IN LOVING MEMORY OF THE PRECIOUS MOMENTS MADE IN SLEEPOVERS GONE BY

The best and most famous memory, young and naive Gabriel Phillips and James Robertson, many years ago, enjoying the finer things in life over a game of Voltaren Returns, Voltaren Strikes back and Voltaren II. Oozing with new found confidence they dominated the early hours of the morning shirtless and bandanna clad. Swedish bitters, what a treat!! By the way, please submit your parents cell no's as you walk in the door.

It may have been the same night that we were treated to some extremely intimate secrets of a well known guest speaker, who we'll never look at in the same light. Let's just say "two is better than one", and "a chord of three is not easily broken". One could say that one's sacrament wasn't entirely blessed.

Then there's the occasion that some would remember of Graham Lewis' tyres being seasoned with swaz. The perpetrators were chased away by what they thought was a vicious canine, but it turned out to be their one mate who usually klaps the lights.

The bible speaks of a dog returning to it's vomit, but doesn't say anything about someone elses'. Our canine friend was the victim of a generous outpouring of Michael Ashton's over indulgence of weak Oros. Remember guys, choose your positions carefully when the Oros comes out.

This Fireday, many more moments to be made, will you be a part of it?


PS. Oros will be provided.

What keeps you up at night?

It's that time of year again...the COGS youth Sleepover has come rolling into town!!! Over the past few years, our Sleepovers have become infamous for many reasons and over the course of the next few days, this blog will hopefully be littered with some of the better sleepover tales...so keep checking in with us here as we continue the countdown to this Friday night...I'm pretty much convinced that we're in for the best one we've ever had!

Shofire,

Gabe

Good people of the technological era,
I am glad to have finally got the opportunity to extend my warmest greetings to the 6 of you.

I know everyone's been waiting to hear if I ever really take off my leathers, the answer is...
"Yes, when I go jogging. It's not easy getting the stench of sweat out of the leather."

That settles that.

This term has launched a little less explosively than last term. I mean, we kicked off last term with YOUTH CAMP, which was a little like what we could expect the BIG BANG to have been like, if that theory were true. No, but this term, was a little more like WWII or at least the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Last term God broke into our midst by His Spirit and completely turned our lives right side up. He came upon us in power and graciously allowed us all to experience Him like never before. Many had the shakes, many felt like they were on fire, many felt His powerful electricity run through their bodies but one thing's for sure, all of us felt his love, all of us heard His call and all of us were transformed.
We thank God for the miracles we've witnessed. Healings, lives literally being saved from fatal conditions, people being set free from spiritual strongholds. And all at the laying on of our ordinary hands.
Thank you Jesus for mobilising your church!

This term we are focusing on those who are still positioned under the hammer of God's wrath.
We were all, at one stage, objects of this wrath (Eph 2), destined to be crushed for the evil that resides in the heart of all mankind. There was a time where every one of us looked up and acknowledged that this hammer was not to be escaped, except through the One whose destiny it was to be crushed for us.

Isaiah 53:5 - But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

God, in His rich mercy, crushed His own Son so that we would stand free from accusation.
The wrath of God fell upon the Son of God who had earned God's favor as a man.
The favor of God now rests upon sinful men who believe in the Son of God.
He became my sin and died, I became His righteousness and live.

Jesus Christ surrendered himself to the hammer of God's wrath so that we wouldn't get what we deserve. We exist so that He didn't do it in vain.

This term there'll be a whole lot of opportunities to invite your mates to join us, bring 'em!
Keep savaging your schools, mates and families for God cos there are still too many o's getting hammered!

PEACE!!
PAUROS

We are "PLAN A"

Galatians.1:15-16
"... when God, who set me apart from birth, called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me, so that I may preach him to the Gentiles..."

"who set me apart from birth"
-no matter if you've just been saved or have been a Christian for a while, God did not choose you when you slipped up your hand in a youth or church meeting in response to the preaching of the gospel...you were set apart, set aside, chosen by God at the very moment you were born! When your mom and dad held you for the first time, the joy that was in their hearts could not even come close to the joy that filled heaven as God declared with a burning excitement to all the angelic beings and to all creation, "That right there is my Plan A!"

"called me by his grace"
-not by ANYTHING that I've done! And the great thing about this is that this means that there is now absolutely nothing I can do to fall out of his amazing grace! If I sin, God is still declaring over me, "You are my Plan A, not because of anything you did or are going to do but because I CHOSE YOU!!!!

"was pleased..."
-It was God's greatest pleasure and delight to choose you and me! he didn't do it begrudgingly!And the book of Zephaniah in the Old testament speaks about how our dad in heaven rejoices over us with singing and how he is spinning wildly over me! Our God is passionately in love with us...not moderately in love, but PASSIONATELY IN LOVE!!!!!

"to reveal his son in me"
-the one who was there at the very beginning, who spoke the world into motion, who said "let there be light!" and there was...the Jesus who was whipped and beaten beyond recognition, who carried the heavy cross, who hung upon the same cross as he was mocked and insulted and spat upon...the Jesus who rose victoriously from the dead with the keys of life and death in his hands, who will return riding on a white horse, with eyes like fire, and with a sword in his mouth to judge the world...God was pleases to reveal THIS Jesus IN ME!!!!!!!!!!

"so that I may preach him"
-God settles my identity (who I am) and then gives me a purpose...not a "have to" but something I get to do! We have Christ, the Light of the World, being formed in us and there is a world which is being over run by the forces of darkness...the spiritual is very real...and we have the task of proclaiming freedom!!!!!! Setting the prisoner free: this is my joy and delight...this is my greatest privilege!

"Youth group cannot be boring"

And fourth term started with a bang!

As Phil Dooley of Hillsong United once famously said in his Australian drawl, "Youth group cannot be boring!". And if this last Friday was anything to go by, COGS youth is DEFINITELY living up to the first of Phil Dooley's commands. Where else can you find 60 second countdowns that end in a savage Muse riff, crazy videos featuring the comedic genius of Chris Dudley and dave Smith and a game of Killball that had Northwood headboys almost in tears? I tell you the truth, Fireday's are assuredly not boring! And that's without mentioning our very loud time of worship ("Every time we touch I get this feeling, every time we touch I think I can fly...") and our chief, Paul Edy reminding us of what an unbelievable treasure the gospel is ("would you have rather won the lotto or have heard the gospel?"). All in all, it was a completely VINTAGE night...and that was just the first one of the term!!!

Just imagine what's going to happen this week......