Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Awesome Youth Preachers from Youth Sunday @ All Saints Church






The whole sermon -- "Teach Your Children Well" -- including Wilma Jakobsen's introduction -- can be viewed here.

14 comments:

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

Awesome, indeed!

ROBERTA said...

Thank you Susan!

Wow! Such wonderful talks given by such spectacular young people! What a joy to listen to them.......

David L Rattigan said...

Great videos. Jesus Christ lives.

I see this post has already rankled a few TEC traditionalists, so you've gotta be doing something right!

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

Yes, sadly the Stand Firmites are tearing our kids and our theology apart ... same XXXX, different day.

Here's the comment I posted over there:

It is our custom on Youth Sunday to have youth witnesses as part of the sermon. These two fine young people followed Wilma Jakobsen, our Senior Associate for Children, Youth & Families, who set the context for their witnesses to follow ... the whole sermon is available online at:

Youth Sunday Sermon

And I stand by “awesome.” I do believe it is awesome that a 17 year old child of an agnostic mother found a church where two years later her answer to the question “What does God mean to you?” is not “nothing” but “everything.”

May God bless her on her journey and give us the grace to consider, just for a minute, how it builds up the Kingdom of God to tear her down.

===

They're up to 56 comments over there ... I'm getting on with my "day job" so here endeth the blog monitoring ... for now!

Lindy said...

"... thanks to the opportunity All Saints gave me... I can help change the world."

That must be what's rankling the "traditionalists." The world is changing, I'm betting on these two kids to do it, and some people like things the way they've always been.

Go All Saints... give us some more world changers.

Unknown said...

Rev. Russell said:

"Yes, sadly the Stand Firmites are tearing our kids and our theology apart ... same XXXX, different day."

It should be noted that many of the comments at Stand Firm have defended the young woman's witness, and several have been downright magnanimous.

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

philip ...they have indeed ... and I just broke one of my own "step away from the tar baby" rules and commented again, thanking one of them. It is just amazing to me, still -- after all these years -- that there's as much venom and vitriol out there just ready to be unleashed at those who differ.

Bishop Shahan famously said "faith is what you're willing to die for -- dogma is what you're willing to kill for" ... and over at Stand Firm they've perfected the art of character assassination.

The Anglican Scotist said...

What did you expect from the denizens of SFiF? You have to expect that animal to be true to its nature.

It's a teachable moment, perhaps: these witnesses get to see what it is like to be persectuted a little for their faith. Who knew that a simple testimony of belief in Jesus could still be so loaded, and that the Sanhedrin this time would be...other Christians???

More importantly, they get an opportunity free of charge to respond in love to their persecutors, inquisitors that have declared themselves the enemies of your witnesses--and all on account of their witness to Jesus. That response in love is very difficult, but--it seems to me--essential to the movement of the Spirit. Not to argue with them, not to debate them, not even to rebuke them: all those things are different.

Instead, maybe an open invitation to come and worship God, serving Jesus in teh Spirit?

Elizabeth Kaeton said...

What kills me is that there is great angst over using these kids as "human shields" for the attack of the progressive gospel message.

Right. I guess they haven't been over to the blog of the wife of one of the Bullies.

A little like the pot calling the kettle beige.

These All Saint's kids totally ROCK! In the words of one of the more sane posters "over there", "it was like watching a Christian flower in early bloom."

Fran said...

These videos are so moving - really amazing. I found myself crying and thinking of the kids at our (RC) youth group.

We have one really extraordinary young woman who will end up going over to you all - she already feels a call to ministry.

I just wish we all of us could sort out the unity that is meant to be, but that does not seem to be immediately at hand.

I remain hopeful.

uffda51 said...

I will never be as articulate as these two young people.

From "nothing" to "everything." How great is that.

SUSAN RUSSELL said...

Yep ... makes ya proud to be from All Saints, doesn't it "uffda"?

uffda51 said...

Ya, you betcha. I'm looking forward to the new buildings so we can accomplish even more.

Suzer said...

I am so amazed at how articulate, composed, and intelligent these young people are. I certainly would not have understood my journey with God so well at that age. All Saints certainly must be doing something right!

I only wish that those who would criticize these young people understood the Gospel as well as these teenagers seem to have grasped it.