Would it Matter

Notes from Last Nights Youth Message:

"You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight.  You'll never, ever know."

"Here is the message I want to send to you: you are just as valuable as any other person on earth."

     These are a couple of quotes taken from the book Almost Christian in regards to something that occurred in Gainesville, Tx in 2008.  Gainesville State is a maximum security prison which houses high school aged convicted felons.  Playing football for them is an activity that is earned and they only play games on the road.

     Before a game in 2008, the head coach of the opposing team from Grapevine Faith had an idea.  He asked half of their fans to cheer for the opposing Gainesville State team.  He wanted to send a message to those players that they mattered.  Since they play all their games on the road they usually don't have many if any fans cheering for them.  In the years since, other high schools have done something similar for the team.  Below is a video about this:

     We may never truly know the impact that we can make on the life of someone else.  You can make an impact, even if you don't know it right away. You matter.  Everyone matters.

Grace & Peace

Kevin

God's In Crowd

"I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11)

     That has been pretty much my favorite bible verse for a while now.  It just keeps coming up.  It came up again last night when Courtney Traylor delivered an amazing message to all of our youth.  (I have on good authority that Jeremiah 29:11 is her favorite bible verse too.)
     I cannot give justice to how passionate and meaningful Courtney's message was so I will just give you a couple points to think about that Courtney brought up last night.
     First, remember that in times of struggle, and times of trial even if you yourself don't realize it-God is there.  You may not realize it at the time but He is there.  Courtney talked about problems that youth face in school such as bullying and being popular or not.  And in those times God is always with us helping us get through it, we sometimes just don't realize it.
     Second, to quote Courtney: "remember that you are always part of God's in crowd."  I really like that statement.  Not all of us are going to be part of the in crowd at school.  I sure wasn't.  Courtney, by her own admission, wasn't either.  A lot of us focus on being part of the "in" crowd at school but what does that really even mean?  Who determines who's in and who's out?  And does that really matter.  No!!  We shouldn't worry about that.  The in crowd that we should worry about is God's in crowd.  And we are and always will be part of that in crowd.  We belong to God and there is great hope in that!!

Grace & Peace
Kevin

Bullying

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." ~Micah 6:8

Most of us have probably heard this verse.  What then does this verse say about bullying?  Well nothing directly about bullying but more so about the absence of bullying.  To paraphrase: We are to be just, love mercy, and walk in the way God wants us to walk.  And I'm pretty sure that any form of bullying doesn't fall under what this verse asks us to do.  Sometimes that involves going against the norm.

No one sits with him, he doesn't fit in.

But we feel like we do when we make fun of him.

Cause you want to belong, do you go along?

Cause his pain is the price for you to belong.

These are lyrics from a Christian music song entitled Hero by Superchick.  This verse is about bullying.  I'm sure we have all known someone or are that someone that this verse is talking about.  It may not mean a lot to everyone, but it means a lot to some.  

Think about the last line: Cause his pain is the price for you to belong.  What image pops into your head?  Is it the bully or the person being bullied.  To me the image that pops into my head when I hear that line is Jesus.  His pain=your belonging.  Even Jesus was bullied.  People lied about him, made up stories about him, mocked him, threw things at him, and spit on him.  And most of them did it to be part of the "in crowd."  So they could feel like they belonged.  How twisted is that?  And do you know what he didn't do?  He didn't fight back.  He didn't fight back because he took that abuse for you and me and everyone.  He could have been mean, but he wasn't.  We are to follow his example and be just, love mercy, and walk humbly.  We belong just as we are.  Just as God made each and every one of us.  There is no need to tear each other down.

Grace & Peace
Kevin