Glimpse

If you're God, what catches your eye?  I mean...if you made everything (Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls, Stars, Galaxies, etc.) what gets your attention?  For someone who never sleeps, never surprised, and is never bored, what is it that makes you take notice?

Thus says the Lord:  "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:  he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.   Isaiah 66:1-2

God says He made everything, He is in control of everything, and He doesn't need anything.  BUT, He is looking for the person who is humble!  This means that the person who catches God's attention is the one who realizes how great/holy God is, how helpless they are, and how much they need Him.  This is what we are praying for you!  FOCUS 09 is about realizing how Awesome/Majestic/Beautiful God is.  Letting His radiance move you so that you realize how broken you are and then being blown away that He came to heal/help/restore you!  Would it not be awesome, if with all the billions of things going on the universe this Friday night...you caught God's attention!

Things to Know:

We have planned things to help you experience worship even before you register!  SO please drive slowly as you near the Vincik's property!

As you register this Friday, you may hear someone speaking over the PA system.  Beginning at 9:30am students will begin reading the book of Psalm.  As we gather in the Main Session area just before 1:30pm, the entire book of Psalm will have been read/prayed over you!

Things to Remember:

Don't forget The Path to FOCUS 09 devotionals on the website (http://www.focus-09.com/).

These are hear to help prepare the way for FOCUS 09.

Remember you packed lunch (and drink) for Friday lunch

Bring a chair to sit around the campfire if you want...

DONT'T FORGET TO BRING CANNED FOODS OR $ FOR FEED THE HUNGRY

Registration is from 10am-11am!!!!

Amnesia, Mirrors, and Reflection

Why were you born?  Why were we all born?  God has a purpose in everything He does.  You and I were created to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.  This is known as worship.  The reason for mankind is to make God famous...to reflect back to Him how awesome He is.  He already knows how awesome He is, but He created us to reflect it back to Him.  So we are mirrors!  Mirrors that reflect back to God the glory, beauty, and majesty that He is.
Something happened though, our mirrors are cloudy and foggy.  When God looks at us, mankind, He can't see His glory.  Most people don't even know they're mirrors.  They have amnesia (where you lose your memory).  To be honest...we all suffer from amnesia at times.
So God sent His son, JESUS, to come and be a mirror.  A perfect mirror that reflects God!  Jesus came to die to take away our amnesia.  He came to clean up and wipe away our foggy mirrors.  He came so we could worship God...the reason we were created!


Details regarding FOCUS 09:

Don't forget your canned food items or money to donate to our Feed The Hungry station.  The station will be set up during the morning "Main Session" on Saturday.

You need to bring a lunch with you on Friday (and drink)!  We will not be providing a lunch on Friday.

The Path to FOCUS 09 starts this Saturday October 17.  These are 7 short devotionals to prepare your heart for FOCUS 09.  Make sure you have your bible, paper, pen, crayons, and ipod with you while doing these devotionals!

We still have spots left for FOCUS 09.  Bring a friend!  Talk to everyone in your Group during Inside Out and make sure they are going!

Items to not bring to FOCUS 09:
cell phone
ipod
any electronic device

Welcome to the Blog World!

Wow!  I am now official!  It's taken a while but I am now part of the blog world.  For the two people (if I'm lucky) who will be reading this, I say...Welcome!

For now this blog will be about prayer and preparation for FOCUS 09.  I can't tell you how excited I am about FOCUS 09!  It is going to be one amazing weekend!  Please check back here often to catch up on the latest news and ponder some prayers and quotes about worship that will lead us into the FOCUS weekend.  Starting monday I will give us different aspects of worship to ponder.  Please let me know what you think...would love feedback!

For now, here are a few announcements you need to know for FOCUS 09!
Bring $ or canned foods for Feed the Hungry.  Part of one of our Main Sessions will be to giving to this ministry.  We have so many needy people in our area.  Jesus said what we do for the least of these we do for him!

Also don't forget to read the devotions on the web page (http://www.focus-09.com/) 7 days prior to FOCUS 09 (One for each day leading up to FOCUS...the first one will be up on Saturday October 17).  There will be bible verses and other unique things to prepare your hearts for FOCUS 09.

See you Monday!
jeremy