Churchill Story---Craft it how you need it :)

YO!!!
This is a story with background music I wrote for our message last night.
Last night was the last message in a series we were doing on families. Feel free to use this story...cut it, craft it, do whatever you need to :) :)
Hope this makes your life a little easier :)
Go do something special for your wife (or whoever is important to you) :)

Winston Churchill: Never, Never, Never Give In
Background Music: This Will Destroy You—“Threads”

World War II was the biggest war in the history of the world. It started in 1939 and lasted until 1945. It involved all of the major world powers and those powers spilt in two. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million military personnel mobilized. Most of the world united together to stop Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Great Britain was one of the major powers that joined in to stop Hitler. They had a great and power leader named Winston Churchill. And although his country and the entire world were in an uproar and in the midst of all the chaos, death, the holocaust, Churchill understood something about this war. He understood that this war was a war that they could not lose. Everyone across the world had to stand and fight!!!

On October 29, 1941, Churchill visited Harrow School. This was right in the middle of WWII. Unbeknown to Churchill the war would not end for another 5 years. The world was in an uproar. Most people thought the world was coming to an end. And the reality is that many of you feel that way about your family right now. It feels like a battle zone. But in the midst of the chaos and confusion Churchill gave these words to his hurting country.

This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in… Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

You see Satan, the enemy, wants to destroy your family. He wants to destroy what God meant for good. He wants you to hate your family, to use your words in ways that cut your parents down. To have a bad attitude….to hold on to bitterness and not forgive, because he knows that he if can keep your family in chaos he can get to you.

Churchill understood that the war the world was fighting was one they could not walk away from!!!!

Your family is a place that you cannot walk away from!!! We all at some point want to quite but never give in!!!!You must fight for your family. You must fight to bring a positive attitude and to offer forgiveness your family. Whatever is going on in your family you cannot afford to just turn your back and give in!!! You must stand up and fight for ….not against your family.

What would happen if you stood up to the enemy and let him know he wasn’t going to get you or your family? What would happen if you fought for your family with everything you had? Never giving in…Never, never, never giving in but always fighting for your family. Standing up for your family … never giving in!!!!

It’s going to be hard. This isn’t an easy war to wage. We all need help. And when you need help, you have a group of people here that want to see you win at home too!!! All of us are here together wanting you to win. Cheering you on!!!!! To never, never, never give in. And when it gets tough, to never, never, never give, in!!!!!! And your Father in Heaven cheering and yelling for you to never give in. Keep Fighting!!! Keep Fighting!!!!

We all come from different homes so for each of you it may look a little different to stand up and fight for your family. So here’s how we are going to close.

Close your eyes and listen to this passage and ask God to help you fight…maybe it’s your words, your attitude, maybe you need to forgive, and maybe it’s something else. But ask God to help you stand and fight.

Read Psalm 46 while they pray…

S/G Questions
What do you need to fight for in your family???
What are you taking away from this series???

Godly Dads?

I'm currently leading a weekly bible study for our Sr High guys. Last week we discussed the early life of David and the "qualifications" that he had that made God choose him over his other brothers. We talked about what it means to be a "godly man" and how each of us can try to attain that.

I asked them for specifics of what a godly man looks like in 2010 but they had a hard time coming up with descriptions other than, "goes to church." Thats it. A godly man is someone who goes to church. They didn't mention integrity, strength, taking care of a family, honesty, etc. Going a little further I asked them how many of them believed that their dad was a godly man. Not one guy spoke up. Now I imagine that was partly because they still aren't sure that being a godly man is something to be proud of or not. Either way, when none of them immediately felt that their dad was a godly man, it made me sad.

If your youth ministry is anything like mine, 75% of your volunteers are women. When I need help with an event its the moms that show up. When I need small group or Sunday school leaders, its the women volunteering.

So, where are the men??? I struggle with the fact that many (most?) of the dads in our church would have no hesitation to coach a little league team or spend an hour teaching their son the proper form for throwing a football, despite the fact that they aren't pros as either of these things. But they won't teach a group of boys about the bible, how to pray, or how to be godly men, probably because "they aren't pros" at these things. Why the disconnect? Why will they (we) share their knowledge on football technique without being asked, but will only share about their faith if we pull teeth?

So I ask you friends, how do we engage the men of our churches in the lives of our students? How do we leverage the life experiences of the men in our congregations for the benefit of our young men making decisions today?