"JESUS CHRIST" Who HE is to ME..

HE is my Lord and Savior,
HE is my loving creator.
HE is my father,
HE is my lover.

HE is the King of Kings,
HE owns all the riches, and all the rings.
This world promises all of these things,
But HE promises more then all the worldly bling's.

Once I thought I could do it on my own,
But  the way I was going my heart was turning into stone.
HE reached out to me with a pierced and blood stained hand,
HE said to ME, "now together we will stand."

Sense that time of healing,
Now I have never stop longing and wanting that same feeling.
The feeling of true understanding,
The feeling of true love everlasting.

JESUS you are everything to ME,
Without you I have no idea I could even see.
See true love, true life, true meaning,
Now I know, and try to show it with all my being.

HE came to me with forgiveness,
And freed me of all the heaviness.
The heaviness that condemned life,
Now with HIM I can be a true husband to my wife. 

HE gave me a second chance,
Like David I can now do a heavenly dance.
Even though I was horrible, I was bad,
HE came to me with open arm's as a loving dad.

I thank you my LORD,
I love you my LORD.
I thank you for my family, my life,
And especially my kids, and my wife.

Written By:
Mike Gibbs

"korinthiazomai" WHO?

 The Bible is something for yourself.  What I mean by that, is that it was not made to take and attack, or judge others with. The Bible is something made for you to deal with your own heart issues.  See in Matthew 7:3-5 (NKJV), Jesus puts it right out there on the table saying,

  

    And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, Let me remove the speck from your eye; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers eye. Matthew 7:3-5 (NKJV)

   Jesus is telling us right there to deal with our heart issues first, then you can move on to help someone else.  When I say this I'm not saying clean yourself up and now your sanctified to judge others.  No, I'm saying help yourself.  Look at yourself to get yourself right.  So that when your trying to help someone else, your mind will be clear, your thoughts will be clean, and no judgement just love.

   When I think of this topic I think of the church of Corinth.  Back then the corinthians were crazy people. The city really reminds me of how our country is today.  See they had the promise of God all over them, but still did really disgusting and un-Godly things.  They worshiped false gods, they were sexually impure. 

   

    Put it this way if you did something impure back then, something that you knew wasn't right, there was a nickname for you.  Like the way I dance some people call it the "Carlton"(fresh prince of bel-air).  Where back then they had a synonym for lude actions it was "korinthiazomai" which means to act like a Corinthian.  They were so bad people used them in a term to describe bad acts.  For me that's a little humiliating.  If someone used  "i just did a Gibbs" when they did something bad.  I think it would be time to do some self reflection, time to get right.  I truly believe we as a church as a whole in this country have starting to go that way.

    I got a story to tell you guys that kind of puts this into perspective of how the church is going now a days.  I was talking to a guy at work the other day, which is a self proclaimed christian, talking about his church.  So the conversation started going to people of his church, and how crazy some of them are.  Well anyways he with no hesitation told me a story about, in his words "the sluts of the church" and how they get with certain people and how they act.  Yes I said they!  Then He kept talking about other stuff, but I was still stuck back at the term sluts of the church.  Did he really say that, wow!!!  I can't believe me ears.  This is what I'm talking about, the church now a days, is so corrupted with worldly things it doesn't even realize the acts that Satan is doing right under their noses. 

   This story depicts exactly how the church of the Corinthians were like back then.  But then Paul came in, a disciple of the teaching of Christ to tell or show how corrupt they were.  But he also showed how no matter how bad it is, with Jesus everything is forgivable and forgettable.  Go to 1 Corinthians 6:11  this is what paul says to the church after seeing all the bad things they were doing, and knew that they were people of God.  They knew Jesus, they followed his teachings but were being destroyed by the worldly desires around them.

   

   And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.(1 Corinthians 6:11 NKJV) 

    In this verse you will see how Paul talks about how as Christians, once you asked the Lord into your life, or asked the Lord for forgiveness this is what the Holy Spirit does for us (to us).  

   See when he says you were washed that meant you were spiritually cleansed by God.  

   You were sanctified means set apart as Gods people.  

   You were justified means declared righteous by God because of Christ's work on the cross.  

  

   What I'm getting here is to always believe no matter what you do always go to Him.  If you don't, the act that He did on the cross meant nothing.  The story of Paul telling the Corinthians what they were doing, is to keep you in check with your heart issues.  Issues that Satan can use to put condemnation in your life.  

    My point here for you guys to go home with, is check yourself.  Find in your life where God is not and put it in check.  Don't be that luke warm church, that luke warm "Christian".  You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one remain with God in that  state  in which he was called. (1 Corinthians 7:23, 24 NKJV). Stay close to God so not to fall away from his calling in your life.

Lift up Others

   Have you ever heard the phrase, "The best advertisement is by word of mouth."  Right now i know your probably saying Mike what is that suppose to mean, and how is that ever related to anything of God.  Listen I'm telling you it's got to do everything about God in more than one way.  Think about it, "Love out loud!!". 


   See I hear this phrase over and over and over at my job.  They say for every mad person that comes from my store, they will tell 7 people about their time there.  But for every happy person they tell only 3 people about their time.  There's a point to this stay with me.  

    So if we are suppose to "Love out loud!" do you think that it is only meant for us to express our love for Jesus to the world, or do you think there is more to it than that.  See I feel loving out loud is also meant for us on a personal level as a youth group.  It's also meant for a personal level with our family, and our friends in our lives.

    I feel that the best word of mouth that we could do for Jesus in our lives is to show love for people close to us with the gifts that they have. That could be the spiritual gifts, it could be the talents they have, or even the cool toys they have. See this message hit me on Sunday which you can ask Ashlee, right in middle of service I put the title of this message down in my notes, but any way. 


    Go ahead and turn your bible to the same book that pastor Jon was talking from on Sunday which is Galatians 5.  See here pastor Jon talked about how envy and jealousy is two in one that can and will destroy you spiritually if you let them.  So I went home and also read the verses, but took it a little further and went on to verse 22, which reads.

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those  who are  Christs have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26 NKJV)

    So again I say the best advertisement for God is by word of mouth.  But your still saying Mike what do you mean.  Think about it if you praise others for they're gifts, and show true love for them and the talents they have.  Not only the person that you are praising will see it but others around will see it too.  Now instead of people saying wow you know Mike he calls himself a Christian, but man you should of heard all the crap he was talking about nick.  MAN WHAT A HYPOCRITE.  


     You know now that person is going to tell everyone they know.  But think about it, if they would have seen me saying great things about Nick saying, " wow Nick can sing so good, his voice sounds a little like Fergie and Jesus." Do you think they would tell the same amount of people.  I don't think so, I think they would probably only tell like one to three people.  So I would do it more often then not.


 
    Think about it do you think Jesus had billboards all over saying, COMING THIS SUNDAY JESUS OF NAZARETH IS COMING TO TOWN.  SEE MIRACLES AND HEALING'S!!!  No he had nothing but word of mouth.  People saw his works and then told everyone they knew.
  
     You have to realize what is going on in your heart and make sure that your heart is spewing out nothing but love and praise for not only our savior but others in your lives.  Love out Loud!!!!  Lose the jealously and envy, and replace it with love and praise.

Conviction vs Condemnation

  So tonight I want to talk about conviction vs Condemnation.  What is what, and what is so different between the two.  The best way I could simplify it would be, good vs evil.  What I mean by that is in the bible it talks about Jesus bringing conviction.  It also talks about how the holy spirit is conviction (which is good).  Where if you hear about condemnation its always being talked about how Satan was condemned to his position.

    See I know a lot of us have some feelings and thoughts in us that make us feel condemned about what we have done and said or seen.  Some of us think that those feelings actually come from God.  But I say neh neh, see once again Jesus said he came not to condemn the world but to save it. (John 12: 47) See God never says your a loser or no one likes you, or you can't do that.  Condemnation lifts up the bad things, or problems but does not give you the solution.  It comes from Satan meant to tear you down, it is meant to make you feel fear about the issues that really haunt you deep down in side.  It keeps you from truly getting into a deeper relationship with God.  

    Where if you have conviction in your heart, what that is to me is the holy spirit guiding you through your life.  It is God calling out to you with love.  Saying hey man I know you know what you did, but I still love you.  Just come to me and ask for forgiveness and I'll show you how to get through it.  Or how to avoid it from entering into your life again. See God actually longs for it he wants it. 
    
     Get your bible out, this I want you guys to highlight again for your times of lost and hurting.  Times when you are feeling that what you have done is way too much to come back from, and then read this. 

    Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18 NKJV)

    Man I really love the part of the verse, where it talks about how the Lord will wait.   I start to imagine my dad sitting at his chair, waiting for me to walk through the door.  Sitting there with a big smile on his face, even though he knew about the bad things I just did.  Then he opens his arms and pulls me in and says, " no worries I forgive you, now leave and never think about it again."  Wow, now that's a loving father.  Go a little further in the verse and you will see, he will be exalted, exalted means to lift up with praise.  See every time you go to God and ask for forgiveness, you are exalting him up in your life.  You are showing to him that you acknowledge that he is all powerful in your life, and he has ultimate control of your life.
    
    You have to realize that God is not what the world puts him as. He's not judgementle, he's not just all about do's and don'ts.  He knows that we are all human that we all make mistakes.  He wants us to come to him and ask for forgiveness and then gives us the ability to forget it.  If you ever have those thoughts of I can't or I don't have the ability, or I've done way too much stuff for him to let me back into his arms.  I'm telling you that is Satan talking, not God.  God longs for you, remember he created you in the image of himself.  Do you really think he will just turn his back on his greatest creation. 

      If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NKJV)
  
  I'm going to leave you with this, condemnation shouts, " your past, your sins, your a loser!".  Where conviction shouts out  " with the blood of Jesus you are forgiven of all your sins.  It shouts your past does not have to be part of you anymore!"    Remember Jesus the holy spirit brings forth conviction the answer.  It does not bring up the problem...  God forgives and forgets remember that!!!

Love out Loud

   I was thinking about what to talk about tonight.  So me and Ashlee were talking back and forth.  Then she mentioned Love out Loud, and at that moment it was burned into my heart.  Now that's what I'm going to talk about on Wednesday.  

  

   So what is Love out Loud?  Love out loud for me is not just saying it but living it.  See what I mean by that is if you want to love out loud, it's kind of hard to do that to the same people over and over and over.  Loving out loud is going into places, or talking to people that are out of your normal four walls.  To me if you feel a little uncomfortable talking about your faith that means that you are doing the right thing, and Satan is trying to push you away from doing the right thing.

    If you could name one person that walked this earth that truly loved out loud, who would that be?  I say our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  See he wasn't here to make himself comfortable, and make the world full of cotton candy and sugar plums.  No see he would get out of the cool table at lunch and talked to the not so cool or morally grounded girls/guys and all the partiers of the cafeteria.  I'm not making this up, If your looking for proof go to the book of Matthew.

    Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house,  that  behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw  it,  they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard  that,  He said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. (Matthew 9:10-13 NKJV)

    What I get from stories like this one of Jesus, which is one of many in the gospels.  Will show you how Jesus really didn't care what people thought of him, as long as he was doing what was right it was all good.  To love out loud is to know that there are people out there that need to know the true love of Jesus in there lives.  I'm not saying now don't love and help your church friends.  What I am saying is help Jesus help your friends and family that are sick.  Giving them the chance to know the real truth, that is to Love out Loud.  Jesus did say in the bible what would come of the people that love out loud, people that go against the grain of the world.  I got one more group of verse to read and we are going to close on this and go to our breakout groups. Go to Matthew chapter 5.

    And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.  Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:1-12 NKJV)

   Why I wanted to leave with this was so that you would realize that Loving out Loud is not always sugar plums and gum drops.  But God sees it all and when everything is said and done.  You who do so will reap the benefits of loving God and others.

    To love out loud is an incredible gift you can give to someone. Think about it you have something so supernatural living inside you! GODS LOVE. Love is the key to everything. To truly love you have to have Christ living inside you. Through Him you have the key to brokenness, and all healing.

Is God your Butler, Or is He your Friend?

   This is going to be short but to the point. My idea for tonight is to open your eyes to some other ways of looking at old things we have been taught or have read before.  The question of tonight is, is God your butler or is he your friend? Grab your bibles and turn to the book of Matthew.  I want you to read along with me to yourselves, and really let this sit deep in your thoughts. I'm reading out of the NIV.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12 NIV)

  When I read this verse I see a different level of understanding in it.  What I get from it is the normal golden ticket on how to live you life, but I also see an understanding on how God wants us to treat him.  These words are directly from Jesus, and I believe he was saying, " hey you want me to treat you good, well guess what treat me good too!". See I truly believe that most of us in here have a relationship with God, but more of a butler to our needs.  So I'm going to ask that question again. do you treat God like a butler?  Guess what if you do, that's Probably why you don't think that your prayers have ever been answered. Or have they?  

    Man seriously every time I think of a butler  I think of Geoffrey, the butler from the fresh prince of Bel-Air.  Then i think about Mr. Banks yellow his name out.  Then it hit me wait that's what we do with God.  Again I ask you is he your butler.  Does anyone in here just call on him just to say " yo God what up?", I doubt it.  I know for some of you this might be a little hard to hear but hang in there with me OK.  For some of you this might be a little bit of a wake up call.  For some of you not sure how to talk to God this is a learning opportunity. I believe God should be your friend someone that you talk to every day.  Not someone you just yell for whenever you want or need something.

  See if you haven't learned yet you will learn soon, that is God does what he wants when he wants.  There is nothing that we can ever do about it.  Got example for ya.  There has been times that I know I'm not the only one here that has done this.  But has said to my self God just let me win the lotto just once and everything will be just fine.  Looking around I don't think God has given any of us the winning numbers in a dream or vision yet, huh?  No he hasn't, but he does know what we truly needed the lotto for, and has provided for that, right?  

  See if you start treating him as a friend, and have a real relationship with him.  You will see all prayers being answered, and no prayers falling short.  God will reveal things to you beyond your imagination when you grow closer to him.  So now is God your Geoffrey, and you big daddy Mr. Banks.  Or is he someone that you now sit and hang out with, and live life with.  Like any other friend that you have in school.  So do to him what you would have him do to you. 

True Love

   I was thinking about love.  What is love, who is love, and where did love come from.  See love isn't something that just happens.  Love had to be originated from somewhere or someone.  See I believe that love truly was given to us from God. If you look back at the creation of Adam and Eve. Turn to genesis. 

   Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. (Genesis 1:26 NKJV)

    So God created man in His  own  image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27 NKJV)

    In this verse he is showing to me a fullness of the idea of man is going to be brought to life.  Now flip to chapter 2.

    And the Lord God formed man  of  the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7 NKJV)

    Here is the first time you can see when God truly showed how much he loved us by not only creating us. He bent over and inspired life into us.  He gave us a soul a chance to love.  He had to make a very intimate interaction with us to do such a thing.  Who here understands the word inspire.  For you who don't know it's to breath into.  The word inspire is a message all in its own.    

   So now he had so much love and trust in us that he gave man (us) the power over all the land.  I'm sorry but I'm not just going to give over all of the things I just created, and Loved to just anyone.  I would give it over to someone that I had all kinds of love and trust in.   Now that we got the love of creation. I want to talk about his love in our every day walk.  See every action that we make as a christian or Christ follower all have to be with love in mind, or intended.  See the bible actually shows us to do it.  Turn to the book of 1John.

    Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7 NKJV)
 
    Now go to the next verse.

    He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8 NKJV)

    See these two verses really solidify my thoughts of God being the originator of Love.  If we don't know love, or have any feelings of love, we truly don't know our Lord our creator.  Now go to first Peter.

    Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8 NIV)  

   What I love, and get from what is being said here is that no matter what we have done, Gods love will trump all of it.  If you show love to others I can tell you one thing, if you do something bad to them and they know you love them. They will always forgive you.  Show Gods love in your life and you can get away with a lot of things.  It says it right there in the bible.  Trust me read your bible, it has some good stuff in it.  

   So we're talking about love.   Love what is love, who is love.  I know who love is and that person is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  Think about it he came to this earth for nothing but give us total love from him.  He showed it to us by all the knowledge he gave us and the miracles he did on earth.  The best one was the death and resurrection.  See at that point he once again showed the ultimate example of love and that was life.  When he rose from the grave, he concurred death.  He once again inspired (he breathed) life into the world.  He gave us the chance to have Eden again.  See Adam and Eve didn't just get thrown out of a beautiful place.  They were thrown out of the presence of God.  See Eden was the symbol of a physical relationship with our savior.  Now when you let him into your life you now have your personal Eden, a personal relationship with you all the time.  Now you truly feel love.

    We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 NIV).

    NOW THAT'S LOVE!!!!!!!