Mon.8.17.15...Pursuing Greatness...John 3:22-36

The gospel of John is all about Jesus. Yet there is one man that gets a fair amount of attention in the beginning chapters of the book. Jesus said of him, "Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist..." Mt.11:11. Wow, what a commendation! Last week we read of John the Baptist pointing people to the lamb of God in chapter 1. Now in chapter 3 we find him speaking again on his favorite subject- Jesus.

Read John 3:22-36. This greatest of all men and prophets, was happy to see Jesus become greater in focus as he and his ministry became less. John was like the bright moon that faded as the sun arose. We need to heed that lesson from John. We are not to pursue our own greatness. We are to keep pointing people to Jesus. The men we may recruit, baptize and mentor are not our own. They belong to Jesus and we should rejoice when they move out from under our wing to fly on their own and coach others without our help. They may even eclipse our knowledge and impact on others. Wonderful!

As you read through our passage today, I think you may be surprised. This same chapter that contains John 3:16 and God's great love for the world, also ends with God's great wrath for those who reject His Son. By the way, just what is it that people need to be saved from? We often are told it is hell. Yes, but hell is simply the permanent address of God's wrath. People need to be saved from God! God gave His Son to suffer God's wrath for our wicked rebellion, so that we would not have to experience it.  John writes so that people may not suffer God's wrath, but receive eternal life. The following short video underscores this vital theme of the gospel of John. 

1.- Share a verse or phrase that grabbed your attention from John 3:22-36 and some of your thoughts about it. Then as always, be on the lookout to share such with others. Let us exalt our great God and Savior as John did.

How cool that Jesus spent some time with his disciples- 3:22. Christ saved you to build a relationship with you. He wants to spend time and eternity with you. But he also saved you to build a ministry team. We are not to be lone rangers. He wants us to live and grow in a band of brothers. He wants us to be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Rom.12:10).  

2.- Great people are devoted to Christ and to others, not to themselves. So contact your fire team brothers and find out one thing they are thankful for or one prayer request they have. Way to go, that's great! M3 is about helping men pursue GREAT things for a great reward.  

Recently Armando wrote, "Last week I shared with my sister how Christ is working in my life. I explained to her how I learned to love people and not to be judgmental of them, that Christ calls for us to love one another always. We are not to be cynical and critical of others, for we all have faults." Way to go Armando!

Announcements
Last Friday we studied the new birth. That evening, I got a text from Ismael joyfully announcing the birth of their first child, little Olivia Emma. Congratulations Ismael!

We also want to warmly welcome Lemmy (aka Jimmy) Lukudu to M3. He is a new friend Jack made while he was down in Missouri. Lemmy is originally from Sudan. It was a pleasure meeting him and his family while they were up visiting Chicago a week ago. Welcome Lemmy!

Thanks for keeping Eddie and the team in Mexico in prayer. They will be back soon and we look forward to hearing more of how it went. We will also soon give you more info on this Saturday's Convoy of Hope.

Thanks to all who were able to make it to yesterday's M3 meeting. It was so good to award Jose Billegas his Unstoppable Award pin for blogging everyday faithfully for a month solid. Way to go Jose! I also honored all the men who were Unstoppable through the entire month of July. Hoo Ra! As you know we have launched ABS- the Academy of Biblical Studies. It was a joy to honor a whole lot of men who completed every blog study through the book of Eccelesiastes. As we work our way through the gospel of John, be faithful each day and you'll receive ABS credit for it as well. 

Those who are really into physical fitness, keep careful records of their progress. They want to see their progress and where they may need to give more attention to specific areas. Today we are introducing a more complete chart to help you see your progress and where you may need to give more attention to specific areas. The chart below gives you your totals for the past week in each of the GREAT workout categories. Please study it to help you evaluate. Thank God where you are doing well and happily note where you may want to bulk up :)   

			G	R	E	A	T	Total
Squad 1									25.28
Eddie Morales	U	R5	6	5	17	7	1	36
Fire Team 1									33.75
William Dyckman	U	R1	8	4	22	3	1	38
Phil Raymond	U		10	6	14	5	0	35
Ismael Andrade	U	R2	8	1	19	2	0	30
James Schmidt	U		7	5	10	10	0	32
Fire Team 2									14
Gary Remson	U	R1	8	0	3	0	0	11
Luis Ortiz			6	0	0	0	0	6
Alex Dyckman	U		7	0	18	0	0	25
Squad 2									30.16
Sam Vargas	U	R3	17	0	14	5	16	52
Fire Team 1									38
Oscar Nunez			8	9	9	8	9	43
Lou Ojeda			5	2	25	0	1	33
Fire Team 2									26.25
Israel Fuentes	U	R1	14	0	11	7	0	32
Flo Juarez			0	0	3	3	1	7
Dave DeBoer	U	R1	18	0	11	14	1	44
Tim Dearborn	U		10	3	4	5	0	22
Squad 3									22.5
Robert Roman	U	R1	10	2	34	5	1	52
Fire Team 1									17.75
Vince Diaz	U	R1	5	0	32	3	1	41
Antonio Palomar	U	R1	0	0	0	0	0	NA
Nic Palhegyi	U	R2	5	0	2	3	3	13
Mike Dunn			4	0	1	2	0	7
Rich Petre			2	1	1	4	2	10
Fire Team 2									32
Osiris Alday			6	6	7	6	5	30
Ed Lake			5	7	0	22	0	34
Squad 4									30
George Rabiela	U	R1	7	8	15	19	19	68
Fire Team 1			0	0	0	0	0		24.33
Dave Heidekruger	U	R2	10	0	11	5	0	26
Michael Gonzalez	U		6	7	0	4	4	21
Chuy Cervantes	U		5	4	3	12	2	26
Fire Team 2									38.5
Rich Guardiola	U	R1	16	3	8	10	3	40
Mark Estrada			0	0	0	0	0	NA
Horacio De La Torre	U		10	0	10	13	4	37
Squad 5									41.8
Jack Rogers	U	R5	44	1	43	10	2	100
Fire Team 1									48
Roger Vinlasaca	U	R1	40	0	20	5	0	65
Armando Hernandez	U		34	0	1	1	1	37
Jose Billegas	U		7	8	16	8	3	42
Fire Team 2									32.5
George Doherty	U	R1	11	2	22	5	0	40
Andre Vargas	U		7	0	7	11	0	25
Lemmy Lukudu								New

Congrats once again to Squad 5 for leading the pack. And your fire team 1 leads also leads the way. But I'm seeing some great numbers in a number of fire teams. Way to go! Look what happens when everyone contributes to the team. If you see a teammate miss a day on the scoreboard, please contact him promptly. We are here to help each other upward and onward.