Youth Councils Report
Where to begin?!?!
Let’s start with the obvious; the theme. I AM loved. Do you remember what this means? In Exodus 3, God revealed himself with the name “I AM” to Moses (read the chapter, or even the whole book – it’s sweet!). So, in effect the theme was GOD loved. We focused on knowing God and his unconditional love, understanding how we give and receive love, and how we can show love to others.
Friday night, Daniel Ambush (or phonetically spelled Amboosh) Wallace brought it with a powerful message on God’s love from the story of the Prodigal Son (see Luke 15:11-32). He taught us even though we go a long way off in our sin, when and if we return to the Father, he wraps his arms around us, gives us his signet ring, and throws a BBQ. And oh yeah, remember what he does with our sin when we repent? He throws them as far as the east is from the west (see Psalm 103:12). Remember Daniel throwing the baggage?
Saturday morning, we learned how we give and receive love. What are the five love languages? Let’s repeat them, with visuals if you can remember:
-Physical Touch
-Words of Affirmation (BING!)
-Gifts
-Acts of Service
-Quality Time
Saturday night Anwar Smith gave a great sermon on overcoming barriers to receiving God’s love. Remember, it’s a free gift that we receive. We need to repent to God and have faith in Christ for his work on the cross.
Sunday morning (my personal favorite) Ambush preached on what means to love others. We must:
-Surrender our right to choose our neighbor (suggestion – start with those around you; also see Luke 10:29 and the verses around it).
-Risk your well being for the well being of others. Love is sacrificial!
-Experiment with ways to love people.
Daniel also gave a few helpful tips in our evangelism: intentionally smile! I’ve been trying this out in the last few days and it works!
Another highlight of the weekend was Special Ops. The theme for this time was “OTHERS”. Friday we discussed that the reason behind why we should love others is because it is how others will know that we are disciples of Jesus (see John 13). Friday night was particularly awesome. We were encouraged to wash each other’s feet as a sign of our love for our brothers and sisters and some were filled with the Holy Spirit! Praise the Lord! Saturday morning we were instructed about how we are to love others. We are called to love others selflessly (or sacrificially), which can indeed be hard, but it’s still necessary (see 1 John 3:16). Saturday night we were instructed that loving others includes loving our enemies as well (see Luke 10:25-37). We ended with the fact that we can only love others because God loved us (see 1 John 4:11). Remember that being loved by God and having His love is a major factor (if not the only one) in how we love other people. This means that we need to maintain our walk with the Lord and put ourselves in a position where we are feeling and knowing God’s love for us.
God blessed our weekend. He revealed Himself to us, taught us about His nature (which is love), changed our hearts and filled us with his love.
Now, “be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2).
Are you keeping the commitments you made this weekend in prayer and at the altar?
Are you loving others as Christ has loved you?
Let us know. We would love to pray for you!
Don’t forget to click the picture to see a slideshow of the photos!