New Creation

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:15-21

If you are a Solid Rocker going on the mission trip, you will hear this verse a lot over the coming months! This is our mission trip theme verse for 2011. We are gearing up for this trip, the money is rolling in, our Golf Tournament is weeks away, the planning as begun, the adults are being trained. Before you know it we will be loading up the bus and hitting the open road to Knoxville, TN! As we head to this beautiful area of the country, surrounded by mountains majesty, glorious trees, and nature all around you can't help but think of creation!

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul writes that if we are in Christ we are in the new creation that Christ has brought to us! This is the amazing and gracious truth about Jesus! We are all in Christ. And when Jesus died on the cross and rose up from the grave he washed away our sins which brought ALL of us into new life, a new creation! This new creation where we are not held captive to sin and death! We live because Jesus lived. We are invited into this community of Christ and get to live now in the present in this new creation!

The new creation is not something that will come in later times, it is not something we have to wait around for. It is here, now! We just have to live our lives in Christ. When we do that we get a taste of the new creation because we are like Jesus, we can be like him and see his glory in this world, now and today!

So how are you enjoying this new creation that you are in today? How are you working in and for Christ to show others this new creation? This is what we will be doing in Knoxville this summer, but why wait till then to be created new and enjoy the new life that has been so graciously given to you?!

May your week be filled with new creations and new life of Jesus. May you see him in all you do and show others the creation that he created, pure, true, and beautiful. May you enjoy this new creation gift!

To Much, Too Fast

So this week I am gearing up for a trip to Minneapolis, MN for a three day training to become a National Youth Gathering Coach for the Florida-Bahama Synod. As I write this I am freaking out a little, looking at the large calendars in front of my, the monthly calendar on my computer screen, and the weekly calendar hanging on my wall and they are filled completely. Friends and family are constantly asking what am I doing on this weekend or that weekend so that we can do some fun activity and my constant answer is, "I'm working." It seem to just be the time of year, the weather is nice so in youth ministry we gear up activities and do some extra longer events, Easter and Lent is upon us so mission stuff is all over the place, and its do or die time for all the summer trips. Of course it doesn't help that I've accepted this additional duty as the Synod's Youth Gathering Coach. I'm overwhelmed and I know you all can completely relate. If you aren't there now, you probably have been!

I keep on thinking to myself, "I've got to much going on." But everything I'm doing gives me life and fulfilment and if I had to pick something to drop, I don't know what it would be. I think we all have heard that God doesn't give us more than what we can handle and looking at the past few months of my life and the ones coming up I feel like all I can do is believe that to be true. I feel completely overwhelmed, yet every morning I wake up, I go to work, I function well, I see friends and family, relationships are going well, and so are the ministries. God is calling me to do these things and I believe he has his hand in all of it. Which means I'm not alone. God is challenging me and he challenges all of us. He knows us better than we even know ourselves...He created us! So of course he knows what our limits are and he doesn't seek to harm us so why would he give us more than we can handle?

I know that at times it feels like life is too much, we have a billion things thrown at us, but that is just he challenge of life and the joy of God's presence in our life (that's right, JOY!). If this was all simple and easy, well then what would the point really be? Nothing God has expected of anyone has been easy. Was it easy for Jesus to accept his fate of dying on the cross for us? NO! Now aren't you glad that God's expectations of you are just a little lower than he had for Jesus?!

So this week as you are drowning in a sea of stress and life, stop, and take a look around you. My bet is you will see God, present in your chaos, walking with you because He knows that you can accomplish what he has put before you, he has faith in you, now all you need is faith in him!