Scripture for the day:2 Corinthians 5:16-21
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,* not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
God Sightings: Today is the day we wore our bright orange Carlinville shirts. To say we stood out would be to put it mildly. However, in sharing God sightings, a group of the youth shared how the t-shirts they were wearing had opened up a conversation with someone about our church, and the youth group. Our hoard of matching orange shirts was a powerful witness today, and started conversations that let many of the youth talk with others about their faith and the role that the church plays in their life.
The youth, in our evening devotions, also spoke about the way that this trip was allowing their connections and relationships to become new. This trip has been an opportunity for the youth to strengthen their relationship with one another through their shared experiences.
As an aside, one of the places I saw God today was in the excellent leadership our youth showed in leading devotionals. Each night, a different pair of the youth on the trip take a turn to lead our devos, and out of the leadership tonight, some really rich conversations, observations, and prayers came.
The Report: Today was our first full day in Florida. After a late night, we got an early start, celebrating our arrival with brunch at the Crystal Palace - a chance to wee the Winnie-the-Pooh characters that are favorites of several of our youth (and adults!)
We spent almost 14 hours in the park, and had the chance to go on rides as a community. After dinner, we took over a small corner of the restaurant for our evening bible study and sharing of our God sightings today.
Overall it was a great day - looking forward to our service project tomorrow!
Pictures:
Brunch at Crystal Palace
Pictures:
Devos after dinner
Jana, Thank you for the posts and pictures. I know you have long and busy days, so I appreciate your updates. I know the children are in God's hands and he does not want us to worry. So I will just say that your posts feed my wonder.
ReplyDeleteJulie Dewey