One Week

That used to be my favorite Bare Naked Ladies song. Well, come to think of it, since I really don't care for too much of their stuff aside from the music on that album -- Stunt -- it probably is one of my favorite BNL songs.

But as it applies to my life, I have one week, actually less than one week, to prepare for a youth retreat. I've been holding this idea in my head for a while now, however I didn't get it in gear until about a week ago. Sadly, yes, I was irresponsible and now I have given myself less than one week to prepare for a youth retreat weekend and I don't have good confirmation yet on the whos, whens, wheres, and hows. Yes, I am putting this together last minute, and not proud of it.

I'll probably put up more about the retreat after it's over, but for now I guess I can provide some background of where we've been and where we're headed.

At the beginning of the summer we went real heavy into studying Paul's view of the church as expressed in 1st Corinthians 12. We established that we are the Body of Christ, individually members of it, with Gifts of the Spirit that are to be used in building up the Body. That was my Mr. Potato Head illustration. I thought it was awesome, and I think los jovenes really responded to it well.
After we studied the Body, we moved into Ephesians chapter 4 and learned what the task of the church is. "to do [God's] work and build up the church...that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ...we will no longer be like children...becoming more and more in every way like Christ...so that the whole Body is healthy and growing and full of love." Something to that effect. This was really the springboard for my direction for the rest of summer. This passage was really loud to me for their sake and it was what we used to give us direction for everything we've covered up until now. My only regret is that I didn't discover this sooner and begin moving this way earlier.
On a personal note, this passage also changed my perception of the church. Radically. These verses gave me a perspective of vision and intentionality that I have seen too many churches missing during my short 19 years. It has inspired me to see the church as a Body that is always growing and always learning. It has taught me to see the church as a cell group from the larger Body, sent out into the world to bring others closer to "becoming more and more in every way like Christ." As I tried to digest this I began to understand that I have been given the keys to the Kingdom and I am here not to complete my story, but to complete my mission. And my mission is simple -- "to do [God's] work and build up the church...that [they] will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ...[they] will no longer be like children...becoming more and more in every way like Christ...so that the whole Body is healthy and growing and full of love."
After Ephesians I ran into a brick wall or inspiration and fumbled around trying to figure out what to do for two more weeks before I went to Romania. We covered relationships in two aspects -- intentional relationships of seeking out those who are hurting and speaking to them the Truth of Christ by showing them the Love of Christ; and secondly by learning how to live deeply with one another and treat our friends as if they were ourselves and loving one another always. Both messages carry great sentiment, however their teacher was very clumsy in his presentation and so I don't know how well it was recieved on their end.
After Romania we took a week off and moved into the past two weeks where we embodied everything we learned by looking at 1st Thessalonians 2. We talked about Paul's motivation for going to Thessalonica and what he did while there, and also about what kind of roles he filled in for the Christians of Thessalonica. We turned it around and applied it to every day life when I gave a bit of a testimony of what we did in Romania. I used the examples and words of Paul in his letter to demonstrate how practical and easy it is to love others and to go out on God's command.
This week, we will be dealing with the Kingom of God. I haven't made out my notes yet, but my inspiration comes from Kevin's sermon on the Lord's Prayer: "Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." We are to be bringing the people of Earth closer to the Kingdom of God. We can't actually bring the Kingdom of God to Earth, I don't believe, but we can bring others closer to it and to a deeper understanding and appreciation of it. That's where we'll be this Wednesday. I hope and aim to teach that we are sent out from the Kingdom on a mission to serve the Kingdom.
The retreat this weekend will be light, as far as teaching goes. I hope to talk about the early Christians in Acts 2:42-47. It'll be more like me delivering a sermon that trying to lead a bible study/discussio time, but I feel lead to do this so I'm hoping it will be well. The retreat will probably last from about 6/7ish Friday evening until mid-afternoon Saturday. Beyond this, I have no clue.
My friends, I hope this to be an excellent time of learning and fellowship.