Acquaint thyself with God, and be at peace, thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents, if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed, then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.

Job 22:21-25

There are so many adages about time, but one that I am fond of is that time is the most valuable commodity in the world because it’s the one commodity you cannot save, cannot redo, nor can you buy more of. In a Biblical sense, the time we have on this earth was written in the Book before creation. We do not know when our time will end nor can we ascertain the timing in the future. We are finite beings living finite lives.

Whether you live a long, productive life or are of a life cut too short, our primary concern (preserving our life) is not God’s primary concern (using our life). God’s desire is not for His people to crave more time or worry about when it will all end, but to use the time we do have to bear good fruits. We each have a choice every second of our life to give God glory. We have a responsibility to love the unloved, correct injustices, and bring about good change within our community that those who do not know Christ would know. Just as Israel allowed the world to dictate who they were, we as a Church are prone of doing the same. Where love should abound, there is little. Where righteous living should be modeled, we appear more grotesque than those who claim no God. The changes we see are that of a church chasing after its own desires not our God’s.

We have the privilege and honor of serving the sovereign God of all created and uncreated. We must guard ourselves from becoming shadows of what was intended by our King. It is not dramatic enough to say that if we do not stand for good God will use someone else. But don’t miss it: it’s not too late. While breath still comes from your lungs that choice is still yours to make and God is there in and through it all.

Life is full of tragedy. Recently, a beautiful infant in the Southeast district was left without a father (life taken through sickness) and a mother (life taken through an automotive accident) in the span of 3 months. The story is almost unfathomable. And yet this sort of story is not new to the world, it is not uncommon, nor will it be the last of its kind. So what do we do with tragedy? Pray that as this child grows up without their parents and feels the burden of this tragedy that they would be rescued out of it. Not through the awful circumstance of growing up without mom and dad, but that they would be rescued out of the great tragedy of humanity. Pray that they would know the answer to tragedy through the life and death of Jesus Christ and be saved through His work on the cross! This goes for us all because it is not enough to hear and see Jesus Christ we must know Him. And He wants to be known, hallelujah!

Parents take this as a challenge that we would not let our own sin struggles bleed into our children’s. Teach them truth. Be honest about our struggles. Be persistent in love. Do not stop getting to know them. Do not stop seeing who they are. Time is short, take advantage of every opportunity to show them Christ at home and at church. Do not pass up an opportunity to go do good because you are tired or lazy. Do not pass up an opportunity to teach and share because there’s no response or approval coming back from them. Be diligent in these things because you will not have this time back.

Students if for whatever reason you are reading this, take it as a challenge to investigate all you can about God while you have the time. The love that we have for you will never diminish no matter what road you choose. This time of your life is unlike any other you will ever have, so despite your desires don’t wish for it to end. Utilize this time to learn all that you can and know where you stand with Him. Ask questions! We want to know what you are thinking, struggling with, angry about. We are often quick to speak and not listen, shame on us for that we will do better. Think carefully about who you want to be and how you will get there. All of these roads require time so use it wisely, use your time with eternity in mind.

Please join me in praying that as a youth group and a church we reprove what needs reproving, approve of what deserves approval, and stand in righteousness confident that we did all that we could to bring God glory in Christ’s name. Praise God!

As far as what to look forward to in November & December, here is the week-by-week breakdown. Full printable schedule can be found here.

• We have youth group at our normal times: Nov 7, Nov 14, Dec 5, Dec 12
• November 12th is the Fall Bash
• November 19th is the Middle School Game Night/Sleepover
• November 21st is Youth Fundraiser: Soup Cookoff and one service Sunday
• December 19th is the Nativity Scene for the children’s ministry
• December 26th is a one service Sunday

As always, email me here or call me if you ever have any questions, concerns, or prayer requests.

In Christ,

George