faith in action

It's neat when things unexpectedly come together.

This past Sunday, Pastor Gabe preached about Abraham's faith in our Sunday service. In our High School CE class, we talked about Abraham's faith as mentioned in James 2. This was not planned out beforehand. Perhaps God is trying to say something? Maybe :)

Anyway, the lesson that we learned was that Abraham is someone who lived out His faith. He was willing to literally sacrifice all that was important to Him. This is evidence of his faith in God. The other encouragement for us is to note that Abraham wasn't perfect. There were many times in his life where his faith was weak and when he didn't fully trust God, yet, God still used him and kept His promise to him. Despite Abraham's faithlessness, God is always faithful. 

Our challenge to you is for you to really live out your faith. Evaluate what are areas in your life that you are afraid of letting go and give those things up to God. Put yourself in situations where your faith needs to be stretched and remember that God desires to use you regardless of any past failures. Put your faith into action.

announcements 02.20-27

Hey guys, here are some reminders this week (:

Question of the week:
1.  Who is your favorite artist?
2.  What has God been doing in your life?

Here are the announcements for this week:

• FNF:  We will be having regular FNF this week, as our Activity/Outreach Night has been pushed back to March 4.  Thanks for being flexible (:
• Sunday CE: We will be meeting at the Cross for service (10AM) and CE will follow
• EFC EV Blogspot!: Explore our blogspot account and check out our HS logo!! Well after a long time debating and voting, the color for our HS shirts/jackets is... black! And feel free to share any prayers or reflections or anything else that has impacted your spiritual life in any way (: http://efcevhs.blogspot.com/

Mark your calendars:

• March 4 - Outreach/Activity Night @ Souplantation

Notes:

• HS group: Our new high school name will be LOL4 (Lots of Lord, Love, Laughter, Life).  Our HS Logo is done!  Stay tuned for more information about our jackets/sweaters (:
• Home Visitations: Ask your parents about home visitations and let us know if you are interested and when would be a good time.

Grace;

HS CORE & Chris

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)

Spiritual Gifts Test

This past Friday, we talked about how God has blessed each one of us with different Spiritual Gifts. Click the link below to take a test to see what gifts you have. There are 100 statements and will probably take at around 30 minutes and must be done in one sitting, so we encourage you to find some time to take it. Answer all answers as honestly and objectively as possible. Remember that you aren't saying whether the statements are true or not, but whether you've displayed them in your life. Another suggestion is to ask a close friend you knows you well to take the test on your behalf to get their unbiased perspective. After you find out your gifts, put them into practice!

Spiritual Gifts Test

announcements 02.13-20

Hey guys, here are some reminders this week (:

Question of the week:
1.  Would you rather have someone pull a silent but deadly in your face while playing twister or accidentally fart really loudly while on a date :O?
2.  What has God been doing in your life?

Recap on Sunday's message:

True Worship (Colossians 3:16)

Magnifies God to His rightful greatness, regardless of our circumstances

False Worship magnifies something created, in spite of God's greatness

Centers on Jesus and His completed work on the cross

False worship centers on ourselves and our insatiable hunger for entertainment

is rooted in Scripture, awakening, transforming, and guiding our feelings

False worship is rooted in feelings, which ignores truth and sways with circumstances

I worship that which occupies me

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...

I will let God's Word own me in my conversations

...as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom...

and in my music

...and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts

Here are the announcements for this week:

• FNF: We will be continuing on our new study on "Serving Others in Love" Part 3 (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)
• Sunday CE: Come out for our continual study in the book of James (James 2:21-26)
• EFC EV Blogspot!: Explore our blogspot account and check out our HS logo!! Well after a long time debating and voting, the color for our HS shirts/jackets is... black! And feel free to share any prayers or reflections or anything else that has impacted your spiritual life in any way (: http://efcevhs.blogspot.com/

Mark your calendars and save the date:

• February 25 - Outreach/Activity Night

Notes:

• HS group: Our new high school name will be LOL4 (Lots of Lord, Love, Laughter, Life).  Our HS Logo is done!  Help us finalize the color of our shirts/zip-up sweaters!!  Your input is very much welcome and appreciated (:
• Home Visitations: Ask your parents about home visitations and let us know if you are interested and when would be a good time.

Grace;

HS CORE & Chris

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)

Color of HighSchool Logo

This is the final design for the High school logo :)

announcements 02.06.13

Hello everyone! Here are some reminders this week:

Question of the week:
1.  Would you rather always lose or never play? Why?
2.  What has God been doing in your life?

Recap on Sunday's message:

Worship: Centered on Jesus

True Worship

-magnifies God to His rightful greatness, regardless of our circumstances
-centers on Jesus and His completed work on the cross

Center of Worship for Jews: tabernacle/temple

-gloriously and extravagantly built in 957BC, took 7 years to construct
-destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians to punish Israel's idolatry

Center of Worship for Christians: Jesus Christ and the Cross

-Jesus calls Himself God's temple-Jesus relocates worship from the Temple to people (Jesus)

Why is Jesus and the Cross central to worshiping God?

1. Jesus' work on the cross makes our worship acceptable

-On our own, our worship can never be acceptable to God because it is tainted with sin
-However, if we have union and faith in Christ, our sacrifices are acceptable to God

2. Jesus gives us free and confident access

-Prior to Jesus, access to God was costly and unsure
-When Jesus died on the cross, the veil to the Holy of Holies was torn
-Without Jesus' death and resurrection, no amount of our effort gives us access to God

3. Jesus reveals the Father's glory

-God reveals Himself through Jesus' face

4.  Worship in heaven focuses on Christ and the Cross

-No one is worthy to open the scroll, except the Lamb who was slain
-Jesus is worthy and worshiped solely because of His work on the cross

Here are the announcements for this week:

• FNF: We will be continuing on our new study on "Serving Others in Love" Part 2 (Mark 10:42-45)
• Sunday CE: Come out for our continual study in the book of James (James 2:14-20)
• EFC EV Blogspot!: Explore our blogspot account!!  Check out our HS Logo and vote on colors for our HS shirts/jackets.  And feel free to share any prayers or reflections on this past year, winter retreat or anything else that has impacted your spiritual life in any way (: http://efcevhs.blogspot.com/

Mark your calendars and save the date:

• February 25 - Outreach/Activity Night

Notes:

• HS group: Our new high school name will be LOL4 (Lots of Lord, Love, Laughter, Life).  Our HS Logo is done!  Help us finalize the color of our shirts/zip-up sweaters!!  Your input is very much welcome and appreciated (:
• Home Visitations: Ask your parents about home visitations and let us know if you are interested and when would be a good time.

Grace;

HS CORE & Chris

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" (Psalm 150:6)

serving others in love

we just started a new series on friday called serving others in love. the first lesson we learned was that God has made each one of us special and unique. we are His original masterpiece. He knew us even before we were born and He wants to use each one of us in different ways. the main challenge for this lesson was for you to think and pray about where you can serve at our church. i know that each of you have talents and gifts that God has blessed you with, so i want to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and start serving others in love!

...

some practical things you can do this week:

read one of the following passages each day:
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
- Ephesians 2:4-10
- Isaiah 45:9-12
- Genesis 1:27-31
- Psalm 8:3-9

memorize the following verse:
"i praise You because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, i know that full well." - psalm 139:14

reflect and journal about how you can serve at EV

announcements 01.30-02.06

Hey guys, hope you are all having a wonderful week (:

Question of the week:
1.  Do you prefer movies or book? Why?
2.  What has God been doing in your life?

Recap on Sunday's message:

  Magnifying God's Greatness (Psalm 77:1-20)
     General Definition

To treat someone/something with reverence and adoration appropriate to a deityOrigin: Old English, from "worth ship" or worthiness

     Specific Definition

Psalm 145:3 - to rightly know and respond to a great God

     I'm a believer but I don't feel like worshiping. What's wrong?

Illustration of starts at night. The star hasn't changed. My distance or attention towards it has changed.

     So how do I worship God when I'm not in the mood, without being fake?
          1. Remember God and ask Him for help
          2. Honestly express your doubts
          3. Shift focus from pain to God's past deeds
          4. Verbalize God's character and peerlessness
     The Big Picture

This is not about trying harder, this is about living by truth and not by circumstances. Worship is about taking the focus off our problems, our pleasures, our pain, and magnifying God to His rightful greatness.

Here are the announcements for this week:

• FNF: We will be starting up on our new study on "Serving Others in Love"
• Fellowship Sunday: We will be having Fellowship Sunday, so come out and join us!
• EFC EV Blogspot!: Explore our blogspot account!!  Check out our HS Logo and vote on colors for our HS shirts/jackets.  And feel free to share any prayers or reflections on this past year, winter retreat or anything else that has impacted your spiritual life in any way (: http://efcevhs.blogspot.com/

Notes:

• HS group: Our new high school name will be LOL4 (Lots of Lord, Love, Laughter, Life).  Our HS Logo is done!  Help us decide on the color of our shirts/zip-up sweaters!!  Your input is very much welcome and appreciated (:
• Home Visitations: Ask your parents about home visitations and let us know if you are interested and when would be a good time.

Grace;

HS CORE & Chris

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" (Psalm 150:6)