Bear Fruit Project: GOODNESS

 This month we studied the fruit of goodness :)! Rachel gave a message about understanding how none of us are good because of our fallen sin nature. 

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not , that I do." Romans 7:18-19 

She pointed out that one of the major obstacles to achieving God's goodness is that we don't like to think we are bad. We pridefully think of ourselves as faultless and self-sufficient. 

Some practical points in cultivating goodness was:

1. Learning to name your sin: we always fail to lead a good life because of the cycle of sin, and while many of us confess general sins almost out of habit, we often fail to reflect and specifically pin-point our own faults. For example, if we went to a doctor and he just diagnosed our illness as "heart disease" we wouldn't really be satisfied with the answer. We would seek a good doctor who knows exactly where the problem is within the heart and give us a specific solution. 

Likewise we should thoroughly search our own hearts and diagnose areas of sin and confess them to God. 

2. Attending to God's voice: We must listen to God's voice to learn how to correct our faults and live a good life according to His will. We must do this by reading and studying the bible through listening to sermons, bible study and our own personal QT. 

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim 3:16-17

3. Imitating the saints:  God has placed countless people within the bible and our own lives who reflect Jesus Christ's ultimate example of a good life. They show us how to be doers of God's word and not only hearers and we should imitate their good examples. 

The last point always challenges me as a leader in YF. I always have many eyes watching my life whether they come from the youths or their parents. I always pray to God for grace and mercy upon my life because it's really tough having to hold so much expectation. I am far from God's perfection yet God still uses me in His ministry. 

For Bear Fruit Project we made these "Goodie bags" for all the fathers in our church because Father's day lands on the first week of September.  Esther and I bought the tie clips and floating charms separately and glued them together.  I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and on there I saw some seriously creative tie clips. There were avenger/superhero and wooden ones, I was like so amazed at this new world of tie clips haha. 

This project was pretty cheap, we made about 40 tie clips and each one was about $1.10! 

Sam and I glued them together and cut out ties as preparation for BFP night. We got everyone else to stick the ties and tie clips onto a paper bag, write a message and fill the bag with candy. 

It was a fun and very successful night at Kaitlyn's house ^^

On Sunday we set up a table in the foyer and the youths gave out the bags. 

This one was for all those clown dads out there. 

Recently I also received an anonymous letter from one of the youths. I think it was a girl so I'll refer to the writer as she. She spoke about how Bear Fruit Project has brought everyone so much closer and how our YF is able to balance goofiness and serious/deep and meaningful discussions. She also wrote about how God has added numbers to our YF but we've been able to stay united without making cliques. When I read this my heart was just filled with happiness and thanksgiving to God. To have feedback like this spurs me to continue serving the youths with my all.