Graduation Day

This Sunday at church was graduation Sunday and it was very hard for me to get through.  We graduated 11 students and all of them are leaders.  I have seen many of these students join our youth ministry and just fall in love with Jesus.  It has been such a joy to watch them grow and serve these past couple of years.  Most of them are going away for school or the military and I am really excited to see what God is going to do with this group of young adults.  

I was sitting there thinking about how some were with me when this youth group was comprised of 10 students and yet others heard what God was doing here and joined the team.  All of them have such passion for following Christ and most will lead many others in so many different ways. I am eager to see what God will do with their futures yet sad to know they are leaving our youth ministry.

Sunday was a great day though.  I preached on Luke 9:23-25 and showed them commitments the world was going to ask them to make.  Things like college degrees, marriage, children, and much more.  I had a prop on stage representing each item and then I asked the students to stand up and go to the welcome center and pick up the greatest commitment.  They walked back and all of them picked up a cross that they built the day before.  As they walked it in the congregation stood in reverence.  It was a very powerful moment for me watching these leaders carry a cross to the front of the stage.  The greatest commitment is to continue to follow Jesus and carry your cross.  Then I had them bring it on the stage and stand the cross in front of all the other commitments.  It was very powerful to see the cross standing there with those I love holding it.  I hope and pray that they will remember what was said and they will truly live it out.  

That night all the youth workers and graduates went to a Japanese steak house and had a great time together.  I will miss the class of 2009.