It was one of those rare days today...the kind where you're not sure if you're dreaming or if you're awake.
Let me start with our class. I was sharing with the teens how 2 Corinthians seems to be Pauls' REAPPLICATION for the job of minister. Toward the end, I talked about how MY LIFE as a youth minister is lived in a "glass house," where everybody can see me and my open-book life, but I cannot see theirs.
Paul put it this way: "We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also." (2 Cor. 6:11-13)
Fast forward to our morning worship. I preached, I was running around like crazy because the PowerPoint "clicker" was missing...and as always, there is a line of people waiting to talk to you.
In the middle of all the craziness, one of the teens...my teens...stood waiting to talk. This person pulled me aside and spilled their heart, "I was really convicted by class this morning..."
I won't go into any more detail than that.
A few tears, and a few more hugs later, I stood beaming. Not because of anything I had done, but because this young person took a leap in their spiritual life today. And, yes, it's nice to be told by a teenager that they were convicted by a class that normally seems to go in one ear and out the other!
Fast forward to LTC (Leadership Training for Christ) practice.
I've been working with three young men in Sermon Delivery. This weekend, they will deliver their sermons in front of a live audience!
Imagine my pride as they stood there with their polished sermons, and gave it their all to deliver a message from God! These are the kids who will be preaching very soon in our churches!!
It's not so much about the delivery...
And content is great, but...
The best part is that they feel like they CAN do SOMETHING in the larger body of the church. They feel like they CAN preach in our little times together, and not feel overwhelming pressure.
So that's my day today. My dreamy day. It may not be huge results. But it kinda reminds me of something else Paul said, "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. " (2 Cor. 3:3.)
3 comments:
I can not imagine how you felt, but I know it was good. I am happy for both of you!
On another note, why did you hafta go and talk about LTC and remind me again of all I am missing out on??? I would much rather be sharing a simple hotel-room worship service with friends on Easter Sunday than singing for 3 worship services in a row from 8am til 12:30pm!
Definitely a dreamy day! Praise God! : )
I am a volunteer youth leader for a small church in southeastern PA. Our group is about 13-15 teens from age 13 to 18. We've gone through some serious transition in the past few years (founding senior pastor leaving, finding another pastor who subsquently left 6 months later, finding a new senior pastor) and right now, are in a sort of transition with the youth ministry as well.
What an encouragement. That's awesome that you had that kind of a day. I was just thinking about how much of a blessing it is to be able to experience days like that every now and then.
Hope you have a lot more SOON!
Jeremy
Post a Comment