Feb 27

Hey all... I'll be bussing from 4:30 or so 'till around 6 for rehearsal today (6:30 to 8:30) ! I hope it goes well and I can get some stuff done... (Queen's application, ARGH!) Just 1 more essay to go... and I'm still feeling a little sick... please pray for me, guys! My cough's starting to get a little worse... but I know God's still providing for me in my life!

Today's sermon was obvs from John 4...

The main thing that Moses talked about in my Ohana group was certainly necessities, mostly talking about water. Water is a life source - if you don't have water, you can't live. Remember the Backpacking trip example? The things like the backpacks, the maps, the passports, money... all of it was still less than having something to drink.

This made me think actually about a March Break retreat some years ago, when Sam had the theme of 'living water'... just something to note. It really made me remember that God's water never dries out and is always amazing...

Moses also mentioned many things about K.I.S.S. - Keep it Simple, Stupid, if you don't remember, hahahaha. He mentioned about how often it's difficult to bring our friends over to church, especially because we think that everything has to be complex - that God's a mystery. But seriously, the truth is here in a simpler form - come meet this awesome God who has this eternal life... It made me think about what more I could possibly do to bring my non-Christian friends over to church.

The interesting thing is also to note that Jesus heals and provides to those who are TRULY in NEED. Looking at the woman, who was a Samaritan having 5 previous husbands and living with another man, I'm sure she was frowned down by the majority of Jewish society. Even Jesus' disciples - his followers - were all scums of the worst as tax-collectors and even fishermen.

I'll be re-reading this again... so don't mind if I post something to add again, hahahahaha.

Jules.

Also... I hate repeating this again, but for some... TAKE BACK YOUR SHEET MUSIC... that includes you, Billy, with that pile of yours in the little corner... Isaac said so. Let's try to keep our stuff in a binder so that Kevin doesn't have to keep wasting paper and his time.
And I suggest for next Sunday that all of us stop sitting near the front... sorry if I seemed harsh today, but I'm just a little sick...

If I remember, Jacob mentioned that we should reset the stage somehow... like having the drums on the stage, elecs up, and singers on the floor... or something. Maybe he can fill us in with some more info.

But awesome work today.

haha to be completly honest i dont remember a lot from todays sermon
but i did remember "keep it simple"... which i learned a few years ago already, so im glad he brought it back up, reminded me

and yeah, like julian said, he mentioned inviting people to church.
its a tough one, haha , it should be so easy... but i always feel like awkward or something... but yeah, ill work it on, promise

John Four

Of course, everyone probably remembers Moses talking about his backpacking trip through Europe.
The most important thing to have during these trips is water, like he said. Moses mentioned how Jesus liked things simple, and even with a few words, he was able to heal people he didn't even know.
He also mentioned sharing God's words with the people around you, because that, too, is simple. It's simple, but obviously, it's not easy.
We're all a little afraid to get ridiculed or mocked, teased or questioned. But taking a bit from what Isaac said on Friday, the stress and etc that we feel away from God is roughly the same amount as when we're closer to God/spreading his word.

Moses ALSO mentioned how Nicodemus went to Jesus alone and how Jesus went to the Samaritan woman alone.
I think this shows that we can't always hope that we'll all experience God together, all at the same time. God needs to have his one on one time with each one of us.

That's all I got! Hope you guys have a good week! (:

From todays sermon i remember lots of things but the thing that spoke to me the most and that relates to us all is to "KEEP IT SIMPLE"
We can be the best praise team in the world, or we can be the worst.
To me, id rather be the worst so that we can play simply and get into worship from the start and get into the habit as we GROW.
If we are already the best, theres nothing to grow upon, and we would always have complex ideas which would take our mind off worship and only concentrate on what we are playing and do it right.

Moses also talked about water but i dont know a whole lot about it but i remember him saying that it is the number one source to life and if you dont have it, you cant survive. Also, Moses talked about talking about God to others can be hard. What i think we should do first, is pray for the person you want to change and then make your move. That can be a start.

thats all i got!

So today's sermon covered a lot of topics, as did the chapter we read. There was the point that Jesus is eternal water, then sharing God's word, and other stuff, but the most important in my opinion was creating a christian network outside of church. I have made a couple of failed attempts at asking friends to church, or getting them back into it, but i realized that maybe I'm too half assed about it. Ask, get no'd to, then leave, but I should keep persisting in getting them to God. Also, I tend to ask people who seem easy to convince, like people who went to church, but got lazy and stopped going, and it is a good start, but I feel now that I should do more and reach out to those who have no idea that we have Christ. I do hang out with christian friends and every once in awhile, the topic of Christianity pops up, but it's so uncomfortable discussing religion even when we share the same beliefs. I know that changes won't happen over night, but pray that they do change.
Good night guys!

i learned that keeping it simple is the way to go haha
you dont have to go on a full out fancy schmancy rant about how God saved the world and stuff, like Jesus said, "ill give you the eternal water", we, as well can keep it simple when trying to spread the word. i also learned that its not as hard as we think it is.
yeeaahhhh to be honest, for the rest of the time, i was zoning in and out and in and out,,, so i didnt really get much
but ill read your guys' posts and see if theres anything i missed!
nighht!

Hey, I hope everything went well today.
I was working today for the whole day and man it's REALLY tiring and Stressful...
I'm ACTUALLY surprised I didn't pass out today. Well I just wanted to keep in touch
with you guys even tho I wasn't in church today or even tho it's really late.

I'm gonna be straight forward and Honest with you guys. These few weeks, not only
was I going through a lot of stress but I was battling the greatest spiritual warfare that
I've possibly ever faced. So the day after the crash, my co-worker offered me a Cigarette
and basically Satan was RIGHT on my back telling me to do it, and temptation of curiosity
basically took over me. I won't lie but it was a BIG STRESS reliever. So after I've finished
the cigarette, The guilt kicked in wgile everybody started asking me if I smoked. Well, this is
where debauchery kicked in and I had to lie. As the days passed by, I was smoking a cigarette
day by day. I know it wasn't the right thing to do but I still did it. So I was talking to God
for the first time in a while which was the Friday before I went home and wrote to you guys.
I asked God to help me, and I don't know if this was the best way to make me stop smoking
but it definitely did the Job. After as soon as I finished the cigarette, I had the BIGGEST headache
I've gotten in my LIFE. To this day, I don't know if God sent it or it was just a coincidence. It
definitely wasn't a Cold because I wasn't Coughing, sneezing or anything. Iunno guys, I still feel
guilty about smoking. And then my friend came and yelled at me, made me promise not to smoke
ever again. I'm actually soo Happy to know that I have friends that actually care about me like
you guys. But this got me to realize that God is ALWAYS watching over us. We weren't the people
that went and met the people that truly cares about us, it was God who sent them to us. I
don't know if this sounds like COMPLETE B.S but it doesn't sound like B.S to me whatsoever.
I just hope that I wouldn't be tempted to smoke again.
Hope to see you guys on Friday.

-Billy

We'll keep praying for you, Billy...
I'm so sorry to hear all of that, man.
I'm glad you took the time to be really transparent about this. You're really honest, Billy, and I'm glad for that.
I hope you won't go through so much stress... I'm sure it's tough.