I don’t say this enough Thank you. Thank you for being such a good church family to me. Thank you for being a blessing to me in my life. Thank you for letting me be not only a part of this church family, but for letting me teach and lead the amazing young people in this congregation. I moved here over 6 years ago, nervous, anxious, and somewhat fearful that I could do a good job as youth pastor of this church. It wasn’t easy moving so far away from my family, and living this far away isn’t always easy, but you make it worthwhile every week.
I was thinking in the last few weeks, as the summer winds down and schools start back up again, just how amazing it is that I get to serve such a great congregation as a youth pastor. I have a fantastic group of volunteers to help with youth group and with RCC Kids. None of what I do would matter, or even happen, if it weren’t for those volunteers. They come up with fantastic ideas, even if they are a bit goofy, and they give me advice on how to best show God’s love to the students. They make it all possible, and I am so grateful for them.
This summer has been so much fun, getting to know the students more, getting to teach them more, and getting to make more memories with them. This has been such a fun summer with these kids, and I’m not going to forget it soon. Kenny and I were talking recently about the fundraiser the youth group has been doing this summer, doing yard and house work for people in the church. While the money is fantastic and enables us to do more in the youth group, what has been indispensable and totally priceless is the relationships that are being built. The community of students has really come together this summer through these jobs, and it’s been such a joy to see. I would wager that those relationships are so much more important than any event I put together for these kids. Thank you for those opportunities to serve together with the students.
As we head into the fall, I’m super excited for what’s coming up in the youth group and children’s ministry. I can only imagine what God can do this next school year, and I am so grateful to be involved. We’re digging into more of what it looks like to be a disciple. At our last youth group of the summer, we were talking a little bit about this. I told them that my trip to Israel last year absolutely transformed my idea of what a disciple is. To explain it, I’ll include a diagram of before and after what my idea of discipleship looks like.
Before Israel Trip
After Israel Trip
You may be trying to figure out what these pictures mean, but don’t worry, I’ll explain. The before picture was a model I had for many years. The idea behind it was that everything I did, and everything any Christian should do, is to keep Jesus at the center of every part of your life. We all have different roles to play. Your role at work. Your role at school. Your role in your family, or amongst your friends. The list goes on. My idea was that in all these things, Jesus should be glorified. And I don’t think that’s wrong. There’s still truth to that. But my picture has changed, I want to become as much like Jesus as possible. That was the job of a disciple. He/She was to be as much like the Rabbi as possible. Think of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:1. He says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” That is a disciple’s job. When Jesus said to follow Him, it meant that Jesus wanted his disciples to become like Him. So in all I do, I want to do it like Jesus would. The idea is that I would be transformed into who Jesus is, with my own quirkiness. So this is what we’ll be studying in the fall in youth group, and I’m super excited about it!
So, as I said at the beginning, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to do this. Thank you for the amazing support you give me in my calling to serve and teach young people just how amazing God is. I love my job and I love the life God has given me here in Lima. I love you and I love this church. The past 6 plus years have been such a blessing to me. I am very excited for what the future holds here at RCC. Yes, these kids run me ragged and are goofy and can be difficult to teach. Being a youth pastor isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it, and I’m beyond grateful to be your youth pastor.
As a closing little bit here, A few weeks ago, as part of our fundraiser, we were doing work at Jan and Darrel Campbell’s house as they are fixing it up. I was driving Bella and Emily home and told them of a youth pastor I had in junior high that wasn’t good. My brother and I stopped going to youth group because we didn’t like him. He only lasted a year at our church. Bella said that she would have to have a great reason to miss youth group because she likes how I teach. I don’t say this to brag, I simply say this to tell you that serving here warms my little youth pastor's heart.
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.
Psalm 133 (NIV)
