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HOPE BEYOND THE GRAVE

hope-beyond-the-grave

What do you hope for in life? What are your dreams? What are your aspirations? How certain are you that your hopes will be fulfilled? My guess is that you DO have hopes and aspirations. Often though when we talk about “hoping” for something, it’s really just another way of “wishing” for something. I really hope (wish) I win the jackpot lottery! I really hope (wish) the good looking girl takes notice of me!

But when the Bible speaks about hope, it’s not about wishful thinking. The hope offered in the Bible is actually far more than we could hope for or imagine. Hope in the Bible is certain. Guaranteed. Assured. Without a doubt.

We live in a broken world where our hopes and dreams are often shattered. And ultimately we are all on the same trajectory toward a certain death. Death is our great enemy. Death shatters all our dreams.

The good news of Christianity is that Jesus offers hope beyond the grave. It’s not some wishful thinking that I will one day go to a mystical place in the clouds. The Christian hope is a certain hope built on the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The Christian hope is a certain hope that those who believe in Jesus will also be physically raised from the dead.

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Simple and Obvious

Avril Lavigne once sang: ‘Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated!’ I don’t think she was singing about leadership, yet I think one of the things we often do in leadership is overly complicate things. Likewise in communication.

Check out this useful blog post from Steven Furtick: Simple and Obvious. This is applicable in many contexts, but none more important than the gospel of Jesus. Keep it simple, keep it obvious, keep repeating it. Check out this simple gospel outline.

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Have you made the switch to the HCSB?

Two months ago I began researching the possible options for replacing the popular, and now out of print, NIV 1984. The HCSB is one English translation that is beginning to gain some traction around Sydney. Here’s an endorsement video:

I’ve been reading and enjoying the HSCB during that time. I had a go at preaching from it at Soulies Undeground last month. I stumbled a number of times when reading because of my familiarity with the NIV 1984!

Have you read much of the HCSB? What do you think?
Has anyone started using it within a youth ministry? How did it go?

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Life with the Grain of the Universe: Proverbs

Row and I are currently reading through Proverbs each evening. So much wisdom! But, particularly in the big chunk in the middle, it’s difficult to discern any connected between each saying. I was excited to see that my friend Andrew Errington has just linked to a bunch of studies he’s written taking a thematic approach to the book. They look really useful. Download the PDF here.

Coincidentally (are there ever coincidences?) a different friend recently asked if I had any resources that would be useful for teaching Proverbs in a youth ministry setting. I don’t, but I do now! While these weren’t written for a youth ministry setting, if they are too difficult for your group, they’d serve as a really useful tool for a leader to use in prep.

Got a favourite Proverb? Share it in the comments…

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Rice Rally // 20th August 2011

RICE Rally is back again this coming Saturday. God has brought many young people to himself through this ministry over the last 10 years. I wasn’t able to make it last year, so I’m looking forward to joining in the action again this year.

Still deciding whether to take your crew along? Do it. It will be epic. Check out the website for some rad promo vids, tickets and any more info.

Blog readers – pray for this sucker! Pray that 100’s of peeps will put their trust in Jesus’ death for their sin and resurrection to new life. Pray that God would keep using youth ministry to change the world.

Click here to check out all my previous RICE blog posts.