The God Who Never Gives Up.

How do I know God is with me?
What if this is all a lie?
How do I know that is God who is speaking?

Oh the dreadfull darkness of doubt.

When we are going through darkness, God seems very far away. Which is exactly why He chose to draw near.

Throughout history, God's people have often forgotten Him, but God didn't forget them. He kept His word. And He didn't give up.

When the Isrealites grumbled in the desert.
When Moses wanted to back out of His heavenly calling.
When Saul's angry heart roared after David.
When David plotted to kill Uriah...
God didn't give up.

When Jesus was constricted by 9 months in the womb.
When Peter praised Him in the Upper Room, but denied Him the next day.
When the soldiers' whip ripped His flesh.
When the bystanders spit ran down His face...
He didn't give up.

In your moments of darkness, heartbreak, tragedy, sorrow, and loneliness, God seems far away. But the truth is, He is still there. He never left. God held Christ's hand steady on the cross, and He'll hold yours too.

You want to be forever changed? Allow your despair to meet head-on with Christ's unwavering grace.

Praise the God of encouragement! He loves you. He never gives up on you, especially when life is hard, because He's been in your shoes. The hand that reaches out to wipe your tears is a pierced one.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:35-39

Wait on Christ. Stand before your Lord. The same eyes that conquered the grave and sent Satan running are looking longingly into your own. Rest in His love.

Free at Last.

The penalty of sin is death.

Period.

Sin imprisons us. It locks us up with guilt and shame and fear.

The only way we can be set free from sin is to serve the penalty.

Someone has to die.

You cannot leave the prison of sin unless there is a death.

That death has occured at Calvary.

Enter Christ, the heavenly substitue for us.

When Jesus died, sin's claim and power in our life died as well.

Christ took our place. He unlocked our shackles and slapped them on His own wrists.

He stepped in and said, "Let her go. Take me instead."

The pure and perfect Lamb was completely blameless. He had no reason to die. Yet He took God's full wrath through His death on a cross, and set us free.

God showed His unconditional love, mercy, and grace when He sacrificed His son for us.

And all He wants from us is our affection and obedience.

When we are absorbed in sin and glorifying ourselves rather than God, we are turning our noses up at this beautiful Heavenly Sacrifice.

We are human and we are imperfect. But we have been washed in Christ's perfect redeeming blood. Let us start living our lives in gratefulness of His sacrificial love, and in reverence and obedience of our Savior.

Switch Christmas Party this Sunday night!

This Sunday.

2.5 days away.

Student Center.

5:00 p.m.

Switch Christmas Party.

You don't wanna miss this.

Bring a $5 or less gift and everyone you've ever met.

We'll see you there!

Trust the Rope.

I'm a big Bear Grylls fan.

Can you blame me?

The man is brilliant.

He climbs mountains and makes sleeping bags out of sheep carcasses and eats things that most higher mammals turn up their nose at.

In one of Bear's books, "The Kid Who Climbed Everest", he talks about his experience as a 23-year old climbing the world's tallest mountain.

Climbing a mountain like Everest is a long process. But Bear's first experience climbing above Base Camp nearly ended his life. He, one of his climbing partners, and two sherpas who rig the safety ropes on the slope set out to climb the first stretch of the mountain known as the Khumbu Icefall. The Icefall is a solid sheet of ice that is extremely dangerous due to its instability. Climbers take care to be out of the Icefall by 2:00 p.m., when the sun is beating down directly overhead melting the ice. It was 1:47 p.m. and Bear and his partner were heading out of the Icefall.

"I unclipped, and clipped into the next rope down, and leant against the ice, recovering. Suddenly the ground just opened up beneath me. The ice cracked for a transient second, then just collapsed. My legs buckled beneath me and I was falling. I tumbled down, bouncing against the gray walls of the crevasse that before had been hidden by a thin veneer of ice. I carried on falling, then suddenly was jerked to a violent halt, as the rope held me firm. The falling ice crashed into my skull, jerking my neck backwards. I lost conciousness for a few precious seconds. I came to, to see the ice falling away below me into the darkness, as my body gently swung around on the end of the rope. It was eerily silent." - Bear Grylls

Luckily for Bear, the rope, that wasn't designed for impact falls, miraculously held his weight. Bear prayed and urged the rope to hold until he felt strong pulls on the rope. Nima and Pasang, the two Sherpa men, were pulling him out. Bear owed his life to these two brave and courageous men.

I doubt many of you have had a similar experience with a crevasse on an Everest slope, but we all have experienced falls. And I'm not talking about slipping on an icy sidewalk, or loosing your footing in a crowded cafeteria (which trust me, I've had my fair share of). I mean spiritual and emotional falls; Falls resulting from letting go of promises, of convictions, of truth. Falls from un-met expectations and shattered dreams.

I have experienced many of these falls. I'm falling, twisting, and turning, bracing myself for the crash I just know lays ahead, only to find myself suspended in midair, held securely by the hands of Christ. Those strong, nail-pierced hands.

Bear was shaken by his fall, but he didn't let his fear interfere with his goal. He got back up and climbed the mountain, and became the youngest British man to summit Everest.

After our falls, Christ is urging us to do the same thing; Try again.

We are all on a great climb. That summit is high and the risks are higher. But Christ has given us the harness of His Holy Spirit. With this climb comes weariness and fear. You may lose your footing or your focus. You lose your grip and you fall. For a moment, you're tumbling wildly and out of control, but then, the rope tightens. The harness holds. And you look up and see Jesus pulling you up out of your abyss. Your trust in your Savior builds and your journey resumes.

Satan can use fear to distract you or turn you from your goal. But whatever you do, don't quit. Although your falls are great, his strength is greater. You will make it. You will reach the summit. You will make it to the top.

"To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." - Jude 1:24-25