// ELEVATE

Winter Retreat

2007-01-25T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Winter Retreat is just around the corner (Feb 9-11). Be sure to sign up ASAP. This year's theme will be RESCUED FROM AN ORDINARY LIFE. Along with our great gatherings, we will have tons of food, games, basketball, volleyball, and a plethora of other things. Hope to see you there!

Super Bowl Party: Can Peyton win the big one?

2007-01-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl Party. Knox Student Ministries has rented out the Y-Zone on Mitchell Road in Neshannock for our party. We will have full use of the YMCA’s indoor soccer field, basketball courts, and volleyball court. We will also have pizza, drinks, and the football game on a large six foot screen. The Super Bowl Party starts at 5:30 pm and ends at 9:15 pm. How much does this cost you? All we ask is for every person to bring a two liter or your favorite snack. What a bargain. This is a great outreach tool for youth workers. Take advantage of this.

DEVELOPING HABITS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

2006-12-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

Get pumped for our new spring teaching series: Developing Habits that Will Change Your Life. In this six-week series, we'll learn how to grow spiritually by developing these habits: Hang Time With God, Accountability, Planting God's Word in Your Life, Involving Yourself in the Church, Money Tithing God and Me, and Studying Scripture. We'll kick off our first segment on January 7th. Hope to see you there.

Being God's Original

2006-12-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

*This article is currently published at RelevantMagazine.com. Check it out.

Being God's Original

Dave Ripper

While walking through the mall with my fiancé yesterday I unconsciously began playing The Comparison Game. Perhaps you’ve played the game before. It’s fairly simple and easy to jump or slip into. The game goes something like this: Observe the people around you, examine their strengths, weigh yourself against the person and tally the scores. The winner is the more valuable person.

The stakes are high.

The opponents in the match can be friends, family, co-workers or even complete strangers. Their strongholds include personality, wit, beauty, intelligence, attractiveness, wealth, athleticism and a multitude of other characteristics.

My opponent in the match yesterday was one of the game’s most infamous competitors: Mr. Nearly Naked. Mr. Nearly Naked’s jacked arms, sculpted chest and ripped abs can be seen anywhere from billboards and magazine covers to mall decor. He is highly admired for his sex appeal and well renowned for his ability to stare down opponents. Yesterday, he made his presence known in the advertisements in the storefronts we walked past. Although the contest was really close, as you might have imagined, I lost.

I often wonder why I, along with so many others, insist upon playing this game. My suspicion is that we have become so preoccupied with ourselves and with the approval we want from others that we will do anything to get it. The consequences of such self-fixation and of playing The Comparison Game are of serious concern. To begin with, if you determine that you are the winner of your comparison contest, the fruition of pride and narcissism will likely follow. On the other hand, if you decide that you have lost your match, low self-worth and insecurity ensues.

Not only are the effects of playing such a game fatal, but the attitude that is necessary for its participation, is clearly in opposition to God’s best intentions for us. In Galatians 5:25-26 Paul writes, “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have for more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original” (The Message).

According to Paul, God has created us in a unique way and for a unique purpose. He tells us that “each of us is an original.” Maybe it’s time that we concentrate on becoming who God has made us to be instead of worrying about how our cards stack up to each other. Maybe we should be more concerned about walking the way Jesus walked, instead of conforming our lives to the patterns of this world. Maybe The Comparison Game is a waste of life.

When the next opportunity comes to play The Comparison Game just sit it out. It’s the only way to win.

Dig Deeper
Matthew 6:25-34
Galatians 5:25-26

It's almost time for Christmas

2006-11-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone. Sorry that it's been a few weeks since I last updated our blogsite. Christmas is just around the corner...which means that we have some great things planned.

Dec. 3: Advent Walk 6:15 PM at Pearson Park. Bring a couple of extra bucks because we'll grab some grub afterwards.

Dec 10th: Sunday Night Live Emerging Worship Service

Dec 15th: Christmas Party at 6 PM in the Assembly Room

Dec 17th: Christmas Dinner and Caroling

Dec 24th: Christmas Eve Service.

I hope to see all of you there. Keep posted for future updates and activities.

Peace,
Dave

Life's Most Urgent Question

2006-11-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

The great social activist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, "Life's most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?" Serving is a subject we often discuss in the church, but seldom do. This is quite unfortunate because Jesus, who came as the suffering servant, said that He came "not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43-45). Do our lives and actions reflect that we are truly people who are committed to serving others? If not, how can we change that? Jesus tells us that people will know that we are His disciples by how we love others. Do people know this about us? Let's rekindle our passion to live like Christ and serve others. After all, we were created for something much greater than ourselves.

Church as it should be

2006-10-09T12:48:00.000-07:00

This week at Elevate (JR & SR High Youth Group):
We are starting part one of our new series called "Church as It Should Be: Rediscovering Lost Relics." Our teaching will examine how the church was focused on Jesus.

As we do this study through October and November, read through the book of Acts, which is found in the New Testament.

Come to youth group and feel loved...George Washington did.

2006-10-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

If you have any pictures that you'd like to see on this blogsite, send them to me at daveripper@clen-moore.org. Adam Plyler did and now we're all longing to have a cheap hug.

October Events

2006-10-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

There's a lot going on this month at Clen-Moore. You don't want to miss any of these events!

October 6-8: Family Retreat at Camp Lambec

October 15th: Elevate Student Gathering / 7 PM
This week we'll be starting our series called: "CHURCH AS IT SHOULD BE."

October 21st: DINNER & A MOVIE
We'll meet at the church at 6 PM and go to Ponderosa for some grub and come back to watch "SIGNS."

October 22: Elevate 7 PM

October 29: Elevate 7 PM

Stay posted for our events in November and mark your calendars for our winter retreat (February 9-11).

Wisdom from Wesley

2006-10-04T04:43:00.000-07:00

I love a good quotation. Not only does it become useful to me in a teaching or sermon, but it wrestles with me in the deepest part of my heart. Here is a quotation from John Wesley that I can't stop reflecting on. It's language is lucid, beautiful, and compelling. Take a few minutes to allow it to renovate your heart and priorities.

"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergy or laity; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer."

Make Praise Your Habit

2006-09-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

As I've been growing in my faith, I have been learning that praising God doesn't just take place on Sundays or before a meal or when I read my Bible. It can happen anywhere and at anytime. And it should. Psalm 64:10 says, "...good-hearted people, make praise your habit" (The Message). A lot of us have formed habits that we're not too proud of: biting our nails, drinking milk from the carton, or cussing to name a few. But how can we form habits that enable us to live as we have been divinely designed? I've been told that an action repeated for a minimum of twenty-one days is likely to become a permanent habit. So what should we learn to get in the habit of doing. As we just saw, God's Word tells us to make praise our habit. According to C.S. Lewis, "Praise is the cumlimation of our enjoyment of anything." We naturally understand this. We praise our favorite foods, movies, TV shows, and a number of other things. But what if we started to live with an awareness of God's presence and His activity in the world? God is big. God is everywhere. Have we unconsciously chosen to miss Him? We live fast-paced, noise-filled lives where we rarely stop to come up for air. When we live like this, we miss out on the beauty that surrounds us and the blessings that we take for granted. Maybe we need to take greater notice of God and be more appreciative of Him over these next twenty-one days. Then, we will have made praise our habit.

"The spiritual life is first of all a life. It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived."
-Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

A Radical Minimum Standard

2006-09-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

Over the past month, I have been reading Erwin McManus's book An Unstoppable Force. Throughout the entire work, he offers bold challenges to church leaders and members to dare to become the church God had in mind. In the last chapter in this book, he lists what he believes to be the four essentials that every church member must practice. Get ready. These are not easy, but they are clearly what the Bible teaches.
"We have broken the membership standard into four basic areas for every person considering membership. The first is that they live a holy life, acknowledging that every person is imperfect and that there is a high likelihood we will all blow it at some time or another. This commitment entails that we be honest about where we are and that when we sin we come clean and trust the body of Christ to restore us to fellowship.
The second commitment is to be an active participant in ministry. This is a commitment to move beyond a spectator mentality to a participatory one. Involvement is understood--on a minimum level--to be a faithful worshipper in corporate celebration, to be actively involved in a small group committed to life transformation, and to find a particular place of service in which to use gifts and talents.
The third commitment area is tithing. We ask every person who feels called to be a part of the church to be a generous giver, and by generosity we mean to give 10 percent of our income and beyond.
And finally, the fourth commitment of all members is to live an evangelistic lifestyle. People commit to using their many gifts and unique personalities in building meaningful relationships with those who do not know Christ and, through a genuine expression of love, help others come to faith" (McManus 216).
Also in this chapter, McManus notes a statistic that I found to be quite disturbing: approximately 1 percent of all Christians have ever led someone to faith in Jesus Christ. That, honestly, is pathetic. I think it's time we as the church take the Great Commission (unfortunately it's the great Omission) seriously and make disciples of all nations as Jesus calls us to do. We must remember that the motivation behind becoming a church member is not what can be received but what can be given. Paul describes the seriousness of sharing the faith in his letter to Philemon. In verse 6, he writes, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." Only when people are active in sharing their faith can they fully grasp and experience every good thing we have in Christ. Have you experienced Christ fully?

How Not to be a Fool

2006-09-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Throughout this month we are exploring how we can make sure we don't live our lives foolishly. Last Sunday's teaching discussed how our choices determine our destination in life. To live life wisely, then, we must first learn how to make good decisions. Proverbs 10:23 says, "Doing wrong is fun for a fool, while wise conduct is pleasure to the wise. Wise people think before they act; fools don't and even brag about it." One of the first steps to making wise choices is to think before you act. Below are a couple of other principles we learned.
1. As you make choices, you don't plan to make choices you will regret. Most people don't plan to mess up their lives--they just don't plan not to.
2. As you make choices, don't ask, "Is there anything wrong with this?" Our assumption is, "If it's not wrong, then it must be right." The "there's nothing wrong with it" approach leads us right up to the edge of poor decisions.
3. The better question to ask is, "What is the wise thing to do?"

Along with these principles, it's important to seek wisdom. Proverbs 4:7 says, "Wisdom is the most important; so get wisdom." We can seek wisdom by asking God for it (James 1:5), by reading our Bibles, and by doing what the Word says. Wisdom isn't just knowing the right things, but doing what's best. We'll learn how not to be fools when we make the decision to follow Jesus and walk the way He did.

The Success Factor

2006-08-30T07:42:00.000-07:00

Throughout my life, I've always had the goal of being successful. To reach this goal, I have read a lot of books and have heard countless motivational speakers talk about the one essential element to success. The only problem I've noticed with this is that each speaker or author discusses a different thing. To some, it may be attitude, while for others, it may be proactivity, discipline, or drive. While all these things are good, they miss the one indispensable factor that the Bible describes as being the key to success.
In Joshua 1:8, God says to Joshua, " Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." According to God's Word, the success factor in life is obeying His commands. He hasn't given us these teachings to prevent us from having fun or enjoying life. The exact opposite is true. He has given us His instructions so that we can live the best life possible--the life He designed for us to live.
Striving to be succesful is undboutedly an admirable pursuit. Let's just make sure that we follow the path that leads to true success--walking as Jesus did. This way, all the world may know that He is King!

Shane & Shane Concert

2006-08-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

Grove City College will be hosting Christian Recording Artists, Shane & Shane, at Crawford Auditorium on September 20th. The concert begins at 7:30 PM and also features singer/songwriter Warren Barfield.
The cost of the show is $10.

We will meet at the church at 6:15 PM to go to the show. Please contact Dave for more ticket information.

www.shaneandshane.com

www.warrenbarfield.com

Let's Get It Started

2006-08-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

This is the first edition to the website/blog for ELEVATE--the site for all the student ministry news at Clen-Moore Church. On this site, you will find links to other great places on the web, devotionals to help you ELEVATE your faith, pictures of what's been going on, and updates on future events. If there is anything you'd like to see on this site, drop me an email. Thanks for stopping by.