Romans 7 at Connect

I just have to say, if you're able to come to Connect and just aren't coming, you are missing an amazing time in the Word.

For those of you who were there last night, I'd love to post a lot of the revelation understanding we came to last night.

Share your takeaways!

Caleb? Where are you?

It has been a while since we've done this, but I wanted to take some time to get your feedback and takeaways from Sunday's message and start of the new series, Well Able!

We talked about Caleb's report to Moses about the Promised Land and his affirmation as he stated, we are well able to overcome! Indeed, that is the Word for you in the situations that you're facing; you are well able to overcome and to possess your promise!

I look forward to hearing what you took away from Sunday's message. It was fun to deliver it to you all - now, allow me the fun of hearing what you got out of it! Leave a comment, you're well able to do so!

Summertime

It may not feel like it, but we have arrived at another summer break and we're shifting into a new season at Victory Life. Being a largely FSU populated church presents a unique challenge in the summer. While several of our key students have decided to stay in Big Rapids for the summer, many of our students go home for the summer break. While some could see this as an issue, I see it as an opportunity. The summer at V-Life is a great time to focus more on the surrounding community of Big Rapids as well as developing the ministries of Victory Life. This summer we have several activities lined up to connect with the Big Rapids community.

Along with our Sunday and Wednesday services, we're planning a Block Party in August, our annual Chill & Grill in July, and several Outreach activities to connect us with our neighbors in Big Rapids. We are blessed to have residents of Big Rapids, Grand Rapids, Baldwin, Bitely, White Cloud, Mt. Pleasant, Muskegon, Detroit, Evart, Reed City, Remus, and Cadillac worshiping with us at Victory Life.

We're also looking forward to hearing from several of our Overcomers who are gifted in preaching, teaching, and challenging and exhorting the people of God. I'm excited about how God is blessing us and I'm looking forward to a great summer full of exciting activities at V-Life!

Singles: Recent FB Posts by Prophetess Kelly Crews

If you attended Single's Strategy I'm sure you remember the great discussions we had as a group, as well as the awesome keynote given by Prophetess Kelly Crews.
She has been posting some thought provoking Facebook statuses this month. Check them out:

May 4, 2011
Singles frustrations....you have a reasonable opinion of yourself. You know you're certainly not the most perfect person in the world, but do know that you have a lot to offer. You think you present yourself well and know that you don’t have body odor. LOL What's the problem? I wanted to encourage you and let you know to stop over analyzing yourself...You can't settle and God's timing is perfect!!!!

May 10, 2011
Relationships (singles)..never cry more than you smile and if you are... it's NOT worth it!! A relationship should not be about a lot of pain, strain, agony, defeat...a good connection should fit like a missing puzzle piece that you've been waiting for...and they should bring you JOY!!!

Flow!

What can be better than favor? Favor AND Flow! Tell us how the favor + flow is revealing itself in your life this week.

Favor!

The Favor is flowing - share your victory report about how the favor of God is moving in your life this week!

Connected! Strengths, Purpose, Destiny...

Connect last night was insane. God gave a lot of revelation. I don't like coming on here and talking about what I talked about. So, I need your help. Help me recap what came out of the discussion on Strengths last night. It's your turn to talk - share the insights!

Strategies for Purity

This is our second session on purity this month. Wow, we really added to our strategies for purity! We received a purity checklist which we encouraged the youth to post somewhere where they could see it everyday. The checklist came from a program by Christine St. George. You can find it online. To paraphrase a few strategies:

• We will stay pure today & pray for our future husbands/wives. We learned to focus on inward qualities when praying for our future mates, not just physical characteristics :-)
• We will avoid putting ourselves in situations where we can be tempted. We learned to be in groups and/or have a chaperon.
  
• If we date, we will only date those who share a commitment to purity. The students decided that you should be friends first and discuss your commitment to purity. They decided if your friend couldn't honor your commitment that you show them the door to the relationship :-) These are some feisty students!
• We will be an example. We will be a light to other youth regarding purity. We will show the world what we stand for by our stand on purity. This may give other young people the courage to be pure!
• We will dress appropriately so that others won't lust. We decided that we didn't want to wear shirts that were too low cut, pants/skirts that showed our backside or bellies, or clothes that were too tight or short. We talked about how young men are sexually excited by what they see and young women are excited by feeling close to others.
  
• We will take impure thought and temptations to God in prayer. We talked about the images, lyrics that we may see/hear/read about on television, movies, songs, magazines, books and the internet.

It was a great session! Our youth are great leaders who are learning God's plan for their lives. Encourage them! We'd love to hear more from you!

Single's Strategy

We had a phenomenal time with the single people at Single's Strategy on Saturday. Prophetess Kelly Crews blessed us and we had a great discussion in the session led by Lady Camille and myself. So many topics were covered; so much was said. Now, I want to hear from you - what were your takeaways? What did you get out of the day? What would you like to continue to discuss?

Blessings,

Pastor Razel

Purity

Youth discussed purity this week. What a relevant issue for the pressures that our youth are faced with, including pressures to have sex before marriage, pornography and sexting to name a few. We talked about three Bible truths:

• God wants us to attain purity as a mark of his presence in us. 1 Thessalonians 4: 3, 7, 8
• Gaining purity is not a one-time event, but a process. 1 Thessalonians 4: 1, 2
• Purity keeps us from abusing one another. 1 Thessalonians 4: 4-6

We talked about strategies that help us in this process including:

• Avoiding being alone with members of the opposite sex.
  
• Surround yourself with other young people who value purity.
  
• Wait until you are old enough to date.
  
• Listen to your parents advice regarding your relationships.
  

Any other advice for our youth? Post so we can share with them!