I wanted to share a few thoughts with everyone about our inaugural youth group meeting held last night at Mike and Kelly's. I was so happy that so many of our young Friends were able to attend and I felt like we all had a great time and had a good discussion on "What it means to be a Christian." It's so amazing to see young people who are so enthusiastic about learning more about Jesus Christ and last night was proof of their spiritual growth at Hinkle Creek Friends. We began the meeting by asking everyone to write down a few words or phrases that they think of when they hear the word "Christian." After this, we wrote all of our thoughts on a big piece of poster board to get an image in words of what the group believes to be a true Christian.
A Christian is a peaceful, loving, nurturing, reliable and faithful servant. A Christian seeks to help others by giving witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ. A Christian loves and trusts in God, worships and praises Him, and extends His love to others through an open heart and non-judgmental forgiveness. A Christian is born again and transformed by Jesus Christ; a Christian is saved by Christ and Christ alone.
We measured the Christian attributes we came up with against those we found in scripture and found that the bible reinforces the collective image we recognized. For the scriptures describe a Christian as one who has a patient, humble heart; one who is steadfast in prayer, fervent in spirit and who overcomes evil with good; one who rejoices in hope, who perseveres, who gains a knowledge of Christ and passes that knowledge along by teaching it to those who do not have the Lord in their lives; one who receives transformation by a renewed mind and has great self-control in all that he or she does.
I am so blessed to be able to work with these fantastic young people and I know that I will learn much more from them than they will ever learn from me. Thank you God, thank You for giving me this opportunity and for allowing your Spirit to permeate our meeting last night and make it something truly special. Thank You for inspiring Kelly to be a part of this - I feel we are going to work so well together with this group. You are such an amazing God.
One final note: I hope this doesn't embarrass Lance, but I was so proud of him last night as he prayed to end the meeting. I listened to his calm, confident voice as he prayed and I could hear in that instant how much he has grown at Hinkle Creek Friends. You've all grown, as have I since first attending Hinkle, and there's no greater testimony to Christ's transformational and saving power than the growth we see in those around us. I cannot wait to see what growth will come from this amazing new group.
God is love,
Will
