Kick Off the New School Year Right! "Let Love Loose!"

Final Series of the Year: "The Road Ahead"

As we come to our final series of the year, we're all getting ready for some big transitions. There are the HUGE ones: moving to 8th grade or GRADUATING into High School!!!, and then there are other ones, like shifting into and out of certain friend groups, maybe starting up a different sport this summer, joining a band, or a big shift in your family. Whatever it is, we are all facing some huge transitions coming up.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be digging into some good words from what God has to say about these transitions: how to do these well, how to keep your head on straight when everything is changing, and how to come out the other side stronger and better than you were before!

Looking forward to digging into this with you all! See you tonight @ Rewired!

HULLABALOO 2014!!!

Are you ready for the most incredible weekend of your life? Register NOW by clicking on the image above!

Do you ever wonder if you are part of a bigger story? Do you ever wonder about how you fit into this huge thing we call the church? 

In the weeks ahead, we're going to be digging into this movement called Christianity, checking out the twists and turns that took place, the battles, the underground churches, the amazing stories, and those few people over the last 2,000 years that stood boldly for Jesus and changed the course of history! 

When People Meet Jesus series

Loving God "With Your All"

One of the teachers of the law came and heard Jesus and the religious leaders debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

-Mark 12:28-31

When Jesus was asked to summarize EVERYTHING that God has asked of all the people that He created, Jesus picks just one statement as the most important commandment of all of them. It comes from Deuteronomy 6:5, and it says: “Love the Lord your God with all of your Heart, with all of your Soul, with all of your Mind, and with all of your Strength.”

I don’t know if you’ve looked at a Bible recently, but it has A LOT of pages! It is chock full of amazing stories, challenging commandments from God, powerful statements of God’s love and support, and interesting quotes that really change the way you think about things. Throughout the ENTIRE story, Jesus takes just one sentence and uses it to summarize what it looks like to be a follower of God. Pretty easy, right? If we want to be people that really follow God and show love to our Creator and Savior, it seems we just simply ought to follow this very clear verse…Well, maybe not so easy.

See, it is so easy to quickly pretend that we know what we’re talking about when we say we LOVE God. “Oh, you just need to pray and read your Bible and go to church and be nice to people…right?” Well, that’s partially right. See, this statement from God illustrates a picture of LOVE that is WAY bigger than just a few actions.

When you really break it down, what does it mean to LOVE God with our mind? How about LOVING God with our strength? With our Heart, or harder yet, our Soul? When we say we asked Jesus into our Heart, what does that REALLY mean?

Over the next few weeks, we’ll dig into these questions to ask what it actually looks like to LOVE God with our all! I hope you are as excited about this as I am!

See you all on Wednesday,

-Brandon

For you commenters out there, here are a few questions:

1) What is the name of your favorite pet (current or in the past) and what is a way you show/showed them love?

2)   If you could create your own super pet by combining any three animals, what would it be?

3)   Of these four (Heart, Soul, Mind, Strength), what is easiest for you to Love God with? What is hardest?

About Me: A Search for Identity

We’ve been covering quite the interesting and important topic recently…the question: Who are we?

Behind our favorite musicians, the type of clothes we wear, and our favorite colors, it is important for us to go deeper into understanding who we are and why we’re here. The way you answer this question will decide how you live.

Though it seems easy to fill out a bio on our Twitter or Instagram accounts, major identity issues are experienced by many around Jr. High and High School years. People often feel worthless, prideful, closed-off, bored, on their own, purpose-less, and confused. The world around you may offer you value or attention only if you fit into its box (wear the “in-style” clothes, have the “in-style” friends, talk about the “in-style” things, like the “in-style” bands, etc.), and many people buy into this and are hurt by it. God has a different story…

You are:

>God’s Masterpiece: You were created in God’s image as His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). Check out Genesis 1-2 to find out about the value that isn’t based on what you do/don’t do or what friends you have/don’t have. You have incredible value formed into your very skin! So, understand your value and live in light of it!

>Dependent Sinner: You turned away from God and are dependent on Him for help (1 John 1:8-9). Check out Genesis 3 to find out about how we have this tendency to turn away from God. Though we are His masterpieces, let’s admit we’ve got problems and turn to God for His help!

>Under Construction: You are a work in progress as God works with you and in you to shape you more and more into the image of Jesus (Philippians 1:6). Check out Philippians 3:12-15 to hear Paul write about the journey he is on with God. God doesn’t want to leave us in our problems, He wants us to follow Him on this exciting adventure of improving and becoming more and more like Jesus each day!

>A Piece of the Puzzle: You are a part of a much larger community, you are not alone (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Check out 1 Corinthians 12 to hear about “the body of Christ”, the community that must work together to function correctly. We were not designed to be alone, and the story is not all about us, we are one part of a bigger story and a bigger mission. Let’s live like it isn’t all about us, being sure to turn to others to build up and be built up!

>An Ambassador of the King: You have a mission that is so much bigger than you (Matthew 28:18-20). Check out 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 to hear about the incredible mission we have to help “reconcile” the world back to God. Following Jesus isn’t just about our own salvation, it is about sharing Jesus’ love all around the world. Let’s remember that our identity is not just who we are, but what incredible things God has for us to do for Him!

I hope we can continue to find our identity in God’s story, building a foundation that will hold no matter the storms ahead.

-Brandon

For all of you commenters out there, a couple questions:

1)   If you were to define yourself with a color, a type of food, and an animal, what would they be?

2)  Which one of these topics are you most excited about? Why?