Have you received Jesus?

John 1:11-12 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

This is an excerpt from the Gasoline Alley Bible study last week - Many people did not believe that Jesus was God's Son. What did they miss by not receiving him? What did they miss in addition to eternal life?

Have you received Jesus? If so, you are a child of God! Thanks be to the Lord!

Gasoline Alley Bible Study!

The first Gasoline Alley Winner's Circle Bible Study will be held tomorrow (11/9) from 12-1 at Hemelgarn Racing. All are welcome!

Pics from this season!

Finish Strong

Congrats to Sage Karam and the Andretti Autosport team for their USF2000 championship!

2 Timothy 4:7 says "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Just as this team finished strong in the USF2000 series, we are also called to finish strong in the race of life. Keep your faith in Christ strong, do not get discouraged, keep fighting, stay in the race.

Thanks for supporting the me and the IRL Ministry this year!

Thanks Cooper Tires!

For all the support you have provided me as a part of the IRL Ministry in the USF2000 series this year. Lunches, encouragement, singing, communion meditations, a place to sit, and chapel support. Thanks to the entire Cooper Tire crew. Special thanks to Rod and Nikki. You guys are a blessing from God.

Are You Thankful?

Below is an excerpt from today's chapel service message at Road Atlanta....

When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. - Luke 5:4-11

Simon Peter got it.... moments before Jesus showed up, he had one of his worst nights fishing... Then Jesus.... showed up... and they received probably one of the largest catches of their life... moments later, instead of focusing on temporal accomplishments, they turned their attention to eternal accomplishments... they followed Jesus....

Where is you hope & faith.... On temporal or eternal things? What do you thank God for?

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

"If God never does anything more than rescue you from hell, redeem your enslaved soul, and guarantee heaven on the other side, He's done enough to keep you grateful for the rest of your life; if He never does anything else. And it is the mark of the redeemed to have a grateful spirit, who are thankful in life, and grow to be thankful for the bad things. When bad things happen, trust in God. When good things happen, brag on God. Be thankful." - Dr. Joseph Stowell

Was Jesus preaching the gospel?

Had a question today that got me thinking a bit... In Luke 20:1 "On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel" - what does it mean to say that Jesus was preaching the gospel?

A quick word study resulted in the NLT translation that uses "good news" instead of "gospel" and a word study of "gospel" in the NASB some of the same scriptures are referenced.

So was Jesus preaching the gospel, is it about himself... the answer is yes....

• in Luke 22:35 Jesus referred to the Good News when he sent others
• in Acts 8:12 Philip referred to Jesus as the good news of the kingdom of God
• Paul refers to his mission in Romans 1:1 as the gospel of God (or Jesus Christ)
• in John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”
• in Mark 1:17 Mark recorded Jesus was "proclaiming the good news of God... Jesus said believe the good news and then instructed the fishermen to "come follow me" (implying he is the good news)
• Jesus proclaimed his own life, death and resurrection in John 11: 25-26 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
• so... Jesus is the Gospel

We will be talking about Luke 5 tomorrow which talks about the fishermen that dropped everything and followed Him...

so go preach the gospel, the good news of Christ...

Petit Lemans at Road Atlanta

Heading to Atlanta today for the last race of the USF2000 series this year. The chapel this week will be at 2:30 on Thursday. The message this week is on "thankfulness". Pray for movement of the Holy Spirit this week as we wrap up the year.

Thanking God for you and your support today. Thanking God for His son Jesus Christ.

Thanks........

Second race of weekend went well today! I was greatly encouraged by some comments I heard today... Thanks for helping that driver, thanks for being here, thanks for praying, thanks for your chapel message.......

Thanks for your support and prayers...

Great Day! - Quals, Chapel, & Race!

It was a safe day of qualifying and racing today. Our chapel when very well today and was very well attended. There were many great God moments today.... When asked by one of the drivers of I could pray for him to win, I answered, "Let's pray that you will do the best of your abilities." He responded, " what if that is not enough?". I responded, "the Bible says we can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. How bout if we pray for that." He agreed. We prayed!

Do You Love Me?

Part of the chapel message today.... Jesus asked Peter in John 21:17 a very simple question…. Do you love Me?

Our natural individuality, or our natural self, boldly speaks out and declares its feelings. But the true love within our inner spiritual self can be discovered only by experiencing the hurt of this question of Jesus Christ. Peter loved Jesus in the way any natural man loves a good person. Yet that is nothing but emotional love. It may reach deeply into our natural self, but it never penetrates to the spirit of a person. True love never simply declares itself. Jesus said, “Whoever confesses Me before men [that is, confesses his love by everything he does, not merely by his words], the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God”. – Oswald Chambers

Do you love Jesus? Is He your top priority?

God took care of me....

One of our USF2000 drivers hit the wall today after having a mechanical failure with the car. He had a fractured bone in his foot. We had a neat conversation at the hospital about God's protection. He told me "God took care of me again, didn't He?" I answered, "He sure did". He then responded "We need to keep God first".

Wow... It is refreshing to see drivers professing their faith in Christ, in the midst of a trial. Physically, he is going to be fine. Spiritually, we should follow his lead. We should keep God first.

Thanks for praying.....

Chapel Here!

Thanks to Bart and the people at Business Art & DeSigns of Indy for making this Chapel banner! It is making its debut this weekend at the Road America event at Elkhart Lake, WI! Thanks Bart!

Made it to Elkhart Lake, WI safely! Thanks for your prayers!

Road America - Elkart Lake, WI - this weekend!!!!

The USF2000 series will be in Elkart Lake, WI for two races this weekend. The first of the double header is on Saturday and the second race is Sunday morning. The chapel service this weekend is at 10:30 on Saturday and the message is "No Greater Love".

Pray for a safe weekend and that the hand of God will be seen!!

Intense Weekend.......

It was a great weekend of racing at the Chicago Autobahn in Joliet, Ill . This weekend was very busy from a ministry perspective. One of our drivers “passed out” in the car, hit the wall, and had to be transported to a local hospital. Praise God he is OK, but there were a few tense moments based on the “unknown” at the time. The races were both very competitive. There were some very specific instances that required private and individual prayer this weekend. Please ask God to comfort and guide these individuals.

Thank you all for your continued support!

The Joy of Your Salvation!

Below is a brief summary of today's Chapel message front the Autobahn in Joliet, Ill. We had one on track incident that required one of our driver's to be transported to a local hospital. Through God's providential protection, he is going to be OK... Thanks for your prayers....

Joy, related to happiness - happiness requires the right circumstances where joy does not. Jesus Christ felt joy though He faced heavy trials.

The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do as recorded in Hebrews 12:2, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

The “joy set before him”….

This joy is not dependent on circumstances
This joy is everlasting
This joy is eternal

Do you have this eternal joy?

Look to Christ......

In a conversation today at the track, it was obvious that this person was looking to man, not to Christ for as an example of "what is right". I responded by saying people are just people... We need to look to Christ and his example....... It says in John 2:24-25 that "Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man." Look to Christ. He is the perfect example......

The USF2000 series had two safe practice sessions today. Qualifying at 8:00AM tomorrow with the Chapel service at 10:30 and the first race of the weekend at 1:05.

Harrah's Autobahn Grand Prix - This Weekend!

The USF2000 series will be at the Autobahn in Joliet, Ill. The chapel service this weekend is at 10:30 AM on Saturday at the USF2000 transporter. The message this week is "The Joy of your Salvation". Pray that God would lead and hearts would be receptive!

Below is the weekend schedule and a link to live timing and scoring!
July 30. 9:20-9:50 - Practice #1
July 30. 2:20-2:50 - Practice #2
July 31. 8:00-8:30 - Qualifying
July 31. 1:05-1:35 -Race #1
August 1. 8:00-8:15 - Warm Up
August 1. 1:05-1:35 - Race #2

http://www.imsatiming.com/usf2000livetiming.htm

IRL Ministry - Family Fun Night 7/29/10!!!

Family Grand Prix Track • Malibu Skill Track • Indoor Rookie Indy Track
Indoor Family Slick Track • Action Golf • Blaster Boats • Mini-Bowling
IZOD Indy Car Drivers • Firestone Indy Lights Drivers • Pictures with Drivers!
Great Food • Family Game Room
Ticket Prices*Family $80 (in advance) $95 (at the gate)Individual $30 (in advance) $45 (at the gate)

Children 3 & under free!
*includes (per person) unlimited attractions, 1 game of mini bowling, 4 game tokens
Additional tokens - 25¢ per token -or- 100 tokens for $20
Photos taken with drivers and autographed – Autographed photos $10

For more information call 317-716-8850!