Uncategorized

Trusting Through Uncertain Times

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

Intro to Habakkuk
By Casey Showalter

The book of Habakkuk is unique in the fact that it is not a letter written to Israel, but it is a conversation between Habakkuk and God. Yet the book was meant for Israel. It was composed to be a voice of godly men trying to understand the ways of God.
The message uses the word “complaints” to describe the way that Habakkuk prayed to God. His first complaint was that the evil that he was watching in Judea was breaking his heart and he was upset at God that it was going unpunished. God responds with a promise. He promises that Babylon will punish Judea. Habakkuk’s second complaint was that it was not fair that Babylon, an evil city full of sin, was to punish Judea, whom Habakkuk saw as more righteous than Babylon.

Not much is known about Habakkuk, but we can believe that he was a righteous man of God. Even this man, whom God spoke to directly, could not understand God’s ways. If this man of God, had moments in his life when he could not understand God’s plans, why do we let ourselves get discouraged when we feel like we don’t know what God is doing or why he lets things happen? Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Even when we face moments of uncertainty and wonder how God is working we can trust that he knows what he’s doing. “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 hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

CIY MOVE: ANYTHING CAN BE REDEEMED

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

CIY MOVE: DAY FIVE

It’s hard to capture in words the incredible ways in which the Lord has been moving among us this week. It’s not been easy… Even praying for God to “MOVE” is a dangerous prayer, that if asked of Him in earnest requires some expectation of the work that He needs to do. He has been answering our prayers. The past couple of days we’ve looked at themes of our hurts, forgiveness, kingdom work, and God’s presence as they parallel God’s work in the life of Joseph from Genesis 37, 39-47. We’ve had a total of 13 students make significant decisions, public confessions, apologies, statements of release and forgiveness of those who have wronged, hurt, abused, and taken advantage of them… and we’ve seen and felt God’s presence through it all. One statement in particular that rang out as clear as a bell from this morning’s speaker was the statement “Anything can be redeemed.” We were simultaneously challenged by Michael Defazio (@mighael_defazio) to never again utter the statement “Everything happens for a reason…” The reason we shouldn’t say that in reference to God is that it’s simply not true to the fact that God doesn’t cause everything to happen… Sometimes things happen because of people’s bad choices, selfish motivations, and misused freedom… God doesn’t cause those things, but He does promise that He can and will in all things “work for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28)… and when difficult things happen we can have confidence to know that God will never leave us, and nothing is beyond His redemption. So with confidence, we say… “Anything can be redeemed” and mean it. We have seen it. We are seeing it. We are being blown away by story after story of His incredible redeeming work in unbelievably difficult situations. It’s messy. It’s hard. It’s uncomfortable… but it’s reality. It’s a reality that’s breaking in and washing over us and leading us in God’s timing and God’s way of restoration. Please pray for all that’s yet to come as we finish the week strong and continue to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

– Nick Wilkes

CIY MOVE: DAY TWO

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

CIY MOVE: DAY TWO

There’s nothing quite like the sound of hearing students lifting one another in prayer, passionately crying out before God on behalf of their brothers and sisters… Tonight we had 8 students make decisions for Christ and share a piece of their story of what God is doing in their lives, and how they need God to meet them where they are at and not leave them there. Please join us in rejoicing with and praying for Nate, Abby, Hannah, Conner, Tiffany, Kennedy, Taylor and Lexi. Tonight we were challenged specifically from the story of Joseph in Genesis 37 and how even when Joseph found himself beat up by his brothers and thrown into a pit to die, God provided for him and rescued him. We were called once again by Rachel Oblon, our evening speaker, to invite Jesus into the pits of life that we find ourselves in and allow Him to rescue us, even when there seems to be no hope. More to come tomorrow.

Don’t forget to check our instagram.com/chapelrockym or twitter.com/chapelrockym for up to the minute photo updates.

CIY MOVE: DAY ONE

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / 1 Comment

CIY MOVE: DAY ONE

Our journey to Holland, MI included a blowout that resulted in two tires being replaced… but it wasn’t enough to deflate the mood or our first day as we finally arrived and have gotten settled in to at Hope College.

The theme this week is “Rise Up” and is in-depth look at the life of Joseph. Rachel Oblon challenged us tonight from Genesis 37 and brought some really great perspective to the story of Joseph. She really challenged us to “Rise Up” and allow God to write His story with our lives, a story that far bigger than anything we can write on our own. Tomorrow is our first full day and we’re eagerly anticipating digging in and experiencing all that God has in store for us.

Who does God love?

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

Obadiah: Who does God love?
By Rick Phipps
Today’s key verse: 1:15

“The Day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your head.”
Side note: Obadiah’s name means “servant or worshiper of YAHWEH (Lord).
As Jeff wrote about the other day Obadiah is prophecy written to the nation (people of) Edom (descendants of Esau). Who were blood brothers to the Israelites (descendants of Jacob) yet hated them and aided the enemies of Israel. (Israel at this time was split in two…the northern kingdom Israel and the southern kingdom Judah)
Obadiah wrote: vs. 3: The pride of your heart has deceived you.
Edom felt secure and they were proud of their self sufficiency. They had no problem helping the enemies of Israel for they were sure that these enemies could not get at them. For Edom was a mountainous and canyon country. Their capital, Sela, later called Petra, was a city considered impregnable because it was cut into rock cliffs and set in a canyon that could be entered only through a narrow gap. (made me think of the narrow gap the 300 Spartans held if you know your Greek history or seen the movie)
But in verse 10 God condemns them: Because of the violence against your brother Jacob you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.
The prophecy continues up to verse 15 with a rant against Edom but in verse 15 the prophecy takes a change with the words “for all nations“. God doesn’t play favorites…God is aware of more than just Israel and the nations that surround them. God is aware of every nation, every people group, everybody everywhere. Yes this judgement for sin is not limited by locale. And what sin is He relating to?
The verse continues with: “As you have done, it will be done to you;” Sound familiar? Jesus is quoted in Luke 6 as saying: “Do to others as you would have them do to you”. God’s ways were taught by Jesus as well.
The verse continues still with:”your deeds will return upon your own head.” Or as Paul wrote in Galatians 6:7…”Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
But for an even bigger picture of how this judgment spoken here as “for all nations” we need to read Matthew 25: 31-46 which is commonly titled in a lot of Bibles as ‘The sheep and the goats’. For here Jesus talks about the final judgment and how every person will be held accountable for their lives actions.
Reading Obadiah it’s easy to see the reality of harsh judgment for harsh actions. God wiped out Edom. And some will say ‘well they deserved what the got’. Proverbs 24:17 says:”Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles”. For no man is without sin; Romans 3:23 says: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
But when you break down Edom’s actions to everyday people like you and me then it definitely forewarns us to watch what and how we interact with the rest of the world. From fellow Christians to family members to outsiders.
God loves everyone…God loves everyone…God loves everyone…God loves everyone.
Jesus said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Poetic Justice

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

Poetic Justice
By Jeff Dillinger
Obadiah 1, Genesis 25: 19-34

Esau lived for the moment and did not heed any warning that he would lose his life. Even when he freely gave up his birth rights, he did not think that he had actually given anything away. He felt that he could and would trick his brother out of what he had given him. I get the feeling that he looked down on his brother and just about anyone else. He was at the top and no one could reach him to knock him down. He did not think that the rules applied to him or that anything bad could ever happen to him.

The people of Edom, Esau’s decedents, were the same way. They not only watched as Jacob’s people were attacked, but they laughed and handed those who had escaped over to their captives. God gave Obadiah a vision. The vision was about the complete destruction of Edom and Esau’s people.

There are many people that I know who do whatever they want and justify it as long as it benefits them. They do not care who it hurts. Some even laugh at those they have taken advantage of. Their reward will be short lived and your reward in Christ will last forever.

I know that it is very difficult to wait till eternity every time someone wrongs you. It seems like a long time to wait. However, the eternal reward that we will receive for doing as God has asked will be well worth the wait.

Warning

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

Warning
Amos 4-7
By Kailey Sanford

In the world we live in today, injustice lives everywhere. Not everyone may see it or hear about, but it still happens. Amos was a shepherd in Judah. He wrote this to warn the people of Judah and Israel of what God was planning as a punishment. This was Amos’ last “get out of jail card” for the people. He was pretty much saying that the people needed to stop or they were going to meet their true God but, not in a pretty way.

Amos uses this book to kind of be an example to the others. He goes through all the sins that the Israelites were committing on a daily basis and shows how God puts them through trials. But even though God put them through many tests, the people still wouldn’t come to God. In Amos 4:4-7, Amos talks how Jeroboam had set up a golden calf in the city of Bethel. This became the place with the highest rate of idolatry. He also talks about Gilgal, another huge golden calf worship center. Amos was trying to invite the people to turn back to God and repent. With everything Amos said the people still didn’t turn back to God. And in today’s culture we see something similar. With all the technology that has been placed in our hands, it can almost as if we are worshiping these technological advances. Though it doesn’t seem like it, we become so wrapped up in these things that we turn away from God. He finds a way to warn us and we will sometimes turn down that offer.

The Israelites turned down God’s repentance offer many times. Amos had given them their one last chance before God took it in his own hands. To make the people realize what they were doing God punished them. The people experienced famine, drought, mildew and insects, plague, war, and some divine intervention. Now when we became wrapped up in our things we don’t have any of these things happening, but we could have something life shattering turn us back to God. God uses tactics just like a lot of parents do. They warn their children and if the children don’t listen the intervene and often the children are punished. That’s what God does to us.
Think about this.. Is there something in your life that is taking a higher rank than God?

What would you do if you were warned that you were about to meet your God?
Pray and think about ways you can make God number one in your life!

How do I know?

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

by Andrea Koehler

I have this friend who has what appear to be prophetic dreams. And once? Once she told me she had a dream about me. About my future. She even told me a little of what it portended (which basically means predicted, but in a more mysterious and prophety way so it seems like the right word to use). I suppose a lot of us haven’t had this sort of experience but I can tell you from mine that it’s a bit weird. What am I supposed to do with this information? Do I act on it? Assume that kind of stuff is all made up? Or have faith that it means something? How do I know what’s true?? 

I was thinking about this as I started doing research about Joel to write this post. And here’s what I found out: nobody really knows exactly what’s up with him. There’s very little in the context of the book that helps pinpoint just when Joel lived or whether the book is a continuous prophecy or a collection of fragments. So I found myself again asking questions. What am I supposed to do with this information? Do I need to figure it out to understand what Joel is saying about God? How do I know what’s true??

And then of course it came to me: The Holy Spirit. I think it’s at the root what all of this is about—Joel, what he says about God, and all the sons and daughters of the Lord dreaming dreams, seeing visions, and prophesying. Here’s how I read it.

Up until 2:12, we’ve been treated to a graphic picture of God’s fearsome wrath. Unstoppable locusts devouring the land. The warning against the greater terror of Judgment Day. But then in verse 12 the darkness suddenly breaks as God shows his people another way. “Even now,” he says, “I still want you.” “Return to the Lord your God,” he says, “for he is gracious and compassionate.” God is alwaysseeking a way to bring us back to himself, just as we saw in Hosea. So in 2:12-17 he gives the nation of Judah another chance to repent, promising to be gracious if only they’ll put him first. Then in verse 18, we see how his intense love overwhelms even his wrath. Judah deserved to be punished for disobedience, but instead God “was jealous for his land and took pity on his people.” He promises them bounty, protection, and joy. I love the absolute richness of what God promises in 2:18-27. It’s a picture of everything beautiful, and the complete opposite of the whole locust experience.

And then it all comes together in the last part of the chapter. 

2:28-32 refers again to the coming Day of the Lord, but now God reveals something more. There is talk of smoke and fire and dread. But in the midst of it there is a promise not only of restoration, but of himself. He says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” He has already decided all the way back in the Old Testament that he will continue to restore his people and share himself with them. It’s a theme that comes up again and again in the Old Testament prophecies: God decided from the start that he would be present with us and that he would redeem us and that he would continually reveal his truth to us.

I love the way this plays out in Acts, when Peter quotes this very passage from Joel. It’s just after the Holy Spirit has shown up in a great display of wind and fire and words. Because the disciples all begin speaking in tongues, this huge crowd around in them Jerusalem—all the Jewish people who have gathered for Passover—think they’re probably drunk. But Peter says “No! Listen! We are not drunk. Don’t you see? God has promised this to us and HERE HE IS.” God has promised and he has come through. His word can be trusted. He is moving among us now, calling us back to himself.

And that brings be back to where I started. How do I know what’s true? It might not always be easy to tell what happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago to the prophet Joel or to anticipate my own future. But it’s clear that right now, at every moment, God wants us to be near him. He wants to show us the truth about who he is and the sort of people he wants us to be. He wants us to put him first. And above all, even now, he will be with us.

__________________________________

Today’s writing is entry #6 of our Minor Prophet series. Join with our study throughout the week, and as we gather on Sundays at 9:15 at The VINE at Chapel Rock to unpack the truth of God’s word together. This week’s study is focusing on the writing of the Prophet Joel.

Today’s reading is Joel 2:12-2:32 and Acts 2:17-21

The Day of the Lord

/ Chapel Rock Youth Ministry / Leave a comment

By Rick Phipps

Today’s Reading: Joel 1:1-2:11

Whereas Hosea (He is my love who is forever faithful) was prophecy to the Northern Kingdom also known as Israel.  Joel (He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit) was given prophecy by God for the Southern Kingdom also known as Judah. But, as with all prophecy, it is always also directed to any of God’s people anywhere and anytime. God’s word is always relevant no matter the peoples or eras in which one is living. Oh, yeah just in case you were wondering, the ‘parenthesis’ words are a short sentence summation of  the book’s contents that was given to me by author unknown but which I find kind of a good way to think about the underlying subject of the book as I read it.

Why is Joel sent to prophecy to Judah?  A biblical commentator writes: “The people of Judah had become prosperous and complacent taking God for granted, they had turned to self-centeredness, idolatry, and sin. Joel (was given the task by God to) warn that this lifestyle would inevitably bring down God’s judgment.” His time frame was approximately 835 to 796 B.C.

Joel 1:1 – 2:11

Joel starts by describing an invasion by locusts. Locusts are a grasshopper like creature that can fly with a good wind a distance of over a 100 miles at a time before landing. They are 2-3 inches long and are on the move their whole lives which its only seemingly purpose is to search for food, eat and reproduce. Their main nourishment is vegetation…generally any kind of plant life. So how are a few little grasshoppers a threat?  Well they have this tendency to swarm, joining together in a group, forming an insect army and moving and working together.  Their swarms can number in the millions of the flying, eating, mating creatures. One swarm, as documented in World Book by the Red Sea, was believed to have covered an area of 2,000 square miles! That’s a lot of bugs!! So when Joel warns in verses 2-4 of the devastation so great the tale will be told for generations…it’s bad.  Three separate swarms attack the crops and plants of Judah as told in verse 4. This locust plague was as devastating as an invading army. How could there be any green living thing left?  Reading on, we find out there wasn’t anything left.

Read the description of how it affects and is felt by the people. Verses 5-7 describes it like an attacking army laying waste to the land. Verses 8-12 starts with the feeling “mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth,” which describes how devastating this event is to one’s mental state as to the loss of one’s love that was to be their life mate. The description continues…priests not able to minister the sacrifices…farmers not able to bring in any kind of crop to feed or make a living for their families. So devastating is this on the people that in verse 12 it says, “Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.”

Verse 13-14 calls for the putting on of sackcloth which was usually worn when mourning…but at that time they were called to mourn for their sin. Sackcloth…mourn…wail…declare a holy fast…call a sacred assembly…cry out to the Lord. Their sin brought about judgment…the judgment demands an action of repentance; a sincere heart cleansing repentance. Why? Verse 15 says, “Alas for that day! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty”.

How fearful is the day of the Lord? Read verses 16-20 and yet judgment on ‘the day of the Lord’ is far worse! Chapter 2:1-11 speaks of such a terrible invading force, which is like a swarm of locusts, but in verse 11… “The Lord thunders at the head of His army; His forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey His command. The day of the Lord is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?”

So a swarm of locusts in threefold attack cannot measure up to the terror of God’s wrath. The locust swarm is just a picture of what lays in store if sin isn’t repented, lives and hearts aren’t changed, and action is not taken to clean up one’s life. And yet how many ‘locust swarms’ have we endured and in our pride thought if we endured this we can endure anything. The warning was there, the chance was given. So what choice do we leave God but to face ‘the day of the Lord’. I pray that you nor I never allow ourselves to love ourselves so much that we would have to face a ‘locust swarm’ but, if we do, then have the sense and faith enough to repent before we have to face God’s dreadful judgment.

_______________________

Today’s writing is entry #5 of our Minor Prophet series. Join with our study throughout the week, and as we gather on Sundays at 9:15 at The VINE at Chapel Rock to unpack the truth of God’s word together. This week’s study is focusing on the writing of the Prophet Joel.