God of this City

Many of you have probably grown up in the same city for majority of your life? Majority of you have probably said "I cannot wait to get out of this place!" Don't get me wrong. I know I have many, many times. I grew up in a small town named Orillia my whole life and when I say that there is very little to do here, I mean it. My town is filled with a very high rate of pregnant teenagers, druggies, alcohol, partiers, and unless you are into that sort of stuff you're kind of left out. I love Orillia, do not get me wrong, but a lot of the times I feel like I can do nothing here. So when I want to go do something fun I have to drive to somewhere like Barrie or Toronto, which I don't want to do. But one thing Orillia does have a lot of....amazing teenagers who are on fire for God.
  Last night at my youth group we were singing God of this City by Chris Tomlin and it just really hit me.
  Orillia is nicknamed the 'Sunshine City', but I don't think it's because the sun is always shining, it's because God's light is always shining.
  Because of all of the amazing kids in this city God's light is able to shine so brightly and have no boundaries of where it reaches.
  As much as we all say "I cannot wait to get out of here" think about how amazing this city is because of what God is done with it.

No matter where you go in life, if you continue to spread the amazing news of God then wherever you are it will be God's city, and no one can take that away. I just want you all to keep something in the back of your head as you continue on in life. Never forget the place you grew up in, never forget the place you put so much work into making it God's city. Continually pray for your hometown and that no matter where you are, there will be people still there making it God's city and making it shine for him.
  Just because you move on to bigger and better things doesn't mean  you can just forget about where you grew up. No matter what you're hometown is always going to be in your heart. So never forget it, and never let God's light stop shining in that place.

I want, for the rest of my life, to be able to come back to Orillia and still see that sun shining, because people came in after me and continued to spread God's word throughout this amazing city.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk

What really lasts forever?

2 Corinthians 4:18 - So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

We can't see God or Heaven, but that doesn't mean he doesn't exist. Everyday something new comes out on the market and it catches our eye. Whether it be that new iPod or the new Call of Duty video game, our eyes become diverted to that new shiny object that everyone wants. But how long will that new iPod or video game last before a new version comes out? A week, a month, maybe even a year. None of the materialistic items that come into this world last forever. I know at times it seems like we cannot live without a certain item, for example I sometimes feel like I cannot live without my iPod or cellphone. But we were brought into this world with nothing and we will leave this world the same way. The amount of materialistic items we can actually live without would shock us. But what would happen if God was taken away from us? How empty or lost would we feel then? We feel lost and empty when we don't have our cellphones on us for a day. But how lost and alone would we feel if we didn't have God for a day, or a month, or a lifetime? Answer this question honestly. Do you really think you can live without God?
Material items make us feel whole and happy in the moment we have them, but deep down we are still empty. Nothing and no one can give us the happiness and filled feeling like God can. Only God can truly fill our lives. Only God can give us true happiness. Only God.
As I finish writing ask yourself this question. What really lasts forever?