Youthchurch - 15th February

Monday, 16 February 2009

Our first Youthchurch event was held last night and it went pretty well. We had around 20 odd people attend, God was definately there and I hope we all came away with something to think about, ponder and pray over. 

Who Am I?

Think about that. Who.Am.I?

Many people go through their lies unsure of who they are, why they are here, or what they are doing with their lives. Many very old people never find this out before they die.

Today, I want to tell you that you are here for a reason. You are not an accident. You are special and unique and you are important to God.

-          You are not an accident.

Sometimes, babies are born without being planned by their parents. I have a friend whose parents had had three sons, and they wanted to try one more time to have a girl. They didn’t. They had twin boys instead.

Their house was such a boys’ house – always someone fighting, there was a pool table in the hallway, something was always being broken. It was great. These boys are now in university or studying A-Levels – they are studying business, accounting, law – they are going to go into the workplace and live what we would consider good lives. They may have been unplanned, but they weren’t accidents. 

You are not an accident either. Your parents may have not planned to have you, but God knew you were going to come along. In Isaiah 44:2 (someone find this) it states that God made you. If He made you, then you’re not here by accident. And that means you can have an awesome life, if you find out what it is that God has for you.

It doesn’t matter where you are born or who your mum or dad are. You are here for a reason.

-          You are important.

In Genesis 1:27, it says that we are all created in God’s image – both male and female – boys and girls are made somehow to look like God. This ‘somehow’ means that you are not just a physical person that you can touch and see, but you are also a spiritual person – you have a soul and you have a spirit.

Sometimes we forget this, we forget that we’re not just ‘animals’ and sometimes if we believe we’re only physical people, we can pretend that what we do doesn’t really matter.

But it does.

One day, we will all die, and we will spend the rest of eternity somewhere else. That will either be with God or without God. We get to chose how we’re going to spend it, by deciding if we want to accept Jesus and spend the rest of our lives living for Him and then eternity with Him or living lives for ourselves and then eternity completely alone and utterly miserable. So remembering that we aren’t just physical, but we are also spiritual is very important. 

If God made you, then does that mean there’s a reason that you’re here?

God’s answered that question too! Jeremiah 29:11 says that God knows the plans he has for us, and that those plans are for our good, not to make us miserable and sad.

But I don’t know what God’s plan is for me!

Often people don’t know what plans God has for them, and so instead of listening to Him, they listen to people. People can give excellent advice, and they can be really helpful, and they can definitely be on your side, loving you and encouraging you. But sometimes, people don’t give the best advice, sometimes they aren’t helping you. This morning at church we spoke about choosing good friends. You should choose people to listen to who you can see by their actions are living for God. If they offer advice, it might be really worth listening to.

But better than people, we should listen to God, and learn about ourselves.

Speaking to God is awesome. I speak to God every morning before I get going, and I talk to Him all the way through my day. I don’t press my hands together and bow my head. I often close my eyes (except when I’m driving), and just speak with Him, about everything, about nothing – but as I get to know God who made me, I also get to know what God made IN me.

God made you the way that you are. He made some people tall, some people short, some people brainy, some people not so brainy, some people good at sports, some people good at drama, some people good with computers, some people good at fixing things, some people good at maths, some people good at teaching, some people good with people.... the list goes on.

If you are good at one thing, and not good at another – say you’re not good at maths, then it’s unlikely that God wants you to be a mathematician or an accountant. But if He made you to be amazing at drama, then maybe He made you to be an actor....

It’s important that we look at what God made us to start with and it’s important to remember that God made us.

Then it’s important to ask Him what He wants us to be and how He wants to get us there.