Today we put up the church Christmas decorations which was so comical, we had such a giggle and really enjoyed ourselves. It wasn't until I got home that it sank in - it is almost Christmas. Can you believe that we are already in December? Chris and I led our last youth cell till 2008 this evening and it was hilarious with the kids. They are just the greatest bunch of young people anyway, but playing games such as twister with them was just side splitting! Talking to them about Christmas and this time of year was just so thought provoking, they say what the usual teenagers say (actually what the majority of people say!) how they're looking forward to the food, presents and dressing up, on the other hand just simple comments like 'I am looking forward to the carol service', 'I am looking forward to spending time with my family' and 'I am looking forward to spending time away from the commercial Christmas' (how huge is that for a 13 year old to say!!!) Comments like that tonight were just really inspiring. It made me really think about how in all the hustle and bustle of this busy time we can all lose the sense of the real meaning of Christmas. It made me realise that in between wrapping the presents and preparing the Christmas dinner we need to remember the enormity of Jesus Christ our saviour being born so that we may have eternal life.
Tonight the youth led their first service. The theme was 'footprints in the sand' inspired by the Leona Lewis song as well as the moving and famous poem . The youth did everything. Choose all the content; the worships songs, the prayers, the drama, everything. They made up the worship band, they did the visuals, the sound, the welcome, they recorded it, and they wrote the preach and prayers. They were all fantastic. They spoke about God never leaving us, through the hard times or the easy, the good times or the bad. They spoke to us about how God never gives us more than what we can handle, even though it may feel like that sometimes! Every single one of them aged between 11-15 were amazing. I have increasingly been scared for the youth of today. They live in such a broken world where underage drinking , teenage murders , teenage murderers , and teenage suicide to name but a few, are increasing at an alarming rate. Tonight each young person there was making their stand. Don...
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Bless you Em.
Paula xx