Thank you for your support and encouragement of Youth Sunday!
I am overjoyed at the amount of enthusiasm and passion our youth bring to leading worship. I am especially encouraged when I see the depth of their faith. I know the church is in good hands–both now and into the future. This group of youth is committed to learning about God and then living out their faith on a daily basis.
A few years ago I was on the Launch Team for a new book called Growing Young: 6 Essential Strategies To Help Young People Discover And Love Your Church. It was written by Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Brad Griffin and was based on their research through the Fuller Youth Institute. This book is loaded with helpful research and information about why so many churches are losing 15 to 29 year olds, and what we can do about it. For example, one chapter is based on the following insight:
Youth and young adults are not looking for a cool church. They are looking for a warm church.
15 to 29 year olds are not interested in a church that seeks to be trendy or relevant above all else. Instead, they desire a church that has a warm and welcoming atmosphere–a church that really says, “You belong here.” In fact, the most common descriptor used to describe these churches was that they felt “like family.”
I believe that Unity feels like family.
I am thankful that this church encourages youth and young adults to belong.
Theologian Miroslav Volf writes “‘We are the church’ doesn’t mean ‘We meet occasionally’ or ‘We cooperate in a current project.’ Instead, we actually become part of one another. Rather than see ourselves as a loosely affiliated group of spiritual persons having simultaneous individual spiritual experiences, Scripture suggests we are adopted into one body. That means we’re connected tendon-to-bone across generations as we work out faith together.”
We are connected across generations as we live out our collective faith together. Youth Sunday is a profound reminder of the power of generations worshiping together.
I especially want to thank Maggie McCrostie and Erin Bell on two fabulous sermons. They did all of the research and writing themselves. I learned a lot about letting love lead based on their insights from Scripture. Way to go!
This Sunday is Mother’s Day and it promises to be a beautiful day to worship.
See you on Sunday!
-Pastor David
“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
-1 Timothy 4:12
