DAN GOULD

FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Author: dgould77

  • The Pulse – March wk 1 – 2009

    March wk- 1 – 2009

    Important Information

    • ONE Night happens this Wednesday at the Church.  Small groups will meet at the church also.  ONE Night’s goal is to connect students with God in a way that is understandable and experiential. It will include high energy worship, a crowd game, videos, a short talk centered around ONE topic, and Brittany Stene will share her story. This is definitely ONE Night you won’t want to miss, and ONE Night you’ll want to bring your friends!
    • Wild Week registration is open but the price goes up after this weekend.  Make sure you register early to get the best price.  We will have a Mandatory Wild Week meeting on Sunday April 19th @ 12:30 in the Student Center.
    • Mexico Mission Trip registration is open and the price of that goes up April 5th, so make sure you register for that also.  There will be a very important Mission Trip Meeting on MAY 17TH @ 12:30 in the Student Center.
    • Make sure you see the Baptism info below.

    This Weekend Announcements
    ONE NIGHT
    Wednesday March 11th from 7:00 – 8:30 in the Student Center
    All Small Groups will come together for One Service, Honoring One God, Becoming One Voice, with One Challenge . . . To Bring One Friend that doesn’t know Christ!  Don’t Miss it . . . it’s going to be RAD! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO!

    BAPTISM
    Several of you have shown interest in being baptized.  We are encouraging anyone who hasn’t and wants to get baptized on April 5th Palm Sunday, following the church service.  It will be a great time to celebrate and an opportunity for you to show others what God is doing in your life!  Just check I want to be Baptized on the tear off and we will get you more info!

    PAINTBALL
    Mark your calendar for Saturday April 4th.  More info will be coming soon!

    MEXICO MISSION TRIP
    Happens June 13th – 20th register on-line or at Seeds Book Store
    Pre – $400 before April 5th with completed registration and $100 deposit.
    Reg – $415 after April 5th with completed registration and $100 deposit.
    Late – $425 after May 10th can only happen if space is available.

    WILD WEEK
    Happens July 7th – 11th register on-line or at Seeds Book Store
    Pre – $315 before March 15th with completed registration and $100 deposit.
    Reg – $335 after March 15th with completed registration and $100 deposit.
    Late – $365 after April 19th can only happen if space is available.

    Mandatory Wild Week Meeting

    This is a very important meeting where we will fill out all paperwork and registration forms for Wild Week 2009 at Camp WOW in Oklahoma.   Here are the details:

    Mandatory Wild Week Meeting

    • Sunday, April 19th at 12:30 in the Student Center (for anyone going to Wild Week or interested in going)

    Who Should Attend?

    • Students planning to attend or wanting to go
    • Parents of students planning to attend or wanting to go
    • Volunteers planning to attend

    At the meeting we will give details about the camp, pass out time sensitive paperwork, and answer questions that you may have!

    This was an awesome camp last year and God did an amazing things in our group!  We are so excited to go back this year and hope that you will join us!

    Mexico Mission Trip Update

    The Mexico Mission Trip is right around the corner.  We are expecting a lot of students participating and want to make sure everyone has all the info they need.  Therefore we will hold an important Mexico Mission Trip meeting on May 17th. Here are the details:

    Mexico Mission Trip Meeting (Please Note the Change)

    • Sunday, May 17th at 12:30 in the Student Center (for anyone interested in going)

    Who Should Attend?

    • Students wanting to go
    • Parents wanting to go
    • Volunteers wanting to go
    • Parents of teenagers that want to go

    At the meeting we will give info on what we will be doing the week we are there and answer questions that you may have!

    This was an awesome trip last year and God did an amazing work in us and through us.  We are so excited to go back this year and hope that you will join us!

  • Philippians 3

    “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” v. 10-11

    How dedicated are you to knowing Christ?  Are you willing to sacrifice desires to get to know him more?  When I read these words its easy for me to say, “oh man, I want to experience this!” It’s easy for me to be excited about it, and maybe even highlight the verses in my Bible or memorize them, but what I forget to consider is the cost of having this type of relationship.  Living for Christ means that I have to surrender my life on a daily basis to Jesus!  Let’s be honest, some days are easier than other days, some hours are easier than other hours, and some minutes are easier than other minutes, but at the end of the day I have to ask myself this question, “Today, did I live more for Christ or Myself?”  It’s in this question that we find the areas that we have or haven’t surrendered completely to God.  These areas are either drawing us closer to God, or keeping us from experiencing the mighty power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.  I can only speak for myself, but I want to be totally surrendered so I can experience the mighty power of God that raised Jesus from the dead! It’s in this daily surrender that I find the power of God working in my daily life.  It’s not always easy, and some days are a real battle, but nothing can compare to experiencing the power of God!

    Father, help us to see you and to be more like you so we can experience all of you changing us and others by the things you are doing in our life.

  • Planet Wisdom – Awesome!!!

    We had a great time at Planet Wisdom this last weekend.  Grace has used Planet Wisdom for our MS Retreat for several years now.  This year was my second one and probably my favorite of the two.  The whole weekend centered around this journey of Gods Story and Our Story.  I know our students really engaged.  They laughed, worshiped, and learned a lot from the weekend. I am excited to see how God uses this weekend to impact our ministry.

    Here are some pics that were captured from the weekend,

  • Philippians 2:1-18

    “Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. 17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God,[e] just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. 18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.” v. 14-18 (NLT)

    As Christ Followers we are a called to live above reproach!  This is sometimes challenging because our flesh, human nature, or sin nature, wants to go against this process.  We sometimes find it easier to complain and argue about issues instead of praying and engaging to make a difference.  But the challenge to become more like Christ remains.

    Today, lets focus on our attitude.  Lets be mindful of our words and body language and look for ways to serve others.  When we do this, the Bible says we shine brighter Jesus, and people have less power or things to criticize us about.

  • 4 Marks of a Fool – 7 Marks of a Wise Person

    Just finished our morning session at Planet Wisdom DFW. Here is what Mark just challenged us with

    4 Marks of a Fool
    1. Center of the World-itis!
    2. Know-it-all-ism!
    3. False sense of Independence!
    4. A belief that they are Invulnerable!

    7 Marks of a Wise Person
    1. Trust God!
    2. Walks in Healthy Relatioships!
    3. Seeks Good Counsel!
    4. Speaks Carefully!
    5. Exercises Self Control!
    6. Manages Resources!
    7. Keeps Balanced!

    If you were to rate yourself on these things, 1 being bad and 10 being good, how would you do?

  • The Pulse – February wk- 4 – 2009

    February wk- 4 – 2009

    THIS WEEKEND ANNOUNCEMENTS

    ONE NIGHT

    Wednesday, March 11th from 7:00 – 8:30pm in the Student Center

    All Small Groups will come together for One Service, Honoring One God, Becoming One Voice, with One Challenge . . . To Bring One Friend that doesn’t know Christ!  Don’t Miss it . . . it’s going to be RAD! Our goal is to see 250 teenagers here for this service, you play a part in that!!!!

    MAKING THE BAND

    If you play an instrument or sing and want to get involved in playing in one of our worship bands now is the time… We are having a meeting Sunday @ 12:30 in the student center to see who wants to be involved.  This is not an audition just a meeting of interest. Hope to see you there. If you have any question feel free to contact: Tyler Ellison or Josh Tollison

    BAPTISM

    Several of you have shown interest in being baptized.  We are encouraging anyone who hasn’t and wants to, to get baptized on April 5th Palm Sunday, following the church service.  It will be a great time to celebrate and an opportunity for you to show others what God is doing in your life!  Just check I want to be Baptized on the tear off and we will get you more info!

    MEXICO MISSION TRIP

    Happens June 13th – 20th register on-line or at Seeds Book Store

    Pre – $400 before April 5th with completed registration and $100 deposit.

    Reg – $415 after April 5th with completed registration and $100 deposit.

    Late – $425 after May 10th can only happen if space is available.

    WILD WEEK

    Happens July 7th – 11th register on-line or at Seeds Book Store

    Pre – $315 before March 15th with completed registration and $100 deposit.

    Reg – $335 after March 15th with completed registration and $100 deposit.

    Late – $365 after April 19th can only happen if space is available.

    SMALL GROUPS

    Wednesdays 7-8:30pm for 6th- 10th grades

    Sundays 7-8:30 for 11th – 12th grades

  • Ephesains 6

    “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.” v. 4 (NLT)

    Being a Father is both fun and challenging.  I am learning as my boys grow they are picking up all the good and bad qualities that I show off in front of them.  The challenge as they develop is to lovingly teach them the way they should act.  How I do this has big returns in the way they respond.  For example, right now Josiah is starting to lie.  We are in the process of teaching him why he/we shouldn’t lie.  It’s a process that if we aren’t careful we could totally miss the opportunity to teach him this in a loving way and something he will struggle with his whole life.  My role as a dad has huge impacts on my boys.  Realizing this early will save me from heartache later.

    Something to think about:  When it comes to the way you interact with your kids, do you spend more time building them up or tearing them down?  Here’s what I mean, are you always pointing out things they are doing wrong or encouraging them in the things they are doing right?  I was encouraged and challenged yesterday by this thought.  As parents we should spend 90% of our time building our kids up and 10% of our time correcting behavior.

    It’s a great challenge that may seem unreasonable at first, but what do you have to lose if it does not work?

    Today, if you’re a dad, try to spend some extra time with your kids.  Encourage them by telling them the good things you see going on in their life.  Example, Josiah is only 4 but I try to encourage him daily with Words of Life.  Give it a try, it will bless you and them and bring your relationship closer.

  • 8th Grade Small Group

    Last Night I crashed our 8th Grade Small Group!  The team and students are kill’n small groups.  If your in 8th grade it truly is the place to be on Wednesday Night.  Last Night the topic was on Purity!  Anytime with teenagers when you talk about purity it leads to talking about sex and how far is too far.  Even though the students were a little out of control, once we addressed it and started the lesson there was a great discussion and Michael the 8th grade coach did a great job of getting them to talk and keeping us on track so they had time to talk in smaller groups also.

    God is moving in the hearts of our teenagers.  It’s exciting to see and hear from them how God is teaching them new things all the time.  Here are two pics from last nights large group time

  • Ephesians 4

    “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” v. 21-24 (NLT)

    Choices!  Let’s be honest, some are easier than others, but they all impact who we become.  The Bible says that we need to throw off all the things that are from our old life that keeps us from living in the New Life that Christ has given us.  There should be a difference and people should be able to see that difference in the way we live.  We are to be the light of the world.  Living the Christian life is a process.  Although we have a new nature, we don’t automatically think all the good thoughts and express all all right attitudes when we become new people in Christ.  But if we keep listening to God, we will be changing all the time.  The question we need to ask ourselves is this, “Am I more like Christ today than I was yesterday?”  This has been something I have really been focusing on this week since I challenged our students with it this last weekend.

    Today, let take some steps toward Chirst.  Lets throw off some of our old nature that keeps us trapped in sin and trust God to develop our new nature that has been given to us by Jesus.  Lets strive to become more like Christ today than we were yesterday!

  • Warmness = Wagon Ride, Gilling, and Family Fun

    We had some warm weather yesterday and the family tried to take advantage of it the best we could.  While grilling some steaks the boys and I played in the back yard  One of their new favorite things to do is ride in the wagon.  So, I strapped Jackson in, he like to bail mid ride and the seat belts keep him safe and contained, and pulled them around the yard.  Even though the scenery never changed we had a lot of fun.  The highlight for me was seeing Josiah pull Jackson around the yard and hearing Jackson say cheese every time he went past me! Here are some pic of our wagon ride.