THE GOSPEL CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!

Do you know the Gospel?

The gospel is JESUS CHRIST.  The gospel is his life, death and resurrection.

We are designed with a purpose, we are tragically broken, and yet our God still loves us, despite all our flaws.

How are we able to put the everlasting and all-encompassing hope of the gospel into words?

Pastor and teacher Timothy Keller explains the gospel like this “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves then we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more love and accepted in Jesus Christ then we ever dared hope.”

I can’t even begin to wrap my head around this, but I do know the truth of the gospel!  The Truth of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 states

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

The gospel always get me fired up and excited to continue running the race!  I hope it does for you too!

Let us know what you think, we want to hear it.

Comment Below!

In Him, 

Megan

Worry Not Little Ones

Hey Garage Peeps!

As sinners, we often look for guidance and hope in all the wrong places. Whether it's a motivational Instagram picture quoting some lame song lyrics telling us to "keep fighting the good fight" or a sweet picture of a Space Shuttle launching and in big words underneath its says "AMBITION: you can do it!; we all look for something to keep us going and keep our minds off the worries and anxieties of this world. SCRIPTURE is always overlooked.

 We cannot state enough how vital the Word of God is, shaping and modeling. So let's take a look at what Matthew 6:25-34 says about the worries of this world.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Take some time to get away and thank the Lord for what has been given you. Comments are below! We want to here from you!!!

In Christ,
Alex Thulemeyer

I Need Thee Every Hour

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

John 15:5,9-11

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing… As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands and remain in his love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that my joy may be complete.”

“…apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:9b

I don’t know if you have ever experienced a time in your life that you can remember feeling completely and utterly in need of Jesus- not just in a spiritual way but emotionally and physically in NEED of the Lord. In an “if you don’t come now, I may not make It” sort of way.

In those times we ask Jesus to fill the gaps where we have fallen short, we ask him to forgive us of the damage we've knowingly and unknowingly caused, to smooth it over with the Holy Spirit and His grace.

We are busy doing life the best we know how when God gently or not-so-gently nudges us saying “I’m right here. Can’t you see? I’m what you need.”

May this hymn be the prayer of heart today and every day.

I Need Thee Every Hour- Annie S. Hawks, 1872

I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
no tender voice like thine can peace afford.

Refrain:
I need thee, O I need thee;
every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee.

I need thee every hour; stay thou nearby;
temptations lose their power when thou art nigh.
(Refrain)

I need thee every hour, in joy or pain;
come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
(Refrain)

I need thee every hour; teach me thy will;
and thy rich promises in me fulfill.
(Refrain)

I need thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me thine indeed, thou blessed Son.
(Refrain)

Solitude

Mark chapter 1 is an example of a day in the life of Jesus. Mark carefully accounted this typical day in the life and ministry of Jesus.

It was the Sabbath, Jesus spent the morning teaching the people in the synagogue, it was there He was confronted with a demon-possessed man.  Jesus said in verse 25-26 '"Be quiet!" said Jesus stearnly. "Come out of him!" The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.'

The day continued to the house of Simon and Andrew for lunch, but lunch was not quite ready because Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, "So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them" Mark 1:31

The day had already been eventful when the doorbell rings and "The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was." Mark 1:33-34

I think we can say that it was a long day; we have no idea how long Jesus was there with the people, talking, walking, and healing them.  We can only imagine it had been a late night when he finally got to get to his bed, emotionally and physically drained, exhausted. I know that I have had those long days that when I finally get to bed I feel as if the day has sucked everything out of me.  No one would have blamed Jesus if he decided to sleep in a little the next morning; I know that I would’ve!

In the next verse it says "Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35. In the middle of all the craziness, instead of sleeping in a little longer, Jesus chooses solitude.

It is in this place of solitude where He finds courage to follow God’s will rather than his own, to speak God’s words rather than his own, to do God’s work rather than his own.

Now we have problems with finding solitude because of our busy schedules, people always being around us, and the technology we have readily available.  We have fears, excuses and obligations that keep us from taking the time out of our day to sit in solitude.

I challenge you to join me in finding the time to take out of my day.  To find my own solitary place where I can be alone and pray each day.  Jesus did it, now it’s our turn to JOIN HIM!

In HIM,
Megan

New goals for a New Year!

As we start this New Year, I am sure that most of you have looked back on 2014 and maybe set some goals that you are going to put into action in 2015.

Romans 12:12 says “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

This verse pretty much sums up the goals for 2015 that I have set for myself.

 I am going to be joyful in the hope that I have because of Jesus.  I am going to be patient as the trials of life come.  And I will be faithful in my prayer life.

Be joyful, patient, and PRAY.

Don’t feel as if you have to alter yourself in prayer to become something that you think God wants you to be but rather come to Him just as you are.  Be yourself in prayer.

I have struggled over the years asking “How should I pray? What should I pray for?” and I am sure that I am not alone in this because even the apostles asked Jesus how to pray.  And just as Jesus taught the apostles to pray, we are also taught through the Word how to pray.  We are taught to pray simply, humbly, and for the glory of God.

Here are a few things I have learned about prayer...

1. Slow down, and get used to a little silence because sometimes it is not as much about    what you are  saying as it is what he is saying to you.

2. God is trinity. One God, three distinct persons. Pray to Him as God the father, Son and  Holy Spirit.

3. Use your everyday language God wants that relationship with you.  Pray like you are  talking to a friend, pray like yourself.

4. Don’t hype up your voice as a voice-over actor would if they are trying to sell a product.   You  don’t have to sell prayer.  Use your normal voice.

5.  Just because your prayer is short or simple does not make it any less faith-filled.  The  longer the    prayer doesn't mean you have more faith; it is about what you say not how  long you say it.

I wanted to share some of my goals for this New Year in hopes that we will be able to put our goals for 2015 into action together.  Hope it helps!

Comment below some of your goals; maybe share how we can put them into action! I look forward to hearing from you!!

In Christ,

Megan

Calm Before the Storm

Hey Garage Peeps!

Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving break!

Before we get to the questions, let us be reminded of what is truly Good in our lives, and what Satan is trying to keep us from clinging onto. I often find myself, especially after Thanksgiving, going through the motions of being thankful--saying you're thankful for the sake of tradition. Yeah it's easy to "reflect" on things we are blessed with, but truly taking time and praying to our Lord with an open heart is sometimes often more work than we tend to put in.

Don't be fooled by the decorations and presents that we want, let us remember what we need and will always need, forever. A Savior, given to us freely by the grace of God. The greatest gift of all.

What are you truly in need of all the time?

How can we be distracted by the Holiday Season?

Take time and pray that the Lord gives us understanding of what our true needs are, instead of the shallow things we desperately think we want.

Challenge of the Week: Evangelizing

Hey Garage People!

Although this may be that last week of the Philippians bible study, it's not the last week to continually challenge yourselves in becoming a faithful disciple of Christ. Someone once told me that, "you never graduate from Jesus school". He has an infinite amount to teach, rebuke, correct and train.

This weeks challenge is Evangelizing. To many, this is very intimidating and is often something we tend to push to the side. With the mentality of, "oh well, I have my faith and that's good enough for me", we miss the point of a community of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's dive deeper and share His love with other around us. It doesn't need to be a crazy intellectual conversation but more so a testimony of who Christ is and what He has done in your life, whether it be the past 7 weeks, 7 months, or 7 years.

Take time and pray.

-Think of a group of people, a single person, or family member that the Lord has possibly put on your heart to talk to.

-Ask them if they know the Lord; If not, share Christ and what he has done for all.

Remember what you've learned in the Philippians bible study!