TEACH ME // TO CARE

As we move into April, we're going to continue to move from faith understood to faith embodied (or faith lived out). Hopefully, you were able to understand how the Gospel affects us and changes us and I hope that it continues to do so. As you continue to abide and grow in Christ and as you do this within the community and allow leaders to guide you, you'll see your faith grow and the fruit from the Spirit come forth.

But the last month, we've been talking about how our faith is lived out in relation to other people. We said that good friendship goes deeper and friendships that center around Jesus lead the other towards him. Now as we jump into April we try and figure out how our faith responds to the world. We don't just live inside of the world and we don't just keep our faith to ourselves. Our faith is lived out. Our doctrine is embodied.

We'll be using this month to engage different levels of needs all around us. There are so many needs that we hope you become aware of and that you'll start becoming an advocate for. We hope that you begin to see the real darkness that underlies a lot of communities and the Spirit prompts you to get engaged and pray for those areas. We pray that you get a greater sense of the mission of Jesus as you understand how many people around the world and even in our own neighborhoods and schools that really have no clue of Jesus and the life he offers.

Let us no longer be a Christian, a youth group, or a church that just knows the right thing but goes out and does what is required of us. To push back what is dark in the hope of the Gospel. Below are 3 organizations that we've partnered with before, take a look at them and familiarize yourself with them.

Compassion International is a child-advocacy ministry that pairs compassionate people with those who are suffering from poverty. The ministry releases children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty, with the goal being for each child to become a responsible and fulfilled adult. Compassion is the world’s leading authority in holistic child development through sponsorship.

https://www.compassion.com/

Elijah Rising was founded in 2012 as a prayer gathering that focused on ending sex trafficking in Houston. Across Houston women and girls were being sold for sex, but there was little outcry, so Elijah Rising began hosting Van Tours and showing the public that sex trafficking is happening across our city.

In 2011, a small group of people were deeply struck by the wide-spread injustice of sex trafficking filling their city. They grieved the lack of out cry for those being exploited, oppressed, and sold for sex. This group firmly believed that prayer was the most important and most effective response. So, a monthly meeting was organized and opened to the public. The prayer meeting grew rapidly as more and more people joined the movement. Soon, they realized that more had to be done to increase awareness of the issue. Additionally, the group felt compelled to engage in direct outreach to those being exploited.

https://www.elijahrising.org/

How is Radical working to get the gospel to the unreached?

We work among the unreached by identifying and coming alongside indigenous believers who are making disciples and multiplying churches in ways that are biblically faithful and practically effective among the hardest to reach peoples and places in the world.

https://urgentneeds.org/about/

Table of Contents

1. How Can I Live My Best Life Now?
   Mental and Physical Health Benefits of the Christian Life
   
   
2. Isn’t Christianity against Diversity?
   Racism / Slavery / Christianity as the Most Diverse Movement in History
   
   
3. Can Jesus Be True for You but Not for Me?Universal Truth / Relativism / Evangelism
   
   
4. Can’t We Just Be Good without God?
   God as the Basis for Morality / 9/11 / Hitler / Stalin / Human Identity / Abortion
   
   
5. How Can You Believe the Bible Is True? Evidence for the Gospels / Evidence for the Resurrection / True versus Literal
   
   
6. Hasn’t Science Disproved Christianity? Origins of Science / Science and Faith Controversies / Christian Scientists Today
   
   
7. Why Can’t We Just Agree That Love Is Love?
   Marriage / Sex / Singleness / Friendship / Same-Sex Attraction / Pornography / Abuse
   
   
8. Who Cares If You’re a Boy or a Girl?
   Gender / Feminism / Transgender and Non-Binary Identities
   
   
9. Does God Care When We Hurt?
   God’s Sovereignty in Suffering / God’s Care for Us / Prayer / Purpose
   
   
10. How Can You Believe in Heaven and Hell? Meaning of Heaven and Hell / Sin and Judgment / Salvation / Invitation

Link: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B08CS3JM4K&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_5F2FB5CBPWY66SQFV54Y&tag=justinwong-20