February Family Devotional

The family devotional this month "God's Love" ties in to Valentine's. Their are suggestions for Preschoolers through Teens, and don't miss the "Family Mealtime Moment" at the bottom of the link:
http://www.thrivingfamily.com/Family/Faith/2010/feb/gods-love.aspx

Life Group family and friends,

On Saturday evening we studied Luke 14: 1-24.  Jesus was telling the audience that:

1. Followers of Christ are not legalistic, but exhibit mercy.  (Luke 14:1-6)
2. Followers of Christ don’t exalt themselves, but are humble.  (Luke 14:7-14)
3. Followers of Christ don’t make excuses, but act when God calls.  (Luke 14:15-24)

For our challenge this week, I am going to ask you to look at your priorities.   Think about the appointments on your calendar for the last couple weeks and the credit card bill or the checks you wrote over the last few weeks.  What does this information reveal about your priorities?  Where would you fall on this continuum?

My Priorities are

All about me---------------------------------------------------------------All about God

I challenge you to pick one of the priorities of Jesus above to claim this week.  Be intentional by praying that God will provide one divine intersection this week that will give you the opportunity to practice that priority. 

It would be a very special time if we were able to meet again next Saturday and spend 20 minutes sharing how God was able to work through us this week. 

Be Intentional.

Travis

LG Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:

Great discussion during class on Saturday.  Thanks for your participation.  Know that every time you participate or share, you are helping to build our community of unity.

Our challenge this week is focused on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem.  Luke spends a lot of time setting up the story of how Jesus had a steady course to Jerusalem.  He kept teaching and loving all the way there, but he knows he is heading into pain, torture, friends leaving him, humiliation, people spitting in his face, and finally death.  But he keeps going there.

I challenge you to read this story then get on your knees and thank God for his love and persistent pursuit of you and your family.  Praise him.

Man Risks His Life to Bring Adopted Daughter Home

Eighteen years ago my friend Andy and his wife traveled to a South American country to complete their adoption of a little girl. At the time this country was gripped by corruption, violence, and political chaos. After Andy arrived, they (that is, anyone who could profit from Andy's plight) kept upping the price for the adoption. When he finally threatened to take the matter to the U.S. consulate, a mysterious figure confronted Andy, warning him of vague but dreadful consequences. It was like a spy thriller, except it was Andy who was caught in the middle of some sinister, dangerous plot.

But he refused to leave without his daughter. The odd thing was that Andy had never even met this girl. She was small and helpless. She hadn't won any awards or aced any tests. He didn't know that one day her smile would light up their living room, or that she'd love their cats and dogs, or that she'd play Mozart pieces on the family piano. For all practical purposes, she was just an orphan condemned to a life of grinding poverty in a far-flung developing country. But for some crazy reason, Andy stayed there, negotiating with corrupt officials, spending oodles of money, squandering time, and even risking his life to find and win this little girl….

When he finished telling me this story, it struck me that Andy, my non-Christian friend, had discovered the heart of the gospel: God's loving, daring, persistent pursuit of people like you and me. Like Maria, there's nothing we can do to earn God's love, but he still loves us. And he doesn't want to leave us behind. Instead, in the presence of Jesus, God walked into the "dangerous nightmare" of human sin and pain in order to save us and bring us back home.

Adapted from Matt Woodley, The Gospel of Matthew: God With Us (InterVarsity Press, 2011)

Be Intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends,

It was a great privilege to have Bob, Julie, and Isaac share with us about the work they are doing at Naomi’s Village in Kenya.  www.naomisvillage.com  I believe we all desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, have a purpose in life, and to do things for the eternal and not the earthly. 

The passage of scripture we read in class included a parable of a fig tree.   We learned that God expects His children to produce fruit, God is merciful and patient with His children, we need spiritual disciplines in order to produce fruit.

But what are key spiritual disciplines that if practiced in your life can bear Godly fruit?  Here is a good starting list:  

Prayer, Scripture reading, serving others, Scripture memorization, fasting, sharing your faith, small group participation, giving, worship and accountability.

My challenge to you is to make a plan to incorporate one of these that you are not already doing.  If you are like me, you are better at making excuses than making plans for holy habits like memorization, praying, and getting in the word daily.  I mean, surely God will give me some slack because he knows how busy I am with a kid in junior high, 2 kids in elementary school, lacrosse practice and games, teaching promise makers, viola practice, jump class, tumbling, teaching a life group, date night, poker night, leading a group at the Shore, facilitating a group at ReEngage, my job,… See, told you I was good at excuses!

I challenge you to take your family and pray over every room in your house, or pick one day in January to fast while taking inventory of your spiritual growth, or get a partner and memorize 1 verse a week.  Questions on any of the disciplines?  Call me or Aaron. 

Be Intentional.

Travis

naomisvillage.com/

Naomi's Villiage

Naomi's Village is just one of the orphanages members of our class have visited through Lost Orphans.  Last night in class, we got to hear the amazing story of how God brought this home to the orphans of Kenya.  To see the the children's home, visit Naomi's Village.  To learn about sponsorship for Naomi's Village, visit Lost Orphans International.

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:

 Great discussion on Saturday evening regarding Jesus being controversial and divisive.  As the Broadman commentary stated, Jesus did not come to institute the state of peace which men expected but he came to call us to decision. 

 As we see Jesus thinking about the pain and suffering he will endure on the cross, we begin to move our focus of the story to the ending.  If we are not intentional in our spiritual growth, the value of the cross is diminished.

 My challenge for you this week is to get together as a family and ask these questions:

How can we be intentional in our life?

Why are we here?  Why did not just take us to heaven the minute we get saved?
How can we bring glory to God in all we do?
How can our lives point others to Jesus?

Be intentional.

Travis

January's Family Devotional

“Got Self-Control?” Devotional

Link: http://www.thrivingfamily.com/Additions/~/link.aspx?_id=EE134F11CC5E4D009B6840FC66BD5E85&_z=z

Follow the link above and choose the age appropriate activity for your child(ren) on self-control.  Grade school children will also receive the following application tool from KidsTown on January 7th that you can incorporate.

APPLICATION TOOL :: Game Changers
(One week only!!  Don’t miss out! Weekend of January 7/8)

We have all experienced and even our kids get caught up in the fact that life is moving so fast and when we get stressed out we have all had the moment when we say biting words or make a hurtful move before we can even think.  It's time for a game changer—THE Game Changer, in fact! This cool wristband reads “game on” on one side and “game off” on the other. When your child comes home with one, encourage them to wear it all month and when you see their temperature rising, say “STOP”!  Remind them to grab their “game on” wristband and flip it around to the “game off” side. Encourage them to take a few moments to breathe, pray, and plan their next words or moves with self-control. Then they can flip that wristband back and, oh yeah … its game on!  You may find out that it helps YOU as well!