Youth Sunday Recap
Youth Sunday was a wonderful testimony to the way God is at work in and through the young people of Hopewell Presbyterian. The service included: liturgy leadership from Student Pastor Katie, Greg B. and Tiernan B., a prayer written by Abby B., mini sermons from Christopher Rice & Haley Yingling, a poem written by Paige Yingling, a charge from Lexi, Emily, and Logan Dendis, and the announcement of a Hopewell Youth Collective from Josie B. and Erica R.
Prayer from Abby B.
Heavenly Father, As we celebrate the miracles of spring, we yearn for the pandemic to end. We pray your blessings on all the people who have perished during the pandemic and we hope recovery for those grieving and suffering from COVID-19. We know you have a plan for us Lord, but we ask you humbly for wholeness during these times of uncertainty. We dream of scheduling events that aren’t contingent on a virus, and we pray for those relationships strained by distance. We ask for patience and encouragement to maintain social distancing, to wear masks and be responsible for our neighbor’s health. We thank you that the vaccine will become eligible for more people in NJ beginning tomorrow and we pray for those who may not have access to it. We show our thanks towards all the frontline workers who constantly fight to bring this sense of normality back into our lives.
We also thank you for everyone who helps make life easier in these times of troubles, especially teachers, caregivers, healthcare workers, and restaurant workers. We pray for each and every student, especially college students and high school seniors who have been forced to miss out on so much in this last year. We pray for those battling other diseases like cancer and their families and for those with feelings that they don’t matter because they don’t look the same or believe the same beliefs as we do. To you God, we know we are all deemed essential. We crave inclusion and an end to violence. Please be with the families and victims of any violent crime and open our hearts to reasonable policies that can protect innocent lives. We pray for those suffering from natural disasters and pray that we can all work collectively to help our planet.
We pray for our church dear Lord. We pray for each member of our Congregation. Let us each find peace here and a rich nurturing of our faith. Please bless the church staff and church leaders as they guide us through the upcoming planning season. We thank you for our Youth Group, especially the work of Katie, Laura and Doug.
Poem from Paige Y. - Reflecting on “loving God” as expressed in Mark 12:28-34
Sermon from Haley Y. - Reflecting on “loving neighbor” as expressed in Mark 12:28-34
I’d like you all to take a moment and think about something you have done in the last week, last month, or even last year for someone besides yourself… Maybe you thought of sharing your musical talents with the congregation every Sunday or occasionally lending your time at Aunt Chubby’s luncheonette. Maybe you thought of taking on the responsibility of stocking the small food pantry that sits outside the front of the church when you notice it is empty or even simply sending a homemade card to someone that says, “I’m thinking of you.” All of these actions I just mentioned and the many more I did not are great examples of how we, as Christians, love our neighbors.
Loving our neighbors is the second most important commandment according to Jesus. God first loved us and in doing so teaches us how to love one another too. I think it is fairly safe to say that many of us have learned to do this much better through the teachings of Jesus Christ, which we live by. I can say for certain that this has definitely been true for me along my own faith journey.
Today’s fast paced, social media and technology-filled society may make loving our neighbors more difficult. More and more children are replacing playtime outside with others with video games sometimes alone in their homes. Younger generations are more inclined to text rather than make a phone call. And many adults these days probably send far more texts and emails because it’s often quicker and easier than picking up the phone to speak to another person. Unfortunately, an increase in technology has oftentimes caused a decrease in human interaction and therefore a loss of more personal forms of communication. Facial expressions have turned into emojis and unique voices have become a string of words on a computer screen. When we do encounter people face to face, we may unintentionally come across as insincere instead of friendly because we are out of practice. Every single one of us, including myself, has probably been guilty of this at one time or another.
One of the reasons I love coming to church so much is because I am surrounded by people that exude warmth, kindness, and caring attitudes. This is a space where I feel safe to freely express myself and a place where I belong. It’s a place where I feel comfortable to grow, learn how to be a better version of myself, and most importantly love and care for others. I have been able to love and care for members of this congregation as well as help my neighbors in Hopewell and beyond through youth group, mission trips, and my duties as a Deacon of Hopewell Presbyterian Church. All of these opportunities and experiences have helped shape me to be a loving and caring Christian for which I am very grateful.
As we are regularly reminded, three of the ways we can spread the love of God to our neighbors is by sharing our time, talents, and treasures. By doing so, we can hopefully inspire our neighbors to share theirs and then inspire their neighbors to do the same. This ongoing action of sharing what has been shared with us reminds me of the movie “Pay It Forward”, which is a really inspirational movie and one that I highly recommend for those who haven’t seen it before. Trevor McKinney shows us that one action, no matter how small, can have exponential impacts. His simple proposition of showing an act of kindness to three people who then each show an act of kindness to three more people grew into a national movement. If we can make the effort to love our neighbors just as God loves every single one of us, then maybe our society can become more connected, more kind, more just and a more welcoming place for everyone.
Sermon from Christopher R. - Reflecting on “loving neighbor” as expressed in Mark 12:28-34
So, when Pastor Melissa asked me to talk about love, I was all for it. Even though I am maybe a quarter of the age of some people in the congregation, I have seen so much love in my life. To start, my mom… the most important woman in my life, she is one of the most loving people in my life. And she learned it from her parents, who (as of today) have been married 50 years! My mom has taught me so much about love. One of her famous lines, “ I might not like what you’re doing, but I still love you”, I mean yeah, maybe she doesn’t have a choice, because I am family or something like that. But I have learned to love someone unconditionally. I feel like more people in this world need that, to show love towards others.
For those of those who might not know, we are a part of Gen Z. In general, this generation is full of love, and acceptance. To us, everyone is loved for all of who they are, including their different color skin, sexuality, or different views. We will make that known, especially recently. More people are making themselves seen. People who are part of the LGTBQ+ community are making their voices heard, and I like that my generation doesn’t seem to blink twice.
A few years ago, one of my close friends came out to me as gay. Besides the fact that I kinda already knew, he knew that I would love him no matter what, and that him being gay didn’t change anything. There was one thing that he was scared of: he was terrified to come out to his parents, and the night that he did, he texted his mom, and broke down in tears. I was just there to listen, reminding him that everything was going to be okay. I did my best to make a safe space for him to say whatever he wanted, reminding him that he was loved. He was not doin too hot and he was terrified to go home, so we came up with a sort of game plan, and I stayed on the phone with him until he was comfortable hanging up. But I think that we can all take something from these experiences. We all need to know that we are loved.
As said in Mark 12:29, and I’m sure all of you have heard this countless times, is to “Love your neighbor as thyself.” This means to love everyone, who God created them to be and what they believe in.
I think we all need to hear the thing Jesus says to us, which is: “I will love you for who you are, and nothing will change that.”
