Holding unforgiveness towards others is like drinking poison
and expecting the other person to die. There are examples in
scripture that highlight unforgiveness and others that
highlight forgiveness. Whether it is a debtor who refused to
forgive a debt owed, even after his larger debt was forgiven,
or religious zealots that demanded accountability for the sins
of others, the concept of forgiveness has been a struggle
throughout human history.

Scripture shows us that God blesses those who truly have the
heart of forgiveness. What, then, is the benefit of holding
onto bitterness, hatred, or the quest for vengeance? We are
called to “forgive those who trespass against us” AS we
request that God “forgive us our trespasses.” It would make
sense that, since God has already paid for our sins and
bought our forgiveness, we should be quick to offer
forgiveness to those that wrong us.

God reveals Himself through our needs but we can’t experience the freedom of His Presence until we turn to Him with our needs. Many of us are turning to find freedom in our performance, popularity, and possessions and this leads us to emptiness. The big idea then is that we experience the freedom of God’s Presence in our needs when we choose to look at Him as Father. This is why the first section of the Lord’s prayer says, “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.” 

• “Our” | Is about God inviting us into a family.
• “Father” | Is about God inviting us into intimacy with Him.
• “In Heaven” | Is about God inviting us into Kingdom Culture.
• “Hallowed be Your Name” | Is about God inviting us to see Him for all His worth.

Jesus is inviting us to know God as Father and in response “hallow” His Name to experience the freedom of His Presence. Here is the simple prayer we can pray in our own words:

1. Thank You for being our Omniscient Father who knows our needs.
2. Thank You for being our Omnipotent Father who provides for our needs.
3. Thank You for being our Omnipresent Father who is with us in our needs. 

We have a vision to fill the city with Jesus. This is about seeing 10 out of every 10 students experience life transformation for the sake of the 10 cities renewal on earth as in Heaven. This is only going to happen with the mission of becoming family through following the way of Jesus together in our city. We can only fill our city with what we are full with. Discipleship to Jesus is about learning to be filled with the lifestyle of: be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. 

This semester God is wanting to reveal Himself through our needs as a family. When we trust God with our needs, we begin to experience Him for who He really is, and therefore; we worship Him with the worth He deserves. Jesus invites us to pray knowing that our Father knows what we need before we even ask.

God promises for His People, for this GStudents Ministry, and for our City to become a family of Joy, Praise, and Glory. Therefore, we have 3 Family Values that we are going to walk in: We love BEING together in JOY because we are loved by the Father. We love BECOMING together in PRAISE because we are compelled by Jesus' worth. We love DOING together in GLORY because we are made in His image.

The Big Idea: God is inviting this family into a vision, mission, and values as we seek to see God’s dream fulfilled - here on earth as it is in Heaven.

We are studying the promises made to God’s People in Israel and seeing, therefore; the invitation given to us to see transformation in our own lives and city by becoming disciples of Jesus who live to: be with Jesus, become like Jesus, and do what Jesus did. As we do so we begin to see a life of Joy, Praise, and Glory become a reality in our midst. 

God is building a Kingdom and passing on a Dynasty and is wanting to do this through people. The God who is everywhere is the God who wants to be somewhere. Are we wanting to be that somewhere? The Kingdom is about God’s loving and good rule and reign, displayed over all the earth, through partnership with humanity in bearing His image through discipleship to Jesus. Although, this partnership has been lost because of sin. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we have access to our inheritance as sons and daughters of God. Through the love of Jesus we are able to let go of our idols, walk away from sin, and connect once again with God as Father.

Come and be invited into the vision, mission, and values of GStudents!

Tune in for a fun and roudy EXP Info Meeting :)