Welcome to the third installment of our online youth group lesson series in the wake of the coronavirus quarantine situation. If you missed our previous lessons, check out March 25 here and March 18 here.
It is hard to believe that we are three weeks into this already, as the virus-fueled restrictions have caused countless cancellations and postponements.
Of those cancellations, one of the most disappointing for me is the loss this past weekend of our annual Winter Jam experience. This is a multi-band contemporary Christian series of concerts hosted by the group Newsong at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College (they hold versions throughout the country during the winter and early spring months, but State College is the closest).
Each year, one moment that always gives me goosebumps is when Newsong sings “I am a Christian.” Thousands upon thousands of people of all ages all proudly proclaiming in unison:
“I am a Christian and my name is Pilgrim.
I’m on a journey, but I’m not alone.
Jesus is with me, and He goes before me
His love surrounds me, He’s leading me home.”
There is something unexplainably powerful in that moment each year. I wish I could properly recreate the experience for those who haven’t been there, but the best I can do is share this music video of “I am a Christian” recorded from one of the Winter Jam venues:
Please continue to lift up the many needs within our church (and beyond) for prayer. Take time in prayer for each person connected to our church family that is on the front lines (or may be soon) of the fight vs. coronavirus, including Beth and Russell Jordan, Abby Faulhaber, Deb Angelo, Ned Campbell, Nicole Hoover, Brittany Keister, Brooke Keister, Joleen Keister, Wanda Keister, Barry Kuhns, Ryan Long, Sarah Russell, Jerry Rute, Tasha Rute, Jason Shaffer, Crystal Shambach, Ruth Smith, Michael Sprenkel and Starla Wagner.
More and more people in our region are being laid off or losing substantial hours at work — and that will only heighten if/when our region goes under the expanding stay-at-home restrictions. Some families are nervous about how they are going to pay rent or the mortgage, if they will have enough food and be able to maintain the bare essentials.
If you find yourself anxious about these things (or nervous because you see your parents struggling with the what-ifs, I urge you to spend some time reading (and re-reading) and maybe sharing with your family the message from Jesus shared via Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV):
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Jason Kratzer’s shoulder is slowly improving, but his appointments for testing and eventually (hopefully) results have been put on hold indefinitely because of the coronavirus situation. Please pray for him, Jeremy, and the rest of the family. Claire’s request for prayer last week over the family’s pregnant goat has turned into a praise so far … a dose of calcium has helped the situation as they wait for delivery. Jim Mulaney just this morning shared that he is doing OK. Blood tests and cancer counts are waiting on a new order to be placed, but he said he is feeling OK and going for walks when he can to keep active. Jasmine has shared that she and her family are doing well throughout the situation so far, as are other families we have checked in with.
One big thing we ask you to pray for is our modified drive-thru “More than an Egg Hunt” event being held tonight (Wednesday, April 1) from 5:30-7 p.m. There is a potential to really make a big community-based impact, and response so far via our Facebook posts on different Snyder County group pages has been very positive. Please pray for safety for those who will be on-site tonight (Robin and Dean Kratzer, Beth Freed, Pastor Paul, Bob Smith, Bob Keister and John Z.). Please pray for God’s nudging families to attend doesn’t fall on deaf ears. Please pray that the short moments we have with these families honors God and that the information we send along with them helps bring these families closer to God.
If we have any additional big prayer requests for our group, we will share via the Facebook PAW Youth group.
At this point, in-person school may seem like a distant memory for some of you. What are some of the moments/memories from your school careers so far (good or bad) that you think will stick with you for a long time?
I (John Z) want to share one of mine, which happened three-plus decades ago in my fifth-grade music class. It isn’t a memory I am proud about … but it is one that sticks with me, regardless.
Our regular music teacher needed an unexpected amount of time off for a medical issue, and the school principal told our class a few days in advance that we would be getting a new substitute teacher, Miss Wilson.
This would be her first time subbing solo, and our principal relayed that while she was great at music instruction, she was still very green in dealing with in-class discipline. He admitted some things wouldn’t be enforced like they had under our normal teacher, and he expected us to be on our best behavior.
For some in the class, the message was well-received. For others, it was a green-light invitation to drastically test the classroom limits, take advantage of an obviously overwhelmed and underexperienced substitute and ultimately drive her to walking out of our class — and her once-dream job of teaching — with tears streaming down her face.
Some of the students were just down-right ignorant. They talked back, they threw paper airplanes and ran in and out of the room, completely ignoring her pleas for them to sit down and behave. The rest of us just sat there, in shock.
Our class received harsh reprimands from the principal later that day – equal blame was placed on the students who took advantage of the situation and for those of us who sat there and did nothing to stop it. He told us that Miss Wilson left, that she told him while still crying that she was done teaching and that he shouldn’t call her for any other assignments. To my knowledge, she never taught again.
I still wonder why I never said anything to stand up for Miss Wilson. This was so far away from the norm — there was so much chaos in the midst of the transition to a new substitute teacher combined with these students attempting to take advantage of the situation.
I think part of my hesitation involved fear that I’d be singled out and become the next target of these bullies. I suspect there was an element of pride … I didn’t want to look bad or be “uncool” to my classmates.
Doing the right thing would have forced me out of my comfort zone in that moment, opened me up for ridicule and put me at risk. Doing nothing has instead left me with three decades of guilt (not that I think about the incident all the time, but when I do, I wish I could go back and kick my own butt into gear!).
As we head into the Easter season, there are so many stories and object lessons worth reviewing, but today, I have felt God’s guidance toward Peter and his response to the events leading up to Jesus’ death on the cross.
Can you imagine that time? The disciples and Jesus’ other close followers are suddenly plunged into a period of confusion and chaos. Jesus is taken into custody, beaten and flogged, ridiculed and jeered by large crowds. This was far from the norm — much farther than some shy fifth-grader enduring chaos surrounding a substitute teacher.
I can only imagine the panic and fear these disciples faced — they had a panic attack meltdown on the boat with a sleeping Jesus during a storm a while back. Now, Jesus was gone, the storm of persecution had exploded onto the scene and these disciples didn’t know how to react to the gangs of people who were looking to wipe out not only Jesus, but those who were close to Him.
Peter’s three denials, in spite of the warning Jesus gave him prior to His capture, are recorded in all four Gospels. Let’s look at Luke 22:54-62 (NIV):
Then seizing Him, they led Him away and took Him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with Him.”
But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know Him,” he said.
A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
It makes me want to confront Peter myself during that string of events. Seriously, you are going to denounce Jesus despite the three-plus years of miracles and signs and reasons to know — beyond a doubt — that God is bigger than any storm? How could you?
But then I’m reminded of that fifth-grade classroom, the teary-eyed teacher and my own lack of response. Why is it, especially in periods of chaos and uncertainty, that sometimes we struggle to stand up and do the right thing?
I can empathize with Peter’s guilt — with his likely desires for a re-do. I can picture him, in some movie-like flashback going back to that smug servant girl who firsts suggests that Peter was “with Him.” Peter hesitates at the accusation, and then boldly stands, hands on his hips with Newsong instrumentals filtering into the background as he fearlessly proclaims to the girl and the angry, vindictive crowd:
“I am a Christian and my name is Peter. I’m on a journey, but I’m not alone. Jesus is with me, and He goes before me. His love surrounds me, He’s leading me home.”
We are currently in a period of chaos and uncertainty that goes well beyond coronavirus quarantines. Christians are being persecuted around the world. So many current movies and TV shows and songs promote anti-Christian living and morals. Angry social media mobs of people would love to trip us up, get us to deny our faith and pretend that Jesus means nothing to us. As a youth group, a church and a greater Christian family, there has never been a time more important for us to be a light in the midst of the stormy darkness.
Which is partially why I was inspired by Mia D’Agostino’s recent Facebook video and felt compelled to push for our own #MyFavoriteVideos movement. I know the idea of going on video, proclaiming to have a favorite verse and marking ourselves as Christians is scary on so many levels. But, in the midst of a storm like we are facing, people need anchors to keep from being blown away. We can be those anchors by professing (and living) our faith.
I am very thankful to the ones who courageously completed this task so far. I have compiled them in one video to share out with our church and inspire hope. Perhaps projects like this will help replace so many social media posts laced with fear and anxiety with God’s word and His message of hope.
The challenge goes well beyond a video, though. I encourage everyone in our youth group to reach out during these times to friends and families who may be struggling. Make a phone call, send an email, offer a quick “hello, how are you doing” on Facebook messenger or Instagram. After having those conversations, Michelle and I would love to hear how it went. Report back to the group and we can lift up those you know who may need special prayer or assistance.
We are all Christians and we are on a journey. Just remember, we are not alone. We have each other, and Jesus is with us.
He goes before us.
His love surrounds us.
He’s leading us home.
Thanks again for being such a great group of youth, and we look forward to seeing you all in person again soon!
We will leave you with two very powerful songs as reminders of how God helps us weather the storms we face:
