Psalm 117 - "Praise the Lord, all nations! Worship him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!"

Denise and I were doing our Monday morning ritual of prayer and devotional and during our prayer, she said something very interesting that stuck with me. In life, we all have treasures, belongings, and possessions that we hold close to our hearts. It doesn't matter if you are dirt poor or filthy rich. Everyone has something close to them. But, we all also have things that we don't hold as close to hearts and take for granted many times--rich or poor. Today, I realized how blessed I am by eating a bagel and breathing the breath in my body. Don't forsake the little and unnoticeable things in your life. "Everything good and right and true comes from God."

What is your bagel and breath?

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 - "For the Sake of the Gospel"

"Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to every one, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

My devotions this morning led to this passage. In this passage, Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth and has been laying out several reminders of how to have healthy ministry in a church. They know church, they know the rules, the boundaries, the "do's and don'ts", and the traditions. They know all of these things, and yet many groups in the church are very legalistic and hard-hearted. There are divisions happening and sin is starting to enter the lives of the believers.

Through this passage, Paul sums his letter up in this very passage by saying: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save...I do this all for the sake of the gospel..."

3 Things to take away from this passage:
1) We are given freedom to do as we choose--choose Christ, it's the best way (I promise).
2) Are you stretching yourself enough so that you can reach as many people around you as you can for the sake of Christ and his gospel? Are you IN the world but not OF the world?
3) Where is your heart? Paul says that whatever you do, do it in the name of Christ.

What up!
This is the first of many posts to our newly created blog site for Surge Youth Ministry. To kickoff this site, I would like to thank Alison Boutilier for guiding me through this thing and helping me make this happen... Also, if you're wondering what this site will entail here are a few helpful hints. On this site you will find: Updated youth calendars for the next 2 months, special links,videos, pictures, random questions, posts by Pastor Michael that include: devotionals, random thoughts, upcoming series topics, and special promos. Each week I will post a funny video, a small devotional, and a Scripture that goes with the topic or series for the week! So, hope you enjoy and make the most of this resource for our ministry!