The Tricky Tongue

1 Timothy 4:12-13 (NIV) ¹² Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.

Last week we talked about not letting people look down on you. We said this wasn’t ignoring what others think, but rather living in a way that makes them know you are not just a believer, but a disciple!

Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to follow someone’s example, he says SET an example – BE the example! Just because you are young, that doesn’t mean you can’t be the good example that other people need to see. That’s a big order. Paul doesn’t say “be good” but he tells Timothy to “be the best” – a leader, not a follower.

Your homework for the week was to bring a verse related to the five areas of excellence. Today we’re going to look at the first area of excellence: speech

SPEECH means way to express yourself, uses words que sale de la boca, intercambio de ideas en una conversacion, tiene una audiencia

What the Bible says about speech, talking, and using our tongues:

Psalms 34:13 Pili guard your tongue from evil and your lips from deceit

Don’t lie

Psalms 35:28 Angela My tongue will tell of your righteousness

God’s word stay in your head so you can have it all day, connect

Psalms 37:30 Suri the mouth of the righteous man speaks what is just

When a man does something right, his tongue speaks what he’s thinking (what’s right)

Psalm 39:1 Bibi cuardare mi boca

Cuidar la lengua y no dice cosas malas

Psalm 139:4 Tuti you know all

God knows what we’re gonna say because he knows our heart

Proverbs 10:9 Sherlene who ever lives dishonestly will

If you read the bible and know what is right, God will be happy in that, but if you doing wrong, like Jonah, you’ll find out what’s wrong

Proverbs 12:22 God hates

Proverbs 15:2

Proverbs 18:21

Proverbs 28:23

Eccl 5:3

Mark 16:17

I Peter 3:10

Real Christians

Tonight we did something a little different. We read I Cor. 9:19 where Paul talks about becoming a slave even though he was free. We talked about a story of Somchi, a woman from Laos where Christians are persecuted by communist leaders. The article had a picture of her holding what was left of her burned Bible and a picture of her being baptized. The pastor's face was censored for his protection. This article is from the same magazine and tells you a little about What's going on there.


In addition, we are adopting a missionary and his family from another south asian country. I'm not posting the information on here for sensitivity reasons, but I would be more than happy to share pictures and information with you in person.

There are many areas were Christians are persecuted. The area known as the 10-40 (degrees latitude) window is where the majority of "closed" or dangerous countries are.

Now, we didn't read this story to simply say, "Wow, we should appreciate what we have." While it's true, that's only half of the purpose. The real purpose is that we are part of that bigger picture. Never separate yourself from other people's suffering by saying "Thank God I don't have to deal with that" because you ARE part of it. Engage in the bigger body of believers. Be a real part of Christ's kingdom.

How can you be involved? Pray. Support missionaries financial. Be informed.

Here's the link to the magazine's site:

http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=MTEw

The Craziness of the Cross ("Faith" cont. Pastor Eli 9.06.10)

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

People believe in all sorts of things that we can't prove. Logic is a study of reason or thoughts supposed to make sense. People argue over what is logical. Now there are many things in Christianity that "make sense" or are logical, but Paul wrote a letter to the people of Corinth and told them, more or less,

"Hey, for people who are lost, they're going to think that the cross is crazy, ridiculous, and stupid. But for those who have received God's grace, the cross demonstrates God's power."

Paul talks about two groups who thought Christians were crazy:

22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,

The Jews wanted to see miracles. They already knew God and they weren't looking for. There are people today that are the same - they come to church just looking to see something amazing or get an emotional high. They're not looking for Jesus, they just want a "WoW!"

The Greeks didn't really care too much about Jesus or God for that matter. They had hundreds of gods and didn't really want another one. All they cared about was what they decided was wise and logical. Jesus's death didn't make sense to them. And there are lots of people today who are the same.

23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Paul says, the only people that Jesus will really make sense to people who God has already called. He turns everything that makes sense upside down to show His work.

25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

Meaning the silliest thing God has done is smarter than the wisest thing man has done.

26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

God calls lots of normal people who aren't super amazing. Sometimes people think they have to be "good" or have it together in order to come to God, but that's not the case.

27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.

God uses people's weaknesses to show His power. This way we can't claim the success is ours.

30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

We aren't righteous, holy, or able to save ourselves. So all the good that we have, we have to give credit to Jesus.

Hannah's Note*********************************************************************

Don't be surprised of people say that Christians are stupid. But understand that they have no way to "get it" without faith.

If you do want more information on some of the "logic" of Christianity, there are a couple of books that may interest you - "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel.

(To be continued...)

The Smart Stick?!?! GoP 8.30

Proverbs 29:11

What does it say?

"The rod of correction imparts wisdom,
but a child left to himself disgraces his mother."

What does it mean?
The rod of correction imparts wisdom - so does that mean I can beat you with a stick to make you smarter? Well, not exactly. There's an important difference between correction and abuse. Correction tells you what you did wrong and how to fix it.
Is a rod always a stick? Well, probably not, but sometimes a strong word may feel like we just got hit by a stick.
And how does a stick make you wiser? For some people getting hit with a stick will just leave a welt, a red mark. How is that supposed to help you make better decisions? More than a red mark on your skin, the purpose is to make a mark on your memory so you do the right thing the next time.

but a child left to himself disgraces his mother. A child left to himself means somebody who doesn't have parents or authority to make rules. Do you know any of your friends that don't have rules in their house? What happens? Do you think you would really like to live that way? What would happen?
Why do you think the verse talks about disgracing your mother not, say, your father, sister, or cousin? Your mother is always the one that says, "Oh no, I taught you better than that." They're the people who tell us how to behave and who correct us.

How does it apply to me?
Some food for thought...
How do I react when somebody tries to correct me?
How does it make me feel? And is that ok?
Is it possible that my parents are right even when I believe I'm right?
What happens when someone treats me badly and it's not correction, just anger? How can I deal with that and communicate my frustrations?

Throwin' off your cape! 8.29

What holds you back? What puts you down? What makes you turn back from doing bigger and better things?

In Mark 10, it tells the story of blind Bartimaeus. Obviously, Bartimaeus had a few things that would hold him back. Being blind would make life difficult alone. Second, disabled people were separated from society. He was poor and could not earn enough money to take care of himself. He had to beg. His cloak or cape was an identifier, it showed he was a poor, blind beggar.

Bartimaeus was sitting begging on the side of the road when he heard that Jesus was walking by. He couldn't see to know for sure, but Bartimaeus got so excited he started shouting

"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

People around him told him to quiet down, but that made him shout louder,

"Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Now we know that David the shepherd King lived loooooonnngg before Jesus and Bartimaeus wasn't saying that Jesus was really David's son, but rather his descendent. This is important because scripture had prophecied the savior would be a descendent of David. So when Bartimaeus called him "Son of David", he was proclaiming him Savior.

49Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." 50Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

Bartimaeus didn't take off his cape and fold it neatly so he could come back to it later - NO! he THREW it off and jumped up. He couldn't see where he was going, but he knew he wanted to go to Jesus.

51"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

Rabbi means teacher, but Bartimaeus didn't ask to learn anything, he asked to get his sight back - to be healed. So far Bartimaeus has been shouting and proclaiming Jesus as Savior, teacher/prophet, and healer. He believed big stuff about who Jesus was and what he could do.

52"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Bartimaeus didn't run off to throw a party, no, he knew that what he wanted was to follow Jesus.

Bartimaeus had his cape, something that held him back, marked his life. He decided he didn't want to continue and he knew Jesus was the answer.

What is it that holds you back?

Is it something people have told you? People told Bartimaeus to be quiet, not to disturb the master. He ignored them. He even shouted louder over them. He knew what he needed and he made sure he got it. Maybe someone has told you that you can't do something or that you are worthless. Don't listen.

Maybe it's your circumstances. Bartimaeus was stuck at the bottom of society. He had no way to make his life better - no way to change anything. He was powerless. Maybe you are in a situation where you're powerless - you can't fix your problems. Will you shout out to Jesus as your answer?

the books in The book: part II

So tonight we looked at the rest of the books in the Bible. After the wisdom literature comes :

Major Prophets
Isaiah - lots and lots of prophecy - foretold the birth of Jesus
Jeremiah - a young prophet while the Israelites were in exile
Lamentations - funeral poems - lament = to tell how bad something you did makes you feel
Ezequiel - saw the bones grow flesh
Daniel - the lion guy, handwriting interpreter guy, and friend to the fire guys

Minor Prophets:

For more information on each of the prophets, you can read it at http://bible.org/seriespage/minor-prophets

Hosea - God told him to marry an unfaithful women
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah - the fish good guy
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zacharia
Malachi


Then comes the New Testament:

The Gospels (gospel means good news)
Mathew
Mark
Luke
John

Church History
Acts

Epistles (Letters written by apostles to churches and servants of the body)
Romans
I & II Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
I & II Thessalonians
I & II Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
I & II Peter
I, II, & III John
Jude

Apocalyptic literature (Writings about the end times)
Revelations

books in THE book

Tonight was really fun! Chocolate cake makes me smile!

So for our girls who missed it, we did cell in reverse - we started w/ our prayer requests then the Word.

We've been talking about how the Bible is important, but we're going to take two weeks looking at the books inside the book. Tonight we looked at part of the Old Testament and how it's organized.

The first five books are books of law. They're called the "pentateuch". (penta = 5 like pentagon)

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy

Genesis means beginning - like the beginning of the world

Exodus, like exit - when Moses led the people out of Egypt.

Leviticus - Out of the twelve big families (tribes) that made up the Israelites, Levi's family, the "Levites" were in charge of taking care of the tabernacle/temple. The book talks about the rules and regulations for them

Numbers - yeah, like the number of people in each tribe. AKA, the census. Lots of names...

Deuteronomy - "second law", these laws were the second set, coming after the 10 commandments.

Next comes the books of History.

1. Joshua
2. Judges
3. Ruth
4. I & II Samuel
5. I & II Kings
6. I & II Choronicles
7. Ezra
8. Nehemiah
9. Esther

Joshua - He was the leader of the Israelites and this book is the history of when they entered into the promised land after they left Egypt.

Judges - When the people entered the land, they didn't have a national system - no presidents, no mayors. The famous people from this time were Deborah, Gideon, Samson, etc.

Ruth - She was a woman who wasn't part of God's chosen people, but God included her in Jesus's heritage. It's a really cool story of redemption.

I & II Samuel - two scrolls of the same book, this history is about Israel during the time of the prophet Samuel, son of Hannah.

I & II Kings - The people of Israel saw all the other nations had kings and they asked God to give them one... so He did.

I & II Chronicles - a chronicle is a history. These are the history records during the time of the kings.

Ezra & Nehemiah were leaders in returning the people back to Israel after the exile.

Esther - Have you ever seen the movie "One night with the king"? That's a movie version of her story

Then there are five books known as the Wisdom books.

1. Job
2. Psalms
3. Proverbs
4. Ecclesiastes
5. Song of Songs

Job was tested but his faith held on.

Psalms - these were songs, most of them praising God.

Proverbs - these are not professional verbs, they're wise sayings.

Ecclesiastes - meaning "collection", as in a collection of

Song of Songs - love songs and poetry

Next week we'll do the prophets of the Old Testament and the New Testament. If we get them memorized, we're havin' a pool party!!! (And remember it's 45 points toward the goal!!!)

Holy Dinner! No, wait. Santa Cena? - Communion

Santa Cena - Pastor Eli

In Spanish it's called "Santa Cena" which translates as Holy Dinner.

In English, it's called Communion - which means "participating together".

But what is it and why do we do it?

In Exodus 12 Moses was sent by God to the Egyptian Pharoh to get the freedom for the Israelites after they had spent 400 years as slaves. The Pharoh wasn't interested in letting them go so God sent plagues like flies and frogs and disease to convince him. The last of the plagues was when the angel of death was sent to each house to kill the firstborn or oldest of the family. To protect their families the Israelites sacrificed a lamb and put the blood on the door post so the angel would pass over their houses.



Once the people were free, they set a holiday to remember how God freed them from slavery. The name of that holiday? Passover. They celebrate with a meal of bitter herbs, flat bread, and wine.

When Jesus was coming to the end of his life, he had a special Passover dinner with his disciples. (Luke 22:15) He had been with them for three years and so they had celebrated other Passovers, but this one was special. Jesus took two items from the dinner to explain to the Disciples what was going to happen. I don't think they could have really understood everything at the time, but Jesus knew they, and now we, would get what he was talking about later.

Jesus said that the bread was his body. He broke the bread and they shared it.
He said the wine was his blood and the new covenant (promise, agreement) "poured out for you".
He also told them to "do this in remembrance of me".

So Jesus is broken? What? Wait a minute! If my pen is broken, I throw it away. Why do I want a broken Jesus???

When Jesus body was broken and his blood poured out, he died. But because he died and rose again, we can participate in the kingdom of God. One of the ways to show that we are part of the kingdom is to "take part in" or "participate" in communion. We remember that Passover (the holy dinner) and we come together to celebrate what Jesus did for us.

So try not to focus too much on the "broken" Jesus. Yes, he had to be broken, but as we take up a piece of the bread and we take Jesus's character and his spirit and we participate in his work and kingdom, we are each a piece of his body. His body is then reconstructed when we come together.

So that's basically how a holy dinner brings us together to participate in what Jesus is doing.

Cell 8.2.2010 Lying Lips

(Brought to you by Angela - double memory points!!!)

What does it say?

Proverbs 12:22 The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.


What does it mean?

We talked about how we can't make God happy if we are lying. He celebrates people who walk in the truth.


How does this apply to our lives?

It's always better to tell the truth. Our parents tell us this, but we must doubt it because we have all lied at one time or another.

Where does your faith start?

In Luke 16 and 17, Jesus has been teaching and the disciples say "Increase our faith!" Jesus gives his famous "faith like a mustard seed" speech. He said "IF" you had faith like a mustard seed you could...

He didn't say, you have this faith. He had been talking to people and telling them some of the bad things they had been doing. This wasn't the nicest message, but incredibly honest. He made it clear that faith starts in your home. It is shown by how you act with the people closest to you. It is shown by how you deal with money. It is shown by your daily life. It starts at home.

The disciples wanted this faith but Jesus gave them a warning. He gave a parable about servants and how a servant is still a servant even after he has finished his work. Jesus taught the disciples that if they are going to have faith, God will use them for big things;HOWEVER, they must remember that they are still just the servants.

Sometimes people get too caught up in the idea of "Wow! look what God used ME to do". Now we can be happy that God uses us, we have to remember that HE is the one working through us. Our value is that we are his servant because without Him we couldn't do anything.

7.25.10 New Creation

What does it say?

Memory Verse:

II Corinthians 5:17


Therefore, anyone in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come.

What does it mean?

Basically - knowing Christ and trusting him changes us. We are to leave behind the "old me" and have a new identity in him.


What does it mean to you?


How does it apply to your life?

What does your faith look like?

7.25.10 (Pastor Eli) - FAITH (Part I: Saving Faith)

Everybody has faith in something. You have faith that the button on your jeans is going to hold your pants up. You have faith that tomorrow gravity will hold you down so you don't float away.

Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith.

What does this mean?

This means that God is happy when we have faith and that we can't make him happy without it. Just trying to be a "good person" doesn't make God happy. Does it make him unhappy if we are good people? of course not! But that's not enough on it's own.

So what kind of faith does God want us to have?

Luke 17:12-19 talks about ten men who had leprosy, which is a disease that attacks your nerves and damages your skin. These men had heard about what Jesus had been doing and how he had been healing other people.

Because they were sick, these men had to live outside of the town, separated from everybody. But they heard that Jesus was coming and they shouted out to him, saying "Jesus, help us!"

This showed that they had faith that Jesus could help them. You don't ask for something if you don't expect to get it. They had faith in Jesus as a healer. He can heal us physically, heal our hearts, and repair anything in our lives that needs fixing.

Now, Jesus could have just healed them and said "TA DA, You're healed!" but he didn't. He told them to go show themselves to the priests. In that time the priests were the ones who could tell if you were sick or well.

As the men were on their way, their bodies were cleared of the disease. One of the men noticed and turned around, running back to Jesus. I imagine him running and shouting like crazy. He praised God because Jesus had healed him. What was interesting is that one man was not from the same place and culture as Jesus. As a matter of fact, his people (Samaritans) and Jesus's people (Jews) didn't always like each other.

Jesus said, "Weren't there ten of you?" It sounds like he was kind of surprised that the only one who came back was the Samaritan.

Jesus tells the man that his faith has healed and saved him.


So........ what do we get from this?

These men had faith in Jesus as a healer. Jesus asked them to walk in that faith and be obedient to go do what he asked. He can heal us, just like he healed those men when we are obedient to his word.

But having faith in Jesus as a healer is only half the faith he wanted to see. Jesus told the one Samaritan that his faith had also saved him. Ten received healing. One received his salvation. Sometimes people are blessed and they get good things from God, but they don't get the whole package. We have to praise God for what Jesus has done for us and have faith that Jesus is not only our healer, but our Savior.