Wednesday 19 May 2010

The Narrow Way

This past weekend was full on! Looking back, things went great. On the Friday night I took a group of 12 older teens through to Aberdeen. We went to Subway for our supper and then on to the concert at the Aberdeen Church building with "Cornerstone" a group from Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. It is always good to have time with this group of teens. They are a rich blessing to our ministry and seeing their desire and faith deepen is a source of joy to me and honour to the King.

On the Saturday we had our "Pool Party" where all the youth group were invited. There were over 40 kids turned up and what a time we had! I was in my element showing off on the diving boards and being spurred on to try dives I thought I no longer had the nerve to do, but surprising what you can do when a bunch of fearless teenage boys try to out do you. The Inflatable Obstacle Course was a big hit with everyone and instantly elevated someones standing within the group if they made it across to the other end. The time flew and before we knew it the pool attendants were calling time!

On the Sunday we had our 3rd Sunday night meeting. The lesson was borne out of the above clip which was sent in an e-mail. As soon as I watched it I knew that it would lend to a great illustration on our walk in the faith. I talked from Luke 13 and Matthew 7 about entering through the narrow gate and making every effort to find the narrow way. At the start we had a good discussion about the clip and talked about the parallels between the path leading up the mountain and the path of our faith. The imagery was fantastic and after the lesson the response was very good. This was a lesson I had been looking forward to preaching and praise God that the message struck at the heart strings. The format of the meeting continues to work well and continuing with a cup of tea as everyone arrives helps get everyone talking and getting connected before entering into the meeting time.

Had a couple of amazing assemblies yesterday at Clerkhill School. Talked to around 500 kids split over two assemblies of 250. We shared a lesson about our lives and how we need to be aware of the gifts we give out to the people around us. How that some of the time we give good gifts in the way we treat others and on the down side how we can sometimes give bad gifts in treating others in a poor manner. I illustrated this with a gift bag full of chocolate bars and potatoes. I invited a mix of kids to come up and receive a gift. To some I complemented and gave chocolate, but to others I grunted and gave them a potato! When I asked what they thought I was illustrating the response was good. I shared about God being the giver of nothing but good gifts and how that we need to mirror Him. In all, I know God's blessing had touched the kids with a challenge to think about the gifts we share with each other.

Meeting up with David Emslie and Patrick Sullivan in the morning. We are going to try an tie up all the loose ends relating to our campaign that begins in a couple of weeks here in Peterhead. I am hugely excited and a little bit nervous at the same time. There is such potential with this group and we want to make the most of it, while at the same time being considerate of the fact that this is every ones first attempt at this. Please continue to be prayerful as we take this huge step.

Well, take care and God bless!

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