Hey ChicaGO SEMP team. We are now at the start of our journey. My prayer is that throughout the course of the experience we will be dedicated and committed to each other and the process. Let's start STRONG and finish EVEN STRONGER!!
REMEMBER THAT WE START MEETING THIS SUNDAY FOR TRAINING IN THE PRETEEN ROOM.
It's time to START by sharing your thoughts from Max Q this week.
What is your "big takeaway" from the 1st week?
It may be...
...A passage of scripture you read.
...A statement made in the devotional.
...A big thought that came to you as you went through it.
...Something you felt God challenge or press you on as you've read.
Make sure you put your comment up before our training THIS Sunday, April 17.
***Remember to include your first and last name on your comment at the very end. A few examples from past years of how we'd like you to post are below:
For me, the "BIG TAKEAWAY" that has been challenging me and pushing me is just thinking about God's plan for me... thinking about how our job is to go out and shine God's light to our lost friends.
And more . . .
Mallory Rondeau
My biggest takeaway form this week was from reading Proverbs 27:19
-"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
And more . . .
Jeremy Wilmot
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Here's some quotes from this week that really jumped out at me and some thoughts from me to follow:
ReplyDelete"You must BECOME a student who can be influential without being influenced."
"The friends you influence today are the world changers and world influencers of tomorrow."
"The most influential students work from a place of PASSION AND CHARACTER WITHIN THEIR OWN HEARTS. If they don't, they can't inspire, they can't lead, and they can't model the influential life."
"Perhaps FEAR made them go back when they should have gone forward."
I had to ask myself and evaluate how much I try to be influential with those around me. What creates a passion inside me when I think about Christ? How can I take that passion and use it in my day to day conversations with others who NEED to hear what God has for them? What if any FEAR has caused me to go back when I should have pressed ahead.
Great stuff to wrestle through. I'd rather struggle and wrestle through these issues than sit back and not influence or do anything at all.
In Him,
Pastor Chris
I thought that people should spend more time with people in the church this is false we should spend more time at church sharing our experiences with unbelievers not our petty problems and concerns. When we share with others it helps us to learn also, a win-win situation.
ReplyDeleteSo wrotes that I have jumped out at me these few four days are:
ReplyDelete"The most infulential students work from a place of passion and character within their own hearts."
"The friends you influence today are the world changers and world influencers of tomorrow."
"Christians must be accountable to God and to other Christians."
"At the same time, you must not judge unbelieving friends who act and think immorally; God reserves that responsibility for himself."
From these quotes thoughts like, I have judged people who are my spiritualy lost friends before. I don't really have many Christian friends who keep me accountable or I don't really keep them accountable, which is challenging me to do so in the upcoming days. And lastly, The impact that I can make by just influencing only a few friends a day and not many is expenentually to what the future will be like and what I will be remembered for.
Good stuff for me to think about this week. :)
Bethany Metzler
The "Big Takeaway" for me was that I must be influential without being influenced. I know that will be a challenge. I also know I can do it with God. Another thing I really liked was when it said. "Our God isn't small. And if God isn't small, then His dreams aren't small." I am going to start asking myslef, "Is that God-sized dream?". Another thing I really liked this week was Proverbs 27:19. It made me think about my strongest passions and desires. One of my desires is to be influential in a lost friend's life.
ReplyDeleteKaylin Pearson :)
i guess that its a lil bit of a struggle bcuz i read my max Q and im also thinking of the winter retreat where either caleb or derry said that maybe last year was the year to get ur self ready and now its time to go out and help the world or something like that well one day i was flipping through my bible trying to get to the passage i was supposed to read and i came across a devotional page. i dont remember wat it was about but half way through it, it suggested that u shood work out wats at home maybe write a love letter to your parents and i was thinging to myself that maybe i shood like b4 i go and try to "fix" (very reletive term idk how to say it in the way i mean) other ppls lives maybe i shood take a look at my own
ReplyDeletesorry the one right above this that starts with "i guess that its a lil bit of a struggle..." is by kylee stutzman
ReplyDeleteProverbs 27:19
ReplyDeleteWhat do my attitude and my life reflect? Do they show my love for Christ? Or my fear of being different?
I want to gain a faith like Jeremiah's and put forth my full trust in God...and show it to the world!!
~Emily Hoffman(:
This week's study has been a great challenge.God is really tugging on heart.He has been showing me to love. Love the way Jesus loved. That I should not only minister to my fellow christ followers, but also to those who are lost. We all need Christ's love and it's difficult but god is showing me ways to reach out to ALL of his children. I want others to see me glowing Gods light and smell me stinking of the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, and our beloved Father.
ReplyDeleteI think that God was really reaching out to me, to reach out to unbelievers. I have a few friends who don't really know the story of God, and I feel I can help in a big way. I feel like the Max Q is really putting me back into the swing of things, because I haven't felt the closest to him lately. This is the beginning of something big...
ReplyDeleteIt is good for me to go through this training again this year and reflect upon what I gained last year and how it continues to affect me this year. This walk with Christ is a journey that never ends...There is a fine line for Christians. When we associate with people who claim to be Christians and then act immoral it is both annoying and dangerous. These people do nothing to further the cause for Christ and the gospel. However, if we do not associate with the unsaved, they may not get the opportunity to meet Jesus or hear the gospel. We must reach out to the unsaved in love. It doesn't mean we follow their lead-it means we influence them instead of the other way around. God has brought me through a lot of difficult situations in my life and I know that each one was allowed by Him to grow me and make my testimony stronger. I need to accept the fact that I'm not perfect and I'm going to fall, but when I sincerely repent, God will forgive me. I can't allow past sins in my life to keep me from reaching out to the unsaved and being influencial in others' lives.
ReplyDeleteSomething that challenge me this week is to not Judge my friends that are not christians but just love them and show them GODS love and be influential in their lives. "great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; You reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 32:19) this reminded me that GOD is always watching me and I will get a reward for what I did good or bad! Another thing that challenge me was that I was dreaming small I just wanted to stay in the background and not standout just be the good Cristian. Something that I want to work on is being bold for CHRIST and pushing myself out of my comfort zone for HIM.
ReplyDeleteJaylin miller
God has put into my mind that i need to reach out to one of my athiest friends and show him how much God loves him.I also need to reach out to my friends that know jesus and go to church but just decide not to follow him.
ReplyDeleteThis week God has been tugging at my heart to reach out to the unbelievers. I have always been the type of person that doesn't like to reach outside of my comfort zone, so this is a big challenge for me. I haven't been the closest to God recently and the Max Q has really helped me get back to the routine of spending time with Him everyday. I can tell this is going to be a great experience.
ReplyDeleteLindsey Allen
God has taught me this week that even if i have unbelieving friends that they need me. to be just as close to them as eveyone eles i am friends with i need to reach out to them and not being pussing them away like i sometimes do. this is going to be hard for me to be able to become close to these friends again but with Gods help i can do it.
ReplyDeleteShayna Graverson
My big take away for this week has been the call on my life to be an influencer in my nonbelieving peers. One thing that really stuck out to me was a sentence of the "Point" section on day 4: "Living and leading from the heart definitely brings a degree of tension and pain. But not to lead from the heart has consequences that are even more painful." It doesn't sugar coat it, we will still have struggles even when living for Christ and spreading his word. However we will have more trouble and pain if we don't. I'm willing to take the small amount of pain from Him living and leading in me, in order to see some of my closest friend gain eternal life through Him.
ReplyDeleteAmy Fanning
this week my take away was that i need to be an influencer to unbelieving friends and to just love them, but i also learned to keep your Christian friends a countable. Bobby krakowski
ReplyDeleteThis week my biggest take away was to not judge the sins of my friends who don't know Christ, but to love them unconditionally and to know that it is my responsibility as a Christian to influence them towards Christ.
ReplyDeleteHolly Prawat
One thing that hit me this week was in 1st Corinthians 5:6 when it talked about how even a little yeast can cause a whole batch of dough to rise. My mom used to bake home made bread for me and my brothers all the time (It was heavenly!) and so I understood that mental image pretty easily. My lost friends are watching how I walk and talk. And what I do and say influences them hugely. I'm not saying that I need to become a perfectionist in order to influence my lost friends for the kingdom of God, but it means that my outward appearance needs to reflect my inward one.
ReplyDeleteJustin Krakowski
The one statement that broke my heart was that over three-fourths of christian teenagers after graduating from high school will abandon the church- and possibly even their faith! That statistic right their should get us all thinking- will I be another statistic or a person who will be a catalyst for change. We all have the chance to influence someone around us everyday, will you be willing to take that chance.
ReplyDeleteSomething big I got out of this week is everyone knows Im a christian and because they know people I interact with will watch me and what I do. We are suposed to be the body of christ and show Gods love to the lost world. Am I proving that to thoes people? Just something I need to watch out for this week.
ReplyDeleteDana Keller
This week my big take-away was a sentence from the Point of day four. "The friends you influence today are the world changers and world influencers of tomorrow." This just really hit me because I've never really thought about how influential we can actually be. The people WE influence TODAY, will be the influencers of somebody else TOMORROW. And THEY will become influencers of somebody else etc. We can change the world. All we have to do is try.
ReplyDeleteHaley Miller
As I went through the book this week, a couple of things stuck out to me. The first is that the main purpose for us on earth is to know God and make Him known, and that we must live IN the world, but not OF it. The second thing is that what we do today in the life of someone else could even change the course of history. It's not something that is easy, and I was challenged by the line that says, "If they don't [work from a place of passion and character within their own hearts], they can't inspire, they can't lead, and they can't model the influential life." I learned you have to be passionate in order to influence and it takes effort.
ReplyDeleteEmily Myers
i got alot out of this weeks Max Q! When i was reading these passages, something just really hit me. all these years i have been thinking that i was supposed to stay away from people who are lost, but really i am supposed to help those people. I also learned that what we are doing today can change someone's life around, so we shouldnt just pick and choose who to help, we should help all that are lost.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Hiester
Something that has stood out to me is on day 4 it talks about the heart and what is inward reflects outward. I need to remember to keep my own heart positive and bright if thats what i want to reflect. You can't go about trying to show your nonbelieving friends the love and happiness Christ brings if your being a "negative nelly" and having a bad attitude. its just something i need to watch out for so that i don't slip into having this reflection because it can be my reflection some times... especially when i don't get enough sleep the night before.
ReplyDeleteMatthew prochno one thing that has challenged me this week was that it said we are not suppose to judge non-believers. And thats a lesson i think god is trying to teach me this week.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main things that stuck out to me was that once you enter the "gauntlet" you can't hesitate one bit, or you lose. It is all or nothing.
ReplyDeleteSomething that really popped out to me as i was reading in the Max Q book was a statement where it says
ReplyDelete"It takes courage to act and lead from the heart. To do so means you are standing and living for the things you believe in--THINGS THAT BURN LIKE A BRANDING IRON IN YOUR SOUL."
I realize that I love to lead, but i have been doing it wrong the whole time. As i think back to things in cheer and trying to be a leader I realize how i was more like bossing people around and there was no showing love what so ever. This is something i want to change and will continue to pray about it:)!
Please Pray for me
Danielle Hudson!
My biggest intake from this week was 1 Corinthians 5, he did not mean the immoral people of this world. He was referring to people who claim to be Christians who continue in the active practice of sin.
ReplyDeleteThis isnt from my max q because so far I'm not sure anything has stood out to me yet. But today I was asked the question "Why would you be willing to give up a week of YOUR summer to go on this trip?" I did respond with something like "I wanted to learn how to talk to others about God and Jesus" and this is true. However, as I got to thinking Im giving up this little week of MY time to learn, to spread knowledge of Jesus and God, but Jesus gave HIS LIFE to spread the knowledge of God. As I thought of that I was amazed at how much this time we will be spending in training and going to Chicago can't even measure up, but if we all work our hardest, pray, and have faith in the lord and each other we can sure make a big differnce.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that spoke to me this week was that we aren't supposed to judge non-believers. In my Max Q book I wrote that it was fine, even good to be friends with non-believers because then you can talk to them, and eventually lead them to Christ, but I also felt him saying that you should never let them change you.
ReplyDeletesorry about the late comment for last week but i learned that i dont only have to hang around my christion friends. the reason is that i cant reach out to non-beleivers by hanging out with christion friends.
ReplyDeleteEthan Koontz
starting max q has been a great way to get back into the Word and start TAWG again. it has been refreshing and i am contantly feeling God's love and comfort.
ReplyDeletespencer dahlgren
When i read Ephesians 5:3-4 and 8-12 it really made me realize that if i want to influence and stand out from and other christian then I need to have standards.
ReplyDeleteKaylin Pearson :)
I think that reaching out to your lost friends is good and maybe becoming friends with them, but not to good of friends to the point where your hanging out with them and doing those sins too.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Clickovich