A Few Things... (and a reminder)

Hey everyone! Thanks to all of you who came to the cottage last week, I think it's good for us to share things like that together and pursue the knowledge of God wholeheartedly!

I want to encourage you to continue in your own personal quiet times to study more about who God says he is and how he wants us to approach him in worship. If we don't spend time with him on our own, then when we come together and worship it's more like "catch-up" time then moving forward. We want to progress in our faith, know Christ intimately, and worship him passionately. So press into God and seek him out!

A quick reminder: this Friday (10/19) is homecoming, no regular youth group meeting. And unfortunately, because there is a women's retreat the next week, I'm going to have to rethink the worship setup for that meeting. I'll let you know if any changes to the original plan are necessary. I'm sorry for any confusion; email me if you have questions.

Guys one thing I want to mention... countenance. What is your countenance? It's the expression on your face, the way you present yourself. In Psalms it mentions people with a light in their countenance, and that light is from God. As people of God, with his Spirit living inside us, we need to lift up our countenance!

A lot of the times I see people worshipping God with bored looking faces (not just in youth group, but that's what I'm talking about right now). They may be very sincere, but their face doesn't show it. If I didn't know them and I walked into youth group for the first time, it might almost look to me like they were bored out of their minds and only singing because they had to.

Now, all of you made the choice to be on the worship team, nobody twisted your arm to join. So I know you want to be there and want to lead other people into the presence of God. And God is never boring! So let's make an effort to lift up our countenance, and allow the worship in our hearts to have an outward expression.

If you can move your fingers to play or open your mouth to sing, then I know you are all capable of looking like you mean what you are playing and singing. I'm not saying you have to be fake and start making random faces in the middle of songs. I'm just saying, we love God, we want more of him, let's not be all stiff and bored about it! Pray and ask God what that means for you.

See you guys soon!
~Emily