Winter Retreat

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?

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

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

*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

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

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

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.

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

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

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."