Going Viral

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We had a nice relaxing morning.  For once on the day the mission trip starts we didn't have to get up and rush to get to the site; it felt amazing!  After breakfast at the hotel they had some time to relax and chill out, some played cards, some watched TV, and some read.  After checking out we had our own church service surrounded by beautiful scenery (as you can see in the picture).  We sang a couple songs and then Jana led us in a service about being a servant and prayer walking.  She did a great job discussing the potential anxiety and fears of doing a prayer walk and shared great tips about how to prayer walk and the impact it can have.  Mark and Abby shared a few personal stories about impacts they've seen as a result of prayer walks.  We loaded up the vans and headed for Charlotte.

Around 2:50 we pulled into the church and were greeted by an enthusiastic, screaming, excited group of individuals to welcome us to the church.  We had plenty of time to unload and get settled before beginning orientation and getting started in our groups. After we had dinner we got into the groups we'll be working with for the week.  Jana and Abby are Squad Leaders for their groups and Sarah and Mark are construction captains.  Amy and Katie S. are on Jana's crew, Colton is on a crew with Abby and Sarah.  Don and Kacey are working on a crew together, Catie M. and Andrew are together, and Clarissa, Autumn, Isaiah, and Kya are together.  Everyone is on a roofing crew this year.  

We went into service led by the same amazing speaker we had last year, Justin Schultz.  Our theme this year is Viral.  Through the beginning of the service he showed a few YouTube videos that went viral.  He noted that there are three requirements for something to go viral;
1. It must be interesting/intriguing
2. People have to buy in to it, it must mean something
3. It must have good marketing.  

We should want our faith to be Viral, something that we share with everyone.  When we see a great video, read a great book, etc. we want to share it with everyone.  Our faith should be no different.  Justin shared that the word "Christian" is only used twice in the New Testament and it is not used in a nice way, it is used as a durrogatory term.  However, the word " follow"/"follower" is used continuously throughout the New Testament.  We should strive to be known as followers and our faith should be viral.  For it to be viral we must first believe.  How can we encourage someone to buy in to something if we don't buy in to it ourselves?  The gospels are all about relationships and Jesus was extraordinarily relational.  He focused on the scripture in Matthew where Jesus calls Matthew, a despised tax collector, to follow him (Matthew 9:9-13).  Matthew didn't question it, he simply got up and followed.  Jesus didn't discriminate about who He loved, so we should not discriminate who we share our faith with.  He called a despised, hated, tax collector to be his disciple and then went to eat in his house!  Who are we to deprive someone the chance to receive His love?

After service we had time for a short church group devotion time.  Some thoughts were shared by youth and adults in the group;
-love how Justin shares personal stories and speaks in a relational manner, he speaks too us not at us
-no matter where you are in your faith journey, it's OK to be there -- think about what direction you want your journey to go
-do you consider this week work or an opportunity?
-you can never be too far out to be forgiven
-every day we shouldn't be looking for Jesus, we should be focused on Him
-who/what are the Pharisee's in your life?  How do you respond to them?


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