Sunday October 2 nd 2011

135,000 kids bring a gun to school everyday. Drug abuse among our youth in America is higher than in any other developing nation. We also have the highest violent crime rate in the developed world. America has the highest percentage of teen pregnancy in the developed world. 3% confess that they truly wish they were never born!

I’m not the product of a divorced household, I don’t do drugs, and I don’t always get in trouble. Sometimes I feel like my voice is invisible, that it gets swept away in the tidal wave of greater worries and cares of life. When cries for affection or attention go unheard, it does hurt like a blow to the gut or a slice of the heart.

I play volleyball, basketball, I’m in track, I’m a cheerleader, and I’m active in my church and youth. I am so lonely I can hardly stand it. I want to be special to someone, but there’s no one who cares about me. I can’t remember anyone touching me, smiling at me, or wanting to be with me. I feel so empty inside.

Sometimes I feel so alone, like no one cares. My folks live in their own world and I live in mine. It didn’t always seem to be this way. I know it sounds crazy, but I want them to leave me alone, and yet I want to be a part of their lives. Most of the time they do leave me alone and it gets pretty lonely.

I have so many emotions built up inside of me that I’m so scared to let them all out. I feel that if I don’t let some of them out, I’m gonna explode. The major one is that I hunger for someone to love me.

Hey. Everybody loves me. You may think I have a pretty good life compared to others, my whole family all go to church. My sister and I are home schooled. But here is the part that I don’t like. I am tired of everybody wanting me to be perfect. It is so hard to please everybody. I am tired of being the “Perfect little angel.” Ugh! I am human, not God. Gosh, don’t people know that? I am sick of being it, I hope I don’t sound rude, but I hope you understand. How can I tell people that I am not perfect? I need an answer fast because I am about to scream

The Mission Field

Verse 4: ”Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” 1.Here God lays out with absolute clarity His divine uniqueness. He is God and there is no other! He is God and there is no other! 2.He is our God! Yahweh is not just the transcendent God, but He is Our God! God Immanent! Yahweh is not just the transcendent God, but He is Our God! God Immanent! He is a real knowable God who longs to have a real abiding new covenant relationship with us available by grace through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ. He is a real knowable God who longs to have a real abiding new covenant relationship with us available by grace through faith in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

Verse 5: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” – The truth of verse 4 calls for a response. Our God calls for us to love Him. – This call to love is a command based on verse 4 and all He is! – We are called by God to love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength. – This is more than a psychological breakdown, but a call to love God in totality. To love God with our all. Love is our dutiful response to a full and right revelation of the transcendent and immanent God. Love is our dutiful response to a full and right revelation of the transcendent and immanent God.

Verse 6: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” Verse 6: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.”

Has the truth and reality of God and His love been inscribed upon your heart so much that obedience is a way of life… not out of mere formal religious legalism…. But as a response of love? Has the truth and reality of God and His love been inscribed upon your heart so much that obedience is a way of life… not out of mere formal religious legalism…. But as a response of love?

Verses 7-9: “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Verses 7-9: “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

God’s commands are to be the heartbeat of the home! God’s commands are to be the heartbeat of the home! Parents: God has placed a huge responsibility upon you. We are called to be the primary spiritual mentors of our kids. It is our responsibility to intentionality infuse the truth and love of God into the next generation. Parents: God has placed a huge responsibility upon you. We are called to be the primary spiritual mentors of our kids. It is our responsibility to intentionality infuse the truth and love of God into the next generation.

God’s commands are to be the heartbeat of the home! God’s commands are to be the heartbeat of the home! Parents: God has placed a huge responsibility upon you. We are called to be the primary spiritual mentors of our kids. It is our responsibility to intentionality infuse the truth and love of God into the next generation. Parents: God has placed a huge responsibility upon you. We are called to be the primary spiritual mentors of our kids. It is our responsibility to intentionality infuse the truth and love of God into the next generation. Jesus must not be something you just do on Sunday! Jesus must not be something you just do on Sunday!

A Divine Privilege! A Divine Privilege! A Divine Responsibility! A Divine Responsibility! A Divine Opportunity! A Divine Opportunity!