ENcouragements.

I posted this today, so that when you guys post James 2 you guys can read this.

Isaac and I mentioned this to the praise team and i want us to ALWAYS encourage, to be like ACTUAL siblings ahaha right right?
SO this is what i get to say to you guys from this retreat!

Steven - ALthough you didn't come to the retreat, you stuck around on friday and helped move the equipment even though you don't weigh anything kidding., It really showed us that you wanted to be at the retreat, and i know cause you kept telling me you wanted to come, don't worry man your enthousiam was definitly missed at the retreat, thanks for praying for us!

Mike - We missed you at the retreat as well. Before the retreat, you kept up with your devos, and it showed that you really wanted to grow. Continue to grow and continue to be a blessing unto others man. I know you were praying for us at the retreat! You even sticked around on sunday practice, and we walked home together, you just showed me what family is ahaha.

ALlan - Can i say you were probably the most hard working on our team, not just for the retreat, but every week? You learned ALL the parts without complaint, or asking why. You just did it, you have a humble heart dude, and i know God's proud of you, just as the praise team is. I was honoured at the fact that i was able to worship with you! Continue to ROCK.

Cathy - ahah you are hands down the most enthousiastic person on our team, you always get us hyped, and you always remind us that we ARE a family, but sharing your life with us. It really means alot. I also saw and heard you praising during the retreat and it was such a blessing, it made me want to praise that much louder! You clearly are the engine on this team ahahah

Denise - ugh. kidding. umm, you changed your appointment so that you could practcie with us, and that showed me so much commitment, and it encouraged me aswell. You are also one of the most humble people i know, always the first one to do something encouraging, and ALWAYS doing with a smile on the face. That is a true blessing. I've learned so many things from you!

Hannah - yo. Hannah, When you worship it encourages me to do the same, because you are ALWAYS worshipping from your heart, with a smile. I noticed you tend to make eye contact with people during praise, then nod your head and smile even more. You remind us of what it means to worship. NOt justy in praise but everywhere else, out side of church. Proud of ya!

Isaac - It seems like i don't even do any of the leading, because it's you who's doing all the work. You always give suggesstions and ideas that i don't think of and you do all the backround work. SO i just want to thank ya bro, it's you who's always keeping people accountable and our team together. It really shows me that your care for this team ALOT. Keep doing your thing.

Sam - Your sermons were truly a blessing and an amzing experience to learn from. You are just amazing in terms of ministry, kids, praise etc. We can all say that we have the utmost amount of respect for you, not because of what you do, but who you are. Sam continue to strive for great things in God. No one can ever stop learning!

Roh - We miss you man, and right now you're in Seoul Korea, but at the same time you're in my seoul 8====D

You guys are my family and this encouragement note was really cheesed but what can i say ahaha
I'm really prouf of each and every one of you and i mean it!
Let's continue to ALWAYS WORSHIP!

wow Jacob nice job!

First part of this chapter talks about favoritism. I think that this happens right in our own ministry, every sunday people come and we show favoritism, i think its only natural though because of human nature and all, but we have to limit that to a bare minimum or even none at all. Jesus does not show favoritism to anyone, because he loves us all equally and we were all created by him, so i think since we try and imitate Jesus we shouldn't show favoritism as well. Well coincidentally the next part is what sam has talked about at the last night of the retreat and i think he expanded on the topic so much that i couldnt possibly add anything to it, dynamic faith we should all aim for it!

jacob your encouragements are sexy...

" 1 My dear brothers and sisters,[a] how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?"
hmmm cathy remember our talk... ahaha wow this puts me in my place...

"" 14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone"
When it says can that kind of faith save anyone, it means we should do as we preach because how can we evangelize if we dont do as we say. I had a long talk with sam before we went to church on friday. We got to talk a lot and he said that the biggest problem atheists have against us is that we live hypocritical lives. Thats 100% true. Thats why we thought it would be a good idea to re-make devos mandatory because we would be living hypocritical lives.

" “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?"
Like Sams sermon on the last night, this speaks to me because to often do we just pray for people and not help them. I feel convicted a lot because when i see a homeless man on the street, i just pray for them and not help them as much as i could.

-Isaac

God really showed us what it meant to show no favouritism. God chose the scums of the earth, the poor, the last places, to lead and glorify his kingdom, exampels like Paul himself and Jesus' Disciples. why would he do tthat? It's because he knows that everyone can do his will, and he loves each and everyone the same. Of course we humans are not God, which is so much more harder for us to love everyone, than a specicfic group with similar interests etc. i bet even in our OWN team we have more favouritism among other members, but let us be mroe like CHrist and try to change that. Let's be equal in love and relations with each other.
Here it is again: Dynamic faith.
Lets take this to heart and lead the congregation with this. People do look up to us, and liek Isaac mentioned we can't lead if we don't follow.
Lead by following, and through that you can serve.
"LEAD, FOLLOW, SERVE"
it's these 3 things that make a leader, we can't lead unless we learn to follow up on God's words, and then through that we can serve.!

hahaha;;;;
thanks jacob

i havent done my devo in awhile but i been reading all yours devo,,,
im sorry i was lacking a little bit

James 2

The main important thing i got from this chapter was the poor and the rich...
At church i think that we treat people we know as the rich because we know them better but however
i think that we should sit with other people we dont know to make them feel welcome yeah yeah???
I will try my best to sit with others people instead of sitting at the back like a loser hehehehe

I actually don't have too much to say from today's passage because, as Isaac said, I was reminded of the "dynamic faith" that Sam talked about at the retreat. What I realized today though was that if we truly have faith in God, then we will want to live and act according to God's will. What I mean is that a "true" believer will naturally have faith that is reflected through his/her deeds.

James 2

5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

FAVOURITISM
I like how James reminds us of how Jesus chose the lowliest of people to spend his time with - the tax collectors, the prostitutes, etc. So as leaders in our ministry, we should do the same. I mean, not that there are tax collectors and prostitutes among us, but you know what I mean..hahahaha. As the praise team, we need to be the first to show that we don't believe in cliques like people have thought about the praise team for years in the past. We need to be the first ones to go out there and seek out those that are lonely on Sundays.
Let's really commit to that idea of taking out some of the kids for lunch some weeks!

And then there was the whole bit that reminded me of Dynamic Faith from this past weekend. I really liked learning about that..it keeps sticking out to me.

In verse 22, it says Abraham's faith was made COMPLETE by what he did. Let's aim for complete, dynamic faith.

Let's do a street run soon again!


- H

HEYY EVERYONNEE
aww thanks for the encouragements jacob. you rock my socks!

terribly sorry this is late. wow i even missed the 12am mark.... i totally lost track of time making late night chocolate milk shakes and watching bridget jones' diary. (amazing movie, btw)
but i am home now and doing my devos!
All I could think about when reading this chapter was Sam's sermon on dynamic faith.
19 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder."
This verse kills me because it's such an eye-oepner. We claim that we're so good and holy and Christian because we believe in God. Well so do demons! And even though Jesus' message is that we are saved through faith and the grace of God, if we have the right faith that is solid and truly holy, then our faith would compel us to do more than just believe.. We would DO something about it.. So let that be our approach - you cant just do good things and not have faith, but you cant just have faith and not do good things.

PS HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY! WOOT WOOT DRUNK IRISH PEOPLE! haha

Hey guys sorry for posting my devos on the right time, but i chose to write it on the day its suppose to be so we will on track and not confussed.

James 2

So in this passage, i had some trouble understanding with this chapter, but this is what i learned. So what i learned in this passage is faith. It talks about alot of faith but has no deeds. it didnt really no wut it really meny by that so please help me out. I found this chapter we effective because having faith is important. If we have faith in others, then the Lord will have faith in us. But if we cannot believe one another, then how can the Lord have faith in you. Gos says that we should faith in other if we want to have faith in God. Also another thing about faith is, having faith is the ket of having a relationship with God, if we have no faith there is no relationship with God. Because if we have no faith in God it is also saying that you dont believe that he is not there, you know what i mean. Anyways its not much, but this is what i learned.

AMEN.......