One thing my youth group loves to do is talk to other people about Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the way that He works in our lives and in our youth group. We all love talking about Jesus and worship and just being active members of the Body of Christ. However, the older people in our church do not really appreciate it all as much as we do. They do not approve of the worship music we listen to or the idea that we talk a lot and function in the Holy Sprit.
As a youth group we decided to have a youth Sunday. This meant that the youth were in charge of the whole service. We decided on the songs, we told testimonies, we picked the scriptures, we said the prayers, and Ryan gave the message. It was totally run by the youth and our youth pastor. The best part was we never told the congregation before hand that we were doing this, we didn't tell them so that the old members would still show up.
Most people in our churched loved the service. A lot of them were amazed by the testimonies we had of the total strangers we prayed for. Quite a few came up to us saying "I can't believe you guys prayed for total strangers. I never would have had the guts to do that". It was very cool to hear how proud of us they were. However, it was a little disheartening to hear that they didn't think they would be able to do the same thing.
The biggest disappointment about the whole service was that most of the older people couldn't get past the music. They could not see beyond the fact that we played music that had drums and lots of singers and was incredibly up beat. That was all they focused on, they did not see anything about the rest of the service because they only saw the loud music.
I think this happens to a lot of us. We see one thing about a church, a person, or whatever it might be, and that's all we focus on. We do not allow ourselves to look beyond those things and then we miss out on all the incredible things the person, church, or group has to offer.
Hello Miranda Moore. So good to know you through your profile on the blogger and I am glad to stop by your blog " From a Restless to a Revolutionary" and the post on it "Irritating the Old". What an experience. It is not the case with your church but it is seen in most of the churches where the old members of the Church do not like contemporary music. Well it is disheartening but this sort of trend will not last long. I am from India and I have been in the Pastoral ministry in the city of Mumbai for last 35yrs and I have experienced it but right from the beginning of ministry one thing I did was to bring young people in the leadership and as the time went by the older people started accepting the leadership of the younger ones in our church. Well let me share with you what we have for the young people as well as adults from the West. Our church through the program on short / long term missions trip, encourage young people as well as adults from the Wet to come to Mumbai on a short / long term missions trip to work with us in the slums of Mumbai amongst poorest of poor to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to give them new hope, future and purpose. The city of Mumbai where I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 35yrs and this city is know for her contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reachout to the poorest of poor with the love of Christ to bring healing to the broken hearted. 'Since you are preparing to be a missionary and want to travel the World and teach to the orphan children, how appropriate will it be to have a glimpse of such ministry while studying during your summer/ Christ vacation. I am sure you will have a life changing experience and your vision will be more sharpened. Looking to hear from you very soon. My email is : dhwankhede(ar)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede
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