HOPE! By Kassie Knutson

Isaiah 40:31 says:

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint."

This is a great verse that many of us are familiar with.  But I want to mainly focus on the first part of the verse which states, "hope in the Lord."  Hope is defined as to desire something with confident expectation of its fulfillment.  With that in mind, it makes me think we slightly overuse the word hope.  We say..."I hope I get an A on that test," when we didn't put in the time to study or pay attention in class.  Or we say, "I hope it doesn't rain," when there are storm clouds in the sky.  Both of those things are fine to hope in, but when we arene't confident that they will happen, why do we hope in them?  It's not a reliable hope.

That's why we are called to put our hope in Jesus.  When we do, we will never face dissapoiontment, and that is where we can find true fulfillment.  We may not get what we always want in life, but Jesus gives us hope when we trust in Him and our present sufferings can't compare to the joy that is coming when we enter eternity. 

So  keep fighting the good fight and remember that God is our hope.

Earth Day - The Real Story

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1

"In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He existed in the beginning with God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him."  John 1:1-3

"So the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory the glory of the Father's one and only Son."  John 1:14

Do you see what is happening here?

* In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...everything.
* In the beginning the Word already existed...and everything was created through
   him.
* The Word became human...
   - The Word made his home among us...
   - The Word is JESUS...
* In the beginning was JESUS!  He was God...He is God...and through HIM all
   things were created!

Let's celebrate the one who created the earth - and then died for us so that when we leave this earth - we can spend our forever...our eternity with Him!  The one who WAS...who IS...and who ALWAYS WILL BE!

Trial and Error - By Michaela Mittlestaedt

Trial and Error

Recently I have had the song Wait and See by Brandon Heath stuck in my head. If you haven't heard it before, I HIGHLY recommended you youtube it or something. The one phrase from the song that really sticks out to me is, "There is hope for me yet, because God won't forget all the plans he's made for me. I have to wait and see; he's not finished with me yet."

That part just gives me so much hope. No matter what we do, there is always hope, because God has a plan for us and he will never give up on us. There are 2 verses that tie in really well to this song:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28

AND

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -Philippians 1:16

It's just a reminder that no matter what we go through God is working in our lives to perfect us. Think of it this way: we are being put through trials like gold is put through fire...to refine it. God is refining us. Even if you can't see how it will possibly work out right now, God knows and that is all that matters.

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS : IT IS MEGA!

Check Out SMP T.V.!

Get a little truth every Thursday with Steph at SMP T.V.! Share it on Facebook and Twitter and spread the message of Jesus a little more every week!

Who Are You Pleasing? By James Goth

We need to ask ourselves, are we pleasing God, or pleasing the devil? What about our friends? God's love is a great gift that we are blessed to have, in return, the least we could do is live for him, not just on the inside, but on the outside. You all love your friends too right? Wouldn't it be sad if when you got to heaven... they weren't there. Like this parable says "

first the weeds, and bind them in: bundles to burn them", Jesus tells us to become fishers of men and to spread the good news. So what I want you to get out of this is that you shouldn't let your friends, or you, become one of those weeds that will be burned.

--
-James Goth

Another Parable put he forth to them, saying. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man which sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the weeds also. So the servants of the householder came and said to him. Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field! From whence then has it weeds? He said to them. An enemy has done this. The servants said to him. Will you then that we go and gather them up? But he said. Nay; lest, while you gather up the weeds, you root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together, until the harvest; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together, first the weeds, and bind them in: bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

"The Boat" - By Lauren Ringgenberg

One day a little boy named Tommy wanted to make a toy boat.  Before he built it, Tommy designed and made a plan of exaclty how he wanted his boat to look and be.  He spent a lot of time building his boat perfectly, making sure every detail was just right.  Once Tommy was finished, he was very happy with what he had made and fell in love with his boat.  Every day he spent hours playing with his toy.  He showed it the world, brought it to parks and many other places.  One sunny summer day, Tommy brought his boat to a nearby stream.  He put it in the water and watched it float around.  Suddenly, a huge wind gust blew through the air and Tommy's boat drifted away down the stream.  He tried with all his might to save it but it was just too late.  His boat was gone. 

After a few sad and lonely weeks went by, Tommy was going for a stroll in town and a toy in a store window caught his eye.  He took a closer look and realized  it was his boat, the one that drifted away!  He bolted into the store and told the clerk what had happened and asked to have his boat back.  The clerk didn't believe him and said he would have to pay for it.  Tommy knew he needed to find a way to get back his toy boat.  For weeks Tommy mowed lawns, had lemonade stands, walked dogs, washed dishes, and pretty much anything else he could do to come up with enough money to get back his boat.  The boat that Tommy created, had a plan for, loved and worked so hard for was now back in his arms.

A guest speaker during a chapel session at my school used this story to illustrate Christ's sacrifice for us.  God didn't have to buy us back again, He could have made a new "boat" and not gone through all of that trouble.  But instead He chose to sacrifice His Son so that everyone can enjoy eternal life with Him.  We re TWICE his; first he made us and then he paid for us!

PROM DRESSES

ATTENTION SWAP LADIES!

Need a dress for Prom? Darlene Endres & Ria Thurston are organizing a Prom Dress Drive/Swap/Rental program. More details to come tonight at SWAP!

Contact Darlene or Ria via facebook with any questions :)