Mountain Park Student Podcast

Guide: Serve My Family

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 16:53:39 GMT

The person you choose to go see a movie with becomes less important when faced with who you should take to prom. Who you decided to go to prom with become less important in light of what college you choose to go to. College becomes less important when you are looking at what job you will have. However, one part of life that will always be important and always be challenging is your family life. No matter what (ITALICS)your(END ITALICS) family life is like it's part of your story. Unless the Holy Spirit is the one guiding us as we navigate our family life, it is easy to become focused on ourselves and lose sight of the gift of serving our family and family members.

Redeemer: Set Free Now and Always

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:15:44 GMT

“The Redeemed” is a phrase used over and over again in the Bible to refer people God, the Redeemer, has set free. Sometimes they were set free from slavery, a guilty past, sin, a bad reputation, or oppression. The Redeemed Israelites stand out among these stories because what happened to them is often what happens to us. Even though they were free, they wished they were slaves again. Christ has set us free (totally and completely), but often times we let ourselves become re-enslaved by what other people think of us or want us to do. You are redeemed. You have been set free. You have nothing to prove. You never have to be bound up by anything ever again. To keep ourselves from being enslaved by the world, we must protect ourselves while in the world.

Redeemer: Incredible Gift to Those He Loves

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:26:36 GMT

More than Bella is to Edward, you are precious and loved by the Redeemer, God. Because you are so valuable, he wants to give you an incredible gift- an amazing relationship with a person of the opposite gender. God’s word paints the picture of what this relationship is supposed to look like: wrapped with selfless love for each other, commitment, two becoming one, she submits with trust because he has a love that dies for her. The description could be straight from a movie poster! We mess this up in all sorts of ways. While the Redeemer can make our broken mistakes whole, there is a way to receive this gift correctly right from the start.

Redeemer: Broken Family Made Whole

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:41:26 GMT

God intended our families to be a place for love, growth, discipline, and safety. Unfortunately, for some of us, “the curse” has damaged our families and has changed them into places of hurt, teasing, anger, and stress. Joseph’s family, in the book of Genesis, was no exception. They were a hot mess! When everything seemed to have fallen apart and no one would have blamed Joseph for getting a little revenge, Joseph does something shocking: He chooses to let God, the Redeemer, work behind the scenes to make broken things, like families, whole.

Redeemer: Living to be the Image of God

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:03 GMT

What makes a $100 bill extremely valuable, but a piece of paper the same shape and size, pretty worthless? It comes down whether there is someone who sees value in that bill and is willing to redeem it. Through out scripture God is called our Redeemer. He looks at His children and sees extreme value in each one of us. It is not because of something that we have done, but because we are made in His image. The price of our redemption was steep: His only Son’s death. Now it is our everyday choice to decide if we want to live our lives as the valuable redeemed image of God, or carry on as if we still worthless.

The End: The White Rider of Revelation

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 14:45:30 GMT

Some characters in Revelation can be hard to identify with great certainty. However, there is no mistaking who The White Rider represents. In Revelation 19 we get a picture of Jesus like the world had never seen before. Many believed Jesus to be only a marginalized peasant from Galilee, which he in fact was... but keep reading into the book of Acts and follow it up with Revelation and you will find that while Jesus’ humble incarnation gives us an example of how to live, his glorious exaltation defines him once and for all as our champion, our warrior, our great leader.

The End: Excited for the End!

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:46:07 GMT

“The End of the World” sparks lots of controversy and fear. There is lots of speculation, even among Christians, about how to interpret apocalyptic books (like Revelation), when and if Christians will leave this Earth before things get really bad down here, and when Jesus is coming back. However, if you look at what the Bible says about the end of the world, it might leave you with unanswered questions; but, a believer has no reason to be afraid of it because there are several things we can be sure of: 1- Jesus Wins. 2-Who we will be. 3-Where we will be. 4-What we will be doing. If we understand who God is and what he has planned for us, we would be excited for the coming of the end.

The Unwritten: How to Keep Writting the Story

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:06:18 GMT

What is the value of a coach? They can push you, encourage you, develop your skills in a way you never could have done on your own. Without a coach you will quickly reach the end of your abilities. Intentional relationships, like a coach, can increase the chance of you continuing to live the great story God wants for you, beyond just this moment. There are three types of intentional relationships God calls us to have: older/wiser, peer, and younger. Having these in your live is a game changer. If you don’t have them, get them.

The Unwritten: All Talk, No Action

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:06:37 GMT

I once met a guy who always had a great story to tell. After two weeks of stories I realized he was a liar. He was all talk, but had never actually done what he was saying. As Christ followers we are warned against loving with words, while forgetting to take action—it is like a fruit tree that doesn’t produce any fruit. It is one thing to talk about the story that we believe God is sending us one, it is another to actually do something about it.

The Unwritten: Sharing the Story

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 23:07:01 GMT

The best part of a great story is getting to tell others about it! That’s when it really becomes OUR story. While we are eager to share jokes, epic fails, people, and adventures, we get nervous to tell about who God is and what he is doing in our lives. Sometimes it is because we are afraid that we might become “that kid” or we will share in an offensive or wrong way. But John Wesley reminds us that Jesus is already present in each person that we come into contact with during the day. Sharing our story means we have to listen to what’s happening in their lives, and then point out where we see Jesus.

The Unwritten: Dare You To Move

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:48:41 GMT

Have you ever been caught in the middle of a huge thunderstorm or dust storm? It can be completely frightening. Now what would happen if God told you to go outside during that time? I imagine those same thoughts that are swirling around in your head, were the same ones that Peter felt when Jesus said the word "Come." Without planning it, Peter ended up in one of the biggest miracles in the Bible. What makes Peter different from the rest of us is that his response to God was instant and Peter had a deep desire to follow Christ. If God is calling you to do something big, what steps are you going to take to get there?

The Unwritten: Writing Your Story - Conflict

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 16:13:52 GMT

Sometimes life is really painful and it seems like a loving God would not let us experience so much conflict. So we take the problems into our own hands to try to avoid any difficult situation that causes us pain. But conflict is the thing that God uses to transform our lives. Through it we find that our lives have meaning and purpose. Dealing with conflict is scary, but with out it we are stuck in a boring and meaningless story.

The Unwritten: Student Volunteer Movement

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:32:58 GMT

We’re now taking a giant leap from the 6th to the 19th century. We’re skipping over the Dark Ages (500-1500) because there were few characters to celebrate during that period. The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century provided us with numerous amazing characters – some of which were celebrated during Whole Shebang Part I. The “character” this week is actually not a person. We’re looking at the character of a group of students who gathered at Mt. Hermon in 1886 and eventually became known as the Student Volunteer Movement. This movement radically embraced God’s desire to reach all nations. An essential theme throughout the Whole Shebang is that God’s pursuit of a restored relationship with humanity is a global story. We are blessed to be a blessing; we are to be fishers of men. Any person wishing to be molded by the character of Christ must consider The Global Story.

Worship: I'm Not Sure What to Do With My Hands...

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:33:35 GMT

He was hunched over, resting his chin between his thumb and fore finger. His finger moved back and forth. He breathed deep and sighed with his eyes locked on a spot on the floor. I knew he was thinking! What we do with our bodies says something about what is going on inside us. This is also true during our response time on a Sunday morning (or any other time during the week that we are responding to God). The way that we position our body can be a way of telling God what is going on inside. There are lots of different ways to respond and they all can mean different things. None of them are right or wrong, but here are some options: standing, sitting, kneeling, raising your hands in the air, clapping, jumping, laying down, and dancing.

Dream Wildly

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:34:29 GMT

Little kids have crazy imaginations. When they hear the world’s message, “GROW UP!” they stop dreaming. But God wants you to keep dreaming wildly about what He wants to make with your life! And what He wants for you is better than you could have ever hoped or imagined. The bad news is that the world is going to try to dream for you. You might try to force yourself to go after that dream, but it will never compare to what God has in mind for you. The gospel (good news) is this: God has a wild dream for your life. It will happen if you let him shape you.

Lead Courageously

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:35:07 GMT

If we were given the option to lead others to something meaningful or to sit on our butts, most would want to lead. But sometimes, the fear of rejection, failure, loss, or the unknown keeps us on our butts. Even the Israelites, who were God's chosen people, got scared and found themselves sitting on their butts instead of conquering the land like they were asked. Until... David remembers who God is! The gospel (the good news of God, remember?) is that we no longer have a spirit of fear or timidity, but a spirit of power! We have a spirit of power, not because of who we are, but because of who God is. If we find that we are afraid to lead others to something meaningful, perhaps it is because we don't know who God really is.

Love Recklessly

contact@mountainpark.org — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:35:36 GMT

Loving recklessly is loving someone without thought about yourself. Often we love others with a love that has limits. We love our friends. But if they ever betrayed us, hurt us, cheated with our bf/gf, our love for them would quickly end. God loves us with a reckless love. Although we have betrayed him, hurt him, and cheated on him, He still passionately loves us. That is the gospel. (Remember hola=hello, just like gospel=good news.) Once we understand and accept that God loves us recklessly, we are given an electric ability to love others recklessly.