Short and Sweet, Hopefully Thought Provoking

Pastor of Youth and Young Adults
Karl Helvig

I have been doing a lot of running lately.  Turns out that I love running.

Here is what I have noticed.  Because I run so much, I am really in tune with my physical energy level.

I almost always know when I have 

lots of energy

I almost always know when I have

almost no energy.

Somethings give energy, some drain it, certain people and activities and events fill me up with others wear me out.  I find myself in tune with the full spectrum of my physical self.  High, middle, low: all of it.

There is, however, a contrast that is particularly striking.

I seem to have almost no awareness of my emotional energy level.

I know when I am emotionally full (energized, strong, healthy) and I know when I am emotionally depleted. 

But it is hard discerning that huge middle ground of emotional health.

Am I getting filled? Am I approaching depletion?  When do I need to stop and say, "I must take some time for rest and refreshment"?

What about you?  Are you the same?  Different?

How well are you in tune with your emotional energy level?  Or your spiritual energy level? What fills and depletes you?  What are your signals and triggers?

I pray that we might be come people who are more and more in tune with our own hearts and lives. 

Grace and Peace,

Karl

Mission

Karl Helvig: Youth and Young Adults 

Mission impossible.  Mission accomplished.  Mission: Put a pony tail in my daughter's hair and convince her to leave it there (which, for a dad like me sometimes feels like mission impossible!).

This past Saturday the students of Studio72 talked and learned about God's mission.

More importantly, we sought to JOIN in his mission and steer our lives to BE missional.  

 Every day on mission.

It strikes me that Advent and the whole Christmas season is really quite timely for a conversation about mission.  Sometimes we can be easily tempted to believe that Christmas is about all sorts of things that it really isn't about: shopping, tinsel, reindeer with red noses, ugly sweaters, egg nog, movies with heart warming themes and lots of fires in fireplaces.  None of those things are bad (I plan to include many of them somewhere during my Christmas season), but they are most certainly not the center of what Christmas is about.

Rather, thousands of years ago God made a promise to a guy named Abram and said he would bless the whole world through him and his kids.  Some time went by and God made another promise to save and redeem his people (which, is actually part of the first promise to bless others through his people).  Then, all sorts of God-followers spent lots of time talking about how this would happen and when this would happen and who the Messiah would be (Messiah being the anointed one of God who would accomplish the thousands of years old mission that God set in motion with a guy from a place called Ur... [feel free to peruse Genesis 11-25 for more on the guy from Ur, also called Abram, also called Abraham]).  So, God has been on a mission for about as long as anyone can tell and that mission is simple, He wants to bless the world.

 

Christmas is the season when we remember one of the
central, major, history-altering moments in God's mission.

 God decided to move his mission forward by coming to earth.

 That is what Christmas is about.

 

God moved his mission forward by coming to earth.  God included Abram in his mission, Abram lived on earth.  After Jesus grew up and was crucified and resurrected he told his followers he would leave his Holy Spirit with us here on earth.   
 

God's mission gets moved forward by people on earth.

 

This Christmas season: be invigorated as you continue to join in God's mission; be reminded of the miracle of God's coming to earth to accomplish his mission with us; be encouraged by the friends and family and tinsel and ugly sweaters that ideally remind us of the reason we celebrate so thoroughly every year.

How are you joining that mission this Christmas?

 

Merry Missional Christmas!

Remember

Pastor of Youth & Young Adults, Karl Helvig

REMEMBER:

Last Sunday we talked about remembering. 

We REMEMBER what God has done 

so we can TESTIFY to his work.

We REMEMBER the past 

so we can ENVISION the future.

If you were there, thanks for joining us! I hope you have found a place to testify (to share your story with others) about God's work in your life.

But today I want to talk about a different kind of memory. While some memories are sources of strength and encouragement and testimony, other memories are wounds. Other memories do not strengthen, but drain.  We all have memories that are like weights on our shoulders.

What are some of your memories that weigh you down?

More importantly,

what do we do with these painful memories?  What do we do with our wounds from the past?

I have one simple suggestion that I truly pray is strength and blessing to you.

Let God heal them.

I was talking to a friend just the other day and he shared something that has been rolling around my mind since our conversation.  He shared about how God has been healing some of his memories.

God was healing his memories.  Really?  Is that something God does?

He went on to describe something that was as beautiful as it was simple.  He said that a number of memories from his past had been coming over and over to his mind.  He shared about serious wounds from his past.  He shared about some experiences that still hurt today.  Then he said he has been inviting Jesus into those moments.

He invited Jesus into his memories.

Hearing that, I realized some of my habits surrounding painful memories: I ignore them, I let them hurt, I forget them, I hide them, I pretend they don't hurt that bad, I tell myself I can just deal with them, I tell myself it's just the past.... the list goes on. 

I do a lot of things with my painful memories, but I don't often invite Jesus into them.  I especially don't invite him into the most painful memories.  Those are the ones I most regularly ignore or conceal.

I try to invite Jesus into my days, I try to follow him with my life, but I don't invite him into memories.  And let me get specific here.  I think there is healing to be found in letting those memories come fresh into our minds (not rejecting them or pushing them away or minimizing them but vividly re-experiencing them) and then specifically asking Jesus to be THERE, to enter into THAT PLACE.  There is even a longChristian tradition for allowing ourselves to IMAGINE Jesus himself walking into the scenes in our minds.  This is not just fantasizing or manipulating our minds.  It's taking seriously the promise of Jesus to be with us always. We can pray, "Jesus, be with me in this memory.  Be present with me both now and then."  Then let your mind see Jesus physically present in the scene in your memory.

Is there a wound from your past that still hurts: it comes back, it repeats itself, it hasn't gone away for years?  If so, consider inviting Jesus into that memory.

I will not guarantee that an exercise like this will immediately erase all pain or scaring from the past.  But I do believe that we serve a healing God who desires us to bring more of ourselves to more of him.  Join me in bringing your memories to Jesus.

Let us be a people who walk with Jesus in EVERYTHING WE REMEMBER so hopefully we can walk with him into EVERYTHING WE PRESENTLY LIVE.

Grace and Peace,

Karl

Serve

Pastor of Youth and Young Adults, Karl Helvig

"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Servant.

I'm not sure that's a term that people eagerly take upon themselves. In the first century (when James was writing to this scattering of churches) it could be a profoundly degrading categorization. If you were a servant (slave is probably a better translation), then you were simply an item on an inventory. You were a possession, you belonged to the master of the house.

You would be listed along with the cattle and sheep and pots and furniture.

Slaves were not people, they were property.

So, why does James take that names for himself?

James was a leader in the early church. He was one of the chief leaders in the church in Jerusalem (which, if you hadn't heard, is a rather significant city for Jews and Christians). James was a person whose opinion was sought after and whose decisions mattered.

But James, a pillar of the church, willingly identified himself as a servant, a slave.

Here is the thing about slaves, their job is simple. It can all be boiled down to just one thing: do the masters will. If you are a slave, there shouldn't be much confusion about your role. Your role is to do what the master tells you to do.

James tells us that his desire is to only do the will of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How does that sit with you? Are we willing to see ourselves as servants, even slaves, of our good and gracious God?

Are we willing to only do the things that God desires for us to do?

First century masters could be harsh at times, the term slave is a loaded term and can bring up all sorts of negative connotations. But, Christ is the most gracious and benevolent Lord this world has ever seen. Doing his will, while it may be challenging at times, it ultimately a good, even joyful endeavor. It is always a blessing to be a servant of Christ.

So, what is the will of God for you today? Will you listen for his voice? Will you follow his leading? When you do, you might find easy paths or difficult paths to walk, but they will always be good paths. They will always be paths worth walking; paths you look back and find yourself blessed for having traveled them.

Adventure 2013: Into the Unknown

Karl Helvig, Pastor to Youth and Young Adults

Hiking, climbing, backpacking, camping, cabins, sleeping bags, tents, ropes, community, teamwork, campfires, worship, testimonies. These are just a few of the words that simmer in my mind when I think of a week at camp.  

I love going to camp.  God has a way of moving powerfully during these times apart.

In the past 15 years I have worked with over 600 students during more than 80 weeks of camp experience: backpacking trips, canoe trips, weeks at camp, weekend retreats.  Bearing that decade and a half in mind, I can confidently say that God moved in particularly powerful ways during our week together on “Adventure 2013: Into the Unknown.”

The entire week was full of honesty, teamwork, prayer, scripture and Jesus.  It was beautiful. 

In a lot of ways, the entire week gained momentum as our experiences built upon one another.  The team building on Monday prepared us for a 14er hike on Wednesday and everything helped cultivate the powerful times of worship and sharing testimonies around the campfire each night.  The trip was coming to a close when we arrived back at church on Friday night, ready for a final group of students to share their testimonies.  After a final late night time with God, a group of students began to pray together.  What proceeded from there was a four hour time of prayer and seeking God. While I was present, the prayer time was student initiated and student led.  We encountered God in a powerful way that night and I believe it was because, as a group, we had been drawing close to him and to one another throughout the week.  These four hours also stood out in a couple unique ways.  During the prayer time, we experienced a period of praying specifically against some dark spiritual powers working in the life of one student in particular.  This time ended with many of us in the group feeling a clear sense of peace and freedom in our spirits.  Following that, the group continued seeking God and then experienced what we believe to be a time when God spoke to our group in specific ways.

It’s hard to put into words exactly what happened, but we know that our eyes were opened to the spiritual realities around us and we know that we leaned into Jesus through prayer in a powerful and unforgettable way.

Experiences like this can be tricky.  They are both encouraging and confusing, yet we have seen a lot of fruit. We enjoyed a 2-hour time with about 75 parents, students, and church leaders debriefing and processing some of these extraordinary experiences. Students are eager to pray for one another and dig into God's word.  We are fully rejoicing in the ways God has been and continues to be at work.  However, we also know that we live in a fallen world and the reality of God's presence is much greater and more pervasive than any single experience we ever have.  There is no single experience that can fully and perfectly capture the work of God in us and through us.  So, we pray that God continues to clarify and confirm what he began that Friday night.

Our sermon series at church for the past weeks has been on BREAKTHROUGHS.  Even if an experience like this leaves us with as many questions as it does answers, we still pray that God would be creating breakthroughs in the lives of the students of Studio72.  May this be just the beginning of a work of God’s Spirit, breaking into our lives and into the life of our church.

Grace and Peace,

Karl