August 8, 2024

August 8, 2024

This week our youth have been serving on our local mission trip. Hosted in homes overnight by some of our Redland family, each day 23 youth engage in a different ministry. They completed work projects at the church on Monday. The work included assembling new shelving for Grace in Store, painting some rooms in the youth house, and building and painting two new benches for the campus. On Tuesday, they served at a local farm run by Christians who provide food for area food banks. Speaking of which, Wednesday’s daytime project involved serving at a DC food kitchen. Thursday’s ministry involves service projects at the homes of some of our members. In the mix are also youth-led devotions, an outreach night, and a youth planned project day – with a few fun activities thrown in, for good measure.

I enjoy seeing our youth express their gifts and talents in service to the Lord. Whether it is Anna welcoming some of our newcomers, Caden leading a poolside devotion, Abigail and Grace pulling gobs of weeds while Juliana takes them away in a wheelbarrow, or Caitlin proving her mettle on the sandwich assembly line – these and more elements of our week bring me joy. Our young people are willing to step out of their comfort zones and boldly serve the Lord! They often express a willingness to try something new, even if they do not see it as one of their strengths.

In his play Phormio, the Roman playwright Terence wrote, “Fortune favors the strong.” This translation reflects the way we often approach life. We think that only those who are the strongest – who have the greatest talent and the most resources – will find success. It translates into ministry when we limit our efforts based on our own strengths rather than on God’s strength. The poet Virgil later adapted this phrase and changed it to the more familiar, “Fortune favors the bold.” Boldness covers our inabilities, especially when we are bold for the Lord. Our weaknesses allow God to shine more brightly through us.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about this: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV).

Boldness is about stepping out in confidence - not confidence in our own power but rather confidence that our powerful God will work through us. Where can you exhibit boldness this week?

Your partner in ministry,
Kevin Freeman