Harvest Barrie

It is God who works in you

You know when you're reading through Scripture and there's that verse that really hits you right where you're at?  Well that verse for me of late has been Philippians 2:13 which says "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." 

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find that I lack the will power to love and follow Christ.  Other things in my life become more important than they should and I shove my relationship with God to the back burner.  I slack off in my quiet time with him, I become less sensitive to the Spirit's leading in my life and I find that my desire to do his will kind of disappears...

So what do I usually do?  Well, what happens is I'll hear a convicting sermon or have a conversation with a friend and be reminded of how I've been neglecting God.  So in the past I've tried to dig deep and find that passion within me again only to be discouraged because what I find there is a love for myself and a desire to serve my flesh. 

This is where Philippians 2:13 cuts right to the heart.  It's God who works in me to will and to work.  My human strength has proved to be weak and doesn't cut it - I need more Holy Spirit power working in me to produce godly desire and strength to live for him.  I've found that the more I simply humble myself, admit my weakness and confess the sin of pride in my life, the more God works in my heart to transform me.  Loving Jesus with my whole life doesn't come from trying really hard to be better - it comes from realizing that I don't have that ability in and of myself, and I need the Spirit of God to be my strength and power. 

I love how God's Word remains so relevant and practical for every day life.  What verse/passage has stood out to you lately?

Mike

Turkey Bowl

This Thanksgiving Monday morning many of us managed to awaken from our turkey comas, throw on some track pants, grab the biggest coffee our bodies could handle and make our way over to the First Annual Harvest Turkey Bowl. 

It was an epic showdown between the flash and dash singles and the brains and brawn marrieds.  The players had a good time working off the meals that had been consumed (and making room for meals still to be eaten...) while a rather large crowd cheered and huddled together to keep warm on this cool, crisp morning.  We all know that score doesn't matter, but on the other hand... it's all that matters :) The marrieds pulled it off with a 23-7 victory which left everyone eager for next year's rematch.

Check out more pictures - and thanks to all for coming out and making this a great time together!

Mike

 

HY Teaching Calendar

I get to do a lot of cool things with my job here at Harvest (ask me about Sphere Evasion some time...) but one of my favourite things to do is put together the teaching calendar for our youth nights on Tuesdays.  Why?  Well, because it's cool to think about how God's Word is going to impact our students (not to mention me) throughout the year.  We've started a little tradition on our last Harvest Youth night of the school year in June where students get a chance to speak up and share what they've learned over the last 10 months, how they've grown and how they've seen God move in power.  I've been so blown away to hear the testimonies - God is at work in our youth.  Lives are changing and the Lord is glorifying himself - that's what it's all about. 

This fall we'll be in a few different places.  The first week will be a message from the book of Habakkuk which is all about God's plan being perfect - so let's rejoice, regardless of how we feel.  After that we move into a series on the Four Pillars.  Our church is all about them and so are our youth.  We'll then go into the Christmas break with a series from Luke 6 called "Jesus Says" - check that chapter out for yourself and imagine how great things could be if we had it all click in our church.

Please be in prayer for our youth as we dig in.  I sense big things for them this year as the leaders and I are chomping at the bit to get started.

Mike

Greater Servants: Chris Mason

In our year of seeking Greater Things, we're celebrating one of those Greater Things in the "Greater Servants" who give of themselves each week to demonstrate their commitment to the mission. Hundreds of people are involved in the weekly ministries of Harvest. We are grateful for each one and hope you enjoy getting to know your fellow greater servants.

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.  Philippians 3:17 (ESV)

God gave me Chris Mason.  That may sound weird but it's true.  For a few months, we at Harvest Youth have known about the imminent end to Steve Dobbs' tenure with us as our worship leader so we began praying and searching for someone to take over.  Our worship ministry on Tuesday nights has been building a lot of steam over the last two years and it was important for us to continue this area with excellence. 

Chris came to us back in September and got involved immediately.  I met him on his second Sunday with us at Harvest and in no time he was serving as our Grade 6 guys leader at HY.  He has a lot of experience discipling and leading worship through the Word of Life Bible Institute and has been an incredible blessing to me as well as our students.  Chris is a student at Georgian and is finishing up his courses with plans to spend his career saving lives through fire fighting.  When he's not in class, running up and down stairs in full fire fighting gear, learning how to use the Jaws of Life or dodging flame throwers (no joke), he can be found investing in our youth. 

All of this caught my attention and it soon became apparent that God was answering my prayers - Chris Mason would be our new worship leader.  He jumped at the chance and has already been pouring himself into the role - learning new songs, training students, hanging out with the band and their families and providing oversight as we move forward.  With Steve's help we are in a great position to transition things over to Chris for September.  God has been so faithful to provide us with a leader like Chris of Godly character and a heart for discipleship and worship.   I know it's still summer but I'm already so psyched for what God will do through Chris at Harvest Youth next year!  

Mike

Karl Whittingstall

"It's Karl Whittingstall's fault."  That's the line we've thrown around here as a staff since the day I was hired.  Karl is my old college roommate, the Director of Student Ministries at HBC Oakville and the guy who recruited me to join our staff here in Barrie.  So we've decided Karl deserves the blame for any problem or mistake that I make... of course Karl would probably say that he's never heard of me...

In reality, you need to know that Karl's friendship and accountability in my life have meant more to me than anyone will know and I'm pumped that you all get to hear him preach from Hebrews 4:14-16 this Sunday in Barrie.  It's a short passage but packed with tons of gold we all need to lay claim to.  It's all about being confident in our relationship with Christ.  Do we understand exactly who Jesus is and what he's done?  When we truly do, we will have confidence in our Saviour and find strength to live for him. 

I'm excited for the message God has for us through Karl this Sunday - see you then!

Mike

The Way of Repentance

A restored relationship with God - that's what repentance is all about.  In the course of my 29 years of life I have made plenty of mistakes.  I've disappointed my parents, angered my friends, let down my wife and, ultimately, grieved God.  Countless times I've been in the position where a relationship needs to be restored and it's my fault it's gotten that way.  In 2 Chronicles 33:1-17 we see the life of King Manasseh.  There was quite literally no king in Israel's history who messed it up as badly as he did.  2 Chronicles 33:9 says that Manasseh "led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel."  Ouch.  But there's good news.  God gripped Manasseh's life and restored the relationship - and that reconciliation is available to you and I today - right now - through repentance. 

This Sunday as we look into God's Word we will be looking at what it means to truly repent of our sin as we seek intimacy with Jesus Christ.  It's my prayer that our hearts will be soft and ready for dramatic life change!  See you then.

Mike

Shine the Light

Shine The Light was an event like no other for the Harvest Youth Coalition.  It has been on our hearts to give more opportunities for the various youth groups of Harvest BIble Chapels to get together, so through much prayer and careful planning, Shine The Light was born.  It all went down at Harvest Oakville which provided the ideal setting for a one night youth event where Jesus Christ would be worshiped, his Word taught and fellowship would be established and strengthened among students, leaders and parents.  Worship was incredible as Joshua Seller and the HBC Oakville team led us.  It's such a huge blessing to see that many students praising God with hands held high.  Ted Duncan from HBC Brampton brought the Word as he challenged us to shine as lights from Philippians 2.  Bibles were opened, and hearts and minds were attentive as we were moved to take a stand for Jesus in our broken world. 

We also had a ton of fun playing games like 'chowling' (church bowling...), a classic game of Sphere Evasion as well as a hazardous-to-your-health version of Huckle Buckle... not for the faint of heart, folks.  The food was unreal too.  Not your typical juice and cookies - no sir.  Our chefs made up nacho platters for everyone and there was candy and more to go around as we ate our fill.  The leaders and parents also had a cafe-style section just for them to recharge for the drive home.

The night concluded with each student being given glow sticks to wave as we sang a rocked out version of "This Little Light of Mine" in the dark - truly epic.  God was so good to bless our time and encourage our hearts.  The feedback has been unanimous: Let's do it again!  It's all in the works so stay tuned as we make plans for more in the near future.

Mike

Harvest Youth

One of the things that we are passionate about at Harvest Youth is biblical apologetics.  Learning how to defend our faith against the world's ideologies and outright attacks on Christianity and the Bible is paramount for Christ followers of all ages.  Mission 3:15 is our Sr. High home group that meets biweekly at the home of Scott and Shelley Hanson.  Scott is as pumped as it gets when it comes to instructing students to develop a Biblical worldview and then stand up for it when evolution and other opposing ideas come knocking. 

I am so blessed and encouraged to see our students respond to this teaching with enthusiasm and a real desire to know God and spread the Gospel.  Check out the message from Scott below and the link to an amazing article that shows how one of our very own Grade 11 students, Lyndon Hayhoe, took a stand for creation at school. 

Be encouraged for what God is doing in our high schoolers - he is good!

I want to bring to your attention an excellent example of how teaching our children to think biblically about our origins through Creation Apologetics can have a profound impact.  This article, from the Creation Ministries International (CMI) website, describes a challenge taken by our own Lyndon Hayhoe back in 2006 to present to his public school class at the time how looking at the evidence of our origins through biblical glasses makes the best sense.  He did receive some mocking initially, but that subsided once he gave his presentation.  Lyndon had been taught a biblical worldview from his parents as well as the teaching I had done.  I am very proud of Lyndon and his willingness to share his faith and I would ask you to distribute this article widely and broadly to as many parents you can think of to show them the impact that they and their children can have on our culture!   Please see the link below...

http://creation.com/student-challenges-evolution-in-classroom

God bless you,

Scott Hanson

 

Greater Servants: Steve Dobbs

In our year of seeking Greater Things, we're celebrating one of those Greater Things in the "Greater Servants" who give of themselves each week to demonstrate their commitment to the mission. Hundreds of people are involved in the weekly ministries of Harvest. We are grateful for each one and hope you enjoy getting to know your fellow greater servants.

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.  Philippians 3:17 (ESV)

I commonly refer to Steve Dobbs as "The Man."  He has been a massive piece of the puzzle for our youth ministry and I thank God for him and what he brings to Harvest Youth.  Steve has served well as our worship team leader on Tuesday nights.  His oversight and leadership in getting our youth worship team off the ground and running has been invaluable and it has been really cool to see him build relationships with our students and develop worship leaders as they bring glory to God week in and week out.  He's also the kind of guy I can hand the reigns over to if I need a youth event taken care of and I don't have to worry because I know it will be done well.  Steve has also been given a role in leading worship with our youth band at church on Sunday mornings from time to time and they've even led worship up at Harvest Muskoka and for our Winter Fuse youth retreats. 

When Steve came and told me that he'd be stepping down from his responsibility with youth after this year (due to school obligations), I cried like a baby.  Well, I was disappointed anyways...  But just when I was at my lowest, Steve stepped up again (that's why he's The Man) and began searching for a replacement for himself so that worship could continue at the level it's at now and even grow in the future. 

Steve has put a lot of prayer and energy into this ministry and it has been nothing short of incredible to see God do great things in so many ways.  We're all going to miss seeing Steve out on Tuesday nights next year but I'm convinced God has huge things in store for him... Join me as I thank God for Steven M. Dobbs!

Mike

Relationshift

Last weekend was a pretty cool time together for the Sr. Highs of Harvest Youth.  We held the second annual "Relationship Event" where we dive into God's plan for guy/girl relationships.  We even unveiled a new name (FINALLY!) - "Relationshift:  a biblical perspective on relationships."  Last year we got together for a one day retreat of sorts to discuss what the purpose of guy/girl relationships are according to God's Word.  This year we made it a two day event where we had teaching focused on:

Getting your relationship with God right first
What the Bible says is the purpose of marriage
How to maximize your singleness
Setting your relationship up for victory
What guys need to know about girls
What girls need to know about guys
And way more...

In an age where the world and the church are dropping the ball on understanding what marriage is all about we spent some time talking through Ephesians 5:22-33.  At the beginning the students were asked "What is the point of marriage?"  Answers ranged from "for security" and "to express love" to "bring glory to Christ."  These aren't bad answers at all and all are certainly important aspects to a healthy and God-centred marriage.  But as Paul writes Ephesians 5:22-33 he compares the marriage relationship between husbands and wives to the relationship between Christ and the church.  As Jesus died and gave himself for us and as we submit to the authority of Christ in our life, so husbands and wives should relate to each other.  A wife must submit to their own husband as the head of the home and the husband must love his wife and sacrifice himself for her.  This is clearly no easy task!  But this all points to a higher purpose for marriages that is easily missed if not observed carefully: the purpose of marriage is to reflect the gospel to a lost and dying world.  People should look at our marriages and see the amazing truth of our salvation through Jesus Christ.  Husbands leading and loving as Christ does and wives submitting and respecting as the church does is an incredible picture of Christ's relationship with his redeemed. 

This was one of many topics we zeroed in on which left our students challenged, encouraged and no doubt, exhausted and overwhelmed - staying up till 2:30 a.m. might have had something to do with that though... It was a great weekend for all of us and once again reiterated to me just how important our relationships with each other are to God.  I also came away deeply thankful for the students that we have in our church.  They time and time again reveal just how much they want to live life God's way.  That just blows me away.  They came full of questions and were eager to hear from God... how amazing is that?! 

Mike