Oct. 21, 2012 1240 Hours For today’s Thailand meeting, we were supposed to bring red Solo cups that revealed something about who we are. On the outside of my cup was a picture of a vortex, which is basically the state of my life at this time, with a request for God to fill my empty cup during this new journey. Eric brought along another empty cup and asked each of us to write one weakness on the outside of it in black Sharpie. Then, he read a couple of passages from II Corinthians and reminded us of the apostle, Paul(II Corinthians 12:8-10—“8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.),and how he asked God to take away his weakness, and how the Lord never removed it from him. When he read from the second passage, II Corinthians 4:7-12, Eric told us that these would be our theme verses for our Thailand mission trip. They are as follows: "7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." What came next was an object lesson, before which Eric read each one of our weaknesses from the cup where we had penned them. You can notate them in the pictures below, and at the end of this blog, I have listed them alphabetically (Since I am a fourth grade teacher!). He then asked us if we believed that this flimsy plastic cup could hold his weight. All of us but Matt didn’t think so, and of course, Eric and Carrie, who were in on the secret. So he held up the cup and said something to the effect of, “Look at what a motley crew we are! In order for God to be able to use us in spite of our weaknesses, we have to allow Him to fill us with His Holy Spirit,” upon which he poured sand into the cup and filled it to overflowing. Then, he literally stood on it, and short of causing a few wrinkles in its sides, it actually held his weight! But, Eric went further and asked our leader from the missions organization, “Kids Around the World,” Paul (Whose 60th birthday it was today), to stand on the cup. Without any more visible damage, it held Paul’s weight, as well. Lesson learned. God can use any of us, as long as we, His children, surrender all to Him, and it is through our weaknesses that He shines His light through us in the brightest fashion. Here are the weaknesses of The Bridge Bible Church Thailand Team 1: 1. Being alone 2. Being right 3. Confidence 4. Faith 5. Fear 6. Fear of Region 7. Finances 8. Hurt Back 9. Pride 10. Public Speaking 11. Sarcasm 12. Shy 13. Spelling 14. One was an "unknown," as the cup got too squished!