After much prayer and consideration, we made the hard call to cancel in-person youth group this week as COVID concerns shift. The goal is to return to in-person worship next week. Since the start of the COVID-based quarantine situations in March, we have provided weekly online lessons, even when we have been able to meet in person. This will be the 34th online lesson since earlier this year.
Many of our families are struggling quite a bit with COVID and other illnesses/issues. Through the past nine-plus months, our region’s front-line workers have sacrificed quite a bit to help us all navigate through unprecedented times. Although the following song is several years old, it definitely pays homage to our front-line workers in a way that holds special meaning today as we near Christmas. Please take a moment to absorb the song and the message within the video:
Prayer needs continue to mount. The Mitchells/Jordans continue to need our prayers. Pat Mitchell is home from the hospital but still struggling quite a bit with COVID and Beth Jordan, who moved into the old homestead to care for Candy and Pat is dealing with her own COVID symptoms. Her mom (Pat’s wife), Janie, is still at Evangelical Community Hospital with COVID and struggling quite a bit. Please cover this entire family with prayer.
Lucille Rothermel (grandmother to Paige, Austin and Samantha and mom to Michelle) has been in the hospital since Saturday with breathing issues connected to her congestive heart failure. The plan was for her to be released today (Wednesday), but she has hit some more issues and is in the hospital at least one more day and if she continues to struggle, may need rehab of some sort.
Katie’s grandmother was with someone who has since tested positive for COVID and both Katie and her brother were with their grandmother recently. Please pray for protection as they await test results.
We continue to pray for Sally Sheets and Pastor Paul and the rest of the Sheets family that continues to support and uplift Sally during her cancer treatments. We continue to pray for Trina Eia and the rest of the extended Eia family as they navigate Trina’s treatment options. Early response to the recent magazine article about Trina and her faith through tough times seems to be extremely positive, and we pray that it blesses others and draws them closer to God during the holiday season.
Please pray in general for our youth group … it has been a real struggle not having a full complement of our group, which was averaging near 20 teens a week before things started shutting down again. We have some amazing young people with a wide set of God-given talents and abilities. Our prayer is that God uses our teens to light up what the world may see as a potentially dark holiday season. We know God is in control, we know the story behind Jesus’ birth and we have an opportunity to really make a difference.
At the end of the Little Drummer Boy song shared above, there is a quote shared from author and motivational speaker Leo Buscaglia: “Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” While Buscaglia’s belief system connected to Christianity may not have been as sound as it should be, the comment itself poses an interesting challenge.
Doctors, nurses, police officers and countless others on the front line in the fight vs. COVID continue to put themselves at risk because they feel led to share their God-given talents and abilities to help others. They try to instill hope in a situation that seems hopeless to society in general.
Jesus knew that His followers would be facing all sorts of dark, hopeless situations with people who may not know Him. He instructed His followers to be a light in the darkness, a sentiment shared in numerous New Testament passages:
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” — Acts 13:47 (NIV)
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. — Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. — Ephesians 5:8-13 (NIV)
The following song is one we shared earlier in the year. It is one that is very cool with lots of potential, but one sticky point from a Christian standpoint … one verse mentions that the “finish line is six feet in the ground,” which may seem true for those without a true relationship with God, but we as Christians know the finish line is much more than a grave … that we have the ability of eternal life with God.
Still, the reason I am sharing here is because of the rest of the message, and how well the video inspires the concept of being a light in the darkness we all have been surrounded by in 2020. We can be the light, as God instructs through the verses above, and let people know of the hope we have in Christ.
Earlier today, while through some video options for today’s online lesson, God led me to the following video. It ultimately really impacted me and helped drive the lesson. It also led to the videos shared above … the Drummer Boy and the Be a Light videos involving the same group (Gentri) that created the following song.
What got me (John) personally, was how they overlaid the concepts of the biblical account of Jesus’ birth we celebrate during the Christmas season with vignettes of modern-day kids re-experiencing what that may have been like and then correlating it with present-day actions we all can take to show Jesus’ love. Watch the video closely, and see how it inspires you:
This Christmas season is shaping up to be very different than what we are used to. Schedules are changing, events that we normally look forward to have been cancelled or changed drastically. For some, the loss of tradition combined with the fear and uncertainty of the COVID situation may darken what has typically been such a bright, joyful season of celebrating Christ.
As your youth group leaders, Michelle and I pray that instead, each of our youth find a way to use their many God-given abilities, talents and connections to others in the community to do something that inspires hope, that shines a light in a dark time. Like the front-line workers mentioned earlier and highlighted in the Drummer Boy video, like the kids in the music video above that translate Bible-day acts of love and compassion into present-day action … our challenge to you is to start a new tradition of inspiring others during the holiday seasons.
Please share with us some ideas you may have on how to do that. As Christians, we get to be spiritual first-responders, (“church” responders?) and we are looking for creative ways to do that during these times. Beyond prayer, what else can we do as active church-responders? Bake Christmas cookies for a family quarantined at home? Call a friend who is dealing with a really tough time? Send a note in a Christmas card to uplift someone in our community?
Perhaps we can share those ideas with others and together as a group — even when we aren’t together in person in a youth group setting — really make a difference in our local communities. We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this challenge.
