We're off and running!
What is your "big takeaway" from the 1st week?
It may be...
...A passage of scripture you read.
...A statement made in the devotional.
...A big thought that came to you as you went through it.
Make sure you put your comment up by Sunday, April 6.
Remember to include your first and last name.
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32 comments:
Jason Thompson is so cool.
okay so im the first one so i hope this is right,
anywho
-it really impacted me how on the first day it questioned the fact on whether we should have none Christian friends. Mostly because I think its ridicles to not, if I only had Christian friends I probally wouldnt have alot of friends. If like MaxQ says, we impact our friends more than anyone else, I dont see how that could be a bad thing....
-thats all (i hope i didnt it right)
~amy jones
One thing that stood out was about have I kept a distance from lost friends because of the assumption I shouldn't have relationships with "sinners"? It was a really good point to bring to attention because it really makes you think about all your relationships that haven't gone too well and instead of being strong for eachother one bails because we may think its pointless to even try and help because its just too late, when in reality we can make the biggest influence in their life and now is when we really need to connect with them again and help them back onto their feet and be the example for them.
-Kara
Okay so it really hit me the first day that we are the biggest influence on our friends today... like to the people that are non believers we are the ones who will impact them the most, its just werid to think that they would listen to us more than any other person. I have also really been thinking about weather or not I have distanced myself from my friends because they are not believers. It makes me feel like i really need to be there for them and not just abanden them because they are not believers.
-kelsey kaiser
I really like the fact that Paul tells us not to stay away from our non-christian friends. They need us and how are we supposed to help them come to know Christ if we are running away from them? We can't abandon our friends when they need us. If we do how can we call ourselves Christ-followers when we won't even reach out to those in need for fear of what could happen to us? I hope that I will never be that scared to help my friends.
-Beth Peters
ok so today i read the day four and i liked how it was talking about our heart and it really helped me reflect on the things i want to portry to others. It also helped me remember that its not really that good to hold things in your heart that are negative. Today it helped me to try to forget what people have done to me that a was holding against them. I really needed to do this cause it really helps me branch out to the people that are lost today.
:)Ashlee Ort
Ok so day three was pretty cool
1 Corinthians 5:13 "God will judge those on the outside"
So what I take from that is that we as christians shouldn't look down on "non-christians" because of the way they act,because they've never really made a decision to follow Christ.
Well i was reading this week and it stared talking about not talking to immoral brothers and that was kinda of odd thought. Cause as belivers arent we suppose to befriend those people and make them moral belivers? but the big take away was understanding our place in judging. That we are to judge in side the church and open our hearts outside the church. That was the bigs.
-Lucas Schaffer
That last one was by Sam Pratt by the way (two comments hahahaha)
Ok that last one would have been by sam Pratt if lucas hadn't shown up mine is the one that is by samprattsim sorry for the mix up
(thanks Lucas)
Well the thing that stuck out to me was on day four and how it talks about our hearts and keeping them clean. I mean my heart isn't always clean and in Proverbs it says that our heart shows how we really are. So it's important to keep them clean because if we don't, and our hearts are full of anger or fear, or whatever, what will our friends think when we're trying to tell them how great the love of Jesus is? Because our friends are watching us and how we act.
-Katie Larson
Sam, you're hilarious! :)
There have been 2 lightbulbs for me this week as I've ready Max Q. The first is realizing that a big barrier for me in engaging the lost people around me is simply becoming overwhelmed by the end goal rather than simply putting one foot in front of the other and getting started.
The second "ah-ha" moment for me was realizing that a big barrier for me in engaging the lost around me is the "cost" that it takes.
The cost for me comes down to "energy". Physical energy because it takes a lot of time to build relationships. Emotional energy because it involves taking risks. And spiritual energy because it means opening myself up to the attacks of Satan.
Jason Thompson
Day 4 in Max Q was really awsome for me. It showed me that i can use my passions and desires in ways to help lead my friends to Christ,in ways i never thought were possible.
-Nick VanWaeyenberghe
-yup long last name hahaha
What I really liked so far about week 1 is how much the writers of the book stress our influence on our friends. It's really cool to think about how much the little things we do or say, without even realizing it, are impacting all the people around us. It makes me realize how much more important it is to be a good example to people who look to me as a christian.
-Becca Courtney
This week has been a reminder that we as Christians don't have to avoid our non-Christian friends. It's actually a good thing to have non believing friends-as long a we're doing the influencing and not the other way around.
-Austin Hostetter
The first day was what really impacted me because it was similer to what sunday school was about. Like how God would rather you not be a christian than be luke warm, because you would be giving God a bad name. God says to be fully comitted or not comitted at all.
Caleb Sheets
One thing I learned this week is that its alright to have nonbelieving friends and the lord really wants us to have them so we can make an impact in their lives as long as we are not being influenced ourselves. Also on day five it really hit me that Im not always dreaming big, and that I sometimes just go for being good and whats comfortable for me when in reality I should be dreaming big and working towards influencing others.
-Brandon Snodgrass
Alright, well I'm liking how Max Q started off because most of what we hear is to go find some good Christian friends and we shouldn't hang out with non-Christians but that in fact is what we are called to do in a way. So I'm looking forward to what next week has in store cause I really liked this week.
Sorry if this doesnt make sense cause i am really tired.
The thing that jumped out at me this week was day three. it talked about how we must keep each other accountable, but that we should not judge our "unchristianized" friends. They havent made a commitment, so they shouldnt be held accountable? that didnt sound right to me, but it maybe that i missinterperted it.
So yeah.
Tim Berkey
Well First of all, I liked what it said on page 5 in the Introduction …“Lost teenagers don’t need more evangelism programs or outreach efforts. They need relationships with strong Christian students”. That just made me think, we have those nights were Derry tells us to invite a friend...so I’m like “ok” and I bring someone to church, but am I really making an effort to invest in this person or am I just bringing them cause Derry said so…
I also liked what it said in Day 3 about how were not to judge our unbelieving friends.
Another thing, on day one it talked about how were not event to eat with people that call themselves Christians who continue to sin, then on day 3 it said how its our responsibility to keep our Christian friends in check. It kind of confused me at first, but I think I understand, if one of my Christian friends is doing something that he/she shouldn’t be, and I call him out on it, and he stops…that’s alright. But if my friend openly knows he/she is living a life of sin and doesn’t care, is that when were supposed to stop associating with that person?...that doesn’t seem right to me…but I don’t know
-Ben Grove
The thing that stuck out most to me was when it was telling us that instead of running away from lost friends, we need to run to them. Personlly i dont have any close friends that are lost but i think it was challenging me to just talk to someone i haven't talked to in awhile and see where things go from there.
Amanda Yoder
In Matthew 9:9-12, Matthew encountered Jesus when Jesus told him to follow him. Jesus went to his house where Matthew had his friends over. Jesus was hanging out with tax collectors and "sinners"... people that "righteous" wouldn't associate with. I guess what hit me in reading this passage is that I'm reminded that I need to have the mindset of Christ and not of the religious people, which I find myself emulating far too often.
After reading 1 corinthians 5:1-11, I was kind of in shock. I have two pretty good friends that say they are christians but then go and do things that, from what we read, are impure things.
Brandon German
On the first day, I had no idea what the whole Max Q book we got was going to be about. It's now hard to keep from goin ahead and doin the next few days. Anyways, I've always had nonchristian friends that are really close. And for a while, I thought that this might be a sin. But now I know that I can't expect them to act like Christians. They haven't made the choice to follow the Lord. All this means to me is that I just have to keep praying for them and that I need to talk to them more often about Christ. And while they haven't yet accepted Christ as their Savior, I pray that someday they come to know the Lord Jesus.
-expanding the Kingdom,
skyler stutzman
Sorry I'm popping in a little late gang. I'm pumped to journey on this trip with you. Not just DCGO but the journey I think God is going to be taking us all on together. Here's some quotes from this week that really jumped out at me and some thoughts from me to follow:
"You must become a student who can be influential without being influenced."
"The friends you influence today are the world changers and world influencers of tomorrow."
"The most influential students work from a place of passion and character within their own hearts. If they don't, they can't inspire, then can't lead, and they can't model the influential life."
"Perhaps fear made them go back when they should have gone forward."
+ Do I truly strive to be influential and not be influenced?
+ Who are the friends that I've tried to influence or have I tried at all?
+ What is it about Christ that makes me so passionate for Him that I have to share and influence others?
+ Has fear caused me to go back when I should have gone forward?
Perhaps these are questions you wrestled with as well. These are questions that I think we need to always evaluate. Even though I've been a Christian for a while and been removed from high school for a while, these are still realities as a Christ follower that we must face.
Great stuff to wrestle through. I'd rather struggle and wrestle through these issues than sit back and not influence or do anything at all.
In Him,
Pastor Chris
The one thing that hit me in Week 1was Day 5 when it talked about if we dream small, then we will probably always meet our goal. Often times I put God in a small box and I don't dream or ask God for the bigger things in my life. I need to ask God for the "big things" because he wants to do big things in my life.
-This past week, I nearly forgot to post what I took away that week. Well I don't actually want to forget, so I am going to keep a daily update on what I am learning instead of a weekly update. Also because there is just too much info to try to cram it all in into a little summary at the end of the week. I hope that's okay with you Jason.
-Today is Day 1 Week 2 for me. As I was reading out of Acts, it seemed strange to me that a man such as Saul could think that he was doing something good by killing and imprisoning all "blasphemers" proclaiming Christ as Lord and Savior. I saw that it took a case of divine intervention to adjust his attitude. Also, from reading the Max Q book, I saw that you don't even have to make fun of someone to be apart of the teasing. Saul didn't stone Stephen, a high Christian Church official, but he guarded the robes of the people who did. That alone made him apart of it. How many times have you watched a friend make fun of someone and did nothing to stop it, even though you knew it was wrong? I know I am guilty of that sometimes. I don't like it, but I am still guilty. I also learned that teasing is a form of persecution. You may disagree, but what are you doing when you make fun of people? You're making fun of something that God gave them. Their looks, their likes and dislikes, their personalities, or here's the big one; their faith. Making fun of anyone for any one of these things is a form of persecution. And you're not alone. I catch myself teasing other people a lot because everyone makes fun of that person, or those kinds of people.
-Sorry that this is a little long but there's something to think about as you go on in the week.
-Challenging you,
skyler stutzman
P.S. Yes I know that its past 11:00 PM when I typed this. Big deal.
I know it says 8:17, its really 11:17 when I typed it
-skyler
i apologize for writing this a week late. technology sucks sometimes. but anyways.
I was really inspired by the passage in second Corinthians. It put a whole new light on what it really means to be "in" the world and not "of" the world. God DOES want us to have relationships with our lost peers, but not engage in their activities that are wrong.
so i guess thats all for the moment...
-jen
I loved Max Q this week. I like how it hits close to the heart and deals with relevant issues. I especially like the passage and night when it talked about how we are not to judge those outside of church because those are for God to take care of but we are to keep our sisters and brothers accountable inside of the church. Max Q helped me see that God does not want us to do his job, it is for him to do.
~ok after day one i relised that i need to get closer to the lord, and hopefuly be abol to get my friends that arnt close to him or even know him to becom fallowers.
~pety mutch after i got thew week one i relised that i wus all about how u need to help other ppl get to know the lord. but first you neeed to get to know his your self befor you can start trying to help others.
~hudson hysong
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