Youth Sunday 2025

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

I'm Molly.

I get to serve as our youth director.

Okay.

Okay.

I'm gonna give you a quick map of where we're going this morning.

I'm gonna do some teaching, then I'm gonna get off the stage and let you be encouraged and convicted by three really anointed teenagers.

How does that sound?

Yeah, great.

On that note, I want to open our time with this question.

Why does youth ministry matter?

Why does awakening intentionally invest in teenagers?

With our assets, our time, our resources, our prayer?

What is it about teenagers?

Why do I have a job?

When you see your teenagers congregating in the quad, running around, or always sitting right here in church, what comes to your mind?

If I were to ask you to spend your Sunday morning teaching in our junior high space, what feelings might arise?

If I were to tell you how much money I spend on candy and pizza every week, what feelings might arise?

Why does youth ministry matter?

What would you say?

Think of the teenagers you might know.

I don't know what your opinions might be, I don't know what feelings come up, but I want to share with you what I see every day and suggest that there's something unlikely that Jesus might have for you this morning.

And I'm gonna spoil it right away.

Here's my point, this is my thesis, is that a healthy youth group is a model for discipleship in God's church.

They are leading the way in what it looks like to grow as a disciple, and that we need to take a page out of their book.

This last winter, our team ran two different uh winter camps.

You heard Bennett talk about it with great joy.

One for our junior high students, and we held another one for our high schoolers.

On Saturday night, which is affectionately known in youth circles as Cry Night, Pastor Diane Clemens preached the gospel, and then she sent us kind of like teary-eyed to our small groups.

I sat in a room full of junior high girls, like 11 to 14 years old.

We huddled on the floor, and I had my list of like processing questions.

You know how small groups work, you've been in one.

But I felt the spirit of God kind of tugging at me and telling me to pause, and actually, like he had something else that we were gonna talk about, to let the girls lead the conversation.

So I did.

They started asking about prayer and they started asking about God's will.

We talked for a while, and then one of my girls asked why God doesn't answer every prayer for healing with a yes.

Really good question.

I was formulating ways that like we could talk about it and answer her, but I first started with asking her question back.

I asked why she was asking that question.

What was behind it?

Where was it coming from?

And she shared a devastating story of loss where she prayed and believed for healing, and God said no.

And I watched as she sobbed.

That's one of those moments where you, as the leader in the room, you as the person who's supposed to have answers, have nothing to say.

What are you supposed to say in that moment?

There are no answers, there are no words, there's no fix.

I just kind of remained still, and I watched as the girl swarmed towards her.

I watched as they picked up her grief and put it on their shoulders.

I watched as they went and held her hand, put a blanket around her.

They were barely blinking because they were so present with her.

I watched as the Spirit of God ministered to that girl in her grief as she sobbed with the comfort of his presence.

And we did what can only be done in moments like that, which is to mourn with those who mourn and pray.

And so we prayed.

We were just with her.

After our small group time was done, we left our cabin quietly because we thought the boys were still in their small groups.

We left our cabin, we go out to the big area, and we're headed to the main room.

And in the windows, I see flashing lights.

And then I see Sam and Corbin with headlamps on, jumping.

And then I see they're surrounded by 11-year-old boys also jumping.

And we hear music that's so loud it's like the ground is vibrating.

And then I watch as my girls swarm towards them because there was a rave happening in the main room and they were missing out.

What I see in our teenagers is equally authentic expressions of joy and grief.

They can hold both.

And they can articulate the presence of Jesus in both.

Can you and I?

Last month, one of our high school girls was a part of a group of students who put on an event called Revival in the Bay.

And this is what they said about themselves.

Revival in the Bay is a high school student-led outreach event to reach other students with the truth and love the gospel.

What started with 14 students turned to 40 high schoolers with a God-given dream to reach the lost and strengthen those in their faith.

This event was made in order to bring peace in this chaotic generation.

This event was in April, and 2,000 teenagers attended, and half of them surrendered their life to Jesus.

And this started because a 17-year-old boy had a vision from God, and he gathered other teenagers, his peers, to make it happen.

From the girls in my small group to the students that led revival in the Bay, God has a unique heart and call for teenagers that is leading the way for the church.

What might we learn from them?

Our youth group is an eclectic, chaotic, diverse group.

Diverse in thought, interest, background, socioeconomic status, theological convictions and abilities, family history, everything.

They're schmorgisborn.

And yet every week they gather, they sit under God's word, they share a meal, they worship, they play games together, they encourage each other, they love each other.

They are the church.

What if youth group is a case study in living as a disciple of Jesus?

What if a healthy youth group is a case study in what it looks like to be a member of the body of Christ?

At Awakening, we have what is called the discipleship pathway.

If you've done Awakening 201 or have been trapped in a conversation with Dave, this will be familiar to you.

Come to know Jesus, grow as a disciple of Jesus, serve in the name of Jesus, and share the love of Jesus.

This is our leadership's vision for our church.

It is how awakening structures ministry with these pillars in mind.

How we can come to know Jesus, grow as a disciple of him, serve in his name, and share his love.

And our youth ministry is no different.

We're in the business of making disciples.

Our tagline is that we exist so that teenagers might love Jesus for a lifetime and not just a time in their life.

Everything we do is to the glorification of Jesus and the sanctification of his saints.

Teenagers are an essential part of the body of Christ, and we have much to learn from them when it comes to living a gospel-centered life.

So this is what we're gonna do.

We're gonna look to Paul's words in Romans 12 for what it means to grow as a disciple of Jesus and how our teenagers are actually leading the way for us.

There's a lot of Romans, and I am on the clock, so are you with me?

This means yes.

Yeah.

All right, picking up in Romans 12.

These are the words of Paul.

He says, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

This is your true and proper worship.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Paul says that in view of God's mercy, in response, because of his mercy, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices.

Our lives are not our own.

We don't cling to our comforts, our plans, our titles, our anxieties, our understanding.

Our true and proper worship is a response to the mercy of God.

It is driving a stake in the ground and saying, I will not bow or yield or seek to be like anyone except for the Holy One.

True and proper worship is a living sacrifice exactly where you are, not dressed up, not dressed down, exactly as you are.

Our teenagers wrestle so intimately with the hardest things of life, with uncertainty, with doubt, death, sickness, abuse, racism, betrayal, all of the things.

The world and the enemy do not spare them.

But they are not conformed by these things.

Instead, they respond in the face of them.

They ask questions, they wrestle, they worship, they move from grief to joy, and they mean both of them.

How?

They have faith, knowledge of the holy, confidence of the things unseen, and they are continually empowered and transformed by him, not their circumstances.

Growing as a disciple of Jesus means you sit at his feet and you learn because he's your teacher.

You learn who he is.

What he said, what he didn't say.

It is a slow and lifelong transformation of your mind that you might get to look like him and live as his hands and feet.

Our teenagers lead us in such humility.

They don't presume that they already know.

They don't presume they already have the answers.

Both the advantage and the disadvantage to their stage of life is exactly how willing they are to be led and taught.

And Jesus is the safest place for such vulnerability.

Anything entrusted to his hand is cared for, any need provided for.

But do you and I engage with Jesus as if this is true?

I see my students so boldly trusting him with their college decisions, with their friends, with their sexuality, with their anxiety, with their lives.

And it is not a blind trust, it is a rugged one.

Built on the conviction that Jesus is who he says he is, that he is good, that he is king, and we are not.

Discipleship formation happens right there in a surrendered life.

Are you and I so surrendered?

Or are we clinging to that which is not ours?

Paul continues.

But rather think of yourselves with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us.

If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.

If it is serving, then serve.

If it is teaching, then teach.

If it is to encourage, then give encouragement.

If it is giving, then give generously.

If it is to lead, do it diligently.

If it is to show mercy, then do it cheerfully.

Following Jesus means that you are not an island.

You are an indispensable member of a body.

We tell our students all the time that they are active contributors and cultivators of their environment, that they have direct impact.

They are essential.

It would not be the same without them.

And it remains so with you.

God's church needs you.

Not because you are particularly remarkable in your own strength, but because God has instilled good gifts and graces in you that are unique.

And he has created and transformed you in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared in advance for you to do.

He's chosen you.

You are a living sacrifice.

Your life is not your own.

Does your life look like this is true?

It is God who creates new life in the lives of our students.

He does the impossible.

Week in and week out, they labor, they surf, they do not grow weary and well-doing, and we get to bear witness to life change, both a miraculous prison from God and the direct impact of discipleship.

Our leaders give of their time, they pour out, they love students at their most unlovable, they hold confessions, challenge students, correct them, remember schedules, go to sports games, sit at front rows of musicals, brainstorm ASB campaign slogans, know their favorite candy, know the teachers they hate and why they hate them.

The healthy body of Christ, the older generation, is pouring into the younger generations as they are being raised up in wisdom and love.

They model that the church loves them, and by and part God loves them, that God pursues them, that there's a place in God's family for them.

Many of our leaders serve because they remember their own youth leaders.

Our students are learning that being a member of God's church means that you pour out two, that you receive and you give.

That what you receive you don't hold on to tightly as if it were yours, but you release it to Jesus and let him do what he does, which is multiply it.

What has God given you?

How might you give it back?

Are you invested in the church body?

Are you engaging fully?

I'm not asking what you can give as if there's something that we're trying to get from you.

I'm asking because this is the call for disciples of Jesus, that Paul's words are true.

In Christ we, through though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We belong to each other.

Does awakening look like it?

Do we act like it?

If this is your church home, do you act like it?

Paul ends this chapter by describing how we might engage with and belong to each other, by emulating the love of Jesus Christ.

Paul says love must be sincere, hates what is evil, and clings to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in love, honor one another above yourselves.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Share with the Lord's people who are in need.

Practice hospitality, bless those who persecute you, and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn, live in harmony with one another.

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.

Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil.

Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written, It is mine to revenge, I will repay, says the Lord.

On the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him.

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you'll heap burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is the word of God, and it preaches itself.

This is what awakening is to look like.

Full of people who share the love of Jesus in action and in being.

And I think of my junior high girls who are the physical presence of Jesus' comfort.

I think of my students who pray for patience and help in loving their enemies.

I think of my youth leaders that have jobs and families and make time for rounds of golf and coffee and breakfast at bills with students.

I think of God using teenagers to advance the reaching message of the gospel to thousands of students.

I think of how our students invite their friends to youth groups that they might belong, just like how Jesus did for so many.

A healthy youth group and a healthy church is a family.

We don't all have to get along perfectly, we do not all have to agree, but we learn to be at peace with each other.

Each of these commands that Paul gives these people, I have a story of a teenager doing it so naturally, it's like a reflex.

My last story.

One of our senior girls started attending Awakening this year.

She was brought by a friend, and I've watched her exponential spiritual growth.

That girl loves Jesus with like her whole soul.

And she's such a mama bird that she brought in one of her freshmen who is now part of our youth group and started walking with Jesus this year.

And just a couple weeks ago, I got this text message from this freshman.

She goes, Molly, what did I do today?

And I say, What?

She said, I was doing my verse of the day this morning before school, right?

And it was low-key like hitting and like exactly what I needed, and it also very much applied to a situation that one of my younger friends is in.

The verse that she was talking about was Ephesians 4.29, where it's talking about like, don't let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths.

And this is what she told me, this is what she sent to her friend.

This is her encouraging her friend.

She says, This is not me saying that you have to watch your mouth because I know you don't talk crap.

It's me saying that if their words tear you down, then their words aren't from Christ and they don't need to have any power over you.

She's 15.

She's telling that to her unbelieving friend.

And that is the love of Jesus Christ coming out of her mouth.

Afterwards, she was like telling me about it, and she said it was like scary, so I almost talked myself out of it.

But then when I was doing the prayer part, I remembered one about being bold and sharing the words of Christ.

So I was like, oh, now I have to do it.

Teenagers are a model for discipleship.

We have so much to learn from them.

Do you walk in such bold obedience to the voice of God?

Do you confess the way our students do?

Can you hold another's confession with grace and treat them with no partiality?

Do you ask hard questions and keep asking them the way that our students do?

Can you hold grief and joy in the same hour?

Do you experience such joy in gathering that they do, that their faces light up when they see each other?

Are you intentionally growing as a disciple of Jesus?

We never move on from the gospel.

We never finish this pathway.

It is cyclical, it is seasonal.

You will discover and come to know Jesus in more depths.

You'll experience the gospel in new ways.

You will stray and he will chase you down.

He will continue to call you home.

He will test and challenge and stretch you, and he will ask you to lay down your life, and you will learn all over again that it is he who brings new life out of death.

As I bring up our teenagers, as they preach to us in the stillness of your own heart, ask God what he might have for you this morning.

These students are like prayed up and they're ready to preach.

And so, as their church family, spur them on and be spurred on by them.

God has something for awakening this morning, and it's going to come from the mouths and testimonies of teenagers.

And with that, I'm going to invite up our first student, Hannah.

Morning, everyone.

My name is Hannah Trig, and I'm in eighth grade.

I grew up in the church, and it's always been a part of my life.

But these last few years, my relationship with God has become more meaningful to me.

I was baptized three years ago because I'd started to notice a pattern in my life, and I couldn't seem to be able to shake it.

Whenever I felt anxious or sad or broken, I would retreat into myself, feeling completely isolated from those around me, even when surrounded by people I loved.

In my anguish, I would cry out to the Lord to relieve me of the negative thoughts and emotions that clung to me.

And he would answer.

It was like he had flipped a switch.

I felt renewed and blessed and filled with gratitude and praise for the one true God.

I would go about feeling euphoric, filled with life and life, life and light, praising the Lord with all of my heart.

But inevitably, the next struggle would arise.

Negative thoughts would rear their ugly heads, the great clouds would return, and slowly the wonderful feeling would fade.

Despite all the incredible things he'd done for me, I would fall right back into that same cycle, wallowing in misery and loneliness until I reached out for God once again.

Upon recognizing this, I knew something had to change.

I wanted my relationship with God to be something more.

I wanted to feel his presence in my life all.

The time.

I decided to be baptized, and in doing so, I became closer with God and stronger in my faith.

But it didn't suddenly solve all my problems.

I still had doubts and worries and rough days.

Not knowing where else to look, I turned to the Bible, hoping to find the answer there.

As it turns out, the Bible is full of people who doubted God, but as you can imagine, most of them didn't solve their problems in the very best way.

Sometimes we can forget that the Bible is written about real people, who live with real emotions and motives and struggles, just like us.

It's just as much of a testimony to God's love and creation as it is to the human condition and the cycle of sin and forgiveness that we fall into.

One of the best examples of this can be found in the disciple Peter's relationship with Jesus.

We first meet Peter in the Gospel of Matthew.

Jesus says to him and his brother Andrew, Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.

We've probably all heard this story, or one like it in the Bible, but consider it from Peter's perspective.

Peter was a fisherman by trade, and it's likely that his family had always been fishermen.

He'd probably never even planned on being anything else.

Yet when Jesus called to him, he answered immediately and with eagerness.

That's often how it begins, isn't it?

We set out to follow Jesus with a list of profound resolutions and promises we're excited to put into practice.

We'll say things like, From now on, I'm going to love everyone fully and unconditionally just as he commanded us.

I'm going to read five chapters of the Bible every day.

I'm going to pray for those who wrong me in response to every single person with compassion.

That's not to say that you shouldn't do any of these things.

These are things Jesus tells us to strive for, so that we are more like him.

And if you're anything at all like me, you're going to diligently do all of this for about a week or two.

And then the five chapters a day shift to one or two, and then one or two a week.

And then that one classmate or teammate or sibling or coworker really gets on your nerves and you don't exactly respond with love and compassion.

Whatever the reason is, you eventually revert back to your old ways.

In Peter's story, we see this demonstrated several times, the most prominent being in Matthew, verses 29 through 31.

The disciples are in a boat that is being buffeted by the wind and waves.

The Bible also tells us that they were a considerable distance from the land, and that they were without Jesus.

Then Matthew says, Jesus appeared to the disciples, walking across the water, and said, Do not be afraid.

Jesus was there to save them, but in the midst of their fear and panic, they mistook him for a ghost.

Peter replied to Jesus, saying, Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.

Come, Jesus said.

And then the Bible says, But when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me.

This happens when we need God the most.

We start forward, terrified but desperately wanting to be close to him.

We are distracted by the wind and the waves and the turmoil around us, and we are shaken.

We start to sink once more, and so we cry out to him, just as Peter did.

And just as he did then, Jesus responds.

Verse 31 says that immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

You of little faith, he said, why do you doubt?

And we are saved once more.

You would think that this would have been the end of it.

Peter watched Jesus walk on water, and immediately following this interaction, all of the disciples rejoice and worship Jesus, proudly proclaiming him to be the Son of God.

But just a few chapters later, Peter has already forgotten this miracle.

The next segment of Peter's journey starts bleakly.

Jesus has been publicly arrested and tried, and it seems as though hope has vanished from the world.

Matthew details how Peter, fearful and alone once more, denies any affiliation with Jesus, not just once, but three times.

In chapter 26, verse 70 says that he denied it before them all, that Peter looked at a whole crowd of people questioning him and said, I don't know what you're talking about.

Matthew also writes that then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken.

Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.

And then he went outside and wept bitterly.

This is Peter's lowest point, and I'm sure many of us have been there too, feeling completely at rock bottom, convinced that our current state is beyond grace or forgiveness.

But in John chapter 21, verses 15 through 17, shortly after the resurrection, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him.

John 21:15–17

Each time, Peter answers that he does.

Upon being asked the third time, he finally says, Lord, you know all things.

You know that I love you.

Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, mirroring the earlier three times that Peter had denied him.

And asking this, Jesus is giving Peter an opportunity to redeem himself.

Despite everything that he'd done, Jesus forgave him.

Peter still had doubts.

Peter, who left everything to follow Jesus, who witnessed firsthand the miracles that Jesus was capable of, still had doubts.

But when Jesus spoke to him, when he died and rose again and forgave him, Peter didn't let himself fall back into the old loop.

He saw that Jesus is the Son of God, and he saw the only way to the Father was through him.

Peter saw that the road would not be easy, and yet he went on to become one of the founders of the church.

He ended up writing two books of the Bible, and in the end endured many hardships because he chose to believe in Jesus.

Choosing to follow Jesus and accepting the Lord into your heart will strengthen your bond with him.

It doesn't promise that all your problems will disappear, but it does make them easier to bear, because you never have to carry the burden alone.

This is the comfort that I find in the Lord, especially in moments that I feel isolated and beyond hope.

It has guided me as I continue to lean more into him.

And my wish for you today is that it will guide you, that wherever you're at, you remember that the creator of the universe, the one true God, is right there beside you, and that he loves you deeply and unconditionally.

Thank you.

Good job.

I'm gonna make you keep clapping as we invite up Ezra.

Hey guys, oh man, there's a lot of you.

I I looked, I looked back at the start of the service and there was like no one, but then just everyone came in.

Dang it, okay.

I'm Ezra, I'm a freshman at the high school group here.

Um now, Molly, our youth leader, asked me to come up here and give in what is my eyes is basically a school presentation.

And I'm gonna be real with y'all.

School presentation's not my forte.

I think I like got a C on the last one, so so bear with bear with me here, alright.

The passage I'd like to read from is Matthew 7, 7.

Jesus here is wrapping up his longest teaching, the Sermon on the Mount.

He's in the middle of teaching us what the good life is or how we should live.

So if you have a Bibles, turn to Matthew 7, 7.

Ask and it will be given to you.

Seek and you will find.

Knock, and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks receives.

The one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Which one of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone.

Or if he asks for a fish, give him a snake.

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

Okay, so when I was younger, I'm not gonna say when I was a kid, I said it when I was a kid once, offhand, to my one of my friends, and like literally, multiple people turn around and they basically yell at me, you're still a kid, you're still a kid.

And that that has traumatized me ever since.

Um I have sworn to never say that until I'm like 35, just to be safe.

Uh anyways, when I when I was younger, um, maybe like in elementary school, I didn't like to ask for stuff.

So, like, if I wanted something, I'd kind of try to get it myself or just go without it.

Now, I did ask for things.

I asked for Toys at Target, um, Toys at Walmart, toys at Costco.

Um that toy toys seemed to be a common theme in much of my my requests back then.

But when it came to like asking for a snack or asking for a help on a school project, I tended to shy away.

Um my natural dislike of asking or asking for the wrong things carried over into my praying.

You know, I grew up in a strong church community, which I'm immensely thankful for.

So prayer was always a regular part of my life.

But when I prayed, either alone or with my family or somewhere else, I didn't really bring the things that were truly bothering me to God.

Instead, I just tried to copy what everyone else was doing.

Um, I don't always think this was a bad thing.

The prayers are offered were still real and meaningful, but I was holding holding something back.

You know, I still struggle with this even now.

Um I think I pray more than I did then, and I'd like to say that my prayers are more heartfelt, but still, in many ways, um I still do not look to God for the things going on in my life.

Like when something bad happens, my r my first response is just see what I can do.

And you know, that works some of the time.

Um but for a lot of things, especially the bigger things, there's often just nothing I can do.

And even then, even when the only thing for me to do is to pray to God, still, too often I don't.

Still, too often I just try to forget about it or convince myself that it doesn't matter.

You know, something I didn't really understand, or at least not in the deep way back then and still haven't fully internalized now, is the fact that God wants to help us.

You know, he's not reluctant or annoyed when he we ask.

You know, he doesn't bless us because we pray hard enough, he blesses us because he's good.

You know, like it says in verse 11, if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

You know, the emphasis is not on us to get God to give us good gifts, it's on God.

You know, he's good, right?

Um God is ready and willing to help us.

But I think where the rubber meets the road is in the asking.

Okay, so in contrast to myself, my sister Sophia, um she she loved to ask for things, right?

Um whether it was to fly and visit our grandparents or like just asking for a snack.

She she always was asking for stuff.

Um and even though she was told no a lot of the time, probably most of the time, I was I was constantly surprised by just how much my parents would say yes to.

Um and sometimes I even I'd even get annoyed.

Even if I was the one who benefited from it, I'd be like, why why should we get to eat out?

Okay, nothing special has happened.

It's no one's birthday.

This is not in the budget, people.

But because Sophia asked, uh, we went out.

Um, I kind of think this is how God wants us to behave.

No, but seriously, Sophia's great.

If it wasn't for her, I probably would have not eaten out ever before now.

Um anyways, God wants us to always rely on him in prayer.

In Romans, it says pray continually, right?

He wants us to take all our problems to him, he wants us to lean on him, okay?

Um, and I think something that bothers a lot of people, and still kind of bothers me, is the fact that so many of prayers seem to go unanswered, right?

You know, Molly kind of touched on this.

Um, but I think there's, and this is not an easy question to answer, right?

I I don't have an answer for this.

But I think there's a lot of weight to the fact that God doesn't always just look to the solve the problems in our lives that we think are the biggest, right?

Um, you know, because to someone who can look on the inside, I think it'd be pretty apparent that getting that grade or getting into a good college or making a lot of money or whatever isn't really gonna solve anything.

It's just gonna feed the cycle of hunger for things that don't bring you closer to God.

You know, things that if you give them your heart will lead you straight away from him.

Like if a son asks for a snake, will the father give it to him?

You know, this is something I've struggled with a lot, you know.

Um, being blinded by what I think I need or what I think will make me happy, um, and losing sight of God in that.

Um, of course, all this not to say I'm not trying to make an excuse for God for prayers not being answered.

I think God answers many prayers, more more than he gets credit for, right?

He's done some amazing things throughout the centuries.

He's resurrected Jesus.

And um something, maybe not quite on that level, but but pr pretty pretty close happened to me about six years ago.

Okay, so because probably probably because Sophia asked to go out.

We were eating out at Chipotle, right?

Um my family loves Jipole.

We go there all the time.

We will probably go there after this service, in fact.

Um and now I get it, people will say, oh, Chipotle, it's not real Mexican food.

It's just American slop, right?

And to those people I say, uh, what do I say?

Ah, mmm.

No, yeah, no, yeah, no, they they have a point there.

Uh, but it's cheap.

The budget, the budget, alright.

Um, anyways, well, we were walking back to the car, right?

Um, after we'd already eaten, I was like, wait, guys, and I ran back inside.

Now, I was like nine at this point, and I didn't really do things like this.

It was probably Sophia who would have done something like this, okay?

Um, but okay, I ran back in there.

I went up to the counter and I was like, can I have a soda?

And the girl working there, who must have been only like 18 and was probably just as confused as my parents, was like, You mean a water?

I was like, nah, no, no, no.

I want a soda.

She's like, you know those cost money, right?

Um now, preluding to this, for years I have wanted a soda at Chipotle.

Um, years, alright.

I would see my parents get them on occasion and always be like, Can I have a soda?

And they'd be like, Yes, Ezra, of course we love you, of course you can have a soda.

No.

No, they never got me a soda.

But sometimes they led me on, okay?

They were like, oh yeah, sure, Ezra, come over here.

And they'd give me a sip, all right?

And they'll be like, yes, you don't need to thank us, Ezra.

You're welcome.

Um But they would they would never actually get me a soda, and I can't confirm this, alright, but I'm pretty sure I was praying to God on a daily basis for a triple eye soda.

Um and you know what?

Guess what?

Those prayers got answered.

She actually gave me the soda.

I walked out of there with my with my root beer.

It was the only one that didn't have caffeine.

Um it was kind of flat, but it was the best soda I have ever had in my life.

Sophia was so jealous.

Um I don't think I've had a Chipotle soda since then, actually.

Um But yeah, that was really that was probably the peak moment of my life.

You know, I think I think we can all be surprised by what God um by what requests God or cashiers at Chipotle will give us if we just ask.

All right, thanks guys.

Okay, well, I will see everyone at Chipotle later.

The poor cashier.

Um, last but certainly not least, I'm gonna invite up one of our graduating seniors, Evan.

Uh hello, I'm Evan.

I'm a graduating senior this year, and I have loved being a part of this youth group for the past few years.

It has greatly grown my spiritual relationship with Jesus.

So the last 14 years, two months, nine days, twelve hours and fifteen minutes have been the worst times of my life.

The last 14 years, two months, nine days, twelve hours and fifteen minutes, I've been an older brother.

I'm just kidding.

But one time when we were younger, we were chasing around each other around the house, wrestling, I was probably winning, and just playing.

At our old house, I had the luxury of having a bathroom that was right off of my room.

So I was running from him, and I ran to the bathroom, and I thought that I was so much faster that I could lock myself in the bathroom to get away from him.

No idea why I did that, but it worked.

So I thought I was so much faster that I could close the door and get away from him or something.

That didn't happen.

He was a little bit faster than I had anticipated, and I closed the door on his fingers.

Um as so as the door is flow is closing, his fingers get crushed between the door and the frame.

Just like his fingers, I was crushed.

What was just playing with each other turned really bad really fast.

I got quiet.

I was defeated, annoyed, and impatient.

He ended up getting stitches and was fine, and I went to my baseball game later that day.

But the entire time I was like, dang, I should have just been a little bit more patient, should have just waited.

Being an older brother for this long has taught me a lot of things about life, though.

Responsibility, want to knock some sense into him, wanted to be serious, and especially patience.

For me, being patient hasn't always been the easiest thing in the world.

Every time I think that I did nothing wrong, it's always this or that person's fault.

It's just not.

I'm just wrong.

What's really awesome about God is his patience for us.

No matter what we do, no matter what we what happens in our lives, God is always waiting for us.

So we know that God is patient along with many other things.

But what happens when we have to be patient with him?

So the verse that I chose was Ephesians 1 11.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

So God really just amazes me all the time.

There's eight billion people on the planet, and he has a perfect plan for every single one of them.

All we need to do is have some patience with God and trust his plan for us.

Sounds simple, right?

No.

As humans, we love to control as much as we can.

For years, UCLA was my dream school.

Three of my grandparents went there, my cousin goes there right now, and I just really wanted to go there.

I worked hard throughout high school, taking many AP classes, getting almost all A's, and playing sports.

When it came time to apply to colleges, I had to write lots of essays, which was super fun.

All of this hard work that I put in was me trying to work God's plan in my favor.

At the end of the day, getting those two B's versus those two A's didn't make or break my chances of getting to UCL today.

None of that mattered.

The only thing that mattered was God's plan.

After submitting my applications in November, it was right to waiting.

Waiting meant having patience, which was hard.

There was lots of praying, lots of waiting, lots of telling myself that God's perfect plan was all worth it.

I would just pray to put it to the side, to let God take care of it, which was, again, hard.

To be patient, to understand that not everything comes when I want it.

On a side note, once we get to heaven, I think Jesus is gonna be like the funniest dude of all time.

When decisions came out, it was like he knew I didn't love waiting.

So I was waitlisted, which meant having to wait.

It was another month at minimum, and I could be waiting through the summer.

I had to commit to another college and play the waiting game again.

Even though I got waitlisted for my top choice, I could still commit to my second choice, right?

No.

UC Berkeley also got waitlisted.

Third choice, maybe?

UC San Diego?

No, waitlisted.

So we go to the fourth choice, UC Santa Barbara.

Great school, by the way.

So I committed there and I just had to wait.

So I wrote my essay to try and get it off the UCLA wait list, accepted the other two, and I was just done.

I was very impatient.

I thought all this work that I was putting in and just didn't get me anywhere.

Not where I wanted to be.

So what happens when I was done waiting?

Um, three weeks ago I found out that I was going to UCLA.

So I did get off the wait list.

It was the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders.

But in reality, it should have been a weight that I let God carry.

I shouldn't have worried, but I did.

I should have trusted completely, but I didn't.

Jesus definitely pushed my patience to the max there, but he brought me back when I was over it.

The one thing I want you guys to take away from this is just to trust God.

We were chosen by him for his perfect plan for the purpose of his will.

Be patient, everything will work out.

God always has our backs, so live your lives without worry.

Thank you.

Um, as the worship team comes up to lead us in worship, you are invited to partake in communion.

You are invited to act as one body, to take communion as one body in remembrance of him.

There are two stations in the front, there's one in the back if you're gluten-free.

And we encourage you to be reminded to be served by our teenagers at the cost of our freedom and the cost of our unity.

And with that, I'm gonna close us in the words of Paul.

He says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your true and proper worship.

We hope you are blessed by this message.

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