The HeBrews Blog
The High School Youth Ministry for First Presbyterian Church of Salina, Kansas
Our HeBrews (high school) Christmas Party will take place on Sunday, December 16, from after worship until 1:00 p.m. at the church. We will have lunch, games, and a white elephant gift exchange during this fun evening together! Please bring a wrapped gift ($10 or less) for our White Elephant Gift Exchange. Details on what a White Elephant Gift Exchange is can be found here: https://www.whiteelephantrules.com/ Please let Pastor Keith know if you would like to help with providing lunch, desserts, hot chocolate, etc., for the event!
0 Comments
Don't try to adjust your phone, tablet, or computer: yes, the text on this blog is purple. That has nothing to do with the college team I root for. Instead, it's a way for me to say, "Welcome to Advent!" During Advent and Lent, we are in seasons of preparation. Many churches use purple to symbolize such seasons. So you'll see that in the sanctuary beginning on Sunday with the paraments (the cloth hanging off the pulpit). And you'll see it here for the next few weeks. Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. The most common way to think about this is we are preparing for Christmas - the celebration of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. As we said at Mokas this morning, it means much more than that. Advent is also about preparing for the return of Christ to make all things new. It's about the hope we have in Christ to bring about peace, joy, and love on earth as it is in heaven. That's a hope we have even when we can't see peace, joy, and love all around us on earth. And it's about what we can do as we wait for that hope to become reality. This morning, you all said that helping others is one of the ways we can prepare for Christ's return. Please don't just make that be a lofty goal that sounds great but doesn't actually happen. Give it a try. Think about how much better of a world we would live in if everyone tried to help others. How can we all do our own part to make that a reality? Just like many of you were this morning, I'm exhausted. I'd love to write more about Advent on the blog today. But I don't have it in me right now. I did write something about Advent in this month's FPC newsletter, which was just published this morning. Charlie wrote an article about Advent, too. Click here to check them out (pp. 3-4). I'm sure we will talk more about Advent over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, let's all try to take good care of ourselves and get some rest. I really appreciate the dedication you all have to meeting and growing in your faith through HeBrews even with everything else that goes on in your lives. Trying to grow in your faith is a great priority to have. It can bring that hope, peace, joy, and love in your life that everything else around you seems to lack. I know it has done that for me. It is a joy for me to join each of you on your faith journey! Thank you for that privilege! Also, we will have a high school Christmas party after worship at the church on Sunday, December 16. There will be lunch, games, music, and a white elephant gift exchange. We hope to see you there! ----- My door is always open. My phone is always on. If you ever need to talk or want to talk ... if you ever need to pray or want to pray ... if you ever need help or want help ... let me know. My prayer for you, always, comes from the words of Ephesians 3:14-21. May you always be rooted and grounded in the sure knowledge that God loves you more than you could ever know. The grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit gives us strength and guidance that will never leave us. Grace and peace be with you. This morning at HeBrews, we talked about the Fruits of the Spirit and the Road to Emmaus. The Fruits of the Spirit are nine characteristics that the Apostle Paul says describe Christians. They can be found in Galatians 5:22-23: "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Which of these characteristics describe you well? Which ones do you want to try to improve on? Which ones are most challenging? Here are some scripture passages related to each fruit (you'll see some overlap!):
The second card we looked at was the Road to Emmaus. Try to put yourselves in the shoes of two disciples who are walking down a dusty road after Jesus has died. They are confused and probably a bit scared. They had followed Jesus for so long and expected him to do so much. How could he have died? All of a sudden, you encounter this guy walking down the same road who starts talking to you. You don't recognize him. He starts talking about the Hebrew Bible and how Jesus is fulfilling all of these prophecies. You hear him and something inside you starts to get excited. You get to the end of the road, and the guy is about to keep on going on his way, but you want him to join you for dinner. He agrees, sits down at the table, takes some bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to you. It's almost like a flashback. All of a sudden, you know who had been with you all that time. It's Jesus. That's the story of the Road to Emmaus in a nutshell. You can read all of it in Luke 24:13-35. The important thing for us to remember today is that Jesus is present with us even in those moments when we can't really tell that he is with us. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, "And remember I am with you always to the end of the age." Jesus is present with us when we are happy, when we are sad, when we are tired, and when we are energetic. He's with us when we are born, and when we die. He's there with us when we celebrate with family, and when we grieve with family. He's there with us when we are sure of our faith, and he's there with us when we think it's crazy to have faith. He's there. He's there ... in Spirit, in prayer, in scripture, in our relationships with others. He's there. How can we remind ourselves of that? How is this comforting? How is this challenging? I hope each of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving (remember - no HeBrews next Thursday!). I am thankful for each of you and to be able to walk on this journey with you. May we always seek Christ's presence and to grow in the fruits of our relationship with him. Amen. ----- My door is always open. My phone is always on. If you ever need to talk or want to talk ... if you ever need to pray or want to pray ... if you ever need help or want help ... let me know. My prayer for you, always, comes from the words of Ephesians 3:14-21. May you always be rooted and grounded in the sure knowledge that God loves you more than you could ever know. The grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit gives us strength and guidance that will never leave us. Grace and peace be with you. This morning at Mokas, Mason picked the “Maundy Thursday” card and we decided to talk about what Maundy Thursday is all about. I hope you’ll read more here and leave comments or questions below. Maundy Thursday is the Thursday (shocking, I know!) of “Holy Week” – the week on the church calendar that leads up to Easter. Holy Week includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the Great Vigil of Easter (Saturday), and Easter Sunday – all observances of what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem: his entrance into the city, the last times with his disciples, his arrest, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. It’s perhaps the most important week of the church year! Mark your calendars for April 14-21, 2019: that’s Holy Week next year. It seems strange to think about Maundy Thursday when it’s not the Easter season. But when you really think about it, we can take lessons from Maundy Thursday with us every day of the year. Because Maundy Thursday is the day that Jesus tried to get his disciples (and all of us) ready for life after his resurrection and ascension into heaven. Think of it like a cram session for a major test – this was Jesus’s last chance to be with his disciples before he died and rose from the dead. In fact, Maundy Thursday ends with Jesus being arrested. So what did he think was most important to say and do in those precious hours before he was arrested? He shared a meal with his disciples, and he washed their feet. Don’t get me wrong … Jesus said some really important stuff that day, too (as in five chapters of John’s gospel – check out John 13-17). But his actions speak the loudest – so loud, in fact, that we remember one of them regularly in worship: the Lord’s Supper. That week, everyone was coming to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration – the most important time of the Jewish year. Jesus wanted to celebrate the Passover meal with his disciples. So on that Thursday, they borrowed an upstairs room in a man’s house and had the meal. This meal, though, was different – he said that the bread was his body, and the wine was his blood that would create a new covenant (promise) for the forgiveness of sins. Then he told them that this would be his last meal with them (see Matthew 26:26-30, or Mark 14:10-26, or Luke 22:14-23). I’m sure that the meal was a little bit confusing for the disciples at the time. But later on, it became clearer – and it became a central part of worship in the life of disciples and the early church. This meal symbolized something – it was a statement that what would come to pass the rest of that week was Jesus’s way of saying “I love you” to those at that table. And he loves each one of us that remembers that meal in worship, too. We usually call it communion. We remember that Jesus is the one inviting us to take our place at his table to remember his great love for us. Pretty cool! Pretty amazing! In John’s gospel, things are a little bit different. It only briefly talks about having a meal with his disciples that evening. Instead, John’s gospel focuses on Jesus washing his disciples’ feet after the meal. By washing their feet, Jesus sets an example, showing them that disciples must value serving one another instead of expecting to be served. After all, that’s what Jesus is doing. If he is greater than they are, then they should feel a call to serve others even more: and so should we. Greatness in discipleship comes through service (see John 13:1-17). Jesus later says, “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other” (John 13:34-35). By inviting us to the communion table, Jesus demonstrates his love for us – and for everyone. By washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus sets an example for serving one another that we can follow in our own lives as disciples. Not bad for one day, huh? Let’s try to remember the lessons that Jesus taught through his actions on Maundy Thursday every day. Hopefully they continue to make a lasting impression on us and everyone that considers themselves disciples for the rest of time. May we always try to love one another. May we always seek to serve one another. May we always welcome each other at whatever tables we find ourselves at. May we remember Jesus and say “thank you.” ----- My door is always open. My phone is always on. If you ever need to talk or want to talk ... if you ever need to pray or want to pray ... if you ever need help or want help ... let me know. My prayer for you, always, comes from the words of Ephesians 3:14-21. May you always be rooted and grounded in the sure knowledge that God loves you more than you could ever know. The grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit gives us strength and guidance that will never leave us. Grace and peace be with you Do you play a musical instrument or sing? If so, we would love for you to share your music in worship on a Sunday morning or Wednesday evening. These musical gifts are given to you by God, and sharing them in worship is a great way to make an offering to God and to help our community to worship together. Plus, you don't need to be a virtuoso or some musical genius! Psalm 100 says "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!" It's not about the quality of the music - it's about us being faithful and joyful in our worship. The minute we start to worry about being perfect is the minute we think that worship is dependent upon us, rather than an offering we make in gratitude for God's love and grace. :-) Please let me know if you are interested in helping out somehow on a Sunday morning or at Midweek Manna on Wednesday evenings. Our Director of Music, Dr. Richard Koshgarian, can craft music to meet your instrument and ability level - whether that be in accompanying the choir or praise team, or in performing a solo or group piece with your friends. Plus, I would love to have informal jam sessions at the church sometime. I'll bring my viola and my voice if you're interested! Email, text, or talk to me with any questions or if you're interested! ~Pastor Keith This morning at Mokas, we talked about three of the Word Teasers: "Word," "sermon," and "obey." I'll focus on "Word" for our blog discussion today. I hope you'll think about adding a comment below with a question, or something that really stuck out to you, or something you didn't agree with. Let's continue and deepen the conversation! "Word" is a word that has more than one meaning for us. It can mean the Bible - words that faithful people have written down through the ages after being inspired by God. These people wanted to preserve the story of God's people, the ways God has spoken to God's people, and the story of God in-the-flesh - AKA Jesus. That brings us to another way of understanding "Word" - it is another name for Jesus. Take a look at the first words in the gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1, 1:14). I encourage you to read this beautiful passage of scripture and discover more about Jesus as the "Word." Finally, we also believe that the Word is active during worship through things like sermons, music, and sacraments like baptism and communion. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit who helps us to hear what God wants us to hear in the words of sermons and music, and to see what God wants us to see in the waters of baptism and the bread and wine of communion. What questions do you have about our discussion today? Here are a few suggested things to consider from the back sides of the Word teasers. Add your thoughts in the comment section
My door is always open. My phone is always on. If you ever need to talk or want to talk ... if you ever need to pray or want to pray ... if you ever need help or want help ... let me know. My prayer for you, always, comes from the words of Ephesians 3:14-21. May you always be rooted and grounded in the sure knowledge that God loves you more than you could ever know. The grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit gives us strength and guidance that will never leave us. Grace and peace be with you. ~Pastor Keith Today's CardsWelcome to our new blog! Yesterday, several of us met for lunch and tried something new for HeBrews. Each of us drew a "Word Teasers" card from a box. The card had a word, phrase, or topic that is tied to our faith. As we went around the table to share our highs and lows, each person shared their card. Then we decided (as a group) which card to talk more about. We will try this method out for a few weeks and see what everyone thinks. Yesterday we talked about two of the cards in depth: the cross (what it means, why some people wear it as jewelry) and the image of God. I want to dive in a bit deeper on what the image of God is and what it means for us today. I'm going to break this down into a few sections so you can choose where is best for you to dive in: Bible, Theology, and Song. Each section has follow-up questions you can think about if you want. I hope you will add your comments about this and anything else you'd like to talk about on the blog. And if you have a topic to suggest for a future HeBrews discussion, go to the Contact page on this blog (you can send anonymously if you'd like). And share this new blog with your friends! Bible:
Theology:
Song: One of my favorite bands is Switchfoot. Just this morning, I received an email about their newest song: Native Tongue. As soon as I heard it, I thought of our conversation about the image of God. Here are a couple of the lyrics that stand out to me: "Feel your heartbeat bang the drum Open your eyes and fill your lungs The same word from where the stars are flung Love is the language, love is your native tongue" "Back before we learned the words to start a fight Back before they told us that the haters were right He spoke the truth, 'let there be' and there was Love is the language, love is your native tongue" "So sing it out, get loud, get Louder than the darkness and the doubts, eh Louder than the curses and the shouts, yeah Your lips, your lungs, your native tongue" Take a listen and let me know what this song says to you. Here's a link to the full lyrics. What does the song say is our "native tongue?" What other ("non-native") languages do we speak? Where do we learn how to speak our "native tongue?" Read 1 John 4:7-21. What does this say about our "native tongue" - especially how we learn it and why we speak it? How might this relate to our discussion of the image of God? My door is always open. My phone is always on. If you ever need to talk or want to talk ... if you ever need to pray or want to pray ... if you ever need help or want help ... let me know. My prayer for you, always, comes from the words of Ephesians 3:14-21. May you always be rooted and grounded in the sure knowledge that God loves you more than you could ever know. The grace of Jesus Christ and the communion of the Holy Spirit gives us strength and guidance that will never leave us. Grace and peace be with you. ~Pastor Keith |
About HeBrewsHeBrews meets on Thursday mornings during the school year from 6:45 - 7:30 a.m. at the Mokas on Crawford St. All high school youth are welcome! ArchivesCategories |