Sometimes the world gets pretty depressing. There is so much badness going on in the news and in the church we are constantly reminded that persecution is coming to the western world in our life time and there's nothing we can to do about. Basically we're all doomed thanks to natural disasters, wars, school shootings, and the leftist agenda.
But.
What if we weren't doomed?
See, you really can't complain about how bad the world is if you are doing nothing to change it. I know we don't have control over natural disasters but we do have lot more control over changing this culture of death then you might think and I would like to encourage young people in particular to not sit still. We have energy when we're young that we will never have again. Let me give you just two examples of young people who aren't sitting still.
1. This week I was extremely blessed do some volunteer work with a pro-life group. As I drove home on Friday afternoon an exceptional thought entered my mind; I am 23 years old and I have grown up with abortion. My entire life the idea of abortion has always been a black dot on this nation I love. It has been in sermon examples of evil and people read books about it but in my 23 years the church has been sleeping when it comes to the death of tens of thousands of Canadian children. But don't you think it is evil itself to confess something as wicked and do nothing to stop it? What will Jesus say when He comes back and the Christians of Canada come forward and we say "we know that our nation slaughtered thousands of children in extremely cruel ways just because it wasn't really convenient to keep them." I'm pretty sure He won't be impressed.
But this past week I watched as young people engaged our culture and defended life. Some people got angry. Some people agreed. And some people changed their minds. Babies were saved because young people decided it was worth getting out of bed early, worth sunburns and blisters and people yelling at them, worth the inconvenience to save a life.
2. On Saturday night young people met at a church to pray and go out and share the good news of Jesus with their town. No, they didn't see sudden conversions. But what they have seen is relationships form with people they wouldn't expect. They see friendships and changes happening first in their own hearts and then in the hearts of those they talk to. They see God's Spirit moving gently in the people they engage with. They see minds changing as they ask questions and share answers. They see people come to a knowledge of God and come to church because young people decided it was worth not hanging out with friends, worth not sitting at home doing what they liked, worth letting other things wait so that they could bring Jesus to those whose souls are doomed to darkness.
But there are many other ways to not sit still. You can visit the elderly, go out in your own town and share the gospel, invite people into your home, babysit for a worn-out mum, send letters to your MP, MPP, and Prime Minister, and best of all you can pray.
Can you imagine if the young people of every church in Canada were characterized not by drinking or entertainment or immaturity but as people who prayed? And having prayed to go out and change the world? To be brothers and sisters to the lonely, to help the fatherless and widow, to do as God commands. To love like your heart belongs to Jesus first and foremost and can be used in whatever way He sees fit.
Let me leave you with this encouragement. The Spirit of the Lord is far more capable of doing the impossible than you could ever imagine. If you are a Christian the fact that He saved your soul is case in point. Do not doubt that He can use you. But be ready to be used. Be willing and available for His use and expect miracles because they are His specialty.
But.
What if we weren't doomed?
See, you really can't complain about how bad the world is if you are doing nothing to change it. I know we don't have control over natural disasters but we do have lot more control over changing this culture of death then you might think and I would like to encourage young people in particular to not sit still. We have energy when we're young that we will never have again. Let me give you just two examples of young people who aren't sitting still.
1. This week I was extremely blessed do some volunteer work with a pro-life group. As I drove home on Friday afternoon an exceptional thought entered my mind; I am 23 years old and I have grown up with abortion. My entire life the idea of abortion has always been a black dot on this nation I love. It has been in sermon examples of evil and people read books about it but in my 23 years the church has been sleeping when it comes to the death of tens of thousands of Canadian children. But don't you think it is evil itself to confess something as wicked and do nothing to stop it? What will Jesus say when He comes back and the Christians of Canada come forward and we say "we know that our nation slaughtered thousands of children in extremely cruel ways just because it wasn't really convenient to keep them." I'm pretty sure He won't be impressed.
But this past week I watched as young people engaged our culture and defended life. Some people got angry. Some people agreed. And some people changed their minds. Babies were saved because young people decided it was worth getting out of bed early, worth sunburns and blisters and people yelling at them, worth the inconvenience to save a life.
2. On Saturday night young people met at a church to pray and go out and share the good news of Jesus with their town. No, they didn't see sudden conversions. But what they have seen is relationships form with people they wouldn't expect. They see friendships and changes happening first in their own hearts and then in the hearts of those they talk to. They see God's Spirit moving gently in the people they engage with. They see minds changing as they ask questions and share answers. They see people come to a knowledge of God and come to church because young people decided it was worth not hanging out with friends, worth not sitting at home doing what they liked, worth letting other things wait so that they could bring Jesus to those whose souls are doomed to darkness.
But there are many other ways to not sit still. You can visit the elderly, go out in your own town and share the gospel, invite people into your home, babysit for a worn-out mum, send letters to your MP, MPP, and Prime Minister, and best of all you can pray.
Can you imagine if the young people of every church in Canada were characterized not by drinking or entertainment or immaturity but as people who prayed? And having prayed to go out and change the world? To be brothers and sisters to the lonely, to help the fatherless and widow, to do as God commands. To love like your heart belongs to Jesus first and foremost and can be used in whatever way He sees fit.
Let me leave you with this encouragement. The Spirit of the Lord is far more capable of doing the impossible than you could ever imagine. If you are a Christian the fact that He saved your soul is case in point. Do not doubt that He can use you. But be ready to be used. Be willing and available for His use and expect miracles because they are His specialty.
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