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| This was the theme for the weekend. Also, the anatomically correct heart is legit. |
Usually I come away from these retreats with one single thing that I remember for a few months and then mostly stop thinking about for the rest of the year until the next one comes.
I'm fairly certain that that won't happen with this winter retreat for a few reasons. 1) It was the first retreat with our new youth pastor. 2) It was the most I've ever seen God move in the group before. 3) I've never felt so much joy and contentment than at that retreat. And 4) There were quite a few things that the speaker said that caused me to think.
These things are the things that I want to use this post to work through all that I saw God doing.
Our youth group had been without a youth pastor for, I think, 15 months. In November(?) the church hired Josh. So I think both the students and him were worried that this retreat was going to be kind of awkward at some points. Well, it was quite the opposite. I got to know him better and it was really cool to see him council and encourage the guys in the youth group. If any of us were waiting for confirmation that the elders made the correct decision in hiring this guy, this retreat was it. Josh is fantastic. And it was really cute whenever his wife would text him a picture of his new baby son because his eyes would light up and he'd show everyone. It was adorable.
I've been to four retreats before this one. Each time there had been a whole ton of crying Saturday night and everyone, including me, was convicted about some sort of sin or crying about some difficulty in their life they were having a hard time dealing with. All this was kept until Saturday night and then we'd cry and pray and then it was all good.
This one was different.
Our first session, which was Friday night, was about God's abundant love for us. It was basically the Gospel presentation. It was a session which I, personally, really appreciated since I find that I can take God's love for granted and forget about it most of the time. The major thing was "Before you find out was love DOES, you need to remember was love DID."
When we got to our private youth group discussion a few of my friends were crying. They said that they couldn't figure out how God could love them if they couldn't even love themselves. They didn't understand why they didn't feel anything when everyone else did. One of my friends said that they struggle with depression and often thought that no one would care if they were dead. This broke my heart and I just about cried for them because I remembered back in middle school when I hated myself. So Friday night we prayed that God would show them his love, that they would see it plainly and hold onto it throughout the hard times of life.
Saturday morning was probably my favorite session. The speaker taught about the scripture in Matthew that says "The kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure found in the middle of a field. When a man finds it, he buries it again and goes and sells all he owns to buy the field" or something like that.
The main point I got out of it was that the joy and fulfillment that comes with faith in Christ is so much more valuable than anything else.
The speaker used a story to illustrate this principle further. He told a story of a guy who, no surprise, finds treasure in the middle of the field. So then he goes to the guy who owns the field and asks to buy the portion of the land. Long story short, the owner of the field takes everything from him. His car, all of his money, his college account, his Xbox, his iPad, EVERYTHING. And the guy who wanted to buy the field keeps reminding himself of the value of the treasure every time he wants to walk away from the deal. After the guy takes everything from him, he gives it back to the buyer and tells him, "I'm giving it back to you, but it belongs to me. So whenever someone asks you for you time, give it to them. Because it's not your time, it's mine now. If someone asks for some money, give it to them. It's not your money anymore, it's mine."
That really impacted me because... I have nothing that God didn't give me so why am I selfish with it?
Also, why am I satisfied with the things I have on Earth when God's abundance is so much greater. He quoted Jim Elliot saying "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Why am I so easily satisfied with stupid things??
Saturday night session came, and this is usually the cry-fest, emotional one. They did something different this year. So rather it being a lesson/sermon thing it was a "Worship Experience". Basically it was a personal prayer session with different things to do and reflect over. I like it so much more than a single lesson because each person was able to think about separate, personal things rather than what the teacher was saying.
I wasn't feeling very convicted of anything for most of it, and I started to wonder if there was something wrong with me or if I wasn't committed enough to hearing God's voice. But after the "Worship Experience" we sang a few praise songs and I saw a glimpse of God's glory and perfection. I've never been so joyful and worshipful except maybe in Costa Rica.
Then the small group discussion was even better because it wasn't just conviction and sorrow. Yes, there was a good amount of that, but it wasn't the only thing that happened that night.
Remember those students I talked about earlier? Well, they said that the moment they woke up Saturday morning they knew and felt that God loved them. How cool is that? That pretty much instantly God answered our prayers and showed them his love.
It was a great reminder of the different ways that God can work. He brought different sins to people's attention, he was able to encourage those who were going through a hard time, and he visible and quickly answered all of our prayers in just those few days.
Just thinking about it now makes me happy and I'm smiling just typing this.
Sunday morning, which is usually the session that I end up forgetting, will probably be the lesson that I remember the most.
Growing up in the church I've heard the story of the Good Samaritan so many times and I basically tune out anything that's said about it anymore because it's always the same thing. That's what I started doing during this session because he started talking about loving your neighbor and blah blah blah. But then he said something that totally changed the way I view the story.
If you don't know the story of the Good Samaritan, here's a link to the passage on BibleGateway.com
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2010:25-37&version=NIV
It's really short and sweet, won't take you long.
The teacher said that the Levite and the Priest passed by the poor fellow because of religious obligation. They thought they were loving God by not helping the guy. Because if he had been dead, they would have been "unclean" and therefore unable to serve at the temple and therefore unable to provide for their families. The guy's message was basically to not let your religion get in the way of showing mercy.
Don't let your religion get in the way of showing mercy. As in, don't avoid and condemn certain situations that would provide you with an opportunity to share Jesus just because of your religious obligations. He said this with a warning of making sure that everything you do is because you love God wholeheartedly and want to be a light for him.
That just blew my mind and provided me with a new outlook on this story.
Just writing this blog post I'm noticing that God started with telling me that he is enough and that the hope in heaven should be enough to satisfy me Saturday morning and then Saturday night showed me just a glimpse of what Heaven will be like.
This retreat was amazing. I got closer to everyone and learned a whole lot of stuff about God's love. I pray that God will continue to show the youth group his glory and encourage us. I pray we will remember everything that God showed us this weekend when our lives get hard and we can't hear God's voice through all the confusion.
Much love,
Amanda <3
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