I took Ragan and Zac camping in Pine Valley, UT on Friday & Saturday. We had a blast. Eating junk food, hiking, catching fish, and just hanging out. I really enjoyed my time with my two youngest children. Pine Valley is an awesome place to camp and just a couple of hours out of Vegas. The temperature was perfect and we even managed to stay relatively warm in the tent. I do have to admit that sleeping on a half deflated air mattress with a squirmy 8-year-old and a snuggly 10-year-old is not exactly my interpretation of a great night’s sleep.
Sunday was a good day at GP. I taught on the story of Jacob and how God strips our idols in order to bless us. Some of the highlights from the message:
- Idols are more commonplace in our lives than we tend to admit.
- Idols can’t simply be removed. They must be replaced by the true God.
- Jacob’s life was marked by deception, getting caught, being afraid, running away, and manipulating his way through life.
- Our search for value in the wrong places can become our most difficult idol to overcome.
- Idols leave you lonely and afraid.
- Circumstances changed between Bethel and Jacob’s return but one thing did not: Jacob’s heart.
- Jacob’s face-to-face with God marked the end of his effort to run and find meaning in anything outside of God.
- A fight with God is a fight for the soul.
- God confronts us for who we are – a fight over our own sinfulness.
- God cripples Jacob at his point of greatest strength not to maim him but to bless him.
- Jacob had to come face-to-face with who he was (what is your name).
- God refuses to allow us stay where we are – He takes us to where He wants us to be.
- Knowing your identity in God through Christ is the first step to purging your heart of idols.
- When we come face-to-face with God, our lives are never the same.
- Jacob walked with the limp of grace.
- Jacob must die so that Israel might live.
We also celebrated Communion together which is always a special time at the church.
We took the kids to see Toy Story 3 on Sunday afternoon. It was a great movie and we had a good time. I felt like this movie represented the end of an era. The first Toy Story came out in 1995 followed by #2 in 1999. I remember taking my oldest daughter Kayleigh to see Toy Story 2 when she was just 3 years old. It was one of her first movies. So it was kind of cool to now see the final one with all three of my kids. Pixar went after the heart strings and overall the movie was really good. My kids love these movies and admittedly the movies are as good for adults as they are for kids. They keep me engaged even now.
Summer is officially here with all the good and bad. Lots of heat and lots of swimming in the future weeks.