Temptation...

This week at middle school club we talked through James 1:9-18.  The main focus was on verses 13-18 which talk about temptation.

Most of the time when we do something wrong, we immediately look for someone else to blame...it could never be our fault, right? My older brother convinced me to do it, all of my friends do it, or even God made me do it...

Wrong! According to James, the desire to do what we know is wrong comes from within us. Check out James 1:13-14...

"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God;' for God cannot be tempted by evil and He Himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust."

So that desire to do what is wrong comes from within us.  Bummer.  If you don't believe me, check out the following verses that show the character of God verses the character of man...

God..Deut 10:17, Ps 7:17, Ps 34:8, Ps 100:5  Man...Is 64:6, Rom 3:23, Rom 5:12


We see then in James 1:15, that the lust, desire to do what is wrong, inside of us can turn into sin if we act on it.  And sin without the saving grace of Jesus leads to death.  BUT what's amazing is that in James 1:18, we see that the Lord provided a way, through the word of truth, that we might be considered His children.  That way is only through the cross of Jesus Christ. 


We all are faced with temptation each day...but dont lose heart, the Lord has provided a way out for those who believe in Him.  Turn to Him and trust Him that He will be able to help you resist temptation and thus grow stronger in your faith!

Water into Wine?

This week at high school club, we covered John 2:1-11.  In this passage, we find the story where Jesus turned water into wine.  It is well known as Jesus' first miracle but as we discussed on Monday, it was much more than that.  If you remember back to last Monday, we talked about how the purpose of John could be found in John 20:30-31...

"Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."

So the purpose of the book is so that people would see Jesus as the Son of God and believe in Him! In His first miracle, we see this and much more! Here are some highlights from the message...

Jesus, the mother of Jesus (Mary) and His disciples were at a wedding.  During the festivities, they ran out of wine.  This was no bueno in that time period! To run out of wine would be the social no-no of the newly weds lives.  Mary brings it to Jesus' attention what is going on but He doesnt fix the problem immediately. Instead, Mary tells the servants there to do whatever Jesus tells them to. We learn a couple things from Mary in this passage...

-She presents her request to Jesus.  She knows who He and what He is capable of and therefore, presents her need to him.
-When Jesus doesnt respond the way she most likely intended Him, she simply tells the servants to do as Jesus says.  This shows great trust and respect for her Savior.

Jesus was not being mean and ignoring the need of these people, rather He was waiting for just the right time.  He was God in the flesh and just as God knows best, Jesus did as well.

Starting in John 2:6, Jesus commands the servants to fill waterpots with water.  They do so and the water is later turned into wine.  The wedding is saved, but more importantly, the glory of God is manifested.  We see this in John 2:11...

"This the beginning of HIs signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him."

So we see in Jesus' first miracle the purpose of this book fulfilled.  He came so that we might believe! Through turning the water into wine not only manifest His glory but it lead people to believe in Him.

1. How often do you fail to present your need(s) to Jesus?
2. If He answers in a way that you dont want/expect, how do you respond? Do you respond as Mary did?
3. Do you live your life in such a way that would lead people to believe in Jesus? What would need to change to make that a reality in your life?

Awkward?

Nine times out of ten family photos are awkward.  Everyone normally matches, which lets be honest, never happens in real life.  Someone is probably in a bad mood and without fail at least one person has bad hair...or will think they did 5 years later.  So in honor of awkward family photos everywhere, at club this week we decided to take some of our own...

Middle school club...

High school club...

We love middle school...

Middle schoolers...it was so good to have your guys back at the KLife house this Tuesday! Tuesdays just arent the same without you!

The book of James...


We started going throw the book of James at club this Tuesday.  This is a letter written by James that is found towards the back of the New Testament.  Its not very long, but its packed full of practical wisdom that can help us live Christ centered lives.

Like we said the other day, why read a book without knowing its purpose? The purpose of James is to practically remind us as Christians how to faithfully pursue a life that authentically loves Christ and chooses to live for Him. As humans, we are sinners, therefore, this is something that we must choose to follow on a daily basis! So join us as we dive into the book of James this semester and strive to live lives that daily point to Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Notes from club...James 1:1-8


James describes himself as a "bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," in verse 1.  When we hear the word "servant" we immediately think of someone who is forced to work against their will.  This is not the type of servant that James is referring to.  So what is a bondservant?

bondservant - someone who freely chooses to give up his/her rights and service to someone else, a person who is devoted to another person's interests instead of their own

So James was basically saying in his opening verse, t that he was choosing of his own will to devote his life to the will and purpose of Jesus!

Then in verses 2-8 james talks about trials.  He tell us to "consider it joy, when you encounter various trials." Crazy thought, huh? To be joyful when bad things happen? But there are a couple things that we want you to take away from these verses...

1. James says "when" trials come, not IF they come.  So if you are follower of Jesus, then you can go ahead and expect trials.

2. Trials are not all bad! Trials are ways that we can strengthen our faith. They are also ways that the Lord can reveal Himself to us and to other people around us.

3. We serve a God who helps us! Verse 5 talks about how we should ask God for wisdom.  What's incredible guys, is He promises to give "generously and without reproach!" This is a really neat thought because remember as sinners, we have gone against the way God intended us to live.  But in His grace and mercy, He not only offered us salvation through the cross BUT He also offers us wisdom, if we ask Him!

4. When you ask...ask in faith! Doubt and faith cant go hand in hand.  The Bible uses the example that a man who doubts is like a man who is tosses back and forth in the sea.  So when you ask...have faith!!

Here are a couple questions to think about as you re-read these verses this week...

1.     James in verse one mentioned that he is a bondservant of God, meaning that his entirety belongs to God. Would you say that every part of your life belongs to God?

2.     Phil shared the story about Pastor Haralan Popov from the book Tortured for His Faith. In his account Haralan faced many trials yet always found joy in his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? How can we have the same joy when we face various trials in our life?

3.     When faced with trails where are we to look to for assistance according to James 1:5-8?

Club is Back...

If you missed tonight, you missed out.  But not to worry, we've got you covered!

At high school club last night, we started our study on the book of John.  Phil did a great job laying the ground work for our study of this book. Here are the key points you want to remember and maybe go back and re-read for yourself!

Every book has a purpose, right? Well the purpose of John can be found in John 20:30-31. It reads...

"Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."

So basically the purpose of the book is to show people who Jesus and how we can have life in Him! The book will continually point to Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. Great stuff right?

Now that we have the purpose of the book, we can start to study it. Because John is a lengthly book, we cannot go through each individual verse this semester, but we will talk about important highlights that lead us back to the purpose!

Here is a breakdown of John 1:1-18:

vs 1-5: Here we see that Jesus is described as the Word.  These verses show us that He was fully God and fully man. Crazy thought, that we cant even wrap our minds around.  But then that points to how big our God is!

vs 6-8: In these verses, we are introduced to John the Baptist.  John paved the way for Jesus but was just a man!

vs 9-13: These verses are awesome.  We believe that God created the world.  We also believe that Jesus was fully God while He was here on earth.  Therefore, Jesus came down to the world that He created.  But the world did not receiver Him.  We see throughout the gospels that Jesus is rejected by men and His chosen people, the Israelites.  BUT to those people who did receive Him, "to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name," (John 1:12).

vs 14-18: These verses tell us again that Jesus became a man.  A man with flesh, bones and blood. But dont forget, He was also fully God! So because of this, we beheld His glory and have the opportunity to receive His truth and the grace that He shared with us.

Here are some questions that you can chew on as you continue to study John on your own this week!

1. What do verses 1-5 reveal to us about the deity of Jesus Christ?

2. Who has the right to be called children of God according to verses 12 and 13? What comfort does this bring you?

3. What is one truth that you learned about Jesus through these 18 verses that you had not known before?

Next week we will be covering John 2! Hope to see you there!


    

Keeping up with KLife...

Welcome to the KC KLife blog! That's right, we gave in with the rest of the internet community and have decided to start blogging to keep you updated with the latest news and happenings in KC KLife.

Here's a couple things that you can be waiting in great anticipation for...

1. The latest news and updates in KC KLife

2. Notes and questions from talks at club

3. Video of the week from club

4. And of course any random things we find that might add witty humor to your day

Bottom line...if you want to know what's happened and what's going to happen, stay tuned and we'll keep you updated!

And as always, you can check out our website at http://kansascity.klife.com!