His Grace is enough

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

we talked about GRACE last night. such a churchy word. but oh so important as a Christian. it really is what we believe in a nutshell. there is no way we can "earn" our way into heaven right? only by God's GRACE do can we get there. and what is GRACE? dictionary.com says GRACE is - the freely given, unjustified favor and love of God. so GRACE is the opposite of getting what you deserve. cause say you hit your brother. what you deserve is to be hit back, right? well with God, he doesn't. and that my friends is GRACE.

because God is holy, he can not be around sin. he just can't. and because as human's we all sin, God can not be around us. but He loves us so, so much, that he wanted to make a way for us to be with him forever. that's why he sent us His son, Jesus. Jesus is the GRACE that covers our sins so that we can be in the presence of God forever.

Jared asked if anyone had a friend who needed God's GRACE but feels like they don't. your friend thinks they can get there without Jesus. (or GRACE) wonder why that is? even though i know people who are truly good, i bet there are times when they get mad at their parents. or think bad thought about someone. or tell a small lie. those are sins people. even the itty-bitty ones will keep us from God. so if your friend that thinks they can get to heaven on their own, by doing good things, they can't. remember salvation does not come from doing good works. you can't do ANYTHING that is so good God would say - oh you were so good, you can come to heaven. pray for your friends and encourage them to come to church. sometimes it's hard to talk to friends about God and Jesus. but if you tell them what a great time you have at church and maybe give them some candy, they might come and then Jared can tell them about Jesus and you can just enjoying having a friend you can spend the rest of eternity with!

prayer requests

holly - her grandpa has cancer. pray for healing and peace

monica - her grandma debbie fell down the stairs in the ice. pray for a full, speedy recovery. and her cousin lee is not happy in the military.

jordan - her dad's job situation. pray he can be happy and profitable

bob - school! pray he can stick to it! and pray for Keefer that he met at starbucks this week. pray that he calls bob and God gives bob the words to say to get him to come to church and hear about Jesus.

bayley - his friend calvin is at a new school and he is getting beat up.

kay - pray for the school situation for caleb and mikey. that she will have peace about her decision

jared - summer camp issues!!


don't forget to pray for each other this week. comment on the blog and you may get a surprise!

love you all!

Laughter does good like a medicine - Proverbs 17:22

ever notice how you can't stay sad/mad/upset/unhappy etc. when you are laughing? that's because it makes you feel good. it's a medical fact. and God's word (remember that living thing we talked about) says it does good like a medicine (say a Tylenol or something). i love how you all made me laugh last night. it makes me feel good. so thank you all for being quick to laugh. even though it was mostly at each other! ;D

Last night we discussed Hebrews 4:12-13. go look for it in your bible. it's good practice. in vs. 13 - and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked (sorry sarah) and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account - i thought it was funny (funny strange not funny haha) that when Jared asked us what we thought that meant, we all immediately thought of bad things we do. we thought of being bad, doing wrong, hurting others, saying mean things. not the good things that we have in our hearts and thoughts like sitting with the new kid, or helping an old lady cross the street. just made me think. why don't you ponder on that this week?

also i loved how Jared told us that the Bible is the living word of God, alive and powerful. just reading it can expose our innermost thoughts, desires and actions. (and not just the bad ones!) doesn't that make you feel like you could take on anything?! just opening this book, gives you strength to fight your problems, and gives you direction to do God's will in your life. God uses the Bible to change peoples lives. let it help change yours. i know it's changed mine and continues to every time i read it.

ok prayer requests...

monica - josh 10 years old has cancer and is in the hospital for treatment. pray for healing and comfort

hannah - healing for stephanie campbell of cancer and her dad russell for a job

sarah - praise got 95% on her test. pray for her brother who is in jail

cameron - pray for the kids in his neighborhood. please pray that they will find God

duncan, holly, sarah - pray for their grades

eric - pray for the children of Haiti and the Sudan

jillian - pray for her friend Riyah who has sickle cell and is in the hospital

matthew - praise his uncle mark is back safe from the war


hope you read this blog post! if you did, comment. if you didn't, you lose out!

praying for you all this week!!!

k

MS Life group is back with a vengeance and that means all the soda and cinnamon roles your little heads can handle. I have really missed having everyone over to the house and I'm excited for what we're going to learn from the Bible.

the location is:

4004 Salmon River Dr. Monroe, NC 28110

Please bring a Bible and something with which to write.

Sorry for the late email. I've had a crazy couple of weeks, but Heather, Bob, Kay, and I are fully engaged now and looking forward to what God wants to accomplish in the lives of His kids.

Please call my cell at 704-221-0739 or email me back if you have any questions or concerns. Desserts are always welcome :)

In Christ,

Jared Kirk