Jumping for Jesus - Concert of Prayer

The Echo crew (Kacey and Clarissa) had to fix one valley today, they also got the whole back side shingled.  The best part of their day was that Clarissa and Kacey were leaders on the roof helping the other participants learn how to lay shingles correctly and solving problems.  Golf (Devan and Autumn) got one side of their roof shingled and had opportunity to talk to lots of people, they learned a lot about their crew members today; they have many boards on the roof that are weak, so they still have to be careful when walking.  Delta/Charlie (Colton, Isaac, Mark, Abby) got half of the shingles off the front and got down the synthetic underlayment and they started shingling the back side of the house.  The hardest part of their day was pulling the numerous nails and staples and removing the 3-4 layers of old tar paper.  They also had some chances to interact with different members of their crew and learn a lot about each other.  Today we have accepted love and service by receiving spray to rid a yellow jacket nest, having multiple people continuously make sure we're hydrated, meeting a kid in the neighborhood who let us play with their fidget spinner, and playing together.  It was another hot day...88 degrees with approximately 50% humidity.  Tonight there are some good storms.  Tomorrow we work 1/2 day and we have the afternoon/evening off to spend time together as a youth group.  The forecast for the rest of the week shows temperatures continuously increasing; 90+ degrees the rest of the week.


Tonight at worship we had the Concert of Prayer - a service centered around guided prayer and powerful worship music.  First, we focused on Who God is recognizing God as God; we partnered up to pray and thank God for being God.  Next, we prayed for forgiveness.  Near the alter there was paper for us to right down things struggles or things we wanted forgiven for and had an opportunity to nail it to the cross.  Then we took time to reflect on what God has done for us and offered praise.

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

What has God done for you that you want to give thanks for?  Lastly we thanked God for meeting our needs and prayers of petition while recognizing that God has the power to do anything...all we have to do is ask and believe.

22 Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. 23 For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. 24 Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! 25 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 26 And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?27 “Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 28 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?29 “And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. 30 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. 31 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

During devotions a few youth pointed out that there was another participant who was a row in front of us jumping up and down with hands raised in worship during the last song, a song about redemption and resurrection.  We want to feel like that - we want to feel so much of God that we're jumping for joy and we can't contain it.  A couple of youth said they want to find him and ask him what allows him to do that.  We discussed that part of it is accepting the feeling that's inside of you, accepting what God is moving in you.  Part of what stops us is fear; fear of others thoughts, fear of letting go, fear of being different.  But isn't it interesting that we're afraid of being different and standing out in church, but in so many other aspects of life we yearn ad desire to be different.  We're afraid that others may think we're trying to draw attention to ourselves or that we're being fake, we're afraid of being judged by others (especially those steeped in tradition).  We concluded that in order to jump for Jesus and to have that much joy in our lives with Christ, we must also look at our own lives through the Jesus filter rather than the worldly filter.  When we're concerned with what others may think or see in us, we're looking at ourselves with the worldly filter; but if we use a Jesus filter, perspective changes.  We want to be the people that others come up to and ask "what allows you to do that and worship that freely and excitedly?"