Thursday, December 27, 2007

Fun on the Slopes!!






Taylor, Lara, Jenny, Kent, & Justin all went to Perfect North Slopes after Christmas. We had a blast! Here are a few of our photos from December 27, 2007.



Jenny & Kent on the lift!

Justin, Lara, Taylor, Kent
Lara & Jenny

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Sunday, October 7, 2007

This is just for you...

I had to. I'm sorry.

Love Louisville 2007

Hey everyone. I want to thank everyone who participated in the awesome Love Louisville this year! I personally had a blast "taping" everyone. (I dunno why we still say taping since my video camera is hard drive based...)

Here's a video from the Love Louisville 2007 and the celebration afterwards. I hope that the world sees this video and inspires them to go out and join the movement!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

5K Run/Walk - Saturday September 8, 2007

Hello Everyone! In a couple weeks there is going to be a 5K in Cherokee Park at Hogan's Fountain. It is called, "Raise for the Kids '07" and it is to benefit the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs of Louisville. If anyone else is interested, we can put together a Highland Small Group Team. I think 5K is 3.1 miles, and you can run, walk, jog, skip, or crawl your way to the finish. (I'll probably doing the latter.)

I've only been jogging for a few weeks, and this will be my first race. I think it will be a great starter race for anyone who wants to run or walk.

Essential Info:
Saturday, September 8th, 2007
Cherokee Park - Hogan's Fountain
8:00am - Race Packet Pick Up
9:00am - Race Begins (Rain or Shine!)
5K = 3.1 Miles

Check out the Website: www.raiseforthekids.org

Happy Running!
Lara

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Romans 7

Well, this week the chapters were loaded. Some of the things mentioned on Wednesday were:

God's law was made to protect us and be like a warning sign for sin. However, as a result of the law, we have been under the power of sin. Paul writes about Jesus and how He died for our sins once and for all.
V 18-24
Paul talk about how we and all of creation groan to be right with God. We were made for God's glory, but we have sort of made a mess of things. We are eagerly awaiting the adoption and redemption of our bodies. (v23)
Paul also wrote that the good he wanted to do, he could not do and the things he didn't want to do, he did. This struggle is so easy to relate to and for once Paul seemed to humble himself. I liked that part.
v 28
"And we know that all things work together for the good to those who are called according to His purpose". Sometimes it is hard to accept this fact or see how it is true. But often, when we look back, we see things much differently than we do in the present.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Fairwell to John Seger!

John Seger left us on Friday to head back home to his sweetheart and school! We were glad to have John with us for the summer and get to know him as he was here. John, we'll miss you buddy and we wish you the best of luck! Anytime you are passing through let us know and we'd love to hook up!

blessings,

Justin

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Paintball 7-3-07


Round 2



The Arnold gang made quite an impact...on my leg


Friday, August 3, 2007

Romans 5 & 6

Paul keeps saying the same things over and over again. "Should we keep on sinning because of God's grace? Just as death entered the world through one man, so life entered the world through another." Maybe he's just saying this to really drive home these points. Regardless, it's clear that God's grace is what the message is really about here.

Ch. 5 v8-10
"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." A couple things struck me here. First, that we are still sinners and always will be. I mean, we will always sin, however we don't have to wear the name "sinner" anymore. Second, I thought about how God didn't wait for us to "stop sinning" to die for us. I think this is important because we never will stop sinning and I don't think that is what God necessarily expects from us. It reminds me of how I once wanted to plan my life around waiting until the right time. I didn't want to settle down, buy a house, or get married until I was financially and emotionally ready. Well, one day I guess I just realized that I never really would be ready. Or at least think that I was. I made some leaps of faith and God's taken care of me ever since. God didn't wait until the right time, when we had all stopped sinning, to save us. That alone shows an overwhelming amount of love and patience for us.

I think Satan uses guilt to make us feel bad about ourselves or like we don't deserve God's love. Sometimes we feel like we've blown it so much that God couldn't possibly love us. Well I think that the verse above proves this thinking to be a bunch of crud... Christ died for us while we were sinners, knowing that we would continue to sin and screw up. I know I'm stepping close to some religious toes but I just think that this guilt thing has stopped so many of us from truly understanding God's free and unconditional love. We don't have to deserve it for Him to still give it to us.

Ch. 6
Anyway, as Paul continued to write in chapter 6, we should not remain where we are spiritually, but continue to grow and try to make good decisions for our lives and others. This chapter deals a lot with sin no longer having dominion over Christians. Paul writes in verse 6 "You will no longer be slaves to sin." We posed the question of what does it mean to be a slave to sin. I'd love to hear any more comments from others online and in the group if you'd like. So what does it mean to no longer be slaves to sin?

Justin

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Paintball Pictures 6-30-07

Being that we're Christians, we like to shoot guns at each other in our spare time... We call it our "holy wars". Here are some action shots of some brave soldiers. Haha. JK








And the painful shots that bonded us...

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Romans 3&4

Some thoughts about these chapters. Feel free to add..

Ch. 3 v10-20
No one is righteous and we've all blown it. Paul says that the law proves this and "by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight." Verse 24 says that we are justified freely by His grace alone. It never hurts to remember that nothing we could ever do would make us worthy of His love. On the same token, nothing we could ever do could make Him love us any less!! Paul says in verse 28 that a man is justified by faith apart from the law. Grace and faith seem to be two key words in this chapter.

Ch. 4 v3
I thought it was interesting how Paul said that "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And in verse 21 & 22 Paul writes, "and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness." For the longest time, I've viewed myself as a pretty unrighteous guy... Never have I thought that God would see me as righteous just because I believe God will do what He says He will do. God says He's forgiven me of all my junk and shortcomings. I guess its time I start believing Him and I'll be one righteous dude.

Justin

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Simpson's Characters


So Dave told me how to make my own Simpsons character online... I thought it was fun. If you want to make one, go to http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/ Feel free to post yours and we'll guess. Guess who this is? (too much free time...)

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Romans 1 & 2 (July 11)

Today we discussed Romans 1 and 2. I thought we could write a few thoughts about our readings on a weekly post. So feel free to edit this post and add to it as much or as little as you would like! This way if people have to miss the group for one reason or another, we can still feel connected and share our thoughts about the reading.

In chapter two, I was reminded about judging people. Ch 2., v 1-2. Paul says that we condemn ourselves by how we are judging other people. I often make presumptions about people, good or bad, but have nothing to base my feelings on. This is just another verse that helps me to check my own thoughts and feelings toward others. Another point that struck me in the reading was verse 4 in chapter 2. Paul writes that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. Cool man mentioned that this is a key reason as to why he is at the Vineyard. I'm with him. I think church should be about kindness and forgiveness.

Justin

Friday, July 6, 2007

Softball tournament tonight...Good luck, guys!!

Upcoming activities

So we had a great 4th of July! Thanks for coming and hanging out with us! No one got hurt too badly with fireworks. Although Dave did have to get rid of a shirt that he burned a hole in... It was a success and the rain held off! Now I just have to eat the rest of these burgers...

So next week we'll be discussing Romans 1 and 2. This should be a little shorter than Rob Bell's 1 hour sermon and a bit more interesting than Hosea! Not that there is anything wrong with that.. See you soon!

Friday, June 15, 2007

The Mighty Bats!

Okay, so I thought that our softball team deserved a post of their own... Great job you guys! We beat an undefeated team! Very nice. Kent, Chas, John, and Dave will go down as heroes in my book!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Welcome!


So, here's our small group blog! Once you post something, Justin can go in and change you from a guest to an administrator. Then you'll be able to post pictures too! We thought this would be fun and a good way for us to keep in touch throughout the week!