john 11:33-36 from The Message
33-34When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, “Where did you put him?”

34-35″Master, come and see,” they said. Now Jesus wept.

36The Jews said, “Look how deeply he loved him.”

I really feel like this is the first time people can look at Jesus as truely being human; sure He had taking human-form and was walking around the Earth but this is where I feel that they saw Jesus have compasssion and react like his peers. In Jewish culture the time of morning after a loved ones death is called a Shiva. Shiva (Hebrew: שבעה‎) (literally “seven”) is the week-long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, and spouse. The ritual is referred to as “sitting shiva.” Immediately after burial, first-degree relatives assume the halakhic status of “avel” (Hebrew: אבל ; “mourner”). This state lasts for seven days, during which family members traditionally gather in one home (preferably the home of the deceased) and receive visitors. It is a grieving process that involves what Jesus witnessed from his friends which was weeping. They weren’t just crying lightly they were full force sobbing for the loss of Lazerus. Jeus wept for not only him but He wept out of compassion for his friends that were truely hurting over their loss. I believe that Jesus still weeps for us when we are sad. On the flip side I feel that Jesus leaps for joy when we are happy! Jesus was/is 100% human and 100% God so He can handle the full range of emotions if you allow Him to be apart of your life. This song helped some friends of mine that were grieving a loss recently and maybe can shed some light onto your life if you are struggling with something right now too.

C. S. Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, used Agápe to describe what he believed was the highest level of love known to humanity—a selfless love, a love that was passionately committed to the well-being of the other. This is the kind of love that the Apostle Paul writes in his letter to Corinthians in the 13th chapter where he writes,
1 Corinthians 13(msg)

The Way of Love
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

A lot of people view this as the “marriage” verses but I will contest that it is how we are to treat everyone all the time. Jesus did not just come here to simply die for or sins rather He came here to show us how to live. Even more so in the way of what it is to love everyone. I will make you notice that He doesn’t say you are to LIKE everyone he says you are to LOVE everyone. That is a tough thing to wrap your mind around sometimes but I equate it to the diffence between happiness and Joy (see : http://firstunitedyouth.com/2011/09/08/a-life-of-joy-pursue-the-ce-not-the-ts/ ). Sometimes I get frustrated at the fact that we are given such a tough task to love everyone unconditionally all the time. If you feel this it is ok to feel that. But just because you feel that doesn’t mean you are to not continue to act of this task. It is a face that you will not like everyone or get along with everyone you meet but you are to love them no matter what happens. If they hurt you, Love them harder. Maybe through you’re unconditional love for them they will get to see a glimpse of God in you and then just maybe they will find hope in Jesus Christ.
This is a song by by Brandon Heath called “Love Never Fails”

This song is the epitomy of what God’s love is. No matter how dirty or messed up we think we are God will never see us as weeds He will see us as beautiful flowers. He should know what it is to truely love a child. He sent His one and only son to come to into the world and show us how to live, not just to die for our sins. I think the verse that is most often over looked is John 3:17 which follows the most overly quoted verse,John 3:16! What John 3:17 says is:

John 3:17

New Living Translation (NLT)

17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Hey everyone! If you are planning on coming to my house for the SuperBowl on Sunday Feb 5 @5pm please email me if you need directions! Crogers@jcfumc.org or call 816-739-5014 …. We live over in WestView Heights on Shady Ct. Please bring a snack or dessert to share!!!! We will be having chili, lil smokies, rotel dip , chips and soda…. so just to give you all an idea of the menu. We also will be having an enteractive guessing game to go along with the fottball game itself with questions like:
national anthem lenghth
coin flip HEADS or TAILS
first commercial
score after each quarter
and many many many more!!!
lots of prizes too!
So bring your family and friends to an evening of food family fellowship and football!!

Chad Rogers

We are so excited to be doing our Famine this year! During the 30 Hour Famine, our youth group will actually NOT EAT for 30 hours. YES! You read that right. Teenagers… not eating… for 30 hours. Why? Because nearly 8,000 children under age 5 die every day because of hunger-related causes—that’s one child every 10 seconds. And we are NOT okay with that, we will NOT stand by while children die from lack of food.

In the time leading up to and during our 30 hours of fasting, the students are going to get a crash course in global hunger and come face to face with the realities of poverty and injustice. We will make a global impact by learning about world hunger and raising money for hungry children around the world through World Vision; a local impact through service projects and raising awareness during our 30 hours; and making an individual impact on us when we will all get a small taste of what it is like for starving kids around the world.

The Famine is our chance to make a difference, our chance to make hunger part of our history not our present, and our chance actually do something about hunger. Our youth have come together and set a group goal, each $30 we raise will help feed and care for a child for a month. Check out our thermometer to see our goal. Will you help us reach our goal this year? Donate today.

Thanks for sponsoring us to go without—so others can eat.
And so our Famine begins.
copy this link to make an online donation

http://twv.convio.net/site/TR/30HourFamine/30HourFamine?team_id=30456&pg=team&fr_id=1610

in HIM
Chad Rogers

run for joy

hey if you are interested in getting text updates from my upcoming marathon in Houston Tx here is the website you can go on to sign up for those. You will recieve 4 updates during the race one at the 10k(6.2mi) ,13.1mi(halfway), 20mi and the finish

http://​alerts.houstonmarathon.com/​2012/cf/RegAthleteAlert/​pg_AthleteAlert.cfm?mode=entry&​snap=49975858&

Dear Friends–
I’ve decided that I’m going to “auction off” my hairstyle for the start of our fundraising for the 30 hour famine which will take place Feb 24-25. What I’m doing is one of four choices and whichever gets the most money donated to that choice I will wear my hair like that from Wed Jan 11 til(at least) March 1st. I will be setting up a table in the lobby before and after all the services this weekend and the reveal will be at Youth Group on Wed Jan 11 6-8pm.
the choices are :

FAUX HAWK

MULLET

BALD

MOHAWK

So again I will have 4 seperate containers and whichever gets the most money I will cut my hair like that to raise money for the 30 hour famine that raises money and awareness for hunger around the world! for more info go to www.30hourfamine.org

In Him–
Chad Rogers

This is something that I have trouble wrapping my mind around:
Why would God leave His throne in heaven and humble himself and become a volnerable little baby?
He did this mearly to get to know you & me! This is the most irrational show of Love this world has ever seen. God wanted to know us and to be known. He wanted to Love and to be Loved. Because to be known is to be loved and to be loved is to be known. You must ask yourself : What is one without the other?

The book of Isaiah was written by …. Isaiah … now Isaiah was one of God’s profit …aka messenger… now he was writing to the Israelites (Gods chosen people) but at this time they had turned their backs on God…they stopped counting on God and His promises… God gave them tons of signs that the one that was to come ..but with them in the state of mind they were in it came off as judgmental…. so needless to say Isaiah wasnt the most popular dude on the block… buuuut this message of “judgement” was the opposite–it brought a message of HOPE….

Isaiah 9:6-7
 6 A child has been born for us.
   We have been given a son
   who will be our ruler.
   His names will be
   Wonderful Advisor
   and Mighty God,
   Eternal Father
   and Prince of Peace.
   7 His power will never end;
   peace will last forever.
   He will rule David’s kingdom
   and make it grow strong.
   He will always rule
   with honesty and justice.
   The LORD All-Powerful
   will make certain
   that all of this is done.

Fast forward something like 700-800 years and you see this message of
hope coming to life in Luke 1:26-33:

 26One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee 27with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. 28The angel greeted Mary and said, “You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you.”
    29Mary was confused by the angel’s words and wondered what they meant. 30Then the angel told Mary, “Don’t be afraid! God is pleased with you, 31and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. 33He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end.”

The little baby God was forming in
Maryʼs stomach?
He was the same promised savior Isaiah was writing about
in Isaiah 9:6-7.
Long before God sent Jesus to this earth, He knew the plan. In fact, Godʼs
sending His own Son to live and breathe and walk this earth was always the
plan. God has always known that Jesus would be the answer to a perfect
relationship between God and His children. Which is great news for you and
me. But to see this plan come to life, Jesus had to come to earth. And thatʼs REALLY what Christmas is all about!!!

This video really hits that point home of God’s willingness to do ANYTHING to build a relationship with us. Like it says God knew we were going to be messy; He knows we’re going to screw up but in the end He sees things through different eyes and when He looks at us all He can say is: PERFECT!

Last night we had a lesson on proper P.D.A. It wasn’t really the P.D.A that most people think of when they are talking about public display of affection though. What we talked about was publicly displaying our affection for Jesus! Like it says in the Gospel Matthew:
Matthew 5:13-16 from The Message
Salt and Light
13″Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.
14-16″Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

We talked about an athlete that is in the news all the time for his display of his faith on the football field and in the media and that is Tim Tebow. He, by all accounts, is a great man of faith and professes it as often as possible. He was recently called out for talking to much by a former NFL quarterback named Jake Plummer. Plummer said “Tebow, regardless of whether I wish he’d just shut up after a game and go hug his teammates, I think he’s a winner and I respect that about him. I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ then I think I’ll like him a little better. I don’t hate him because of that, I just would rather not have to hear that every single time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff…like you know, I understand, dude, where you’re coming from …” Whenever Tebow heard this, he responded with one of the best reponces when he said, “if you’re married and you’re a [husband] is it good enough to only say you love her on the day you get married or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and have an opportunity? And that’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the most important thing in my life so anytime I get an opportunity to tell him that I love him or give him an opportunity to shout him out on national TV, I’m gonna take that opportunity. So I look at that as a relationship that I have with him that I want to give him honor and glory anytime I have the opportunity and then right after I give him honor and glory, then I want to try and give my teammates honor and glory and that’s how it works because Christ comes first in my life.” This quote was just amazing to me. First as a christian but then as a husband; it made me think a lot about the way I treat my relationship with both Christ and my wife.
Tebow also has a quote that we all liked when he said,” When you die, you get a tombstone. On that tombstone they will put your name and two dates. One is the year you were born. The other is the day you die but in between there will be a dash. That dash is there to represent your life. All the good things and all the bad. That raises the question; WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR DASH TO REPRESENT?”
We listened to the song Allah, Allah, Allah by the band Mewithoutyou to remind us that God is in everything.