God Moments: I feel compelled to share some of the God moments I personally experienced in San Jose. I will only share three of these for the sake of time. The first God moment I want to share happened during our first small group time on Tuesday morning after worship. The discussion and journaling revolved around the morning's worship topic of brokenness. The speaker suggested that each one of us experiences brokenness at some time and that that brokenness brings us close to each other and close to God. During small group, we discussed what this might mean and at the end, I asked each person to pray out loud for the person sitting next to them. This was a powerful moment for me to see each member of our group reach out to another in a very personal and intentional way.
The next God moment happened that same night during worship. The speaker, Rudy Carrasco, (some of the youth have already mentioned him) talked about his life and his choice to follow Christ despite the many tragedies and difficulties he has faced. Something happened that night that I can't seem to put into words. At the end of worship, there was an altar call and even though only dozens of the 4000 or so people in the room went forward, 7 of our 11 youth did. Our youth who did not go forward were also tremendously affected. When everyone returned to their seats, there was a lot of hugging and crying and laughter through tears. I even saw Alex hug Sarah AND Natalie that night. God was definitely in the room at that moment!! After worship, we met up with Phil and began to try to explain what had just happened. It was great to hear Jake, in his quiet and wise way, say things like ``You could justfeelHis spirit everywhere in the room. It was amazing and unbelievable. I've never been a part of anything like it. …And it's only Tuesday!''
A third God moment for me happened during small group after the Friday worship service. We had intentionally spent a longer small group time together the day before because we knew our time would be limited on Friday due to the service project in the afternoon. We had decided that our Friday small group time would just be a time to gather, pray and get going toward lunch and the project. As we gathered to pray, we stood in a circle, holding hands and I asked each youth to pray aloud whatever was on their heart or mind at that moment. The richness of that prayer was amazing and there was an energy among us. At the end the group whooped and hollered ``Amen!'' Imagine! Whooping and hollering in response to God's presence and energy!
Live the Call!
…was the conference theme for san jose. So what does that mean, really? God has put this question on my mind and I've been wrestling with it. What does it mean to `Live'? Well, I think of action, movement, energy. If something or someone lives, they are often generating, breathing, contributing. I think of `life'. So what is life? Life is existence, it is our space in which we do and be. It is god-given and god-blessed. The discussions and experiences of San Jose have paralleled for me the discussions and experiences of the Pathfinders group. It is this `living'' and ``life'' that we have been praying to discover for our church. If to ``live'' the call involves action, movement and energy, where is that for our church and who does it involve? Is the life of our church inside or outside? Is the life of our church active, moving and energizing? Is the life of our church in our boards and committees, our church handbook, and our order of worship? Is the life of our church within certain people such as our young people or pastor? Is the life of our church beyond our congregation and beyond our church walls? Is the life of our church in you and me and is it driven by the Spirit of God?
Then there is this idea of `the Call.' It seems that there is a general idea that a calling is a nudge from God to use your gifts and talents for a specified purpose and often we think of this in terms of a career path or life choice for how we spend our time. So what is God calling me to do or be? What is God calling you to do or be? What is God calling us to do or be as a fellowship of believers who have chosen to worship together? Does God stop calling after a certain age or once you have responded to an initial call? Does a call only apply to pastors and ministers of faith? I like to think not. I like to think that God is continually calling us to do and be at different times for many purposes that ultimately serve Him.
The idea of Living the Call seems like a simple one, but the implications for following through with this directive are immense. Rudy Carrasco talked about how Christians often subscribe to the ideology that following Jesus will make life easier and happierthat somehow our lives will be more carefree. What he points out however, is that Living the call to Follow Jesus often does increase our joy by about 500%, but also increases our pain by about 200% because we seek to be in relationship with those who are hurting, lost, or in need. This is quite the challenge and frankly, takes me out of my comfort zone and catapults me into a world that is very unnerving. I know that I need God and this congregation to help me make that leap.
San Jose was more than just fun or a chance for the youth to bond as a group. This convention had a very transforming aspect to it that is very difficult to put into words. I have returned to First Mennonite with a renewed respect and admiration for each one of these young people and their devotion to God, family and friendship. Not only are they committed to a personal relationship with Christ, but they also have a wealth of talents and resources to share with each other, this congregation and their community if only we would ask. I believe that these young people (most of whom are also members of this church) are a SIGNIFICANT part of the life of our congregation and are more than just a group who like to get together and have fun. They are HUNGRY for spiritual nourishment and for an outlet by which to channel their spiritual gifts. How do we at First Mennonite provide that outlet?
Please pray with me: Dear Heavenly Father,
We thank you for your desire to have us live the call to follow your ways as Jesus taught. We pray for direction, courage and energy to live this call and bring it front and center. Help us to support one another in this endeavor and love each other when our perceptions of your calling may differ. May we come to know how you would like to use the gifts and talents of each person in this congregation. I thank you Lord especially for the young people in our church who teach me about being faithful and living the call. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
