Things Hoped For

Ready for some wise words?  Take a listen to Proverbs 28:13.

What is it?  That personal sin you’re hiding.

Where does it strike the hardest?  That bad habit you know must be conquered.

When’s the last time you fell?  You know.  The trap you just can’t seem to stay out of.

Remember this wise statement throughout the day: “whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper.”  Why?  Because it’s never just you who knows.  The Creator knows even more than you.  He knows you better than you know yourself.

But don’t let that haunting truth be the end of the story.  “He who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”  Is there something you need to confess today?  Has God been calling you to forsake something for quite some time?  Isn’t today the day to step up to God’s offer of mercy?  Who knows, tomorrow may never come.

Our Youth Lectureship is scheduled for this Saturday, May 17th.

We’ve topped 80 registrations and would love to have you join us!

Theme & Schedule
The Race That Is Set Before Us

• 9:30 a.m. - Doors open / Registration
• 10:00 a.m. - Welcome & Introduction
• 10:10-10:45 a.m. - Qualifying For Life’s Race (Jason Hardin)
• 10:55-11:30 a.m. - “On Your Mark” (Aaron Kemple)
• 1:00-1:15 - Sign-in for afternoon sessions
• 1:25-2:00 p.m. - “Get Set” (Aaron Kemple)
• 2:10-3:15 p.m. - Small Groups Study (with corresponding study for parents)
• 3:25-4:00 p.m. - “Go!” (Jason Hardin)

Target Audience

While no one will be excluded, the lessons presented by Jason and Aaron will be specifically designed with high school and college-aged young people in mind. Also, from 2:00-3:00 p.m, a corresponding study for parents will be led by Dave Pike on Clearing The Hurdles Of Modern Parenting.

Why Register?

If you are planning to attend, we ask that you please take the time to let us know in one of a variety of ways. Each attendee will receive a workbook that complements the lectureship sessions. Also, your registration will aid in arranging classroom space for the afternoon small groups studies led by Jason Budd, Adam McCollough, Devin Roush, and Eric Tustin.

You can register via:

• Our website.
• E-mail (lectureship [at] lccoc.net). Within the e-mail, please indicate your name and whether you are a student or parent planning to attend. If a student, please provide your age.
• Phone (614-868-1375). If you reach the voice mail, please leave a message with your name, contact information, and whether you are a student or parent planning to attend. If a student, please provide your age.

11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Studies will break for lunch. Several restaurants are available in the immediate area. Maps with nearby restaurants will also be available. Please make your personal plans accordingly.

May 17th is shaping up to be an exciting day of encouragement and inspiration. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. We hope to see you then!

Take a moment to meditate upon the message of Proverbs 24:1-2.

It can be extremely tempting at times to “envy” the “evil.”  We know what they’re doing.  We know it’s wrong.  But we fantasize about what it would be like to be them, or at least to be “with them.”

Remember throughout your day that you have no reason to be ashamed of standing with and for the Truth.  Those who live unrighteously may appear to have it all, but don’t forget this wise statement.  You live for God, and one day, you will be the envy of the evil.

So says Proverbs 30:5-6 when you find yourself at odds with God and His revelation.

• God says “DO this.”
• You say, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

You’re the liar. Every time.

• God says “DON’T do this.”
• You say, “It’s not that big of a deal.”

You’re the liar. Every time.

Not much need to elaborate on that wise warning, is there? Let’s be careful. Let’s be reverent. Let’s allow God’s words to stand and ring true without our addition or subtraction.

Are you a young parent? If so, today’s thought from Proverbs 22:15 has your name written all over it.

It’s not much of a stretch for me to speculate that you very well may see some form of “folly” or “foolishness” exhibited by your child at some point today. If not today, it won’t be long. Some forms of “foolishness” may be downright silly. There’s nothing wrong with learning to laugh with your children. But other forms of “foolishness,” by their very nature, call for quick and consistent discipline.

Young parent, remember this wise statement. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” You can rest assured that it will periodically show itself. It may rear its juvenile head at some point today.

Rebellion. Selfishness. Bitterness. Resentment. Thanklessness. Anger. Jealousy. Foolishness.

As that child’s parent, how will you respond? Will you be ready with a loving, but firm answer to teach the basics of maturity, respect for authority, and spiritual backbone?

God has entrusted you with such a precious gift. Do what you can to make sure that gift doesn’t grow up to be a “fool.” Don’t be afraid to use “the rod of discipline.” It just might save your child’s life, and most importantly, his or her soul.

Tomorrow morning, in the first of a three-part Spring Spiritual Checkup, the plan is to take our temperature. Here’s how I’m approaching it.

I have childhood memories of my Dad showing the same kind of image, just on one of those slick, new-fangled overhead projectors. His Dad was fond of colorful bedsheets. I’m wondering how things will be illustrated for my daughters in 25 years.

“With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  But there are certain things that go against our Father’s very nature and integrity — things He refuses to do.  Foolishly, at times, we live as if we are expecting the impossible in our relationship with Him.  This lesson encourages us in the opposite direction.

For more sermons, click here.

Take a moment to read and reflect on Proverbs 16:31.

Lots of young people have the tendency to tune out and disrespect those who are older.  Let me encourage you to remember this wise statement throughout the day and as you head into the weekend.  You’ll see what the wise man referred to as “crowns of glory” all around you that have been gained in the context of righteous living.

Let’s make sure we give those who are older the respect they deserve.  They’ve been there.  They’ve done that.  They’re here to tell about it.  Believe it or not, if we took the time to listen, we might learn something.

And let’s remember that everybody’s hair turns gray if they live long enough.  But gray hair is only a crown that means anything if we’ve walked through life in submission to the King of kings.  Let’s make sure that if the Lord allows us to continue on this earth until we receive our own “crowns of glory,” we’re able to say they’ve been gained in the context of a “righteous life.”

It’s been a tremendous joy and encouragement having Gary Henry with us for the past few days. The audio of Gary’s sermons delivered in the Reaching Forward series is available here and here or by clicking any of the links below.

• What Is Life In Christ Primarily About?

• Forgetting What Is Behind

• Reaching Forward To What Is Ahead

• The Mind Of The Mature Christian

• Pressing Toward The Goal

If you’ve enjoyed reading some of Gary’s meditations this week, they are available in book form as well as online. Take two minutes out of your busy day and do yourself a favor. Go here and subscribe to Gary’s daily emails. If your goal is to draw closer to God every day, you won’t regret it.

Spiritually speaking, one of our most dangerous tendencies is to settle for too little. When we’ve been disappointed by what life has shown us, we’re tempted to lower our expectations. Yet a greater wisdom would often point us in the opposite direction. Our problem is not that we’ve desired too much, but that we’ve settled for too little. At least where God is concerned (and, in a certain sense, even where this world is concerned), we need to elevate our aim and enlarge our desires.

The problem of sin, in fact, comes down to the problem of abandoning the great desires that are our birthright from God. With regard to these desires, we have a spiritual adversary who whispers that he knows of “better” ways they can be satisfied, and we foolishly barter with him. But eventually we find that we’ve been cheated. What were promised to be superior satisfactions turn out to be pitifully inadequate pleasures. And in our flat, unfulfilled misery, we begin to complain about our desires, as if there was something unfair about our having been given them.

There are two tragedies here. One is that we allow ourselves to be defrauded of the life-giving joy that our Creator has in store for us. But the second is even more sorrowful: we give up longing for the joy of God and settle for a life of dreary disillusionment. Having robbed us of our hearts’ desire, our enemy “consoles” us with the lie that our hopes were too high to start with. “Nobody ever gets to have what he wants,” he says. “You may as well get used to it.” And somewhere in the nether regions there is a chorus of harsh, croaking laughter over the claiming of another victim.

Yet if the Scriptures teach anything, they teach that God is the God of joy (Nehemiah 8:10). What once could have been ours is not fully available in this world, broken as it is by our folly. But rather than sell out, we should seek the higher things with renewed love. And that is just what we’ll do if, like our spiritual ancestors, we long in our hearts for “a better, that is, a heavenly country.”