Youths' Voice - January's article for our Good Word (Culver Palms UMC Newsletter)

The journey goes on in this 2014 year. It is about that time that we wonder about the program we utilize, whether it is reflecting the mission statement or not. I sat down with the Youth Group to ask the three questions that Bishop Carcano asks all the local churches. The first question; Who is Jesus Christ to you? Youth Group's answers include, Savior, Lord, God's son. Great answers but we began to dig deeper into what and why Jesus went all the way to the cross to save us. Jesus spoke truth to the powerful Roman Empire and its supporters. He told to those in power not to steal from the poor, not to be selfish, and not to cheat to get wealthy. He told the truth in spite of the consequences, and went all the way to the cross, yet he didn't give up telling them the Godly truth. This is the Savior we worship who went to the cross to save us from these sins! Wow, that was indeed deep. We went on to question 2, by completing the statement; My walk with Jesus could be immeasurably improved if the church would ... Many of the youths want to find their own voice. With the help of Culver Palms UMC we want to find our voice that Jesus showed us, the prophetic voice. To help stop bullying, to help feed the homeless like our long plan to Glide UMC. To do special services to celebrate saints, youth, and children. The third questions brought together our hopes for today and for the future generations. They hope for world peace, to keep the faith in God and not to loose faith, make connection with Jesus/God a top priority, put our faith into action to continue God's work in this world, and make the Bible relevant to our environment and our context. I am grateful for their input and this is a great start for this new year to reexamine our way of communicating our Christian faith. May this conversation with the Youth brings some insights that might help us seek to transform the world. Shalom Pastor Lynette Fuka