just wanted to share something awesome that God showed me today.  I have been dealing with some financial issues over the last few weeks and I had no idea how i was going to get the money I needed to pay my car insurance at the end of the week.  I was taking my mom to work this morning and while she was driving I started to read Matthew 6:25-34...all about not worrying.  Well, about a half an hour later I found out that the money that I need will be to me by the end of the week!!  The awesome thing is that when I was reading in the car this morning, I had no idea that it was the same passage for bible reading today because I misplaced my bookmark.  When I looked online and saw the reading I just laughed and said God, You're Awesome!  Do Not Worry About Tomorrow...it's a simple enough phrase...but when trying to live it out, it becomes very difficult.  If we lay our worries at the feet of Jesus, He WILL provide as He has shown me today!!  I am so grateful for the wonderful friends I have made and the wonderful awesome girls in my egroup.  To them I say Thank you!!  God is working in my life in ways that I cannot imagine...I can't wait to see what else He has in store for me.

I just wanted to share how I thought the first week of readings for eGroup was! Throughout the scriptures given to us this week, God kept pointing out the word “LAVISH” to me. This word means “To give or bestow in abundance” or to “shower”.  This word expresses such a great out pour of God’s love- its more than enough! I have been praying for God to help me understand His love for me and that I do not need to look anywhere else for acceptance but from Him. He has been faithful in showing me that! It’s so cool to see Him answer prayer in such a real way. I am so thankful to be a part of an eGroup at Vintage and how God is already working in my life!

1 John 3

 ¹How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Leah Halstead

I grew up in a Christian home; you know church every Sunday, Sunday school, Christian camps, youth groups, and mission trips. I would tell my friends, oh yeah I’m a Christian, but I never really knew what it was to truly be a Christian until Vintage. This past summer I worked at a Christian camp and all summer I struggled with the fact that I was preaching to these kids telling them about Christ’s love and what it is to have a relationship with him when I didn’t even know what it was. I was so lost, I never had the “epiphany” where God spoke right to me and I never doubted him again.. And I always thought that that would happen, there would just be one moment where boom! I got it! …. But it never happened. I went to school in Rochester got into drinking, smoking, partying.. I wasn’t going to church or spending time with God. I moved home in December and I had my whole class schedule set up. The week classes started I started second guessing my choice and I ended up taking a class at the Chapel through ECC which was every Tuesday night. My first night of class I ran into Wes who invited me to vintage. I had read about it online but wasn’t sure I wanted to go. But I went and it completely changed my faith.  Everything made so much sense and every week I felt God tugging on my heart during the message almost to say “that was for you!” I am living for God everyday and I finally understand how to have a personal relationship with Jesus and how to live out being a Christian instead of just claiming to be one. There is a fire that has been lit in my heart that will never stop burning. I thank God for putting vintage in my life, it is truly a blessing! –Melissa

I will admit that I was unfocused last night at Vintage. I had a rough week which after I got home and reflected on what I wrote down, it really hit me. That was just an excuse which is what Wes talked about. All the excuses and lies we tell ourselves. I accepted Jesus in my life a few months ago and it's def. a little bit of a battle. I don't feel 100 % faithful and get caught up in a lot of things. But as Wes said, we are either there, or we're not. We're empty with out him and scattered. I am a very shy person so coming to E- group was a big thing for me. The testimonies we gave was my ice breaker. I feel like people better understand me. I am doing a 180 and changing my heart for good and am opening my eyes and heart to him. Just wanted to say Thanks for Vintage for really making me realize so many things. I can't wait to see what God is going to do in my life, because he already has done so much.
            *Courtney*

I have had a relatively easy life. No major catastrophes. Everything has been pretty good. I am very thankful that Ive been blessed in this way. But it wasnt until October 16, 2007 that I truly realized the value and meaning of my life.

Throughout my life, I have succeeded in almost every single thing I have put my mind and heart towards. I grew up with a lot of close friends, graduated from one of the most prestigious high schools in the area, and was a captain on my varsity football team. I then came to college at UB, and quickly made a new group of friends. We became very close over the next couple of years, hanging out almost every day. We partied a lot, drank a lot, and I began to join them when they smoked weed. Soon, I was smoking weed on my own, usually once a day, sometimes multiple times per day. Meanwhile, I was having fun, getting decent (not great, but average) grades in school. I was so happy to be living the college lifestyle I had always heard about. I was living on my own and doing anything that I wanted to do.

However, October 2007 was when some weird things started happening. I was at my moms home, smoking weed, sure that my mom was asleep by now (it was midnight and my mom and my mom was always asleep by then). About 20 minutes after I finished, she called up to me to ask me a question. She proceeded to come upstairs to my bedroom on the 3^rd floor (which she rarely ever did) to talk to me. It was then when she smelled it and realized what I had done. My mom and I have always been very close, and her anger, sadness, and disappointment absolutely killed me. I laid in bed for hours that night contemplating many things like, How did she catch me, shes never up at that hour, and
What have I done? Theres no way she will forgive me. What do I even say? I was ashamed, embarrassed, and broken all at once. I started to think about what I was going to do about the situation, and where I would go from there.

The next day, I decided that it was time to grow up. I would stop smoking weed. I stopped, and I have never smoked since. I have never wanted to smoke since. That day, I received an instant message from my friend Mike (who I was friends with, but didnt hang out with very much). He asked me if I wanted to check out a youth group thing with him the next day. As an aside, I have always believed in God in some capacity, but I never had a relationship with God personally. Actually, I really wanted nothing to do with God. Religion always seemed bland and boring to me, and I would drop out of conversations about religion as soon as they started. I had never taken the time to sit down and truly think about what I believed. Simply put, I was uninterested. I had more important things to worry about, like how many catches I made at our last football game, and how much money I thought I would make right out of school. There was something inside of me that just couldnt let go of this youth group idea. I thought to myself, Too many weird things are happening: My mom catching me smoking, Mike inquiring about the youth group event, and I had even felt slightly depressed lately. From the outside, it probably appeared like I wasnt missing anything, but I knew that I was. I decided that I would go to the youth group and check it out for myself. It couldnt be that weird, right?

When I arrived at The Chapel that night, the atmosphere was very different than I thought it would be. The building was huge, there were a few hundred people, and everyone was very friendly. The night began when one of the band members shared his testimony of how he came to Christ. It was pretty crazy about hearing God work personally in someones life, because I had never experienced that for myself. I started to reflect a little bit, and what was crazy was that this kid seemed pretty cool, like a regular guy. I always pictured people who are really involved with church as having no sense of humor, dry, and quite frankly boring.

After the testimony, the youth pastor, Wes, gave a message about a father son relationship. He used the parable of the Prodigal Son to illustrate the message. The boy took his inheritance from his father and set out on his own. He blew his inheritance living the fast life, being caught up in all sorts of sin. He was nervous to come home because he felt he had disgraced his father, who he thought would look down on him and curse him. On the contrary, his father showered him with gifts and love when he returned home. The father was ecstatic to have his dead son alive again. This symbolizes that no matter how broken we are, and how much we have messed up our own lives, that if we decide to run home to God, he will always accept us back with open arms. Wes also demonstrated the father-child relationship on a more personal level, speaking with his daughter on stage. He told her how awesome she was, how much he cared for her, and how he will always love her. It was an extremely heart-felt moment. God really spoke to me in that moment, showing me how great His love for me really is.

I came to the youth group service with an open heart, and as it began, I silently prayed to God to speak to me if He was there. I told him, I have no idea what Im doing here, or whats going on, but if youre real, please speak to me. God spoke to my heart for the next 40 minutes, convicting me, and showing me that he was indeed real. I had feelings going on inside of me that I had never experienced before. It was way higher of a high than I had ever had with drugs. It felt as though God wrapped me up and said Youre mine now.

I gave my life to Jesus at the end of the service. It was the best decision I have ever made, and was the most important decision Ill ever have to make. Since that day, Ive had some ups and downs (as everyone does), but I have grown a lot as a Christian. God has answered my prayers time and time again. He has blessed me in so many ways. He has brought a bunch of amazing people into my life, many of whom are Christians that I have been able to grow close with. He has helped me to excel in school. He has helped me to deal with many different issues, such as lying, cheating, greed, pride, lust, and pornography to name a few. Reading Gods word and engaging in prayer have helped me grow in all of these areas.

I thank God for saving me. I look back and see the path that I had chosen for myself and am filled with gratefulness to Him for the grace he has shown me. I will continue to praise him and give him my life to do with it what He wants.

--
Patrick McCracken

When I joined an e-group for the 4D Revolution, I had no idea what to expect. I was excited to try it because I've never really been in a group like this before. The first decision was a huge thing in my life. Just 10 minutes everyday really doesn't seem like much, even like it could be that different from my normal routine you know? But hey, God uses whatever He wants to use. I've never felt God speak to me so much before! I feel like God is speaking to me directly almost everyday through the devotional readings. One day I had to laugh because I felt I was entering a conflict with my roommate, and the reading was about forgiving your brother and telling them what they did wrong. I just started laughing and said, "Ok God! You got this!" It's pretty awesome to see how God is using this to address all these things in my life. It really is amazing. :)

At E-group tonight, we each read our testimonies, and all of us were very moved by each others' stories. It is such a blessing to have these people in my life, and it is amazing to see what Jesus is doing in people's lives. I thank everyone at Vintage for everything you guys do. The message tonight really stuck with me about reaching others. The message really resonated in my heart tonight, and God convicted me of my stagnant Christianity. When I got saved, I told everyone I knew about Christ, and I couldn't hold it in. After months and months of not seeing anyone close to me come to Christ, as well as being rejected by friends and family for my beliefs that I talked about, I began to hold things in. I stopped telling people about Christ. Tonight, God harped on me that sharing the Gospel with the lost is not a recommendation, it's a command. "For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth." I pray that I will allow God to use me how he wants to, and that I would not get in the way of His plans. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Patrick McCracken

From the beginning of the 4D revolution I have just been praying and expecting to see God do some wonderful things in my life.  This past weekend was an unforgettable one.  My Saturday night started out just like any other, planning to hang out with some friends. 

That night one of my buddies started talking to me about my faith in Christ.  This was one of the names that God has truly placed on my heart and I had been praying for him.  I was caught a bit off guard, but I was happy for the opportunity.  After we talked for a bit he came over to my house and we talked more and I asked him if he would like to invite Christ into his life.  He said yes and we said a prayer.  He even came with me to church the next morning without hesitation.

I know he has a long road ahead of him, but I know God will lead him in the right direction. 

I have never asked someone to personally invite Christ into their life.  It will forever be something I will remember and is just more proof that God answers prayers.

Glory to God

-Matt

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