Last night was our second "Youth Worship Night" at Fair Oaks. I'd meant to post after the first one, so I'll just have to combine summaries of the two into one post.
The vision that Gary and I have had (for a long, long time) is to develop a worship gathering that is more focused on what we can give to God, for His glory, than on what we necessarily get out of it. We come together to bless the Lord, and others in the body, with the various gifts we have been given, as opposed to coming to 'get filled up'. In the context of youth ministry, we also enjoy the opportunity to train and equip our youth to minister to one another out of their unique passions and gifts.
We decided to focus each gathering on a specific attribute of God, to encourage a natural response of adoration and worship.
The first night, we celebrated God's holiness. Our God is unique, set apart. There is no one in the universe like Him! We imagine the angels in the heavens crying out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty", and we join their cry through our prayers.
Last night, we rejoiced at God's faithfulness. Many came forward to share about the various ways God has proved His faithfulness in their lives, and I was left with tears in my eyes more than once.
Personally, it's been so refreshing to break out of the 'business as usual' routine of church. We've shared extended times of prayer (well, as compared to what we're used to), meditated on scripture, explored themes through video, skits, and drama, worshipped through new songs, shared testimonies and readings of scripture, and even celebrated God through art (painting). These elements are not about production value, but about helping each student discover and develop the gifts God has given them, and to use them for His glory!
Like any new thing, we are still figuring things out and working out the kinks, but it's exciting to see the ways that God is already working in and through this time. May these worship gatherings launch a cultural revolution, through a generation passionate about pursuing Jesus and bringing the light of His hope into this dark world...
2 comments:
I so enjoyed the first worship night, came away thinking about holiness and praising Jesus for His holiness.
I was sad to not have made the 2nd one. Daniel V. told me it was great when I talked to him on Sunday at the great spaghetti feed.
We missed you Saturday night! I'm glad Daniel V. had a good report. He brought several friends with him that night - it's so cool that 6th graders are excited for worship!
Perhaps we'll see you at the next worship night, Saturday November 3!
=)
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