Loft youth group can be described as
follows:
“And they were gathered together day by
day, going to youth group, grabbing dinner, hanging out and enjoying each
others company.”
Sometimes I hear the comments like,
“the youth group is always doing something,” or parents saying “you been with
youth group everyday this week, you are due for a break!”
To you parents who may feel that youth
group is crowding out valuable family time, I do sincerely apologize. My goal for Loft youth group is not to take
away from family, but to create an environment of belonging. Loft is seeking to
create a model of Christian community that will impact your teen’s entire
life. However, you should also know that
when I plan a calendar (insert a
little giggle here), I try to schedule youth events every other week and leave
time for other activities. The rest are the youth inviting other youths to
hangout…and that happens all the time!
I’ve heard our teens say, “lets see if
we can set a new record of consecutive days of hanging out!” It brings a smile
to my face and a joy to my heart. Although, it happens so much that even I
can’t make all the hangouts. It is very unique and I am humbled to be a part of
this. It reminds me of:
“And
all who believed were together and had all things in common…and day by day,
attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received
their food with glad and generous hearts…” Acts 2:44, 46
Hanging out all the time and developing
friendships is great. It is the foundation that I want to build on in this new
series “You Belong Here!” I want to examine what the Bible says about community
and how we can continually grow together into a deeper walk with Christ.
Hanging out for the sake of hanging out
is fine, but growing together as a Christian community is supreme. We have to
live on mission, learn together, trust each other and serve with each other. We
want to develop open arms to strangers and invite new people into our
community, without losing the closeness we have.
In this new series I want us to understand
that Loft is a part of the church and therefore is part of God’s purpose for
our teen’s lives. To our teens, I want to say you belong here at Loft. This is
a place where you can call home, free of judgment, were you are valued and
loved, a place where you are listened to and given practical help to grow in
your faith.
"The church lies at the very center of the
eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident
of history. On the contrary, the church is God's new community. For His
purpose, conceived in a past eternity, being worked out in history, and to be
perfected in a future eternity, is not just to save isolated individuals and so
perpetuate our loneliness, but rather to build His church, that is, to call out
of the world a people for His own glory." John Stott
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