For all who saw this Sunday's worship with the youth providing the message, a big "amen!" was the word of the day. What happened Sunday was a rare and valuable thing. The youth showed up and so did God! CJ Ways rocked the G.O.S.P.E.L., Anna, Sydney, and Haley witnessed to the witnesses of others, and then the whole crew of 20 shared their testimonies, hearts, and "cards," inviting us to go to Jesus with our cards.
Yet, although it would be easy to continue lifting up the youth and the fabulous job they did, we all know that it goes way deeper. It's (relatively) easy to get up on the platform and say good words that please and teach the listener. But it's much more of a journey when the words shared are merely the tail ends of kites flying high in the sky. The words, thoughts, and stories didn't simply come from the desire to say something good, but rather, they came freely on their own because of the experiences, heart changes, realizations, and growing relationships with Jesus that have come before. And it is those words that changed our hearts and lives as we heard them Sunday.
Essentially, all the youth had to do was find a way to share their experiences in a way that it would make sense and impact the rest of us.
And so, what we ultimately saw Sunday is the unmistakable evidence of God working in the hearts and lives of 20+ young lives at Horizons over the course of their time here, AND we saw the clear evidence of God working in all the hearts of the youth as they presented. It might have been a strange thing for the youth to hear me remind them over and over again: "This morning really has nothing to do with you! THIS morning has only to do with the ways that God will speak through you."
But they got it. There was no doubt. And God spoke through each of them. Essentially, the youth took the lessons that all of us are learning at Horizons, about letting God use and work through us, and they stole last Sunday from the world, from the shallow end of living, ultimately giving it all to God. Amen!
All of this is made possible by Horizons' belief in the youth and the value of young people coming to Christ. It is this belief that supports exceptional staff like Nicole Feather, who pours out her own heart and lets God freely work through here. It is this belief that supports a facility that welcomes and stimulates the growth of young hearts into future faith leaders in our world.
Let us be thankful. Amen!
More to come!
Jason <><
Great post dude. The kids did a great job, but it's so valuable for everyone to be reminded that it is God who works in the hearts of people. It is only by His power that we are convicted, affected, and ultimately transformed.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I believe makes a worship service "effective". When we understand that it's not what we concoct, not our ideas, not our effectiveness, but God working in the lives of a community, and those people sharing that with others. Whether it's through a sermon, a real life, a video, music, whatever.