Taking up your cross

This was originally sent to us via email.. but it seems so fitting for this week:

We complain about the cross we bear but don’t realize it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we cannot.

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, "God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to exchange his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father's glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct."

So, along those lines.. a few videos to enjoy and ponder:

Rocky Rocks

Personal issues are tough to deal with. Especially when they involve the people who we normally reach out to. What do we do. How do react? Do others influence our decisions or feelings? Sometimes we lash out and it's not how we truly are. We're not at our best when we're hurt. But God doesn't give up on us. We fail, but we're not completely hopeless. We talked about some of that and forgiveness.

Then we looked at this Sunday's gospel reading. Peter, the guy who doubted, fell, and turned his back was still chosen by Jesus. And we talked about how we are all Christian leaders.. Yeah, we are. How do we feel about where we are with that?

It seemed easier to pick out our faults and give reasons why we WOULDN'T make great leaders, but we have to remember that God sees potential in us and never gives up... so we shouldn't give up on ourselves either. We might be rocky rocks, but we're all pretty good strong rocks.

Your food-for-thought video for the week: - why would we pick this?

• MTV
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• Entertainment News

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciple to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Jesus And Dinos

A certain person in our group has brought up Dino-Jesus a time or two.. You know who you are. So, in his honor, though it is not THE Dino-Jesus, it's the next best thing:

Learning From Others - Jesus get's schooled?

So, Jesus is doing his thing, walking on by and a non-Jew asks him for his help. He explains in a weird way that he's just there for the Jews, and then she sort of says, "Hey, well... even a dog's gotta eat." He acknowledges her faith and helps her out. So.. did Jesus just get schooled or was this just another example of his teaching others? Maybe it's a little of both.

There are people in our lives who challenge us. We know who they are. They test our patience, test our beliefs, and test our tolerance of others. We talked a little about those experiences and how they re-affirm things about ourselves. Through those moments, we learn how patient we can be, how tolerant we are, and what exactly we believe.

Who are some people that challenge you?

What do you learn about yourself from that experience?

Next week we start gearing up for our Freshman Welcome Night (Aug 27) and do another round of "What's in the Bag."

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pit on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus' disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Isreal." But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.

Our Stormy Times

We ate too many chips tonight

and re-capped where we had left off last week..

Remember.. the loaves and fishes.

What little do we have to offer others?

How can we use that?

How does Jesus help?

This week, Peter gets off the boat, freaks out because of the storm, and calls out to Jesus to help him (see this Sunday's Gospel reading below).


We looked at our own personal "storms," how our faith helps us (or challenges us), and what exactly we do that gets us through. Sometimes, it's a friend on the phone or something as simple as a stranger's smile. Other times, we seem to connect with a song or particular type of music.

Is there a song or type of music that seems to calm your own personal "storm?" Bring what you have next Wednesday. We'll be listening with open ears and open hearts.

In the meantime, let's enjoy as Chris Brown tells us all how he won't let me fall:

• MTV
• Music Videos
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• Entertainment News

After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and precede him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds.
After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When it was evening he was there alone.
Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore,
was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night,
he came toward them walking on the sea.
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified.
“It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear.
At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Peter said to him in reply,
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
He said, “Come.”
Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus.
But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
After they got into the boat, the wind died down.
Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying,
“Truly, you are the Son of God.”