Changing of seasons=Thanksgiving & …

…dare I say Christmas and holiday shopping season…or does this just mean no more flip-flops for me?
The answer to that last question is no, unless there is snow on the ground…which is becoming more and more of a possibility…
As I write this I am drinking a nice warm cup of coffee, wearing shorts and, with a thermometer saying it is 58 degrees outside. What does the beginning of November really mean…
Is it a time to gear up…
think about more football…wishing baseball would end…
or is it just a time to relax and think about what you are thankful for…
Too often we are already thinking about “Christmas” and all we have going on during that time of year. When really we should be thinking about who and what we are thankful for this year…
Now I am going to do something different for the rest of this month’s article. I am going to give you an opportunity to write the rest of the story…Grab a pen and in the rest of this section write down what you are thankful for over this last year…
OVER THE LAST YEAR, I AM THANKFUL FOR…

Please write down and share with others what you are thankful for @ http://brianthefaust.wordpress.com.
Brian Faust Director of Youth Ministries brian@fumcgc.com

September=Open House Month…

…which should equal “Can I Get a Witness”. Anybody else remember that Marvin Gaye Song…

As we start what is traditionally known as open house month in The United Methodist Church, I have been thinking about what that really means to me and our church (especially our youth)! Over the next month, you will probably be watching a college or pro football game and all of sudden there will be a thirty second commercial on the television talking about the United Methodist Church.

The question is not…

…what is the commercial doing to help people make decisions to become disciples of Jesus Christ?

…what is the church doing to help people make decisions to become disciples of Jesus Christ?

…what is First United Methodist Church doing to help people make decisions to become disciples of Jesus Christ?

The better question is…

…what are you doing to help people make decisions to become disciples of
Jesus Christ?!

In 2008 the General Conference of the United Methodist Church added a word to the statement we say when we join the church.

The statement used to read: “As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service?” The statement was great, but we added the words…

…and your witness…

Now a lot of people will say if you are doing the other four then your witness should already be there! And I partially agree with that, but even the best Christians at living out their faith need that reminder daily!

Webster’s Dictionary says a witness is…

…one that gives evidence; specifically : one who testifies in a cause or before a judicial tribunal

…public affirmation by word or example of usually religious faith or conviction

What is your Witness…

…Do your friends know that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ…

…Do your family members want to hear your stories of Jesus Christ…

…Do your neighbors know that you are set apart for Jesus Christ…

…Do your employees/employer know that Jesus Christ is the number one
priority in your life…

…If you were to be put on trial for the criminal act of Christianity (this does not happen in America, but it is going on in other countries across the world), would you be convicted of your witness…

The question of open house month is not…

…Are you inviting people to the United Methodist Church?

…or are you inviting people to First United Methodist Church?

The question of open house month is…

Are you helping people make decisions to become disciples of Jesus Christ?

Is coming to our church a by product of that?

It sure can be.

But the question I have for you right now is…

…Are you being a Witness? Can I get a Witness?

We are a Chosen Generation…

…rise up holy nation, God we live for You, You have called us out of darkness into light so glorious…
GOD WE LIVE FOR YOU!
This was the chorus to the theme song for both camps I took students to this summer. It’s a song written by Chris Tomlin and was sung during the Passion 2010 Conference! (A conference for college students from around the world during their Christmas Break.) The song is based out of 1 Peter 2:9. Hear these words written by Peter:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
The verses to the song talk about how we should run with passion after God, how He has given us freedom, and how God will not be moved or shaken!
Do you believe those words?
Do you believe you are part of the Chosen Generation?
Do you want to live for God?
Do you want to run with passion after Him?
Do you believe He will not be moved or shaken?
Now this song was sung at a college conference and camp to encourage our students to believe they can make a difference in this world if they truly seek after Jesus Christ with their whole heart. It does not make a difference how young or old you may be.
It matters more if you want to be a part of…
God’s Chosen People…
The Royal Priesthood…
A People belonging to God…
Do you want to be a part of the church (worldwide) that sees a generation of change?
A chosen generation that…
Lives for God…
that wants to be called out of darkness and into the light…
Do you want to share those truths with others?
Do you want to see the church prosper again?
If you answered yes to all or most of these, then you want to be a part of the Chosen Generation….
You want to change the world for Christ…
You want to transform not only yourself, but others as well…
You want to make disciples…
We as the United Methodist Church have the mission statement, “The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
Do you believe you are making disciples?
Do you believe you are making Christ-followers?
Do you believe you are transforming the world?
We are called to be the chosen generation. The generation that makes disciples, that changes people’s lives, and transforms the world. I pray and hope we want to be a part of that. Below is the link to the song “Chosen Generation” by Chris Tomlin.
GOD WE LIVE FOR YOU!

Today’s Church and The Church of Ephesus…

…are no different than any other time in the church’s history…just read Paul’s Letter in the second chapter.

Yesterday morning was one of the most dynamic worship experiences in my life. If you were in church yesterday, you know exactly what I was talking about. If you were not, you missed out and we missed you. It was amazing to feel the presence of God, the whole morning, in both our worship services here at the church!

Was it the worship in the park, or the worship in the sanctuary, or the special music? Nope none of those were the home-run! Those things loaded the bases yesterday, but it was Pastor David’s sermon that hit a ball that hasn’t landed yet.

The book of Ephesians is a great book, but the second chapter really brings home the messages that Paul intended for the church to hear in Ephesus, but also today…

Pastor David said it best when he said…

“Paul says sin is all around us and the influence of sin in our lives becomes a barrier between us and God. Without God in our lives, we are spiritually dead. Without God to influence our decisions and guide our actions, we are easily influenced by the ways of the world. Without the presence of God to direct us, we give in to temptation and we fall into sin.”

Now that is a loaded statement, but very true and has led me to ask many questions in my heart yesterday and today.

Where am I not letting God into my life?…
Where am I not letting God influence my decisions?…
Where am I not letting God guide my actions?…
Where am I not letting God direct my life?…

Now each one of the statements/questions has the word “MY” in it. Is that a coincidence or is that us saying, “God, it’s mine not yours.”

But have we ever really thought about how little we let God into our issues, decisions, actions, and direction? The only times we let God into our lives is when we are having a moment when we cannot take care of ourselves.

In the book “The Gospel According to the Simpson’s”, Mark Pinsky states that Homer Simpson is the typical Christian…The only time he ever calls upon God is when he is in trouble. Ding, Ding, Ding we have a winner…

Does that not describe you and me to the tee? It is gut wrenching to think, but I know I have done it many times before. Paul told the church in Ephesus that this was happening to them and it is happening today. We have shut God out of our decisions, actions, and life until we have come to a point of no return or a point that we are in above our heads.

It happens to all of us. I had that moment last week…I had one last month…and I probably will have one next week…unless I/we truly correct ourselves…

So the questions are…

Where are YOU and I letting God into our lives?…
Where are YOU and I letting God influence our decisions?…
Where are YOU and I letting God guide our actions?…
Where are YOU and I letting God direct our lives?…

Brian “The” Faust

TraLePorary, Conditionvant, or RETEMPONAL…the combination of worship styles that are prevalent in the church today…

…now all these words are made up from words of three different worship styles. (Traditional, Contemporary, and Relevant). The other day a buddy of mine sent me a link to a video by a church in Atlanta about worship services entitled “Sunday’s Coming”. (The hyperlink is at the bottom of this page!)
…And maybe my mind started churning on this, when we started the Connect to God, Connect to Others (in Faith), and Connect to the World sermon series. When we Connect to God in worship what does that mean?
…Five years ago I was going through a stage that I really didn’t like traditional hymns and/or any old praise music. (anything later than the 2000s) That probably even lasted until I first took the job here at the church. One of my first questions to Pastor David I had was about the worship style here at the church. When we talked about the job, worship was very important to me.
…Even the first time I was preaching in the park, I knew the praise team would not be here and I wanted to preach with my style of worship! I even called in old friends to help lead worship. I look back and think how greedy that was of me…how much I wanted my way, my style, my worship to be imposed on others.
…Worship is more than singing, more than prayer, more than preaching. WORSHIP IS AN ATTITUDE! Worship is what we put into it. Worship is one of the moments in our lives when we can tell God how much we love him, how much we want to meet with him, and how much we want to spend time with him!
…If Worship is boring or found useless in our daily lives…
…what does that mean our friendship with God looks like? Because we know GOD IS AMAZING! GOD IS INDESCRIBABLE! GOD IS GOD!
He continues to woo us…
He continues to wow us…
He continues to love us…
on a daily basis.
God just wants us to call upon him because we love him and want a relationship with him.
So worship is not about relevance…
worship is not about tradition…
worship is not about how contemporary the service is…
Worship is about singing out…
Worship is about praying out…
and Worship is about preaching out…
with reckless and uninhibited abandon for God.
Worship will only ever be what we put into it…
I have heard many people (in relevant, traditional, and contemporary worship services) say, “I felt the presence of God in worship today.”
God’s presence was there all along, maybe, just maybe, that we met God halfway.
Maybe they sang out…
prayed out…
or preached out…
that day the way God calls us to!
These are some thoughts that are going into my web blog this month @ http://brianthefaust.wordpress.com. I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about this blog!
Brian Faust
Director of Youth Ministries
brian@fumcgc.com

“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

what do Thanksgiving & Xmas mean to… …you? Are you honestly excited about this time of year? Do you think we have made it so secular that we have forgotten the real reason? Or do you just not like this time of year all together?

Now maybe you are already turned off from this blog, because I called it Xmas and not Christmas.  But the two are interchangeable and it wasn’t made that way by the secular world.  It was actually made that way by us as Christians.  The “X” actually is the greek letter “Chi”, which is the symbol used for Jesus Christ. Short for XP which in the greek is pronounced “Chi Rho”.
But is it the thought of short changing Christ during the holidays that really makes us feel that upset about Thanksgiving and Christmas, or is it other things?  A few years ago, I experienced something that Christmas was really NOT about.  I was spending Thanksgiving with a buddy and his family in Wausau, WI.  You see every year, after my freshman year of college, I made it a tradition to spend Thanksgiving somewhere other than home.  I am very grateful for the families that have opened up their houses to me during this time of the year.
Which leads me to that Friday morning a few years ago in Wausau…My buddy Mark and I went out to a local electronics store looking for gifts for ourselves (unfortunately).  As we were leaving the store, and yes we did get the gifts for ourselves, I remember seeing a guy on the pay phone (amazing to think there are very few out there seven years later) and I assumed he was talking.  Actually, I could hear his wife yelling on the other end of the phone.  She was ranting and raving about how she had asked her husband to get one gift and he didn’t get it.  I also heard her say something about how she had gotten ten of the items on their list and he couldn’t just get that one computer for their kids.  Now I don’t know if the husband didn’t get the gift because he slept in, or maybe he took the wrong turn in the store, or maybe he wasn’t sleeping at the store the evening before waiting to be one of three people that could get that gift.
But I do know this…that is not Thanksgiving or Xmas.
…Thanksgiving and Xmas are about the unconditional love that God had for us by sending His son to earth.
…Thanksgiving and Xmas are about the unconditional love that Jesus Christ showed us, by dying on the cross for our sins.
…Thanksgiving and Xmas are about the unconditional love the Holy Spirit shows us, by living in us.
…Thanksgiving and Xmas are about the unconditional love that your family has shown you by caring for you.
…Thanksgiving and Xmas are about the unconditional love that your friends have shown you by asking you the tough questions.
…So what are you thankful for?
…Family?
…Friends?
…God’s Grace?
…And better yet, what do Thanksgiving and Xmas mean to you?
These are some thoughts that are going into my web blog this month @ http://brianthefaust.wordpress.com.  I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about this and the blog and what the holidays, Thanksgiving and Xmas mean to you.
Brian Faust
Director of Youth Ministries
brian@fumcgc.com

It Must be Real Exhausting…to be a very good Christian…

It Must be Real Exhausting…to be a very good Christian…

About a month ago, I was out to dinner with some friends and to my surprise this is what one of my friends said in the middle of the restaurant.

I was more surprised at how loud she said it, than what she said.  It not only started good discussion that evening between us as friends, it has made for good discussions with others.  But the biggest discussion place for this comment was in my head.  As a follower of Jesus Christ I have thought about what she said over and over and over again.

Is “it real exhausting, to be a very good Christian…”?

Do we as followers of Jesus Christ make others think that to be a Christian is exhausting?

Did Jesus make Christianity out to be an exhausting job to follow Him?

Are we, as Christians, exhausted from following Jesus?

Have we, as Christians, gotten the message of Jesus Christ so mixed up that we are exhausted?

I don’t think there is a yes or no answer to any of these questions.

But there is a lot of discussion…not only among our friends…but also in our own heads and what we expect.

As I have pondered this thought over and over the last month or so, I have had many key Bible stories pop into my head.

Like when Jesus told the paralytic man, whose friends lowered him through the roof, get up and walk.

Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them.  Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”…He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”
Mark 2:3-5, 10-11 (NIV)

Jesus told the paralytic, that his sins were forgiven and he could take his mat and get out of there.

Jesus didn’t tell him, “first, you have to read the Torah everyday and pray four times a day to follow me.”

No…

He just said, “get up and walk and that his sins were forgiven because of his friends’ faith in Jesus.”

Many of Jesus’ miracles, He just told the person to get up and be healed…

He didn’t say, “you have to study my Father’s teachings, or pray, or fast…”

He just said, “you are healed and your sins are forgiven…”

But there are also instances where Jesus says, “you have to give up everything to follow me.”

He told Andrew, Simon, and the Sons of Zebedee to leave their living as fishermen and follow him and become fishers of men.

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “ Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”
Matthew 4:18-22 (NIV)

He told them to leave their livelihood…
Jesus told guys who were not scholars…
to follow Him.
Jesus, told them, “you will not need your nets…
your boat…
or your family…”
He said, “Come, follow me…”
“Leave everything you know and have been taught to do…”
“And, I will make you Fishers of Men.”
“Give it all up, for me,” is what He was saying.
Or when the young rich man said to Jesus, “What do I need to do to be your follower and get eternal life?”

A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered.
“No one is good—except God alone.  You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.”
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:18-25 (NIV)

Jesus responded, “You need to get rid of all your earthly possessions to inherit the kingdom of heaven.”

Now if there is anything that makes life exhausting, it’s living outside of your comfort zone…

How many of us struggle with that?

Could we live without our house…

Our car…

Our cell phone…

Jesus couldn’t possible ask me to give up everything…

That is more rules than we can handle…

This brings me to the pharisees and their teaching of the day.

When they were strict followers of the law and every rule known to man,

Jesus told them he did not come to abolish the law…but to fulfill the law
Matthew 5:17 (NIV)

and they just laughed at him.

Jesus flat out told everyone, “I am here to bring relief to ‘The Way’ of living.”

His two commandments of…

Love the Lord your God with all your heart…
soul…
mind…
and strength…

and love your neighbor as yourself, can be tough…

but are not over the top tough.

How each person gets to loving God is between them and God…

Are reading your Bible,
praying everyday,
and fasting important things to do?

Yes, they are because they help you grow into a deeper love for God.

But that is not what brings us in communion with Him.

It’s God grace sent to us as a perfect gift…

who walked this earth…

was wrongfully accused…

died on a cross…

for our sins…

descended to hell…

to overcome death…

and rose from the grave three days later…

and ascended to the heaven…

All we have to do is accept that grace…

A choice we have…
Is it tough to reach out
and love,
serve,
and give to others?

You bet it is…at times.

But, remember God calls us to do this not for our own gratification, but to bring glory to Him…

Not…because it is a ritual or a habit…

Brian Faust
Director of Youth Ministries
First United Methodist Church Garden City
brian@fumcgc.com

I would love to hear your thoughts about this blog…