Lukewarm Christians

Come out to Everglow tonight as we continue to go through Francis Chan's Crazy Love book. Tonight, we will be looking at "the profile of a lukewarm christian" What are those characteristics? Find out tonight!

meet our new counselors!

come out tonight and get to know our new youth counselors better as arthur and vicki will be sharing about themselves! not only that, but we'll have games, worship, and simply a fun time together :)

mid-week announcements!

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you" (Colossians 1:3, ESV)

HELLO EVERYONE!

This Friday our new counselors Arthur and Vicki will be sharing a bit about themselves so come get acquainted with them and with the rest of the youth group!

On Sunday, there's an opportunity for you to bike 7 miles around Alviso with the rest of English ministry during second hour (11:30)!!

If you would like to go on this biking trip, please be sure to fill out the waiver and have your parents sign it (I've attached it again or your convenience).

If you're not into biking, we will have a second hour youth Sunday School and we'll again serve lunch afterwards. 

Also, we're starting snack rotation! I will have a complete list out soon, but 

snacks for this week: JOANNE HER! 

thank you=)

Hope to see you FRIDAY AND SUNDAYY!!!!!

Questions of the Week (QOTW): 

Would you rather be able to visit 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future?

What has God been doing in your life this week?

HAVE A NICE WEEK!

FYI Jamba Juice is $1 this week again, Mon-Fri from 5pm-7pm=)

Weekend Update

Here is a quick recap of what we learned this past weekend.

On Friday, Stephen shared about his first year in college and the fellowship he participated in. He reminded us about the importance of finding a good fellowship where you can participate, serve, and have people keep you accountable. He shared about how a fellowship is to be welcoming to new comers, how close knit his community was, and his small group where he was able to share some of his struggles and have people pray for him and support him. In the same way, our youth group, Everglow, is a place to experience these similar things. He challenged us to get involved in youth group and really making it our own. I pray that we really would be a youth group where people feel welcomed, are involved and serving, and deepening their relationships with one another.

On Sunday, we talked about the central theme of the Bible. Did you know that the Bible is really a love story? It is! It's a story about God's great love for us. He made us to be in a relationship with Him, but because of our selfishness, we turned from God. But throughout the Bible, we see God's pursuit of us in bringing us back to Him and restoring this broken relationship. It was ultimately done through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We should read through the Bible with the reminder that everything was written to remind us of God's great love for us and for us to respond to that love.

Guest Speaker!

Tonight, we have a guest speaker! Our own Everglow alum, Stephen, will be sharing with us about the importance of fellowship. We hope to see you there!

And... We're Back!

Hi everyone,

Our youth group blog is back! We've been meaning to keep this blog going as a place where we update you on the ongoings of Everglow, but unfortunately, we've done a poor job of doing so. However, we are back and will make a more concerted effort in keeping this blog exciting and alive.

We've started 2 new series that we're excited about. On Friday nights, we are going through "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. This book challenges us see how much God loves us and how that love should change the way we think and live out our lives. Besides our lesson, each Friday is filled with games, worship, and small group sharing.

During our 2-Hour on Sundays, we are going through an "Overview of the Bible" series which will help us better navigate through the Bible. We know that the Bible can be overwhelming at times and seem boring at other times, so this series will give us tools to help us better approach them Bible and make it more fun and interesting to read.

We really hope that you will come out and join us each Friday night and each 2nd-Hour on Sundays!

Good Friday

it's Good Friday. 

... but why is it good? well of course, growing up in the church, we know that answer is,

"Jesus!" 

... and yes, that is correct... but what about Jesus? and of course we answer, 

"it is good because He died for us on that day." 

... and again, that is correct... and why is that so important?

"because He died for our sins so that we may have eternal life!" 

... wow! such good students. you all get stickers. 

"yay!" 

but year after year we hear the same message... in fact, we probably hear that message of how much He loves us and died for us maybe every week. and we become numb to it. we forget how great that is. we forget the joy of salvation and how wonderful it really is. we often forget how much Jesus actually went through for us... like a new toy or that new trend that fades away in months, our thankfulness and true awe of what was done on this day so many years ago is forgotten...

we've all made mistakes. we've all failed. we've all done things we regret. i look back at my life and i wish i didn't do some things. i wish i didn't say certain things to people. i wish i didn't hurt people. hurt myself. hurt God... but i did. and i can't go back and change it... sometimes i wish i could go back in time. i wish i can go back and make better decisions. change those mistakes i made... but then again, i'm glad i can't go back. i'm glad that those mistakes are still burned within me...

why? why live with the guilt? why live with the painful memories? because they make grace that much greater. they remind me how much i do need God. they prove to me that i am nothing without Him... there is nothing that i can do to attain salvation. no work. no deed. nothing can completely make-up for my sins. i deserve death. i deserve to go to hell... but that is why the work that was done on the cross was so great. it is why that horrific tool used to kill someone, represents something so beautiful. the cross that Jesus died on, paid the price. only He, the one who didn't deserve to die, died so we may live... that's how great grace is. that is why the gift of salvation is so wonderful. because it is something we don't deserve, but it is something we all can have...

we also often forget that Christ was fully human as well as fully God. Jesus really went through emotional and physical pain. he cried out to God asking Him to remove the cup that He was to bear. He felt the pain of the lashes. he felt the pain of the mocking and seeing the people He loved, turn away from Him. He thirsted on the cross. He felt the nails being driven through his flesh. He breathed His last breath... yes, He was fully God and the resurrection proves that. but, He was fully human as well... and He went through all that for you... for me...

now, i don't sit around all day and mope and feel depressed and put myself down saying how great a sinner i am... and i don't try and go out and sin even more, so i can receive more grace... that's jus stupid. that's not the point of why Christ came to die for our sins. He didn't do that so we can sin more. He died, so that we can live more... we can live with hope. with joy. with peace. with confidence. knowing that He has completely forgiven us and that when He returns again, we will finally be made whole again... 

and yet, we live our lives for Him half-heartedly. we continue on our days living without passion for him. we immerse ourselves with the world and other things drive us. we forget the true awesomeness of salvation. we forget to live for Him in our thoughts and actions. and so i come before You Lord, and i humble myself once again...

thank You God. for sending Your Son to die on the cross for me. thank You for loving me and blessing me with so much more than i deserve. i know that i am weak and i often fail and disappoint You, but You always forgive me. You always pick me up when i fall and i know that although i am nothing, You can still use me. i pray that my life will be used by You and that i live in such a way that is pleasing to You. may You continue to guide me in all i do. i thank You and love You...

amen.