Message for today: Faith without works.

So, we've all heard the verse Ephesians 2:8-9. The verse that tells us that "Not by works, but by faith we are saved." However, a verse that I think we don't often look at is James 2:14  "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?" At first glance it might seem like these two scriptures are exact opposites. One is telling us, works are not what saves us and the other is saying that, faith without works is not faith at all and poses the question. Could such a faith save you? 


I think upon further inspection though you will find that these two verses live in perfect harmony. So often in our lives do we focus only on one thing. We try to put everything in this one box and say, "This is it, that's all there is to it!" However, so often in our lives God is knocking on our doors trying to tell us, "There's more." 


So our prayer for today is that we would take James 2:14 to heart. Stop being ordinary, everyday, church-goers, and start being extraordinary, radical God-followers. Seeking to fulfill his desires, and purpose every moment in our lives. Imagine a church that truly took this verse to heart. A church where people stopped looking for problems and started fixing them. A church that was free to start any ministry because they knew there would be help and support. A church that didn't have just a few very busy people with a vision for the future but where everyone was busy working towards that vision. A church where people were constantly working to build the kingdom of God in the name of God for God's people. 


It's not just an idea.... It's what we are called to do.

PRACTICE UPDATE: BLAZING MONITORS!!!!

So, in recent practices our drummer had been having problems hearing. Solution: get a monitor that sits right by his ear, right? Sounds right to me. Well, turns out that the monitor, because of it's size doesn't handle lows to well.... and lets just say that maybe the super heavy yet super awesome synth sound we use for the cover of Take My Life by Jeremy Camp might possibly have been to much for the little 100 watt monitor to handle.... and it may have started to smell bad and it might possibly have started spouting smoke into the little cave that our drummer dwells in from behind his drum shield. Needless to say, he decided to go without a monitor for this practice. However, his face was priceless:)!!  Anyways, here's the Jeremy Camp song we cover. Hope you enjoy!

Practice today!!

It's Monday that means it's time to practice for us. Our new drummer Travis is awesome. We have about 6 or 7 songs down really well and will be adding more as soon as possible. We play every friday night around 7:15 p.m. It's awesome! Practice always holds some interesting stories/goofiness from one of our members so stay tuned!!!!

Focus on God

A friend recently told me a joke that went something like this:

   A man walked into the doctor's office and told him "Everywhere on my body hurts to touch." "Impossible!" the doctor laughed "show me".  The man proceeded to take his finger and push on his left shoulder and then scream out in pain, He then pushed on his knee and cried out in agony. He continued doing this to various parts of his body to prove his point to the doctor.

When he stopped he asked "do you think it's serious doctor" The doctor replied "Not really, your finger is broken."

  So many times do we end up focusing on the wrong thing or becoming distracted by the things in the world around us. We lose sight of what truly matters. This is also very true in the realm of praise and worship. "Do I look cool enough?" "are people impressed by my playing?" "are the lights the right color for this song?" etc.... All these thoughts come when what we should be focusing on is leading others into a place of praise and worship. How can you lead someone you're not going?

There will be time to think about what you're going to wear, time to become a better player/singer, and even a time to think "do the blue lights truly reflect the expressive mood and overall message of the song?" But none of those times are while we are on stage.

In everything God wants us to stay focused on him. So, our focus for today is Matthew 14;22-33 True testament of why we need to forget all of the other distractions in the world and focus on God.

Also, I'm adding this song. You've probablly heard it before but I encourage you to listen to it again and truly think about what it means to come back to the heart of worship. Thanks guys,

Song for today. (David Crowder, You are my joy)

This song is so inspirational! (David Crowder, You are my joy) A true example of the way we should feel upon being filled with the spirit of God. Hope you enjoy!

Here are some pics from one of our shows:) Enjoy!

Welcome to our Blog(what we're about)

Welcome to our blog. We are Ransomed, the youth Praise and Worship team for  Real Life Youth Group at Dayspring Church (3505 FM 1960 East, Humble, Texas 77338) We are a group of radical worshippers who believe that the only way to Praise and Worship God is to go all out for Him who strengthens us to do so. We live in a society that gives their all to so many things out of which God seems to be low on the list. It is our duty through cooperative efforts and through true, unified, Praise and Worship of our God to rearrange the popularly misconstrued view of priority when it comes to worship. We hope that you'll join us in our endeavors as we strive to be closer to God in every aspect of our lives and that along the way we can strengthen, encourage and inspire each other on our journey to become more like what God created us to be.... WORSHIPPERS!!



Thanks,
Ransomed