"Someone Worth Dying For"

We're going to talk about the meaning behind some of the Christian songs that you can find on KLOVE or Air1. This week, we're talking about "Someone Worth Dying For" by Mikeschair. The song will be posted below our discussion with the lyrics under the video.

What does being someone worth dying for mean? Well, Jesus died for us and our sins so that we can be saved and go to Heaven. Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can be free of sin.

In what ways have you felt that you aren't worth dying for? Low self-esteem, depression, sinning, self-afflicting pain?

Why are we worthy? Are we? In our right, we aren't. There's nothing that we have done or can do that makes us worthy of Jesus' death on the cross. The reason why we are worth dying for is because we are God's children.

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
~John 3 (NIV)



Someone Worth Dying For by Mikeschair

You might be the wife,
Waiting up at night
You might be the man,
Struggling to provide
Feeling like it's hopeless

Maybe you're the son,
Who chose a broken road
Maybe you're the girl,
Thinking you'll end up alone
Praying God can you hear me?
Oh God are you listening?

(Chorus)
Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I wanna believe, I wanna believe that
I'm not just some wandering soul
That you don't see and you don't know
Yeah I wanna believe, Jesus help me believe that I
Am someone worth dying for

I know you've heard the truth that God has set you free
But you think you're the one that grace could never reach
So you just keep asking, what everybody's asking

Chorus

You're worth it, you can't earn it
Yeah the Cross has proven
That you're sacred and blameless
Your life has purpose

And you are more than flesh and bone
Can't you see you're something beautiful
Yeah you gotta believe, you gotta believe
He wants you to see, He wants you to see
That you're not just some wandering soul
That can't be seen and can't be known
Yeah you gotta believe, you gotta believe that you
Are someone worth dying for

You're someone worth dying for
You're someone worth dying for

2/28/12 Announcements

Here are the announcements for this week, February 28, 2012.

• 40 Days til FCWC!
• Hunger for Hilton 30 Hour Famine will be March 30-31. Permission slips are available at TurningPoint and online. 
• There are fundraising options:
  • Silkscreening with Pam Merrill
  • Return pop bottles
  • Volunteer for fundraisers we do
• Please sign up for snack. Let us know if you can bring in snack.
• Request to join our facebook group, and like the facebook page

David & Goliath

This week, Josh's lesson was about David & Goliath. He put an interesting visual to the classic story.

Josh used an inflatable bear to represent Goliath, and made a sling out of rope to show a close to accurate recreation of the event. Josh told the story of David & Goliath.

Josh explained that God was with David, and David believed whole heartedly that God would help him.

How does it translate into today?
There are trials and tribulations that everyone goes through, and anyone can take down their Goliath (trials and tribulations) with God.

Moral:

• Goliath represents an evil thing, threathening God's people
• David represents a normal person, someone not equip to do this task on his own even with his skills
• God represents a superstar, helping everyone in their trials and tribulations

Remember, anyone can take down their Goliath with God's help.

Below is the story of David & Goliath, and "classic story" in the first line of the post has a link to the NIV version.
^{~1 Samuel 17 (The Message)}

^1-3 The Philistines drew up their troops for battle. They deployed them at Socoh in Judah, and set up camp between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. Saul and the Israelites came together, camped at Oak Valley, and spread out their troops in battle readiness for the Philistines. The Philistines were on one hill, the Israelites on the opposing hill, with the valley between them.
 ^4-7 A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.
 ^8-10 Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, "Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you're all committed to Saul, aren't you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you'll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!"
 ¹¹ When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine's challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.
 ^12-15 Enter David. He was the son of Jesse the Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse, the father of eight sons, was himself too old to join Saul's army. Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who had joined up with Saul were Eliab, the firstborn; next, Abinadab; and third, Shammah. David was the youngest son. While his three oldest brothers went to war with Saul, David went back and forth from attending to Saul to tending his father's sheep in Bethlehem.
 ¹⁶ Each morning and evening for forty days, Goliath took his stand and made his speech.
 ^17-19 One day, Jesse told David his son, "Take this sack of cracked wheat and these ten loaves of bread and run them down to your brothers in the camp. And take these ten wedges of cheese to the captain of their division. Check in on your brothers to see whether they are getting along all right, and let me know how they're doing—Saul and your brothers, and all the Israelites in their war with the Philistines in the Oak Valley."
 ^20-23 David was up at the crack of dawn and, having arranged for someone to tend his flock, took the food and was on his way just as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the army was moving into battle formation, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines moved into position, facing each other, battle-ready. David left his bundles of food in the care of a sentry, ran to the troops who were deployed, and greeted his brothers. While they were talking together, the Philistine champion, Goliath of Gath, stepped out from the front lines of the Philistines, and gave his usual challenge. David heard him.
 ^24-25 The Israelites, to a man, fell back the moment they saw the giant— totally frightened. The talk among the troops was, "Have you ever seen anything like this, this man openly and defiantly challenging Israel? The man who kills the giant will have it made. The king will give him a huge reward, offer his daughter as a bride, and give his entire family a free ride."

Five Smooth Stones

²⁶ David, who was talking to the men standing around him, asked, "What's in it for the man who kills that Philistine and gets rid of this ugly blot on Israel's honor? Who does he think he is, anyway, this uncircumcised Philistine, taunting the armies of God-Alive?"
 ²⁷ They told him what everyone was saying about what the king would do for the man who killed the Philistine.
 ²⁸ Eliab, his older brother, heard David fraternizing with the men and lost his temper: "What are you doing here! Why aren't you minding your own business, tending that scrawny flock of sheep? I know what you're up to. You've come down here to see the sights, hoping for a ringside seat at a bloody battle!"
 ^29-30 "What is it with you?" replied David. "All I did was ask a question." Ignoring his brother, he turned to someone else, asked the same question, and got the same answer as before.
 ³¹ The things David was saying were picked up and reported to Saul. Saul sent for him.
 ³² "Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine."
 ³³ Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced—and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."
 ^34-37 David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine."
    Saul said, "Go. And God help you!"
 ^38-39 Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge.
    David told Saul, "I can't even move with all this stuff on me. I'm not used to this." And he took it all off.
 ⁴⁰ Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.
 ^41-42 As the Philistine paced back and forth, his shield bearer in front of him, he noticed David. He took one look down on him and sneered—a mere youngster, apple-cheeked and peach-fuzzed.
 ⁴³ The Philistine ridiculed David. "Am I a dog that you come after me with a stick?" And he cursed him by his gods.
 ⁴⁴ "Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I'll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice."
 ^45-47 David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"
 ^48-49 That roused the Philistine, and he started toward David. David took off from the front line, running toward the Philistine. David reached into his pocket for a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. The Philistine crashed, facedown in the dirt.
 ⁵⁰ That's how David beat the Philistine—with a sling and a stone. He hit him and killed him. No sword for David!
 ⁵¹ Then David ran up to the Philistine and stood over him, pulled the giant's sword from its sheath, and finished the job by cutting off his head. When the Philistines saw that their great champion was dead, they scattered, running for their lives.
 ^52-54 The men of Israel and Judah were up on their feet, shouting! They chased the Philistines all the way to the outskirts of Gath and the gates of Ekron. Wounded Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road all the way to Gath and Ekron. After chasing the Philistines, the Israelites came back and looted their camp. David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem. But the giant's weapons he placed in his own tent.


⁵⁵ When Saul saw David go out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Tell me about this young man's family."
    Abner said, "For the life of me, O King, I don't know."
 ⁵⁶ The king said, "Well, find out the lineage of this raw youth."
 ⁵⁷ As soon as David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner brought him, the Philistine's head still in his hand, straight to Saul.
 ⁵⁸ Saul asked him, "Young man, whose son are you?"
    "I'm the son of your servant Jesse," said David, "the one who lives in Bethlehem."

2/21/12 Announcements

Here are the announcements for this week, February 21, 2012.

• 47 Days til FCWC!
• Hunger for Hilton 30 Hour Famine will be March 30-31. Permission slips are available at TurningPoint and online. 
• There are fundraising options:
  • Silkscreening with Pam Merrill
  • Return pop bottles
  • Volunteer for fundraisers we do
• Please sign up for snack. Let us know if you can bring in snack.
• Request to join our facebook group, and like the facebook page.

Christian Atheist: Testimony

Finishing up the Christian Atheist series, we asked Chris Charette, Assistant Pastor of Parma Christian Fellowship Church to give his testimony. He was able to change his life with God's help.

The verse he took as his "life verse" is:

³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.

~John 3 (NASB)

 

Chris's advice:

Stay close to God. You can't face other things if you can't face God.

 

2/14/12 Announcements

Here are the announcements for this week, February 14, 2012.

• Happy Valentine's Day! Check out the mini-post for Valentine's Day!
• 54 Days til FCWC!
• Valentine's Dinner was the other day. It was a very successful dinner, and the teens who helped did a FANTASTIC job! We are proud of the hard work you did! You can check out pictures here or on facebook. 
• There are fundraising options:
  • Silkscreening with Pam Merrill
  • Return pop bottles
  • Volunteer for fundraisers we do
• Our Hunger for Hilton 30 Hour Famine will be March 30-31. More info will be given next week.
• Please sign up for snack
• Request to join our facebook group, and like the facebook page.

Valentine's Day

¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.    God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
 ¹⁹ We love because He first loved us.

~1 John 4:16-19

Happy Valentine's Day! Take some time today to remember WHY we love our family, friends, and significant others. Even if you are single, remember that God is your valentine everyday!

Valentine's Dinner 2012

Today, we had our Second Annual Valentine's Dinner. We had a great turn out, serving 43 people this year, almost doubling what we served last year! We had 10 teens working at the event, and they all did a fantastic job! The leaders are very proud of the hard work they did!

The Valentine's Dinner is a fundraiser for Parma Christian Fellowship Church's Building Fund. (You can find out more about our building project here.) The Valentine's Dinner aims to give friends, families and couples a nice, relaxing evening out for dinner.

We were lucky enough to have received enough food donations to give over $500 to the Building Fund! Thank you to everyone who donated their money, food, time and energy to the Valentine's Dinner (and a very special thank you to the Brockport Wendy's for the salad and Justice Florist for the centerpiece that was raffled)! There is no way that the dinner would have been as successful without you.

You can check out all of the pictures at our Flickr site, here.

Christian Atheist: Decisions

We finished up our series on the Christian Atheist. This week, we're talking about making decisions.

Before you're a Christian Atheist, you have to be a Christian.

How do you become a Christian?

• Believe in God
• Devote your life to God
• Ask for forgiveness. Be authentic, truly mean it.

You will sin after you change your lifestyle, so don't be discouraged. You need to ask for forgiveness and keep working to live like a Christian.

If you want to talk to someone about making decisions to follow Christ, don't hesitate to contact a youth leader. They are more than willing to help you!

2/7/12 Announcements

Here are the announcements for this week, February 7, 2012.

• 61 Days til FCWC!
• Valentine's Dinner is THIS Sunday! The dress code for the dinner is a red shirt, and black pants, socks and shoes. If you have signed up to help, Paula will be asking if you have the clothing to wear, or if you need to borrow it.
• There are fundraising options:
• Silkscreening with Pam Merrill
• Return pop bottles
• Volunteer for fundraisers we do
• Our Hunger for Hilton 30 Hour Famine will be March 30-31. More info will be given after our dinner.
• Please sign up for snack
• Request to join our facebook group, and like the facebook page.