Spartan Christian Fellowship

Matthew 25:14-30. These verses are of the stories concerning the master leaving talents to his servants. A quick summary is that a master leaves, leaving one servant with five talents who then invested and made five more, another servant with two talents who then went and made two more, and a third servant who received one talent who then got scared and buried the talent, making his master no profit. The master comes back and rewards the servants who went out and used their talents and made more and he scolds the servant who buries it. Just for some background, a talent is about worth fifteen year's worth of wages for these servants so they were dealing with some major money in the story.
The servant who buried his allotment was too scared to go out into the world, use, and invest his talent. He doesn't do anything with what he has been given and he is called a "worthless servant" and is sent "into the outer darkness" where men "weep and gnash their teeth." This applies to today's world as well, as harsh as it is. God has given every person a certain amount of talents that will improve society and the community in which a person lives. However, even though these talents are God-given they aren't worth jack unless they're put into use, they're a waste of God's gift. He gave away different talents and all of them are equal, and should be treated this way, no matter how big or small they might be. Every person needs to bring their talents to the table and put them to use because every single talent He distributes will contribute to the world and make a lasting impact.
Be confident in your ability and bring your talents, what God gave you, to the table because without them, the world is lacking the unique contribution that only you can offer. With your talent being used to the best of your ability, the world will become a better place and you will be held in great favor with God and everyone on earth, which in the end is always a good thing.

Hey guys,
So a lot has been happening in life; hard times seem to just starting piling on you once one hits you. Throughout all the hardships in life, throughout all the despair of the day... God loves us undoubtedly! The bible says 365 times "do not be afraid" even though it is easier said than done, it is a way to think. Revelations 3 says, "What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open... See I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and not denied my name." I truly do believe in everything happening for a reason, we may not be able to see it at first, but it's there. God puts us through all the crap we go through because he knows that only we can take it a certain way; we can get STRONGER from it. Whether it's a failed test, a bad break up, a death, whatever it is you can get stronger and learn something from it. And always remember Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the lord, plans to PROSPER you and not to harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a FUTURE. I love you guys more than you know.

One of the coolest things about being a Christian is it's nearly impossible to completely screw up in your relationship with God. He's forgiving and extremely patient with His sheep because all He wants is a quality relationship. At Frontier, the Younglife camp, I listened to a guy named Steve and he put God and how He works in a completely different way than I had ever thought about. His motif throughout the whole week was putting out green balloons for God. He told us that all God wants us to do is put out these balloons, to accept Christ as our savior, and be committed to our faith and relationship with Christ. He wanted us to put ourselves out there for God to come and envelop us in His love, for us put up the green light for Him. Once we make that initial commitment, we can begin to develop our relationship with God. Steve told us that it might not happen immediately but with some patience, God's love will begin to flow through us, and it is definitely worth it. Peter describes our faith and relationship in 1 Peter 1:7 as "of worth greater than gold." This relationship needs the time and effort invested in it just like a relationship with any human, but God has the power to make life with Him better than life without Him, just think about it: why would God make life with Him worse than life without Him? God also doesn't care about the "scoreboard" idea where your good deeds need to outweigh your sins, which was what I had always of as being a "good Christian." Having a relationship with Him doesn't mean you have to purge yourself of all bad things; He gave up Jesus, His only son, on the cross for all that stuff. He just wants you to love Him, trust Him, and put the time in Him that you would with one of your friends, or even a small fraction of that time because He wants to know you for who you are.

It is a New Year and a fresh start so here are some challenges for you...
-Put aside 20-30 minutes aside each day for God. Read the Bible, pray, write, or whatever you want to praise Him. It can be as little as reading a chapter a night and praying right before you go to bed
-Be patient and persevering: nothing might happen at first, but over time your life will change and it'll all be worth it. Remember He has been patient for so long with you to establish a relationship with Him so be patient with Him
-If you don't already go to church or Younglife, go and actually try to listen
-Try to live like a humble servant. Put others before yourself and be a man or woman built for others

Devotion by Caroline Sanders
December 5, 2011

Hurricane by Jimmy Needham
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZLf--Uc7V0

"I have built a city here
Half with pride and half with fear
Just wanted a safer place to hide
I don't want to be safe tonight
I need You like a hurricane
Thunder crashing, wind and rain
To tear my walls down
I'm only Yours now
I need you like a burning flame
A wild fire untamed
To burn these walls down
I'm only Yours now
I'm only Yours now
I am Yours and You are mine
You know far better than I
And if destruction's what I need
Then I'll receive it Lord from Thee
Yes, I'll receive it Lord from Thee
I need You like a hurricane
Thunder crashing, wind and rain
To tear my walls down
I'm only Yours now
I need you like a burning flame
A wild fire untamed
To burn these walls down
I'm only Yours now
I'm only Yours now
And it's Your eye in the storm
Watching over me
And it's Your eye in the storm
Wanting only good for me
And if You are the war
Let me be the casualty
'Til I'm Yours alone
I am only Yours
I am Yours alone, Lord"

We build up walls against the world. We build up walls against God. How many times do we truly bow our heads and confess to God all the things that we have done, ask Him for what we really need, and talk honestly to Him? God knows us better than we even know ourselves. He knows when we need our walls torn down to be vulnerable to Him. Being vulnerable is not a bad thing. You need to be uncomfortable sometimes in your relationship with God. Only then will you be able to move forward.
God has you protected, even when the world is crashing down around you. He only wants you to come closer to Him. So sometimes, things happen that seem like destruction to your world. However, God is giving you what you need. "If destruction's what I need, I'll receive it Lord from Thee".
Both of these things highlighted in this song, are really difficult. It is often hard for me, personally, to come to terms with what is happening in the world. When someone dies, when I'm in a fight with a friend, when I'm stressed out to the limit and I don't know how much more I can take I find it hard to think about God's greater plan. I also don't like to be uncomfortable in my relationship with God. However, I have to be. In order to become closer to God, we must push our boundaries. But with all of this discomfort, God is still with us. "And it's Your eye in the storm watching over me...wanting only good for me." No matter where we are in life, God is with us.

Lately, I've been having a really hard time with my putting my faith into God and trusting Him that everything will work out. There have been a lot of people who have come into my life lately who aren't the best influences. They like to party, smoke, and do other such things that I've been a part, nor been interested in, but when I have them surrounding me and swaying my thoughts, it's been hard to make the right decisions. I've come very close to making the wrong choice, and I've made people upset with me by not doing what they want, but I know I can't be afraid of what they think of me, and I can't let them make my decisions for me. God has certainly been pulling at my heart to try to be a good influence on them, and I've been ignoring it, but when I was in church this past Sunday, they played "Our God is Greater," which happens to be my favorite song, and I realized that I shouldn't be afraid of anything. God is powerful, and He can make anything happen, and I should be willing to do what He's leading me to do, even if it seems scary. I know that everyone at some point or another has, is, or will face things like this, but just remember that with God on your side, you can do anything, and make it through any situation.

"Our God is Greater" Lyrics:
Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There's no one like You
None like You
Into the darkness You shining
Out of the ashes we rise
There's no one like You
None like You

CHORUS
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...

Into the darkness you shining
Out of the ashes we Rise
There's no One like You
None like You.

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsty.com/chris-tomlin-our-god-is-greater-lyrics.html ]

BRIDGE
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...

And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who can ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
Then what can stand against?
Then what can stand against?

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...

Being called to live a Christian life is not what many people seem to think it is. Christians are viewed as these happy, perfect, everything goes their way people when in reality if you’re truly living the Christian life, you won’t always be happy, you certainly won’t be perfect, and things will almost never go your way. The Christian walk is a struggle. I’m sure some of you have found that out in the few years of high school, but even here we are fairly sheltered. Once we get out of this manicured existence where we have our parents looking out after us and a number of friends raised the same way we were that back our beliefs, all Hell breaks loose. Seriously. Satan is out there and he’s trying in every way he can to gnaw his way into our lives. He’s smart and he’s clever, he knows how to attack us and he knows that a practicing Christian is the most dangerous thing to him. As Christians we are weapons of extraordinary power. We can influence, touch, and convert people that we don’t even know, just by the way we conduct ourselves and the way we walk our lives. So yes, Satan is going to be after us, whether it’s in a loud obvious situation or it’s just a little whisper in the back of our heads. In these moments when we’re being tested we have to be able to keep faith in God and in our community of believers. 2 Corinthians lays it all out when it says, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” We’re going to be in these situations where we are pushed to our limits, but with God on our side and Jesus in our hearts we’ll always emerge victorious, we’ll never be abandoned, never be destroyed. In closing, I just wanted to reiterate how important it is to have your own personal community of believers that you can surround and immerse yourself in and that we all have to be willing to walk this walk with everything that we have and in the end God will pull us through, and when you look back, you’ll realize how many lives you’ve touched along the way.

Also I think you should check out “ iamsecond.com” , specially the testimonies from Josh Hamilton, Chris Coghlan, and Bradie James. They all exemplify what I was attempting to get across and are very powerful stuff. Feel free to watch the rest of them too and find one that really speaks to you personally.

Verse: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

-2 Corinthians 4: 8-9

We all face hardships in our lives. I know I have had my fair share of things that make me feel like God is not with me. But when I heard this song it really made me think about things in a different way. Listen to this song and really think about the lyrics: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ Hope y’all have a good week! God bless!

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

Acts 13:41 “’Look you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.’”

And a quote, “Every day God puts something good in your life. Embrace it and let all the other stuff fade away.”

God does great things in our lives and often we lose sight of the amazing stuff going on around us. Every day look for even the little things that we often take for granted but they’re everywhere. Don’t worry about all the crap going on in your life, let it fade away, and focus on God and his incredible works that he places in your life each day. He will do extraordinary things for you so love Him and embrace everything in your life.

Dream On

"You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers

Who soar to high heights."

-Dr. Seuss, Oh the Places You'll Go!

Where are you going?

What are you waiting for?

Do you believe that you will soar to great heights?

Too often we find ourselves believing Satan's lies; lies that say you will never amount to anything; lies that you aren't special enough or that God can't use you until you are more mature, older, or more educated.

God is in the business of making our dreams come true. He puts many of our desires and dreams in hearts. Then He equips you with the right tools and gifts to accomplish them. We know from scripture that God has an extraordinary plan for your life, yet all He desires is a life of obedience and faith. Faith and obedience is what the "high fliers" or the great people who have gone before us, had in common.

No matter who we are or what we become, God wants to use us in big and small ways each day. Some may become famous, others may find themselves in a more ordinary kind of life, but with God it is always possible to do extraordinary things! When we surrender our lives with the intent to glorify God in all things, I can guarantee God will do more than we can fathom. "Oh the Places You'll Go!"

Into distant lands with the message of Jesus Christ to people who have never heard!

Into high school where the things of this world have replaced Jesus and prayer

Into office buildings where many who get by only because it is routine

Into burning buildings where you will rescue people

Into hospitals where people are dying of illnesses

Into science labs where others search for the meaning of life

Into the sports career where athletes search for a reason to be great besides money

You hold the key to life. In every place you will go, you have the answer that could potentially change the course of someone's life forever. My question to you is, are you willing to share? Are you willing to surrender and let go of your plans for your life and allow God to use you to go places you never imagined you could go? With a small amount of faith all things are possible.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 17:20,

"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, You can say to this mountain, Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Dream big, surrender, and wait.

"So...Be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

Or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

You're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So... get on your way!"

-Dr. Seuss Oh the Places You'll Go

Questions:

What are your dreams? What is holding you back?

Are you limiting God and His purpose for you?

Can you say you fully surrender to God, and want to go wherever He takes you?

Psalm 55:22—“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let
the righteous be shaken.”

Hey, guys! Sooo, I chose this verse today because I really needed to hear it and I just thought I would share it with y’all! I love this verse because it really comforts me when I’m upset and lets me know that God is always there. Whenever something is going on—whether it is something good or bad—God always wants to know how we feel! We can just tell him what’s going on and he will take care of us. God loves us so much and won’t let anything too terrible happen to us. Plus, things happen for a reason. So, tell God when you get a bad test grade or your friend is mean to you—whatever happens—and he will be your rock through whatever happens. He is always there, no matter what.

Jeremiah 29:11

Love you guys! Hope you’ve had a great week!

Caroline LaBoon