THE RUNDOWN
Weekly Information for CBC YOUTH Leadership
January 1, 2020
Dear God, we take this time to thank you for allowing us to see 2020. We know that the life and breath that we have right now, as we read this, is simply a blessing undeserved that you have graciously given to us. We thank you that you are not done with us yet and it is not time to go home yet. We thank you for sustaining us in 2019 and we thank you for starting us off in 2020 in your grace. We thank you for the community you have blessed us with here in this youth group - the faithful saints who have loved you well and allowed us now to follow in their footsteps. So we ask now God that in 2020 we may see you as glorious and worthy enough to chase you more than anything else that might come. We pray that we might chase you because you are worth it and you're good and you lead us to life. We pray for our youth group and all the people that make up this ministry. We pray that we reflect your heart to this city well this year. And we pray that this prayer is consistent in our hearts this year especially when things seem to go sideways. We pray this to you because we know who you are and we want to trust you.
Contents:
- 3 Prayers for 2020
- Are Personal Resolutions Effective or Futile?
- Resource for the year: Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney
- Spring Calendar
3 Prayers for 2020
- Take Sin Seriously // James 1:13-15 // The Puritan John Owen said it perfect, "Be killing sin or else it will be killing you." Ever since the Fall in Genesis 3 and the introduction of sin, all of humanity has felt and experienced the weight of sin. It has come in very aggressive forms of evil as well as extremely subtle forms that chip away at our soul. In the book of James, the author reminds us that these temptations, the temptation to choose not-God for life, comes from within. He says that these temptations are light shiny objects that catch our eyes and we notice it and our eyes become fixed on it. We are enticed (like in a fishing analogy) to the bait that is attached to a deadly hook. In our circumstances this bait comes in the form of so many times - someone else's body, fame of an influencer, comfort of vegging out on Netflix or YouTube, a broken, unhealthy relationship...James then says that as we dwell on this desire, we get consumed by it. We start making plans to pursue it. We flirt with the idea of it and of having it. And we don't do anything to stop it and if anything we allow ourselves to give in to it. So that's what we do. We allow ourselves to chase these desires and we justify to ourselves that it's "good" and we "need" it and worse, we say stupid things like "God wants me to have it." And the passage says that as a period of time after we have given ourselves over to it, it produces ("births") sin. The sinful desire started much earlier with the fantasizing but now the results are starting to show. This is the fruit of sin. And anything that is not of God will eventually lead to death. And what we're talking about here is death in terms of the relationships between you and God. As you live in sin and as you consciously run from God you sever the relationship that you have with him and you continue to distance yourself from him. The nearness of an intimate relationship is gone because you have chosen to hook up with other gods and now you're producing out of those relationships. This is the inevitable path of sin. Our prayer is that you see the insanity of this path and that you would do whatever it takes to kill sin before it kills you.
- Trust that God is good and is for your good // James 1:16-18 // The reason why we want you to see the destructiveness of sin is because we want you to see the goodness of God. In verse 17, James says, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." My prayer for us this year is that we continue to remember that our good God only gives what is good for us and for our flourishing (even pain and trials). The reason why the first point about sin is so important is because what sin does is that it subtly and purposefully pulls us away from our source of life and it ultimately robs us of joy. We often run from God and ignore him because we don't believe that he is good. We treat him and his words as optional and worthless because we believe our way is better and we don't believe he actually loves us. We trade in lesser replacement gods for the real God because it's easier and less work. But friends, if we finally understand that God loves us and he likes us and that he is glorified in our willingly obedience to him...then it changes everything. We make him our priority and we listen to him because we trust him. He becomes our closest friend that we ask for advice before making any kind of decision. He becomes our partner that knows every little piece of our soul and yet loves each part.
- We love our family // James 1:19-22 // All of what we do also takes place in the context of community. As we have learned in the Fall of 2019, the Gospel creates community and be definition, the Christians that make up CBC Youth group are by blood brought into fellowship as a community. We are now brothers and sisters IN Christ because of Christ and FOR Christ. Our mission is the same - the make disciples who make disciples. And because of this, all of our events and activities support this mission and becomes a means to an end. But what this means on the ground for our youth is that we must be a youth group that despises sin and seeks to kill it at every turn. We admit that sin is never isolated to just ourselves and that sin always always always has collateral damage. We must take every opportunity to expose sin where its at starting with ourselves and we do this by confession and repentance. We want to start this new year by rooting out whatever we know in our hearts that may cause brokenness in our community whether that's bitterness, gossip, jealousy, lust, etc. We also love our family this year by being present - in person but also throughout the week caring for one another and checking up with each other.
Think Through DGs
- Discipleship (leading another towards Jesus)
- Missions // Where you're at (namely, at school and online)
- Invite In (Once a Christian, bring them into community)
Are Personal Resolutions Effective or Futile?
For the Christian, are New Year’s resolutions helpful, are they harmful, or are they just a setup for eventual failure? How should we think biblically about resolutions?
Read the answer: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/are-personal-resolutions-effective-or-futile
Spring Calendar 2020
Jan 10 ACCESS Kickoff 2.0
Jan 12 Parents Meeting
Jan 24-25 Youth Symposium (Cancelled)
Jan 26 Youth Membership Meeting
Feb 2 Adult Leadership Meeting
Feb 23 Youth Membership Meeting
Mar 1 Parents Meeting
Mar 29 Spaghetti Luncheon
Apr 4 Parents Micro-Conference
Apr 5 Adult Leadership Meeting
Apr 12 Easter
Apr 26 Youth Membership Meeting
May 3 Parents Meeting
May 22 Last ACCESS
May 24 Senior Banquet
May 31 Youth Membership Meeting