The Past Two Sundays

One of the ways I utilized the outdated mikeinaminute blog was to post about what I had taught, or at least attempted to teach, the previous night at youth. As you might have noticed, I have not yet done so here, so I am playing catch-up.

Sunday, March 22

I continued my tattoo series with the second of my three tattoos; a picture of which you can find below). It is located right over my heart.

That particular night, I decided to more or less allow the Scripture to speak for itself. I interjected very little of my own thought into the lesson. Instead, I read the following Scriptures:

Romans 5:5 - "...And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

Matthew 6:21 - "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 15:18 - "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

Matthew 22:37 - "Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind.'"

See a pattern here? The heart is very prevalent in the Bible. In fact, according to biblegateway.com, the word "heart" appears in the Bible (NIV) 743 times. Where are your treasures? Do you honor God with your heart as well as you do with your lips? Tough questions, right? After I stopped reading, I played a song called "Welcome Home" by an artist named Shaun Groves:

Take, me, make me
All You want me to be
That's all I'm asking, all I'm asking

Welcome to this heart of mine
I've buried under prideful vines
Grown to hide the mess I've made
Inside of me
Come decorate, Lord
Open up the creaking door
And walk upon the dusty floor
Scrape away the guilty stains
Until no sin or shame remain
Spread Your love upon the walls
And occupy the empty halls
Until the man I am has faded
No more doors are barricaded

Chorus:
Come inside this heart of mine
It's not my own
Make it home
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own
Welcome home

Take a seat, pull up a chair
Forgive me for the disrepair
And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling
Gathered on my search for meaning
Every closet's filled with clutter
Messes yet to be discovered
I'm overwhelmed, I understand
I can't make this place all that You can

repeat chorus

I took the space that You placed in me
Redecorated in shades of greed
And I made sure every door stayed locked
Every window blocked, and still You knocked

repeat chorus

Take me, make me
All You want me to be
That's all I'm asking, all I'm asking

Amen, right?

Sunday, March 29

Last night, I talked about my most recent tattoo, the only one you can see even when Im wearing a shirt; well, a short-sleeved one, at least. Its picture can be found below, as well. It is a Latin phrase: Sub Specie Aeternitatis. Its pronounced "sub speck-eee-ay ah-eee-turn-eee-tah-tis." If you dont believe me, check this link out. I read from Romans 5:16:

"Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification."

I talked about how hard it is for us to wrap our minds around certain concepts like eternity and grace and how Jesus' death on the cross forgave all of the sins we had committed and ever will commit...let alone that of the rest of the world, right?! Thankfully, though, our salvation does not depend on our understanding. It hinges on one thing and one thing only - belief. You all know John 3:16 and what it says. I talked about how God does not judge on some scale - weighing our good deeds against our bad to determine whether or not we pass some test. There is no answer there. The answer lies within our hearts; where true belief resides. And eternity lies with it.