Friday, May 24, 2013

Summer Opportunities

Don't let Summer Suck your Spiritual life Dry!


Summer is here but there are tons of opportunities to get involved and to continue growing in your relationship with Jesus.  Don't try to live life with Christ on an island, stay connected to Christ and build relationships with other Christ-followers at church.

Here are some ways to connect and grow:

Journey in the Wilderness
This is a great course that pairs you with other Christ followers and helps you learn how to better study the bible, discover who God's made you, and learn how to serve with other people.

  • Sunday @ 9:45am in the Balcony Classroom
  • Sunday at 4pm in the Church conference room

Prayer and Fellowship
Join with our church family as we pray through God's Word growing closer to Jesus and each other.

  • Sunday @5pm in the Little Chapel
  • Wednesday @6pm in the Little Chapel

Here are some great ways to serve this summer:

Extended Session
Help take care of kids during the 11am worship service.
contact Shirley Hansen @ shirley@firstsoutherntucson.com

Vacation Bible School and Kids Camp
Help teach kids about Jesus in our VBS or Kids Camp.  You have the opportunity to help a kid start their relationship with Jesus.

  • Vacation Bible School:  June 10-14th
  • Kids Camp: July 15-17

contact Sherma Kuntz @ sherma@firstsoutherntucson.com

Outreach Program
Welcome visitors to our church Monday nights at 6:30pm.  We also drop by to encourage and support the sick, elderly and people in crisis from our church.  Dinner is provided at 5:15pm.
Contact Tim Salomon @tim@firstsoutherntucson.com

Monday, April 22, 2013

End of Semester and the Beginning of Summer


The end of the semester is here!  Even though the academic rigor will be ending we hope that you will take the extra time and rest this summer to deepen your relationship with Jesus and find rest in Him.  We've got some wonderful opportunities that allow you to cut back and be a kid while serving the Lord!  This summer has plenty of opportunities to work with young people doing our Vacation bible school and Children's camp.  

We will also be having summer college bible studies and discipleship groups so keep tuned so you don't miss out. 

Monday, January 14, 2013

Spiritual Leadership Course


This semester we'll be offering 4 community groups throughout the week. Each of these groups will be covering material called Journey In the Wilderness.  This is a homegrown curriculum now in its second season of use.  The material is geared toward preparing and equipping people to be the spiritual influencers God created us to be.

This is a 12 week study that involves a lot of group activity and personal application.  The course prepares young leaders first, to submit and follow the Lordship of Jesus Christ, so that they can lead other people to come into alignment with God's plan and purpose.

To get a schedule of classes and register for a class this semester visit our Journey in the Wilderness tab.


Thursday, March 6, 2008

Overflow and The Discipline of Grace

hello everyone!
Overflow was a fantastic event this year. There were many decisions for Christ, and the gospel was shared with tons of people. God truly revealed himself to us in a miraculous way. We simply need to remember that despite we are young and we have many opportunities in our future we do not know what the future holds for us.

"Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring."
Proverbs 27:1

So we need to remember why we live, and how we should glorify God with all that we do. Overflow was a great example of what God desires to do through us, and how we can glorify him. However we do not need events like Overflow to glorify God, all we need is a servants heart.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Fellowship and Music

This coming Sunday's message is on Fellowship. This is supposed to tie into our series with "The Heart of a Servant." How does fellowship tie into making our lives more like Jesus? Moreover exactly what is fellowship? To prepare for this Sunday here are some scriptures you can go through that might help you work this stuff out:

Acts 1:14
Acts 2: 41-47
1 Corinthians 11:16-22
1 Corinthians 12:25-27
Galatians 6:1-10

Some questions to ask yourself:
How can I be in fellowship with other Christians?
How can I serve others through fellowship?
What is the point of fellowship?
Is there more to Christian fellowship than just hanging out?
Is fellowship eating?

We had some interesting selections this week during the song part of our worship. If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to drop them and let us know how we can better enhance our worship service.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Prayer

I think that often times believers will overlook the effectiveness of prayer. Sure everyone prays, and everyone says that they are praying, but is there more to prayer than just saying things that you want to happen or things that sound good and interject a Jesus, or God in every now and then? I've found in my own life that I often get caught in that trap where the words issuing from my mouth are just words. It reminds me a lot of that song, "Heart of Worship." "I'll bring you more than a song..." In a lot of ways prayer is like a song. A song that doesn't necessarily need to be issued from the mouth, but something that comes from the heart.

A couple of weeks ago I was standing in the worship service and when I looked into myself it was then and there that I realized I couldn't sing the songs that were being sung. I couldn't make the words up on the screen true in my heart. The reason why is because I hadn't prepared myself to worship. I hadn't spent my time during the week wisely preparing for corporate worship. How audacious of me to think that I could prepare myself to worship right before the service!

So much of our time spent in bible devotions and bible study can become so monotonous and easily dead actions. What makes your relationship with Christ alive is prayer! Imagine if you were to have this room mate and you would do all these things for them like clean and cook or do their homework but never talked to them? What kind of relationship do you think that would be like? It would be creepy for one thing. But you really wouldn't have much of a relationship. Its not so much the act of speaking as it is the effort to communicate. When we pray we are communicating with God! Prayer is an acknowledgement of God's existence. Moreover, its an acknowledgement of our lack. Nothing is ever initiated by us and nothing is ever accomplished by us. Prayer is saying, "God you are awesome and powerful and mighty and You are the purpose and source of all things created. I acknowledge you and thank you for allowing me to have a part in your plan."

Prayer is worship, and when we catch ourselves in the midst of trouble or being fake we need to learn to stop and immediately take the time to pray. Immediacy is so important. Facing a crisis and not praying immediately is like getting shot in the chest and not immediately applying medical treatment. Prayer is breath, it says in the bible to "pray without ceasing." In all things we should be continually praying, but it also says not to pray as the gentiles do that utter ceaseless meaningless words as if their droning will encourge their god to come to their assistance. When we pray we come before the Lord with broken souls acknowleding His preeminence. He has all authority and power we should come before Him like we do our earthly fathers. We come before our earthly fathers with a sense of deep trust and intimacy but also of respect and "healthy" fear.

So this week as we go about our busy schedules lets remember to be preparing ourselves to present ourselves to the Lord with our brothers and sisters in Christ so that when we do sing songs we can be glad in knowing that the words of our mouth are an outpouring of our souls.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Christians are Pansies

Do you think that the bulk of American Christians are too nice? Nice to the point that they let people walk all over them?

Is it bibilical to be nice enough to people and let them get away with some things because we're just doing what the bible commands when it says to turn the other cheek?

When we are faced with criticism and our character is attacked how should we respond?

What battles are worth fighting over and which ones aren't?