On a different note, I have a tough week. I have been studying 1 John for the past couple of weeks and have been preaching on love. It has been a great series, and I have learned a whole heck of a lot about love trough this.
During this study, God impressed upon me a message like I have never experienced before, I was so emotional all week, so tired, so wiped out, almost like I was carrying this message as a burden until I was able to deliver it. This was weird for me because I am not a feely faith kind of guy, total logic for me. I am not an emotional kind of guy either, I watched the Passion and didn’t shed a tear, not that I wasn’t moved, it was a great movie, its just that I am not an emotional person.
This week was different. Our service was great, we had 6 visitors come for the first time. On a side note, I was doing some census demographical studies of our area and found out that 2%-3% of the area high school attendance has been through our doors this year. Whoa.
Well anyways, I got up and delivered the message, which was different than any other I have done before, and we had a response that was amazing. I bought paint sticks and we were going to write on them something in our life that was an improper fulfillment of the core need of humanity to be accepted, loved, and approved by our fellow man, and then we were going to snap them in half and throw them away and take communion. The response was great, and then just last night I got this e-mail from one of our college students:
Dear Tom, Tonight ******* helped me pray to jesus and accept him into my heart. She explained to me what being a christian was all about, and youth group tonight really made me think and made me feel. Getting rid of the old, and in with the new. I just want to thank you for everything you explain each week, you do a great job. I love going to youth group and learning new things, it makes me feel so much better about myself. So..thank you =]
Wow,what can I say, but God is amazing. I knew that God was going to move on that night, and I had been praying all day about it, and I had our amazing adult leaders praying all day about it too. There was someone there to pray over every single paint stick that was handed out, and some others who prayed over every chair as they were set up. And God moved. He is amazing.
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