foureleven student worship: Origins Series

Over the last three weeks at foureleven we have been journeying through Genesis.  Communicating the same message in our back to back services to two different age groups is a lot of fun…and a challenge.  The first week we looked at Genesis 1 and focused on God’s role in creation.  It’s amazing to me how much we can learn about God in the first chapter in the Bible.  His absolute power and goodness is on full display through His work in creation.  God truly is the center and ther star of the creation story.  The second week we zeroed in on God’s creation of Adam and Eve.  We mostly looked at what it means to be created in the image of God.  What a powerful truth!  To think the holy God of the universe decided to create people…and in his image.  We are different than the animals.  We are unique in the eyes of God.  We discussed how we are created with dignity, value, and worth and for the purpose of glorifying God.  Of course we know the image of God in us has been marred because of the evens of Genesis 3 and its radical impact on all of humanity. 

Genesis 3 is where we camped out last night.  I agree with many others that The Fall account in Genesis 3 is one of the most important chapters in all the Bible.  If we don’t understand what took place in the Garden of Eden it is hard to make sense of the rest of the Bible.  We saw last night how sin absolutely ruins everything.  It ruins our relationship with God and even with others.  The awesome thing to me about the passage is that in Genesis 3:15 God preaches the first Gospel sermon.  In the midst of sin first entering the picture of humanity God already has the way back to Him mapped out.  Genesis 3 drips with our sinfulness as we can see ourselves in Adam and Eve, proud and self serving and then ashamed and hiding from God.  That powerful chaper of God’s Word is also gushing with grace though as we see God calling for Adam in the Garden, proclaiming the Gospel, and covering Adam and Eve with animal skins as a picture of the sacrifice that was to come once and for all.  Genesis 3 changed everything for humanity but praise God for His grace and goodness and for His provision in Christ Jesus!  If you have not read the first three chapters of Genesis lately I challenge you to go back and read them.  Read them in light of the rest of the Bible and what we know about God and salvation now through Christ.  God is good.

foureleven

At MeadowBrook we recently launched our new mid-week worship format for our middle and high school students.  Before now MeadowBrook was doing separate middle school and high school services and both were held at 6 PM on Wednesday night. They had a High School Pastor that lead one a service and  Middle School Pastor that lead the other.  Our new format is differnt…differnent means change…but we believe it is a good change. 

When MeadowBrook brought me on staff they had decided to restructure.  Now we have a middle school service at 6PM and high school is at 7:15PM and both are still on Wednesday night.  Our new format allows for us to structure our staff according to strengths and passions, continue to target middle and high school separately, and use one room with our best resources for worship.  We just finished our second week in this format and it was technically our “kick-off night.”

We are excited to see what God is going to do in the lives of students and families at MeadowBrook.  I am pumped about the opportunity to to teach God’s Word to our students in both services and to be able to connect with all of our students in one night.  Getting ready for Wednesday night is a blast and Wednesday itself is exhausting … but a good exhausting.  I pray God does a mighty work in the hearts of students in the Gadsden area and that He raises up students and families thatt will follow Christ at all costs for His glory.

Breakaway

We got back Sunday from a very long but rewarding student trip.  We were gone six nights and seven days to Breakaway Student Conference and our ski trip.  The conference was in Pigeon Forge, TN and we left there and headed up to Winterplace, WV for a little ski action.  We had a great time.  We saw God do some great things in the lives of some of our students and we had an opportunity to connect with our students in a fun environment and also get to know our adult volunteers a little better.  Michael Bozeman put the trip together and did a great job with the million details and conversations that make a trip like that happen and make it successful.  As the ”new guy” I had absolutely nothing to do with making this trip happen but got to have a great time connecting with students and leaders on it.

A big thank you to Bozeman, all our adult volunteers, and Eddie Nichols and the Breakaway staff for making this trip a great experience for our students at MeadowBrook.

Posted above a few pics from my cell phone…including (from left to right)…me and Miller (one of our 7th grade guys) on a ski lift, a view from the ski lift of some slopes, and a view of the beginning of a black diamond that I by no means ever seriously considered skiing.