Camp, Goodness and Thankfulness

GracePoint Youth! It's time to sign up for camp. We'll be going to Pineywoods for PowerPlus Youth Camp We're going to the 4th session from July 9-13. I need your registration forms ASAP. We need to make our reservations, so I need firm commitments from you and a deposit of $50. Chase Bowers will be the speaker and Pearl Merchant will be the worship band.



Psalm 107:1-2-- "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so-those he redeemed from the hand of the foe."

My favorite verse is probably Romans 8:28 (if you've never spent time in Romans 8, it's pretty powerful). Verse 28 says that "God works for the good of those who love him"...in all things.

When I hear "God is good", I think of Romans 8:28. What is "good", though?

The world will tell us that "good" is equal to success. "Good" is based on happiness. "Good" is quality. "Good" is positive behavior.

The Greek word for "good" is probably best defined as benefit. Good doesn't mean you'll get materials. Good doesn't mean you'll be happy all the time.

Good means that, no matter what your circumstances, God is working to benefit you. To better you. Eternally.

Sometimes, that's the hard concept. It's not necessarily in the immediate. We may never see the benefit this side of Heaven. But it's coming. The only thing that God is restricted by is his own promises...because he chose to be. Here's your promise: God is always working for your benefit.

That makes all of our circumstances seem different, doesn't it? Even in this dark time that you may be going through; God is working for your eternal benefit. Even in the happiness that you are now experiencing; God is working for your eternal benefit.

Be thankful today that God is good. Be thankful that God works for you.

Remember who you are.

Post Spring Break Stuff

A few things that I want to remind you about...another I want to let you know about, if you don't already:

1. If you want to go to the Astros game, I need to know ASAP. Just email me or text me and let me know how many tickets you'll want. $7 for adults (14 and up), $2 for everyone else.

2. Still no interest in the Casting Crowns concert, so I'm kind of assuming that'll be a no go.

3. If you haven't checked your email, please do. I sent out some information about camp this summer that I need your feedback on ASAP (this probably more so than the 'Stros game).

Now a different note...

Online articles. Tim Keller tweets. Reading for my Master's program. Everything I've been reading lately has been focused on one topic: Depravity. Depravity is moral corruption. It's how bad we really are. And, let's face it. We are bad.

I think sometimes we get so focused on comparing ourselves to everyone else that we forget how sinful we really are. I know I fall into that trap all the time. It's so easy to find ourselves thinking, "I don't do ________, so I'm not as bad as _________."

When we think like this, we lose sight of just what we've been saved from. Grace becomes less amazing to us because we forget just how much grace has been bestowed. The good person doesn't need much grace. It's the bad person that does. Jesus said this to those who scoffed at him for dining with "sinners and tax collectors" in Mark 2. Jesus said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

That's me, friend. That's you. We are the sick. We are the sinners. Read Romans 3:10-18. Paul paints a pretty humbling picture of not just who I am, but who you are and who everybody is. Not righteous. Not good. We've all turned away from God. We're all "useless."

Seriously?

Did Paul say "useless?"

Yup. Sure did.

We're low down, no good, dirty rotten scoundrels. Completely...useless.

Let that soak in for a minute.

Isn't grace super amazing now?! We sing of it all the time. How often do you really take the time to think about it? We're all of those things and yet Jesus still saved us. We are wretched sinners and yet Jesus still died for us. We are totally and completely useless and yet the God of Creation still uses us.

There is nothing about that that isn't amazing. It should leave us breathless. Stunned. If God was going for "shock and awe", that should've done it.

Grace really is amazing...and that word doesn't even begin to contain just how amazing God's grace is to us.

Remember who you are.

Another Brief Introduction

Seeing that we're new here, I thought it appropriate to take a minute to introduce ourselves. Even though several of you (there's someone out there reading this, right?) have already met us, I wanted to detail a little about us just in case...

Patrick:

I grew up in the North Dallas area and, yes, I'm an ardent Dallas Cowboys fan. I'm not sorry, and you'll just have to learn to deal with it. ;) I went to high school in Frisco (home of the Fightin' Coons), graduated in 2000 and then left for the thriving metropolis of Belton, TX where the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor resides. It was there that I met the most beautiful woman in the world (more on her in a moment) at the start of my sophomore year. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and English Education. Shortly after graduation, I got to marry the most beautiful woman in the world. I taught English for two years at Ellison High School in Killeen before moving to Montgomery. For the past 6 years, I have been teaching English and (just this year) Bible Literacy at Conroe High School. This past January I enrolled at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and I am pursuing my Master of Arts in Theological Studies. I've been waiting for an opportunity to get into youth ministry and I could not be more excited to be a part of the family at GracePoint Fellowhsip Baptist Church!

Hannah:

Hannah was born and grew up in this area. She spent the first 18 years of her life in Plantersville, TX and graduated from Montgomery High School in 2001. She left Plantersville and popped in at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor where she had a devilishly handsome Welcome Week dad (Welcome Week is the freshmen orientation week at UMHB--and I was her WW dad, for those who are missing a couple of tools in their shed). She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and began her teaching career at Meredith-Dunbar Elementary School in Temple, TX, tecahing the 2nd grade. After just one semester there, we moved to Montgomery and she spent the next 5 years at Williams Elementary School in Magnolia teaching kindergarten and 2nd grade. This year, she is staying home with our two beautiful daughters, Abigail (4) and Susannah (3) and teaches them and a few other children at what she calls "Sunrise School."

Here's the most recent photo of Hannah and I, followed by our daughters:

So that's a little about us. We look forward letting you get to know us better and vice versa!

Remember who you are.

Welcome!

Ok...so the purpose of this is to keep all of you informed about what's going on with GracePoint Fellowship Baptist Church Youth group and, hopefully, to encourage and challenge you to grow in your relationship with our Lord and Savior.

Now, I'm going to need each of you (you know, the droves and droves of people who will be reading this blog) to keep me accountable in keeping this thing up and running. Admittedly, I have a tendency to let blogs go...I base that conclusion off of one prior experience. Hopefully, this will change things.

Visit back here occasionally to find out updates and see what I'm rambling on about.

Remember who you are.