SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (Better Parent By Sunday)

SOME ADVICE FOR YOU & YOUR TEENS... (if your kiddos have moved into the TEEN years!)

BECAUSE I SAID SO...! (Ever heard those words?! / Ever used those words!?)

How many remember your Mom saying something like…? “BECAUSE I TOLD YOU TO!”

How many would have heard your Dad say something like…? “BECAUSE I’M YOUR DAD!”

And how many of us have the HONESTY to admit NOW – in those Moments – we said something (to ourselves of course!) – “That’s the STUPIDEST ANSWER!” (YES! Stupidest is a word!) We said… “That ANSWER is RIDICULOUS!” And how many of you said something (in that moment) – “I WILL NEVER GIVE THAT ANSWER – TO MY KIDS!”

Maybe they could’ve said something like…

“I don’t really have a REASON right now!”

“I’m not for sure WHY – at this Moment!”

“I don’t have an EXPLANATION right now!”

But... What if that MOMENT intended to mean… “Because I AM Your Father – Because I AM Your Mother – there is a minimum level of HONOR that that POSITION REQUIRES OF YOU!”

If there was only ONE THING that you were INSURED of being Successful In Your Parenting… MAYBE THAT ISSUE WOULD BE TEACHING YOUR CHILD ABOUT HONOR – Towards Authority!

Ck-out COC this Sunday and find out... WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY ABOUT PARENTING!

FAMILY FOCUS... (Summer Pic)

Where did the SUMMER go? 'Here today and gone tomorrow...' is quite the appropriate CLICHE' for the Barrett's Summer! We have had a BLAST for sure!

Able to spend some FAMILY time in CALI with the entire Barrett Fam! Then off to MO for a few weeks in the HUMIDITY! Then we got back to AZ (The Surface of the Sun) the first part of JULY and 'hit the ground running' with "DUNK TOWN" (COC's Summer Bible Club)!

What a KICKIN' time that was! Over 300 kids every night - over 170 COC Volunteers - over 80 kids SAVED! God showed up in an AMAZING way!

Thought I'd share our SUMMER "BEACH" PHOTO - God has RICHLY BLESSED me with an AMAZING FAM!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (Better Parent By Sunday)

PARENTING 101… (Do's & Dont's)

If you have kids - you might understand why some animals eat their young! Whether they are bawling - crawling - walking or talking - sometimes our kids have the capacity to send even the best parents over the edge! If you're a parent - thinking of becoming one - or even moved to the evil stage of 'grand-parenting' - God has some invaluable thoughts and guidelines to teach - prepare & fine-tune your abilities - in your short window of opportunity!

Don’t miss COC this weekend as we dive into a 7 week Series on PARENTING!

It’s gonna ROCK!!

Maricopa Wells Middle School ~ 9A / 10:45A

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (ABIDE)

PARAKLETE (The Holy Spirit Will Come!)

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. 16:1 “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. 3 And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. 4 But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
“And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you. 5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of SIN, and of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and of JUDGMENT: 9 of SIN, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of RIGHTEOUSNESS, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of JUDGEMENT, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. 16 In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.

The real confusion (theologically) regarding the Holy Spirit - comes not in WHO the Holy Spirit IS - but in WHAT He DOES!

This is because the Holy Spirit is who makes God REAL to us! The Holy Spirit brings us into an EXPERIENCE with God through Jesus Christ! The Holy Spirit – then - is the wellspring of all genuine Christian Experience - so it’s not surprising that Christians would differ about WHAT the Holy Spirit does since Christians have such different Personal Experiences with God!



In John 15 – the KEY IDEA is to guard yourself from drawing a hard stance on WHAT the Holy Spirit DOES and to allow yourself to focus in on WHO the Holy Spirit IS!!

-God the Father is God FOR US!

-God the Son is God WITH US!

-God the Holy Spirit is God IN US!

Bottom Line Is This… THE HOLY SPIRIT IS FREEDOM!

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:17… "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM."

Freedom as our COUNSELOR... The Holy Spirit as a COUNSELOR or PARAKLETE - breaks down these barriers – destroys these defenses – He silences our excuses – He EXPOSES US TO WHO WE ARE WITHOUT HIM – clearly identifying HOW WE TRULY STAND BEFORE GOD!

Freedom as our GUARANTEE... The Holy Spirit is God’s SEAL (Authentication) of our Christian Faith! The Holy Spirit is the DEPOSIT (Down Payment) in our lives that GUARANTEES our certain future...The gift of the Spirit is the first part of the redemption of the whole person"

THE BIG IDEA…

ARE YOU CONNECTED (ABIDING) to the VINE?

HOW MUCH FRUIT ARE YOU PRODUCING?

See you this Sunday @ COC!

Maricopa Wells Middle School / 9A & 10:45A

FAMILY FOCUS... (MY HERO!)

Her name is GINGER! She figuratively & literally "ROCKS" in more ways than one! My incredible wife has suffered from KIDNEY STONES for more than 1/2 her life! She literally has passed over 200+ Kidney Stones since she was 14 years old! Her tolerance for PAIN makes Rambo look like a GIRL & she handles herself with ELEGANCE & GRACE - in which you'd never KNOW SHE WAS SUFFERING!

Last Friday... she ENDURED her 5th LITHOTRIPSY - that's a Surgical Procedure that "BLASTS" a Kidney Stone which is too large to pass with a LASER - much like the 80's Arcade Game - ASTEROIDS! Nonetheless - the procedure itself isn't as painful as the DAYS TO FOLLOW - in which you still must PASS the particles once they are broken down! That evening - late - she passed her 1st round of well over 50 particles and about 6-7 of them which were large enough to put a GROWN MAN on his back - screaming for relief!

She's not out of the WOODS just yet - still enduring the PAIN - with still many to come! But she continues to WORK DILIGENTLY on "DUNK TOWN" - the COC's Summer Bible Club - which starts next week! All that SACRIFICE with LITERAL... BLOOD / SWEAT / TEARS for ONE GOAL... TO MAKE HIS NAME MORE FAMOUS! I know that I personally would COWER to such a task - but she THRIVES ON - making sure that KIDDOS all over MARICOPA hear about JESUS CHRIST in a way that they'll NEVER FORGET! That effort is WORTH the accolades in which she deserves from me - SHE'S MY HERO! (Always has been - Always will be!)

Please keep PRAYING that the remaining STONES pass Quickly and as QUIETLY as possible!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT... (ABIDE)

(3) The World Will Hate…

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ (WARNING!!) If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

…ABIDE IN HIM (Commanded!)

…BEAR FRUIT (Your RESPONSIBILITY as a Follower!)

…LET HIS WORDS ABIDE IN YOU (The BIBLE!)

…LOVE HIM (Not a SUGGESTION – a COMMAND!)

…LOVE ONE ANOTHER (2^nd Greatest COMMANDMENT!)

Oh yeah… If you do ALL THE ABOVE – (BTW) There is will be a PRICE involved in ABIDING WITH CHRIST! Making it ALL THE MORE Attractive –right?!

No one ever said that FOLLOWING JESUS was going to be EASY!

Don’t confuse EASY with being WORTH IT – though!

Don’t miss this week @ COC as we take a closer look at ABIDING IN HIM!

Maricopa Wells Middle School

9A & 10:45A – See ya there!