First Presbyterian Church
Youth Sunday
April 26, 2009

Sixteen of our youth led us in an energetic, spiritual, and heartfelt worship service. We can't reproduce in these pages any of their energy, but we can reprint the sermons of the four youth. Each sermon included scripture and a music video from YouTube. The Spirit was alive and moved many of us to tears as we listened to our youth.

May their words bless you as they blessed me.

Your Pastor, Susan

Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world-- the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches-- comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:15-16

“Looking for Angels” (Skillet)

Sermon by Charles

“Going through this life, looking for angels, people passing by, looking for angels.”

These words, from the chorus of the song “Looking for Angels,” ring true in my heart as I'm sure they do in yours. Wouldn't it be nice, if for once, we could always have someone close to us, someone who's nice, caring, understanding; someone who could help us through the tough moments of life, who could always lead their support to prop us up; someone who could open their minds to our feelings rather than the innate selfish desires of humanity; someone who, no matter the case, would see us through thick and thin?

Everyone would like to meet such a person. Many go through their entire life searching for that person. They look in the streets and in the mountains; they look in the cities and in the forests. But only the lucky ones are ever successful. And many of us mourn this fact in uncomprehending frustration. What we fail to realize is that we are these angels. They are not magical beings, but humans like us. All that makes them different is their attitude, their hope and faith. They live for others, bearing Christ's love across the world.

They live out the scripture of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Love is patient, love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”

This song challenges us to become one such person. It encourages us to help people, whether with just a smile and a hug or with an act of more effort, perhaps even turning back the nature of our material-focused nation. It encourages us to let our every action stem from Christ's love in us.

With his love in our hearts we can become angels for others to find. What will you do to make a difference, to make a change? What will you do to help someone along the way?

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep” John 21:15-16

“If Everyone Cared” (Nickleback)

Sermon by Lucas
It's really easy to not care about things. I don't care about the headache I have right now from staying up too late last night, for example. I don't care about the fact that listening to loud music hurts my ears. I don't care I accidentally broke a pencil while writing this. Not caring about things is easy. Now caring about things…that's a different story. How easy is it to just throw ten dollars at some cause that made you feel bad? You're pretty much paying ten dollars for them to stop making you feel bad. You might even get a little gratification about spending ten dollars on the charity. But is that caring? If you spend twenty dollars, is that caring? Can you throw any amount of money at it and care? As long as we as a country see caring as “how much money have I donated” the problem won't get any better. It might get worse. But how do I care about a homeless person, or a child in Africa, or abandoned animals? I can't answer that. Caring isn't easy. If it were easy, everyone would care. You, ironically, have to care about caring.

As a teenager who goes to a public school, caring can make all the difference in the world. When you're having a bad day and someone does so little as grab your pencil when you drop it and hand it to you, it instantly reversed the day's griefs. What if everyone in the school cared? Would anyone have a bad day again?

It sounds silly, but what if all eighty or so of us in this room took caring to heart? Don't think for a second any one of you can't change the world. You can.

“Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead .

  I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened. He lifted me out of the ditch, pulled me from the deep mud. He stood me up on a solid rock, to make sure I wouldn't slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-son to our God. More and more people are seeing this; they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God . Psalm 40:1-3

“You Found Me” (The Fray)

Sermon by Morgan

In the chorus of “You Found Me” it says, “Lost and insecure, you found me; Lying on the floor, surrounded; Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Just a little late, you found me.” In Psalm 40 it opens with “I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened.”

Both of these talk about waiting, waiting for God. Asking him what took him so long to finally be there to help them or save them. Why had he waited for so long and until they were in such a bad place to finally step in and help? But why do we have to wait for God? Why does God need to be the one to look for us and find us so we can be saved? Instead, we need to be the ones to seek God. By simply looking around or being in some of your favorite places, you may find God. Where do you go to look for God? Maybe it's simply in a church or on top of a mountain that you just climbed. For others it may just be being with the family and friends. Wherever it may be, you have to be willing to go and find God. Though it may seem that God is the one who is lost, we are the ones who are lost.

There is a story about a little boy who is looking for God. He looks in several various places, his cupboard, his closet, outside around the house and many other familiar places to him. While looking in all these places, not once does he find God. He says that God is missing because he is lost. The little boy then realizes that it was not God who was lost, it was him.

In all this, when you feel like God has lost track of you or isn't concerned with what you are doing, look inside yourself because it may be you who is the lost one. Once you have found each other he will lift you up out of a ditch, put you on a solid rock, and teach you a praise God song. Don't allow yourself to lose God.

Only be careful and watch yourselves closely, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your children's children-- Deuteronomy 4:9

“Watching You” (Tim McGraw)

Sermon by Dallas

The song I chose is a country western song called “Watching You.” When Ginger sent us all on a mission to find a song for Youth Sunday I was not quite sure where I was going to find a song. However, I must have been lucky because as I was driving home that day, this song popped up on the radio. I knew that I would be able to use it for a song this Sunday. As you listen to the lyrics the little boy watches his dad and follows his dad's actions. The father was surprised and disappointed when he heard his son use a bad word and was even more upset when his son told him where he learned it. The father was equally surprised when he saw his little boy praying and was pleased when his son replied, “I've been watching you.”

For the past eighteen years I have been a member of this congregation. Many of you have seen me grow up from a baby to a youth and on to be a high school graduate. As you have come to know me, I have also come to know you, and I consider my church family my second family. When I listened to this song several times I was struck with connection between myself, all of the kids in the PYG group and the congregation. The truth is…we have been watching you.

The PYGs sitting before you are made up of successful, kind, well-rounded young people who try to follow the way of the Lord, I believe that this is due greatly to all of you. Like me, many of my fellow PYGs have grown up in this church, you are adults that we look up to. Your actions, kindness, love, humor and hard work have inspired me more than you know. Listen to the song again, and this time, see what I have been seeing for the last eighteen years. ( The song played, but instead of seeing the music video, we saw photos of the congregation.) So instead of using this song as a way to related directly to God, I related it to all of you doing God's work, maybe unknowingly, in raising all of us to become the people that we are today. And on behalf of myself and all of the PYGs, we would like to say thank you.