Sunday, May 13, 2012

Graduate Sunday and Arrival of Jim Garner


“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

This Sunday we will recognize the graduating seniors from our congregation AND welcome our new High School Student Minister, Jim Garner.  In a way it is a Sunday of endings and beginnings.  Strangely, for our students, it is both.  While they are completing a course of study and a chapter in their lives, they are beginning a new one. 

The very concept of graduation is to transition upward.  While the directions each student will take will vary, they will all be moving forward to new challenges and places in life.  There are many decisions to be made in the weeks and months ahead.

North Side Baptist Church is a church that highly values education.  This year, two of the WISD Teacher’s of the Year came from our congregation.  We are proud to have many educators in our fellowship who stand alongside students to help negotiate the halls of school and paths of life.  For many of them this is a time to catch their breath and prepare for the coming year.  For others there are classes for continued education or preparation for their own graduation to a new level in education.  Scholarships are being provided by NSBC members to assist qualified students of any age to further their education.  Many have been blessed by the support.

As we celebrate with the families of our 2012 graduates it will be a time to think back to how we have done with these young people and their parents over the course of their education.  Have we prayed enough, counseled enough, listened enough, shared enough, etc?  The real question is, have we prepared them spiritually for the dangers that await in the world?  Challenges are coming to their faith and values like they have never experienced before.  Hopefully they are ready.

Jim Garner is on the field and on the run.  Mission trip is right around the corner, camps are coming soon and the new student center is opening for business.  Work will begin very soon on the Jr. High Student space.  Things they are a changing! 

You might take a moment o see if you can recall the time of your high school graduation.  It may seem like a lifetime ago.  Many things have changed radically and yet there are still those things that remain the same and will forever.  It’s those things you may remember the most; love of family, encouragement of friends, hope for the future, and joy in your accomplishment. 

Now watch these young faces as they come across the stage this Sunday.  Do you see the same in their faces?  There are some things that never change and the hope and dreams of a young man or woman striking out on their own is one of them.  Pray for these precious students as they step into the future.

Scripture to Claim:
Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3

Mother’s Mission


“I didn’t say that to hear my head rattle.”
Ephesians 4:25-31
In Paul's letter to the Ephesians he addresses what the Christian has become in a new relationship with Christ.  His listing gives us the very things that every mother desires in the life of her children.  These attributes and attitudes are the basics of maturity.  The purpose of a mother is not to make happy children but successful adults.  What is that mom is trying to accomplish?

I. If You Are Lying To Me You Will Regret The Day You Were Born.”  v.25a

Children who lie slip into lives of manipulation and deceit.

II. Who Made You the Queen of Sheba?  v.25b, v31

Life is relationships.
Consideration regards other’s needs, desires and rights as equal to my own.

III. Stop Crying or I will Give You Something to Cry About.”
v.26-27, v31

Depression = Anger turned inward
Anxiety = The repression of a truth about life
Emotions are barometers of our inner feelings.

IV. Don’t Make Me Ask You Again.”  v28a

Responsibilities = identity = self-esteem

V. Do You Know How Many Children in China Are Starving to Death?  v.28b

VI. If You Can’t Say Anything Nice, Don’t Say Anything at All! v.29

When it comes to your self-worth, listen to those who listen to you.

VII. You Better Hope God Gets to You Before I Do.”  v.30

Even more than I want my children to learn to listen to me and obey, I want them to listen to God.

Devotional Archive