Victors in Christ

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory though our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:55-58
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character: and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:1-8


Have you ever felt defeated in your faith? You became a christian and you were so on fire and passionate about God and wanting to learn more about him by reading his word, then all the sudden you get too busy to read your Bible and you forget to pray and you feel yourself slipping away. Soon a mission trip or conference or great worship night comes up and you attend that and the passion comes back and you're so on fire again, but soon the busyness and forgetfulness returns. It's like this never ending pattern of "ugh".

You know, before we knew Christ, we were slaves to sin. Destined for an eternity separated from God in hell. But as soon as we accepted Christ into our lives, the chains of sin and death and separation from God were broken and we now have victory over sin and death through Christ's death on the cross! How totally amazing is that?

So you realize this, you repent and you feel bad because God is so great and you're... well, so not. Instead of feeling renewed and refreshed you feel even worse because the fact is you're a terrible sinner who constantly screws-up and that's all you can think about right now.

You then proceed to attempt to "fix" things, thinking that will somehow make amends for your terrible human/sin nature. You've come up with a few things that you "KNOW" will make God happy and in turn will make you feel better. Like; reading your Bible 20 times a day, praying before every meal, snack and drink you have, volunteering at a homeless shelter ON a Saturday morning, and watching the kids in the nursery during 1st service, listening to the sermon during 2nd service and working the info desk during 3rd service.

Shortly after you have accomplished this, you begin to realize that it didn't really make you feel any better, you still sin throughout the day and you still feel defeated.
But God tells us in his Word that we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness. And that we are not defeated, but victorious in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Bible tells us to stand firm and do all things unto the Lord to give him glory, honor and praise.
And above all else God tells us about his love.

Why is it so darn easy to focus on the negative? And forget about God's amazing love for us? Sure, we are sinners who deserve hell. Sure, we screw up multiple times and yes God is perfect and totally amazing, but shouldn't that make us all the more excited and filled with great love for our God, the God who first loved us and showed his incredible love through his son dying on a cross for us?
We need not feel defeated in our faith because of our sin. We should instead feel victorious in our faith knowing that the battle of sin and death is already won by Jesus!

We repent our sins, turn from them and we rejoice that we have a Heavenly Father who casts our sin as far as the east is from the west to be remembered no more!
I can still remember when I was younger, my old pastor physically showing me how far the east is from the west. I had heard that term many times, but never actually knew what it meant (geography has never been my thing =P), he took a globe of the earth and told me to start at America and go to the right, east. He said keep going and tell me when you get to the west. So I spun the globe to the right and realized I kept going east, once you started going east, unless you turned the other direction, you couldn't possibly go west. Then, just to prove his point even further, he told me to start at the top of the globe and go down, south, until I reached north. So I did, and sure enough after going south for a while, my finger that was tracing the globe ended up going north. I was fascinated by the fact that north and south somehow touched, but east and west couldn't. It was then that I discovered the true meaning of that verse I had heard so often in church.

Victory in Christ.
Victors in Christ.
Children of God.
Think about it.

Photo credit given to Annemarie Jaquith.*

Troy 2010

As the school year is starting up, I, like a normal teenager, find every possible way to delay all thoughts of text books and teachers. Instead I want to look back at how God has blessed these treasured months that we call Summer:

The highlight of my summer was something our youth group simply calls "Montana." Us highschoolers have the opportunity to go out in three teams to three small towns. This summer we went to Superior, Plains, and Troy. God called me to serve in Troy, a town we just started going to this year. We might have been new to the town, but it didn't take long for us to be welcomed in as family. God started working right away! As we canvassed the town God was already bringing us kids for VBS, teenagers for dance, basketball, and wrestling camps, adults ready to eat free food, and conversations about the gospel. We saw more and more people coming to the park each afternoon. The church we partnered with was eager to learn and their youth group almost tripled the Sunday after we left. The last night we were at the park we had five people baptized. We had even more commit their lives to Christ throughout the week.
My favorite part from our trip this year was bonding with all of the people from the town and from our own team. We got to build relationships that have lasting effects. One girl started coming to VBS and wouldn't let us point the camera at her at all. The last day that sweet girl was posing for us with her leaders! Monday at the park, a girl around my age was sitting at the bleachers alone. Rachel and I went up to talk to her and found out she really wasn't a "people person." By the end of the night we had a great conversation with her, she dedicated her life to Christ, and was baptized a couple days later.
If someone asked me if one person from our team really stood out to me as one on fire for Christ and eager to share the gospel, I would say no. Our whole team was on fire! Our whole team was out there in the park every afternoon talking to somebody about God and His love for us! Looking out, I could hardly ever find one of our students NOT talking to someone outside of our team.
Montana really made me think about my spiritual walk with God. During that week all attention was focused on God and His plan for us. We didn't have our cell phones, Facebook, or anything else like that to distract us from what we came to do. If we weren't talking to anyone at the park, within five minutes a leader would come up to us and point out someone sitting alone. In Troy we prayed for EVERYTHING, whether we were starting one of our camps, talking to someone about the gospel, or saw someone from our team talking about our bracelet. It isn't like that when we get back to Federal Way. We don't go to the cafeteria at school and have Rick or Steve come up to us and tell us to talk to the kid sitting at the next table. Montana really emphasizes accountability. A lot of us come back from Montana and say we "really lost the 'Montana feel' in the real world." I prayed about it and God provided me with a solution...
A couple weeks ago God led me to the computer and I typed out something called "The Fishing Project." This isn't anything new- it is a commandment thousands of years old first given by Jesus Christ himself. The key verses behind this project are Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 1:17, and 1 Peter 3:15. The basic idea behind The Fishing Project is that whatever our situation is, whether we are in school, work, or at the grocery store, we should always be searching opportunities to further advance God's Kingdom. Since I am a sophomore in high school, I am keeping a record- 180 entries for 180 days of school. Instead of keeping a diary or a journal of my teenage dramas, I am keeping a log of how I am able to use my situation to share God's love. This is how I am holding myself accountable to what God is calling me to do. I will use every day to share the gospel at my high school. I will do this with my conversations, my actions towards others, my focus in the classroom, and my dedication to everything I do. God didn't create me halfheartedly and I won't serve Him halfheartedly either.
You can follow my log on the new blog for Christ's Church youth group. I will post daily updates of how God is able to use my presence to lift His name higher. But this isn't just for me. You, too, can join The Fishing Project. The goal is simple: 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Keep an account in a journal or on your computer of how God is working through you to reach His people. Never let your guard down, but always be ready and alert to share the good news that is the gospel. If you have any questions feel free to talk to me or find Shawna Anderson, who is heading up the youth group blog. Together we can hold ourselves accountable to following God's commands. Together we can become "fishers of men."

Written by: Amy R.

Superior 2010

My favorite part about Montana was definitely working on the roof! We had a great time nailing tar paper and shingles down, and best of all, the end result was beautiful!!! I was one of three girls who worked on the roof the entire week, so I had a good time being a BMW!!! (If you don't know what that means, come and ask me!)

On the Tuesday we were there, Susan Kelley, Rylee Lewis, Sarah Thomas, and me were delivering wood to this guy's house. Susan was telling us about him, and we found out that his wife had committed suicide quite a few years ago. We got to his house, and I'm thinking....its hot, I'm tired, dirty, and ready to get in, deliver the wood, and get outta there. After we had taken the wood out of the truck and put it in a pile, Susan went over and asked him to play his guitar for us. He was hesitant, but after she asked a couple more times, he agreed to play. Now I'm thinking....'ok...this is gonna be interesting. Who knows how well he plays, or how long he'll keep us there.' So we go into his house, sit down, and as soon as he starts playing an old hymn I didn't know, he starts to sing. It was so beautiful, and amazing, that I think all four of us were either crying, or about to cry. We could only sing one or two songs that he played, because the rest were older and we didn't know them. But while he was singing, I was astounded and encouraged by his perseverance and faith even though he went through something terrible like seeing his wife after she committed suicide in their home quite a few years back. It really showed me how this trip is not revolved around us, or getting closer to God, its revolved around helping others, and showing them the love and mercy that Christ so generously shows us every single day.

So now that I've shared my favorite part of Montana, and how I was impacted by it, now I would like to share my testimony with y'all :)

So, growing up, I went to church every Sunday, and I accepted Christ into my life when I was about....5 or 6 at Vacation Bible School. To everyone outside my family, I was the perfect little Christian girl. But to my family, I was rebellious, always arguing, jealous, and angry. I was really jealous of my brother and sister because I was ALWAYS in trouble, when it seemed like they never got into trouble. I didn't understand, and I felt unloved. My insistent arguing made my parents decide we should go to counseling in 2005. I didn't like going to counseling one bit, not because of the counselors, but because I didn't want to hear I was wrong, and I was sinful. My jealousy, anger, and pain made me immune to the very people who wanted to help me, and it was a struggle to get me to go to counseling. I didn't realize Christ was working in my life even then, but He kept showing himself in amazing ways. In 2005, my dad became a Christian, which was huge, because my mom had been praying or him for a really long time that he'd come to know Jesus. Before then, I thought of God as some distant person I didn't have to worry or think about till I was older, but I slowly realized that every second I spent not trusting Him, and loving Him, life was not complete. I still struggle with respecting my parents, but it has gotten easier and easier, and I finally realized that I can't live life for myself, I have to live it for God, and ONLY God. Not for people, not for my friends, not to put a show on for everyone, but for God. I've lived my life according to what people want, but its time that I live my life how God wants me to!!!!

Written by: Amanda Z.