Save the Date(s)

Dominican Republic Mission Trip:

June 18th - 27th

Switch Beach Trip: July 9th - 13th

Cost: $199

HSM Spring Retreat-Sign up Deadline

The Go Deep Retreat is coming up next month.

We need to know WHO IS GOING?

The deadline to sign up is this Wednesday, Feb 22.

It is going to be an incredible time learning from God's Word and experiencing Him in worship. You will not want to miss it. Let us know tomorrow at church. Have a great weekend.

HSM Small Groups Start back this weekend

We start small groups back this Sunday @ 5pm. We will be doing Bible studies on specific issues that Guys and Girls face. You will not want to miss it.

Do you feel like a failure?

At times in life, you can feel like you are a complete failure. Whether it is the way you view yourself, or the abilities you think you have or don’t have, or maybe you failed that test that you really studied hard for…

Whatever it may be, Jesus’ mission in life was to call the sick to repentance.

He came for failures!

Luke chapter five is an interesting chapter. Jesus has four interactions with four individuals that many people would have considered failures. Let’s look at one of those failures: Peter.

Read Luke 5:1-11

Now granted, Peter was a successful fisherman at times, but he did have a very dirty job. To put it into a modern day perspective, Peter’s job was much like that of a modern day garbage man - a good job that doesn’t pay too bad and has its benefits, but it is smelly. This isn’t the kind of job you grow up dreaming about.

Peter was a fisherman. Jesus was a carpenter. Just the simple fact that Peter was willing to listen and submit to Jesus’ authority is amazing. Peter was willing to have faith in Jesus even when he didn’t understand everything that was going on. He took a step of faith. I am sure Peter was thinking, “This isn’t going to work; no one catches fish during the middle of the day.” But then the impossible happens. They begin to catch so many fish that the nets begin to break.

At this moment Peter sees his failures (sin) before Jesus. Peter was broken by his inadequacies and didn’t see any value in himself. All he could feel was the shame and guilt of his sinfulness. He was so ashamed that he asked Jesus to leave.

When is the last time you were broken over your sin like Peter?

If it has been a long time, maybe your heart for God has become shallow.

What would you not be willing to do or give up to follow Jesus?

It will always cost something to follow Jesus.

Do you ever feel like a complete failure? You’re not alone. Peter failed repeatedly but God used him in incredible ways. God can use you too - you just have to be willing to follow Him.

Luke 4 Recap and Super Bowl Fun

First things first......

SUNDAY IS THE SUPER BOWL PARTY.

6 PM. Be there.

But before that at 3 PM, join us for a flag football game to kick off the game day festivities. Meet at the Student Center!

Bring friends... and your game face.

Now.... let's revisit what Coach McDaris talked about on Sunday, shall we?

Look at Luke 4:31-37:

"Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 'Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!' 'Be quiet!' Jesus said sternly. 'Come out of him!' Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, 'What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!' And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area."

3 questions to address here:

1. Who are Satan and Demons?

2. Who is God? Does He exist?

3. Who am I?

Who are Satan and Demons?

The enemy (Satan and demons) strike hardest when we are growing closer in our relationship with Christ. They use any means (temptations, distraction, negativity, sin) to sever our ties with our Savior. Scripture is clear that possession exists, but when we are out of the word, have a pro prayer life, and are totally out of fellowship with Christ, the enemy doesn't need to bother with us since we are already doing their work for them.

The world will tell us a couple of big lies about Satan.

1. Satan is as powerful as God. Not true. Job 1:6-12 tells us that Satan has to travel - He's NOT omnipresent. Also, Satan has to have God's permission to interfere in Job's life. In the end, God restores all to Job. God himself does not do evil to Job during this trial, but He allows Satan to test him.

2. Satan is in charge in Hell. This is also not true. God created Hell for Satan and demons to suffer. God does not desire that anyone but Satan and demons would go to Hell.

"The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9

If we look at Colossians 1:16, we see that ALL THINGS, including Hell are made for and by Jesus, meaning He is the boss there too. Jesus is all-powerful and mighty. When we think of Jesus, we shouldn't think of the poor peasant Jesus walking all over Galilee, but we should think of him how he will be when He comes back, like the picture of Jesus painted in Revelation 19:11-16 - a king with a sword coming out of his mouth with "King of kings and Lord of lords" tattooed across His thigh, coming back to bring an end to evil and save the world. Revelation also tells us about the fate of Satan, which ultimately is suffering in Hell, not the position of authority. Jesus FOR THE WIN.

God is the ultimate standard of good, but he will allow Satan and demons to tempt you and be used for trials in our life, which only refine our faith.

Who is God, or rather Do I believe He exists?

Sometimes we want to say we believe in God, but do our actions justify this?

God is eternal.

He is triune - Father, Spirit, Son - all ONE God.

Jesus is the savior of the whole world.

If we truly believe that God is real and can deal with our issues, we should be more sensitive to our sin and cut it out of our lives completely. But the problem is, some don't feel convicted because of their sin and think that what they're doing must not be wrong because God hasn't done anything to them. There is serious danger in the lack of conviction - God disciplines and convicts His children. Silence from God is a strong indicator that one is lost.

There is a lot of arrogance expressed in the question of, "Do I believe God exists?"

Look at Luke 4:34 an 4:41. Even demons know who Jesus is and believe He is he Son of God! Simply knowing is not enough. Saying you believe Jesus is real puts you on the same intellectual level with demons.... Congratulations.

A saving relationship with Jesus means that you've put every bit of your hope in Him to rescue you from this desperately wrecked world and your own sinful nature.

Who am I?

Genesis 1:27 says we are made in the image of God.

We are made to worship - worship is a natural response to us.

Our SOLE PURPOSE is to make much of God's name.

We are made to need and desire a relationship with God, but He does not need that with us. Instead, He desperately wants it. God calls His disciples in Luke ch. 5 because it is their purpose - they were the first of many to respond and immediately follow Jesus' call.

This is amazing news!

We have a Jesus-shaped hole in our heart, and although we try to fill it with many things or people (because we are made to worship and because of our deep need for that ultimate relationship), but Jesus is the only true and lasting fit.

Are you trying to fill the hole in your heart with other things or people? Or are you letting the God, the Creator of the universe, our Savior and Redeemer, fill your gaps? Pray and think on that. Let Christ completely fill you.

Good Entrance

Luke 4:14-30

Good entrance

Why does everyone want to make a good entrance? Do we like getting the attention? Is that why we want to show up at prom fashionably late? So everyone can see how great we look? If we are honest, most of us really like getting the attention. Whether it is the new outfit, new car, the new haircut… we like to get noticed.

In this passage, Jesus had just come from being tempted by the devil. This moment in time was marking the beginning of His public ministry. This is the start, Jesus’ opportunity to let people know who He truly was and for people to notice Him. We can begin to imagine how we would start off; we would want to start with a bang.

On His first stop, Jesus did do some incredible things in Galilee, from healing the sick, to casting out demons (Matthew 4:23-25). But this is where the story shifts: Jesus decides to go home to his hometown, Nazareth.

The people in Nazareth were excited because they had heard all the rumblings about Jesus. They were expecting the same miracles to happen in their town.

Jesus shows up at church in Nazareth to speak to the crowd that had gathered. He read from Isaiah 61:1-2. This passage had long been considered to be prophesying about the coming Messiah. By reading this passage, Jesus was stating that the time of the Messiah had come and that He in fact was the Messiah they had been waiting for. Jesus stated that he had come to proclaim good news to the poor, to set the captives free, and to free those who were oppressed.

At first the people were amazed at Jesus, but then they started to remember, that He was the son of Joseph. Jesus went on to tell two stories about two prophets, Elijah and Elisha and how they didn’t minister to the church people or religious people but they ministered to the Gentiles the people that were “unchurched.” At this point the people were enraged at Jesus, to the point that they began to try to push him off a cliff.

Jesus is just starting off in ministry and He has already offended people to the point they are trying to kill Him? This isn’t how we would have told Jesus to start his ministry. We would have wanted him to build a huge following – “Just get a lot of people attending Church, Jesus!” Then, after He has a much bigger following, He could maybe start offending religious people. But we have to remember that Jesus didn’t come to appease the religious; He came to speak the Gospel to the poor, to the people who didn’t think they had God figured out.

The people of Nazareth had a certain image of God in their mind. This view of God was keeping them from seeing that God was right in front of them. They were making the assumption that because they were “religious” or “church going people” that they knew God. They didn’t realize that Jesus was getting ready to shatter their way of connecting to God.

It is a message of hope that Jesus came to save that which was lost. Many times in our lives we are dealt a bad hand. We feel like we haven’t been given a fair deal - Our parents got divorced, we don’t feel loved, we wished we looked different. But this is the message that Jesus is trying to communicate and this is why He came: to restore what has been broken and to bring life to what is dead.

Who was Jesus trying to please in this passage?

Do you have an incorrect view of God?

Have you lost hope?

Switch Superbowl Party Feb 5th