Work Day 5 - Denial of Life

Today was a good day to wrap up all of our projects. There wasn't a sib that didn't get completed this week.  In fact, they had to go out and look for some jobs for crews to do because there was nothing left to do at their site.  Some crews finished their site early so they went to another site to help finish.  To see everyone come together and get it all wrapped up on the final day was awesome. 

A few final thoughts shared by the youth tonight were;

"I am definitely coming back"
"This is the strongest feeling of a family our youth group has ever had"
"The dedication everyone showed to getting the job done and serving others was very impressive"

As leaders we are extremely proud of the youth that we brought with us.  All week long we heard so many times how hard of workers they were and how awesome they were.  They were so respectful and well behaved.  Just to think that these teenagers worked to earn money to pay for a trip to go do more work is inspiring.  Even more amazing is the fact that they don't think its a big deal to do that - they just seen it as helping people.  I don't know that they realize how amazing it is to do this at their age.  There was an auction in which the Jesus painting from Tuesday was auctioned off.  The youth asked if they could all pull their money together to bid on it for the youth room.  Not only did they want to pull their money together, but they pulled together $212 by themselves!  Watching them worship throughout the week was also inspiring.  They weren't afraid to put their guard down,lift their hands, or sing loud. It was total abandonment.  We truly have some great youth who represented our community and Ohio very well this week. 

Our hands and feet are sore, but the purpose that each one of us had this week far outshines any bruises scrapes, or stings.  We used our hands and feet and found purpose.

In worship tonight we watched a short clip about Bethany Hamilton, the teenage surfer who lost her arm due to a shark attack.  She shared her story and how she got through it by relying on God.  At the end of the video she said "I Am Second".  What a great saying to live our life by. 

Tonight's message was about denial of life.  We read 1 Peter 3:13-17 and 4:1.  We must deny our life so others may know Christ, meaning that no matter what, evening it costs our life we will share Christ.  There are 6 things that denying life means;
1- We must be eager to do good.  This doesn't mean to be fair, but instead do what is right - what is "fair" isn't always what is right.
2- We must endure suffering.  Suffering for Jesus = Blessings
3- We must set apart Jesus as our Lord, He has to be number one.
4- We must be prepared to give reason for our hope, at all times. 
5- We must live above reproach, live so that no one can say anything bad about us that is true.
6- We must rake on the same attitude of Christ

We were asked to think about how many people could be touched if we go home and live out what we did, learned, and experienced here?  What if we said I cannot help but to speak of what I have seen and heard?  Are we doing what we are supposed to be doing?