know at the time of death, especially in terms of a suicide where the profession of faith of the individual is in question. It is dishonest to give a false hope, or conversely, a false judgement. The grave is very silent and death is final on this side of eternity. What we can do, however, is trust in Jesus’ words, remember Jesus as the Good Shepherd, remember that a teenager is still a child, and that God will do what is perfect, just, loving, and eternally secure. We are not God, but we can trust in God’s perfect Word and God’s perfect character. 

I will always love and miss Adam. I will think of him for the rest of my life. He has made an indelible mark on my life.

Ministry and loving others is a risk. You never know what is going to occur.

However, I think we can all agree its a risk worth taking.

It is always better to love and lose someone than not to love at all.

Keep up the good fight.

People over Programs

Our middle school ministry has really be exploding lately, as in numerically. Not the violent sort. Its been a tough lesson learned, but over the years I've realized the importance of people over programs. Youth workers/ministers are notorious for pumping up games, pizza, crazy antics, pizza, games, etc. When a huge crowd arrives it may temporarily pump up our ego, but what measurable results are there after its over?

I recently went to a National Day of Prayer gathering in my community and there were three other youth ministers present from churches in my community. One of these peers walked from student to student, talking very briefly with them, and began pitching his upcoming summer camp, handing out flyers and the whole bit. It seemed like he only showed up to partially pray, but mostly to further his ministry’s event.

I’m all for evangelism, and I love summer camp, but it felt like the wrong venue.

I realized that youth ministers (myself included) have a tendency to focus so much on the EVENT that we forget about PEOPLE. If we aren’t careful, we can fall into a sort of evangelical-pharisaical ministry practice, focusing more on “doing” and less on simply “being” with God’s people.

Jesus always focused on the person in a relational sense, and then ministry could flow from that. Flipped the other way, it can quickly become about ego, numbers, and “salvations”. I’m all about seeing students get saved, but I want to do it God’s way, not in a way that has me charging ahead without listening to the Spirit’s guidance.

Ministry is about relationships: our relationship with students, (more importantly) our volunteers relationship with students, and everyone’s relationship with God. If we forget that and focus only on events and flash, our ministries can have the outward appearance of “health” when in reality they will have no longevity, and the discipleship we worked so hard for in the live of teenagers will not carry over into their young adult years.

Its a lot harder to slow down and seek relationships with students over event planning. It takes time, patience, risk (especially if you’re an introvert) and so much more. But it is what God is calling us to do.

God sought us out first for a relationship with us (1 John 4), shouldn’t we seek to do the same with students?

Boys think about one thing....(the dating message)

Its true.

Boys think about one thing.

Sports.

Seriously though, this coming week we'll be discussing dating, relationships and all that is involved with that whole bugaboo.

When I was in high school, thoughts of finding "the one" consumed my life at times, almost to the point of consistent distraction and/or occasional depression. Many young people look for someone to "complete" them, but the focus is all wrong. As Jesus says, "wisdom is proved right by her actions."  I focused constantly on what I didn't have, and I was usually miserable as a result. I so desperately wanted a girlfriend, but never got one at the time.  

Now I'm incredibly thankful it shook down that way.

Instead of looking for "the one", we should be trusting God to make us "be the one" for someone else...down the road. Instead of focusing on what we don't have (i.e. a boy/girl friend), God wants us to focus on what we do have (Jesus, the Spirit, godly friends, sports/the arts, activities, our church, etc) and celebrate those things, trusting God to provide "the one" at the right time.

This is a radical shift from celebrating selfishness to celebrating thankfulness, from being led by the flesh to being led by the Spirit, from demanding your inheritance now as opposed to letting it come at the right time.

You're not single because you're only nice to girls (or because you're "ugly").

You're single because singleness is actually a gift.  Singleness provides you time to focus on what's most important and to trust God to provide when God knows you are ready. 

Singleness allows us space to be reminded that who we are sexually is not our main descriptor in life.  

Singleness allows you time to answer the question, "Would you date....you?"  Are you honestly the kind of person, at your stage in life, who is ready to give themselves over to another person in a healthy way that eventually leads to marriage?  Would you date someone who is in the same place as you are right now (emotionally, spiritually, etc)?

If you're not ready to date "you", then what steps do you need to take now in order to develop qualities you want to see in your future spouse?  

How can you develop the qualities of a good mate now so that when you meet "the one", you're actually ready for it?

If you wait to date and focus on becoming the right person, you are able to let God be in control of your relationships. 

But what if you're already dating someone?  There is nothing wrong with dating at a young age.  Dating isn't wrong (God put that desire within us for a reason) but it is dangerous to do so at a young age.  The pitfalls are many, and very few emerge unscathed. If you are dating someone, boundaries need to be in place.  Boundaries establish value, not hindrance.  Purity is a blessing, not a burden.  

We'll post more about that next week!  

Epic Fail: how we can learn from our failures

Here is the transcript from the first message in our Epic Fail series:

When I talk about fails tonight, its about moral failures when we know we screwed up and can make it right..  I’m not referring to when someone you love gets sick, or passes away, or disaster.  Some things are not so simple they can be explained as “it happened for a reason.” Or that it happened “for our good”.

 Our moral failures, however, we can learn from.

The myth of “be safe”

We’re not talking about this to make anyone feel ashamed for failing.  We’ve all failed and will fail.   All of life can be a risk.  Its always better to try and potentially fail then not try at all. Where do we see Jesus praying this?  Where do we see him admonishing people to “be safe”?  

Where do we see the disciples or people in church history concerned about failure?   The possibility of failure is always present.  God doesn’t call us to be afraid of failure or to “be safe”, he calls us to be faithful, in prayer, willing to be used by God.

Some fails are avoidable.

If you are responsible at the beginning, some fails are avoidable. That's wisdom. Putting things off isn't just lazy, it's a spiritual issue. If you devote work for Christ you do it well and do it quickly.

Story. Me skipping school mom saw dad said "what if I skipped work everyday?" Burn. Fail would've been avoided if I was just faithful with my task, which was simple: go to school and do the work. Was it fun at the time to go to school?  Not always.  But it was certainly better than getting busted for skipping school and getting in trouble, that’s for sure.

When you fail, how do you respond?  

Feeling shame after we fail is to be expected, and shame doesn’t feel good.  You want to make it go away as soon as possible.  But running from your shame, and your failure, is one of the worst things you could ever do.  

We all fail:  don’t let shame hold you down.  What is shame?  Its our conscience helping us know right from wrong.  But what is our conscience?  

Don’t run from conscience.  Shame is God trying to get your attention to help you make better decisions.  Shame is how we can learn right from wrong.  Shame is not a bad thing.  Those who are wise and make good decisions are those who listen to God’s counsel through their conscience, through their shame.  Listening, and learning from, our shame can help prevent more failures in the future.  Is this easy?  Not at all.  Its actually one of the most emotionally difficult things to do.  

Its a choice to learn from your shame.  Its a decision to seek to grow in wisdom at any cost.  Its a choice to learn from shame, a choice that should come from your love for Christ.  You want to do better because your love him.  Don’t just learn from your mistakes because you have to.  Do it because you want to honor God in all that you do and because you love Jesus.  

Failure is how we learn

Crosby scholars and my dad story - failed, grounded for 73 years, no (home) phone, super tense.

The Bible is full of flawed people who made mistakes and God used them anyway.

God is with you.  Remember God’s character

Deut 31:6 - Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.”

Psalm 111:2-4

2 How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!

   All who delight in him should ponder them.

3 Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.

   His righteousness never fails.

4 He causes us to remember his wonderful works.

   How gracious and merciful is our Lord!

God has never failed and will never fail.  It can be hard to imagine someone who has never failed.  In fact, everyone you know has failed at one time or another, but God hasn’t.  

In fact, if you truly believe in God, failure should not even be in your vocabulary.  Total failure sounds like there is no hope, no future, no silver lining, but for those who know the Lord, we know that our failures are not the end.  God is with us in our failures.

Let’s look at the ultimate epic fail, or so it seemed to everyone at the time:  the cross.  When Jesus was given a fake trial and crucified, it looked like the biggest epic fail in history.  The movement was over, his followers were scattered, all was lost.  Then God proceeded to take what looked like death, and turn it into life.  Not only was Jesus raised from the dead, God then poured out the Spirit on the early church, as you heard this morning in Sunday school, to bring radical change to the world.  

28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. Rom 8:28

When you’re in the midst of a gigantic fail, its very hard to see anything positive out of it.  But if you keep faith, and trust God, God can use it for the good

- this applied to Jesus as well.  

Jesus was faithful to God to the point of death, whatever the cost.  Clearly in the garden of Gethsamane the night before, as he prayed all night long, Jesus was struggling.  He felt the weight of what he knew he had to do, and was so crushed the Bible says that blood emitted from the pores of his skin.  Jesus was willing to fail in the eyes of the world because 1) he was faithful to the will of His father and 2) he knew our sin had to be atoned for.  

Jesus willingly entered into this “ultimate fail”...out of love.  

What failures are you struggling with?  How is shame holding you down?  Accept the forgiveness of God and move on.  Shame can force us to pick our offering back up and hold onto it again.  You are forgiven.  Leave it on the altar.  Confess your failure and keep on moving.  

Maybe someone has failed you.  God calls us to forgive them.  Forgiving someone won’t change the past, but it can change your future.  God’s forgiveness can turn your fail into a bright future.

God doesn’t want you to stay stuck in your yesterday.  He want to set you free for today and tomorrow.