A little taste of Acts

Take your time, read through the song and ask God to settle your heart before him

I see your face in every sunrise

The colors of the morning are inside your eyes

The world awakens in the light of the day

I look up to the sky and say... You’re Beautiful

I see your power in the moonlit night

Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright

We are amazed in the light of the stars

Its all proclaiming who you are... You’re beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree

You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me

Now you are setting on your heavenly throne

Soon you will be coming home... You’re Beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore

Where death is just a memory and tears are no more

We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring

Your bride will come together and we’ll sing... You’re Beautiful

Reading this song to me is like a journey, it starts much like Genesis at the awakening of the earth.  The second verse reminds me of psalms and the early profit books of the bible, right after that it talks about the gospels.  In closing the song ends with a beautiful depiction of our final days as we enter the kingdom of heaven.

-In four sentences summarize this entire song-

Every time we sing the final verse as a choir, I get goosebumps.  The way we sing the song stands out to me even more than the CD.  It’s just such a great reminder of what our final prize is on this journey of ours.

-Read Phillipians 3:12-21- In your own words describe what this passage means.

“Where death is just a memory and tears are no more” – If you’ve ever lost some one in your life these kinds of phrases hit you hard, it’s not just a song you sing, it becomes much much more than that.  Imagine being reunited with your loved ones and the Joy that will come to you in the very end.

-What kind of Hope does the gospel bring to us in regards to the after life? And what does that mean to you personally?-

This song is not just words aligned with melodies and harmonies, it’s a story, a great story…it’s not just one of HAPPINESS or FEELING GOOD all the time.  The story consists of awakenings, trials, sacrifice and redemption.  Where are you right now in your life?  Are you just awakening? Are you going through a hard time?  Have you just realized that Jesus is your salvation?  Are you in need of repentance or redemption?  Wherever you are in your life, know that the complete product after fighting the Good fight and winning the race is one more glorious than I can even describe to you.  All I can say is “It’s beautiful”.

-Take this time to close in prayer, pray whatever is on your mind- 

Your Kids...God's Word

Brian Martin

**Personalmente, Yo creo que alguna cosa mágica sucede al oír la sagrada escritura del dios. Por eso les presento a Salmo veintitrés en español. .
Salmo 23
1 Jehova es mi pastor; nada me faltará.
2 En lugares de delicados pastos me hará yacer: Junto á aguas de reposo me pastoreará.
3 Confortará mi alma; Guiárame por sendas de justicia por amor de su nombre.
4 Aunque ande en valle de sombra de muerte, No temeré mal alguno; porque tú estarás conmigo: Tu vara y tu cayado me infundirán aliento.
5 Aderezarás mesa delante de mí, en presencia de mis angustiadores: Ungiste mi cabeza con aceite: mi copa está rebosando.
6 Ciertamente el bien y la misericordia me seguirán todos los días de mi vida: Y en la casa de Jehová moraré por largos días.

**Personally, I believe that something magical happenes when one listens to the word of god in a different language. Therefore i present to you Psalm 23 in spanish.

Claudia Mehranbod

Ephesians 4:21-24 If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

This verse to me had a lot of meaning from my transition of having God enter and be a great part of my life. It means that when you have heard about Christ and were taught to agree with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by deceitful desires. To be made a new attitude of your minds, to make a new you, created to be like God; Righteous and Holy.

Before I started coming to St. Andrews, God wasn’t part of my everyday life. I would go to church maybe 3 times a year and I kind of pushed God away from me. It wasn’t until the 3rd or 4th Pipeline I realized that I started connecting with Christ. When I would pray or even sing, I felt this connection that God was telling me what to do. It started becoming an everyday routine to pray and connect with him. Its now been a year and a half I have started coming to St. Andrews and every second of my junior high experience has been amazing, adventurous, and most definitely Fun! Ephesians 4: 21- 24 is a great discription of what I have gone through since last January of 2009. I have heard God talking to me and he has taught me so much. My old self is left behind and my new self has God as a main part of my life.

Anna Nicles 


Basically, when I volunteered to give the talk for 8th grade pipeline I decided that I wanted to cover what I most toke away from Junior High. So, looking back at all the talks and discussions that I’ve listened to at pipeline, small group and camp the talks that stood out the most all sort of narrowed down to one topic. That topic goes along with my favorite verse which is Matthew 5:14-16 which reads,
14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
This verse pretty much covers what it is God asks us to do and what are responsibilities we have as Christians. The first part of the verse is pretty much defined from a quote that I read in a book I read and the which,
“light transforms darkness. We’re all a bunch of light bulbs. We just hang there, and when God’s power comes on it’s amazing. The darkness is transformed into something spectacular especially when we stay connected together, to each other”
Throughout the junior high program it became very clear to me that God will flip the switch in your life on his own time. For a while I was so anxious to have a strong relationship with God like my leaders and some of the older students had but God has very interesting timing. For some people, God flips the switch earlier that others. He may not have done it yet or maybe he already has. Some of us could still be dark and some of us still flickering on. I’m still flickering but I know I’m almost to my absolute brightness and that makes me so excited.
The second part of Matthew 5 says
15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In this verse God asks us not to hide our faith but to share it with the world. It’s really difficult for me to show my friends and people at school that I’m a Christian. I struggle with it a lot. But what I’ve realized is the more I stay connected to church the better Christian I become. Just continuing to come to small groups and pipelines for a couple hours out of our busy weeks can go so far and it affects the choices you make and your actions so much. I’ve chosen to surround myself with the people at church who influence me in a positive way and bring me up. And the more time spend here the more influence the leaders and other students have on me which eventually plays into my life at school and relationships with other people. So for my words of wisdom, don’t stop coming to church. The relationships we make here are so important and crucial to the way we turn out.

What I Really Meant

I really used to be scared of public speaking.  I would try to avoid it whenever possible through out high school, even though I was in debate club and various other organizations that involved public speaking, I really didn't like it.  I think I spoke a total of 3 times during debate, and I was in the club for 4 years!

So when try outs for graduation speakers were announced I didn't think at all about it.  Weeks went by and for some reason the night before you had to turn in your speech for graduation, I decided it would be a good idea to go for it.  I stayed up until 1am trying to spit something out,  something that I really wanted to say to my graduating class.  And with a little help from my awesome sister Emily proof reading my terrible grammar this is what came out.

Welcome Parents, faculty, administrators, family’s, friends and of course the west high class of 2005.  We are here today to celebrate the lives of about 500 soon to be high school graduates.  And these past four years have been memorable with emotional highs and lows.  Weather it was staying up late studying for the big chem Final or in the anticipation of the big game.  It’s been a great ride, one that we will never forget.  Seniors I am here to tell you that graduation is not merely the end of high school but the beginning of a new life beyond the chain link fences at west high.  And with beginning comes a fresh slate to become  whomever you’ve always dreamed of becoming, to achieve ultimate success.  The three-car garage six figure salary, spouse and 2.5 kids sound great.  But that is not real success.  I am here to tell you that success is not measured by the size of your wallet nor the size of your house.  As John Wooden stated “success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”  Real success is attainable only through hard work and perseverance.  And I have no doubt in my mind that it is possible for each and every one of us to achieve this success.  And although you may here a lot today about you and reaching that success by yourself, Get ready because what I’m about to say will come as a shock.  YOU CANNOT SUCCEED.  That’s right you heard me.  On your own as an individual you are not capable of realized your full potential.  Trust me, I learned this lesson the hard.

          I grew up in the west Torrance area and dreamed of stepping on the west high field to play warrior football.  However, I came to West a 5’5 scrawny 125-pound freshmen. Given my size it was unlikely that I would succeed in receiving playing time much less realize my dreams of gridiron glory.  After a playing a total of 2 games my entire first season I was ready to give up.  But the coaching staff and my friends encouraged me to come back and play the next year.  I worked hard all summer and returned to start all year as sophomore on JV.  After a high ankle sprain cut short my promising junior season, I was ready to give up, once again.  But once again my family and my teammates were not about to watch me let go of my dreams of playing varsity football.  I hit the weight room all summer and pushed myself out of bed everyday to exercise.  By the beginning of September after suffering through two grueling weeks of preseason training, I had reached my goal.  I started both on offense and on defense for the west varsity football team. Okay now brace yourself, because what I’m about to say is hard to hear hard to understand and even harder to implement.  But it hold true weather you want to hear it or not.  You’re not going to be able to achieve your goals on your own.  So know that it’s okay to lean on others for help.  When life has you at your wits end don’t be afraid to rely on someone else.  Weather it’s a family member mentor partner or just a friend, lean on them when times get hard.  You were not meant to travel through life alone and everyone needs a helping hand at one time or another.  The personal success that I obtained in football and that we all crave in life cannot be achieved without the help from others.  You cannot do everything yourself and trying to do so we’ll make it impossible for you to achieve the success that you deserve.  Class of 2005 do not sell yourself short.  Achieve the success you are capable of, Go now beyond the Big Warrior “W” and the front office building up front and pave path that is unique, one unlike any other.  Just remember to ask fro a little help along the way.  Congratulations seniors we did it! 

 ( I just typed this out last night because I couldn't find the original document and I had to watch it on video and type it out, so there are for sure some grammar errors Emily needs to correct )  :)

What I really was trying to say is that you need to lean on God.  But you aren't exactly allowed to say that in a public school setting, but I did the best I could.  After the graduation ceremony my next door neighbor Lindsey gave me a graduation card, in it she wrote " Kevin, I really enjoyed your speech.  I know that you meant we need God to succeed in our lives, and we can't do it without him"  I hadn't told her at all what I was really trying to say.  But thank the Lord one person got the hidden meaning.   

Proverbs 3:5 " Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" - Amen 

Simply Put

The Nails

The nails in your hands
The nail in your feet,
they tell me how much you love me
The thorns in your brow,
they tell me how, you bore so much pain to love me.

And when the heavens pass away,
all your scars will still remain,
and forever they will say,
how much you love me.
Forever my love, Forever my heart
Forever my life, it's yours, it's yours.

I've always liked this song.  It describes in detail the way christ died to set us free.  Songs like these are the reason I started to take up guitar and piano.  I always just wanted the ability to play worship music.  I ended up picking up guitar on my on and then piano.  The Nails is one of the only songs i can play on the piano.

One afternoon I was practicing my piano.  After doing my scales, reading exercises and chord progressions, I started playing some worship songs.  And after playing The Nails my dad stopped on the stairs and simply said "Isn't it interesting to think that Jesus' love is so great that when the heavens pass away his scars will still be there."

That's all he said.  Nothing to profound, really he just repeated the lyrics to me. However, for some reason those words hit me in a way they never had before.  And i'll never forget it.  When the heavens pass away jesus's love is so great that his sacrifice for us will never be tarnished.

-KTC

My Last Breath

Have you ever wondered what your final moments on earth will be like?  Not to be morbid, but I see myself dying in a hospital bed surrounded by loved ones.  The Night before I'd have my last meal, and it would be the best meal of all time.  Man would I Pig out!  I couldn't even choose a last meal because I like so many different foods.  But more importantly than food, what would my last conversation be like with my friends and family?  

A funny story comes to mind from family camp.  It was late thursday night and most the guys staying in the high school cabin had gone home.  It was just Me, Jay and Sam laying down for the night to go to bed and chatting about various things.  Often the guys will ask me for advice about random things, sometimes they just like to ask me random questions.  A while into the conversation Jay asks me a more philosophical question, " Kevin, dude, if this was the last time we ever talked to you or saw you what advice would you give us or what one thing would you tell us."  A smile comes to my face at first taking this question very lightly.  After toying with several humorous answers in my head I decided to answer it seriously.

"I would tell you that a relationship with christ is the most important thing that you can do with your life.  Money, Cars, and things this earth tells you to strive for aren't important.  The only thing that maters is a life that glorifies God."

They both were quiet, and after a few moments of awkwardness...Sam says "wow that was deep"

What I told those two guys was true.  A relationship with God should be the most important thing in your life.  And if I can't breathe another breath to speak, those would be my last words.  I imagine that christ felt very similar with his disciples telling them that his body would be broken for them at the last supper.  At pipeline this week we're going to talk about the last supper and it's purpose for the disciples.

READ A BIBLE: Luke Chapter 22:7-38

-KTC

Pork and demons

Have you ever tried to wrap your head around how big God is?  And i'm not just talking about him being geometrically bigger than the universe, because that's not really a problem for me to deal with in my mind.  Most likely because I am not an engineer.   I'm talking about God being bigger than our problems that we deal with in life and the burdens we carry.

Contemplating God's supernatural power is something we can easily forget about in our busy lives, lets take a look at Matthew Chapter 8.

 ²⁸When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,^[a] two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹"What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?" ³⁰Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs."
 ³²He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. ³³Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

Jesus has power over darkness, not just demons in the bible but also demons that you may be dealing with in your own life.  

It's important to remember that we don't just believe in a moral teacher.  We believe in an all powerful God who casts out demons into pigs and sent his son to die on the cross for our sins.  A God that desires to know you more.  

PICK UP A BIBLE:  Read Matthew Chapter 8 

-KTC

The Word speaks for itself

How Awesome is it that we have a Savior that prays for us? This is Christs prayer for his disciples and followers.


The High Priestly Prayer

¹Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, ²even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. ³This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
⁶"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; ⁸for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. ⁹I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; ¹⁰and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
¹¹"I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. ¹²While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

The Disciples in the World

¹³"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. ¹⁴I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁷Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. ¹⁸As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
²⁰"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; ²¹that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

Their Future Glory

²²"The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; ²³I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. ²⁴Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
²⁵"O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; ²⁶and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

AMEN - KTC

Be Thomas!

Thomas is pretty much the coolest name of all time.  It's my middle name, it's my Dads name and it's my awesome nephews name!  However, in the book of John, Thomas the apostle doesn't look so awesome when he doubts Jesus's resurrection.

John Chapter 20:24-29

4But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." ²⁶After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you." ²⁷Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." ²⁸Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" ²⁹Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed."

Traditionally, most people look at this passage and read that Thomas doubted and we should have strong faith without seeing God.  SPOILER ALERT, that's not what I'm gonna be writing about! 

I wanna Challenge you guys to be more like Thomas!  " BUT KEVIN HOW CAN I BE MORE LIKE THOMAS?? " - Joe the Junior Higher. 

Wow, I'm glad you asked!

Okay, now hear me out before you stop reading.  Ideally in the story Thomas should have listened to the rest of the disciples and simply believed that Jesus had risen from the dead.  But Thomas wanted to know for sure, he wanted to touch Jesus.  I want to challenge you guys to do the same thing.  Now a days we don't have the opportunity to physically see Jesus.  We can't actually touch the wounds in his hands or his side.  We can however have a personal relationship with him and that can be just as real as feeling his palms.

Don't be satisfied by what people tell you about Jesus.  Experience him for yourselves; pick up a bible, go serve in his name, pray for and love others.  As a junior higher it is important for you to start taking hold of your own faith, you can't just rely on other people to be your only informational source about Christ.

Pray, Ask God to help you experience him and allow you to believe because you have felt him.  Ask him to help you in the areas in your life where you find yourself doubting.

*****BE THOMAS*****

-KTC

What's Cooler than Being Cool...ICE COLD

Jesus CHANGED everything.  I mean everything, not only are we adopted into the kingdom of God through him but his ministry changed the way we live as followers of God.  Back in the DAY it was impure for a Jew to eat with people that were seen as unclean(Tax collectors etc...).  Jesus Christ radically changed that by frequently eating with delinquents of that time. 

Luke 5:27-32

²⁷After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, ²⁸and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
 ²⁹Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
 ³¹Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ³²I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." 

In his ministry, Jesus, broke bread with people who were considered "unclean".  This week at Pipeline we will be talking about how Jesus reached out to outcasts in society.  How can we as Christians reach out to people who are seen as outcasts?  Does Loving our neighbors include loving people that are typically hard to love?

CHALLENGE:  Pray for someone you think of as an outcast at your school.  Ask God to show you how to love them and pray for others to love them as well.

CHALLENGE PART 2:  LOVE OUTCASTS!

-KTC

In Brevity Lies the Spice

Take a moment before reading this to calm your heart before God.


Mathew 6:5-6, NIV "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

As a Junior High student, praying in front of people can be a little scary!  Sometimes when I am leading it is like pulling teeth to get a student to pray for us.  Luckily for all you guys a few people have stepped up at most small groups and pipelines.  I must now give them mad props for their courage and willingness to pray infront of others:  Molly Srour, Shayla McMurry,  Ross Madenwald, Daniel Molsberry and Brandon Pritzcat. (5 students from all my years of junior high teaching!)

Although praying to open pipeline and small groups is very important, your personal prayer life with Jesus and how you pray every day maters a whole lot more.  As Junior Highers you should start to open up your prayer life more by periodically through out the day checking in with God.  " BUT KEVIN HOW DO I PRAY TO GOD?!?!? I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY"-(in a puberty crackling junior high voice)  Wow that was a great question!  Jesus gives us the perfect example of how to pray in the Lords Pray:

  'Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name,
 ¹⁰your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.
 ¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
 ¹²Forgive us our debts,
      as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 ¹³And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.^[a]'  
¹⁴For if you forgive men when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  
¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins. ( Mathew 6:9b-15, NIV)

I love the Lords prayer! It's simple and to the point.  It's okay that your prayer isn't some long speech!  BUT also don't feel like it has to only be two sentences.  If you want to pray for an hour....then pray for an hour! Whatever is on your heart give it up to God.

CHALLENGE:  I memorized the Lord's Prayer when I was in 3rd grade...Now if I can memorize it as a 3rd grader you can easily master it!  Memorize the Lords prayer, also click on the Youtube link below "What a Friend we Have in Jesus"-  I believe this old hymn is perfect peek into how awesome it truly is to pray to our savior.  AMEN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLAg2NDcOt4&fmt=18

-Kevin Thomas Cox :)