We find Jesus teaching with some Pharisees sitting nearby. Apparently Jesus’ reputation had begun to spread so some guys brought a man on a mat so that Jesus would heal him.

As the story goes, the crowd was so thick that the men went up on the roof, tore it open and lowered the sick guy throw the new sky light.

First off, what an extreme amount of care for this sick man. We awesome they were friends of his… but any way you look at it they were intent on getting this man to Jesus.

What a challenge for us!

Secondly, it’s important to look at what Jesus did with this man: He both healed him AND forgave His sins. Jesus cares for both the heart AND the body. Interestingly enough, Jesus actually forgave the man’s sins before He healed his body. Jesus first and foremost wants our hearts!

It was then that Jesus turned and dealt with the hearts of the Pharisees.

They were not too happy that this man Jesus was forgiving people’s sins. “Who does He think He is…?” they questioned in verse 21.

And to show that Jesus had the authority to forgive sins, He turns to the lame man and heals him.

Jesus’ response is real and relevant and literally strikes to the heart. “Why do you question this…?”

This story can be applied to our lives in many different ways. But know this, Jesus’ desire is for everyone to come into relationship with Him. He wants our hearts. He also wants us to know that He not only cares for our hearts, but He also cares for our bodies.

It may seem impossible, but we know the LORD wants to bring life to this generation. We exist to resurrect a generation.

Awaken’s Mission Statement:

We exist to see a generation come alive through relationship with Jesus, grow in a life consumed by faith and compassion, and be equipped to make disciples.

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The Book of Revelation is an interesting book! It’s quite often misunderstood because many think the book is about the “end times”. Though the events that will occur surrounding the end times, the book itself is all about Jesus (see Revelation 1:1).

The whole first chapter, John lays out how he received this revelation and who/what it’s all about.

As I was reading it this morning, verse 8 popped out to me. It reads:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega–the beginning and the end,” says the LORD God. “I am the One who is, who always was, and who is still to come–the Almighty One.”

The footnote connected with verse 8 says this:

Greek: I am the Alpha and the Omega, referring to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.

Which got me to thinking. If we were to think of it in context of our English language, He is our A to Z. There are no other letters in our language than those that exist between A and Z. When it comes to God, there is no one else other than Him. There’s no one else that even comes close to comparing to Him.

He is the Alpha and Omega and He is the A to Z.

John makes some incredible statements in chapter 2.

He says things like:

• “I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.” (vs. 1)
• “If someone claims, ‘I know God,’ but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liat” (vs. 4)
• “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” (vs. 6)

People can SAY a lot of things… doesn’t mean it’s true. People can wear Christian t-shirts, but it doesn’t mean the wearer is a Christian. People can even go to a church service, but that action in and of itself is not proof of their salvation.

John clearly let’s us know it doesn’t matter what people say, if they aren’t living like Jesus, then they’re not really followers of Christ.

It’s gut-level, toe-stepping-on truth.

So who are you living like?

Here’s how we applied it to the students:

1. We let them know how important they were to God
2. They have a destiny (that’s happening now, not later)
3. They are not alone

Click here for the message notes.

You can listen to the audio recording here:

Keep checking this page for updates concerning the remodel.

Once we’ve demolished everything in the way, we will begin the process of painting and decorating. Below is a list of items we need for decorating. Maybe check out your closets/garages/attics to see if you can help us out with any of these items.

• Electronics (from before 1985)
  • Radios/Boomboxes
  • Cassette Players/Cassettes
  • Record players/Records
  • 8-track players/8-tracks
  • Alarm Clocks
  • Telephones
  • TV’s/VCR’s
  • Cameras
• Picture Frames
  • All sizes and all conditions
  • No picture glass necessary
• Fabric
  • We need a variety of older patterns, textures and colors
  • All sizes of fabric will be useful, even old clothes in interesting patterns
• Miscellaneous
  • Oriental style rugs in any condition
  • “Knick-knack” shelves in older styles
  • End tables/small tables in older styles

These items can be turned in at the church at the information booth. OR speak with Hannah Davis or Kelsey Lewis for more information.

Photos from the Remodel

Videos from the Remodel

Untitled from Awaken Youth Church on Vimeo.

We will be headed to Glasgow, Scotland on August 6th. We will return on August 14th.

We will be at the Overtoun House (http://overtounhouse.com)

Be sure you check out our trip blog at: http://awakenyouthchurch.com/scotland

This first chapter of John holds nothing back. If ever there is the question concerning who Jesus was, read this chapter.

Check out the first 5 verses (from the NLT):

“In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that He did not make. Life itself was in Him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

The line I want to focus on is verse 3 which says “He created everything there is. Nothing exists that He did not make.”

How much more plain can that be?

He created everything.

Nothing exists without Him.

Nothing.

Simply approaching this passage with child-like faith (and plain English) clearly shows that Jesus is it. He is the One who created everything. He is the reason why we exist. We weren’t made by chance. He didn’t just start the creation process and sit back and watch everything happen. He actually did it. He created everything.

We should not only understand this in regards to the creation event itself but apply this to our lives in the fact that He has created us individually for a reason. You weren’t a mistake. You weren’t put on this earth by chance. Mother nature and karma had nothing to do with your birth. You were created by God to be on this earth for such a time as this.

Regardless of the circumstances that have surrounded your life in the past, you are precious to Him and He has made you for a reason… maybe not the reason you’ve thought of… maybe not the reason others thought of… but He definitely made you uniquely you.

Because nothing that exists came to be without Him.

He made it clear that everything begins on the foundation of Jesus and our relationship with Him. Upon that we are to build good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, and loving others. And all of this is to point back to Jesus.

Here is the audio recording: