Live Different

ME

Well Good evening, welcome to youth. In case we haven’t met before my name is Ryleya nd I am the youth pastor here

Is anybody excited to go back to school next week? Well a few but most aren’t.

Tonight I want to talk with you, not at you, about one of the most challen ging verses in the Bible to me.

It’s one of the verses that challenges who I am, makes me think about my life and how I act. It’s a portion of sctipture that makes me really examine myself.

And so tonight I thought you and I could have a heart to heart conversation, a moment where it’s just two humans talking about humanity. Sound good?

We

You see, like some people in this room I grew up going to church and in kids church and being involved all the time. But then in grade 8-10 i began to drift away a little bit more, bu the time I was in grade 10 I was living two lives the church life and my non-church life. I had the life that the church people saw, and then had the life that i hid from them.

Have you ever been there?

You have the life your parents/grandparrents see, and then the life that you and some of your freinds see, andthen some people, even in this room have a third life where it’s only the life we see.

Still with me?

So i was caught in the middle, unitl one day by bestfreind at the time, who by the way is not a christian said to me “Ryley, aren’t christian’s supposed to act differnt than the rest of the world?”

Have you ever had that feeling where your stomach feels as though there is a strom isnde, you interanlly feel all teh aior geting sucked out of your body, and you feel awful?

That’s what happend to me.

I had that moment where I said, if I’m going to say “I follow Jesus” I should start following Jesus then. nOt halfway, not complaining, but seriously doing it.

The point of that little story isn’t to tell you about a time I felt bad but it’s ti highlight the importance of how we live our lives.

Over the past two years myself and the leadership team have reapteadly spoken about follwoing Jesus, what theat means, and how we do it. and tonight we reach the first part of the final aaspect of all those messages.

Tonight let’s talk about living different.

IN our world today we all want to be different but we don’t want to stand out. It’s a paradox that no one really talks about but here we are.

God

I met with a freind a coupe days ago and we were talking about how he works on site and is a Christian. SO ia asked “Is it difficult to owrk on site and still follow Jesus?” DO you know how he responded?

He said ‘Ryley, for me I have come to this simple truth. I don’t live my life trying to be accepted, i live my life out of the accpetance I’ve already been given in Jesus”

Pwerful ins’t it. we don’t live out lives for the acceptance of tohers but we live our lives out of that acceptce we have in Jesus.

See Paul, the man who worte majoity of the new testament, said something similair in letter to a church in a town called Colassae.

Now this letter wasn’t “Dear Colossians, band camp is going well. I am enjoying my summer here, the lake is beautiful and i think I ,may be in love, much love your boy, Paul. ”

NO! this letter was written as a very practical guide to living a healthy Christian life. Paul is writing this letter to a people like you and I, who are in this journey of life trying to figure everything out.

This is what paul says in Collosians chapter 3.

That as we learn to follow Jesus that means killing off, very powerful word isn’t it?, everything connected with the life not connected to Jesus: for example sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

Paul goes on to say

“But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

9–11  Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and unculultred, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So wer know what not to do, what do we do?

Well, like any good teach Paul shows the answer.

He says this,

“ So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as Jesus forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15–17  Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way”

You

IN this passage we see that Paul moved on to specific issues: the things that Christians are to avoid and the things that they are to pursue.

Adn that list is long so let’s summarize it like this:

Becaue of Jesus I will

See others as valuned created beings

Show kindness to everyone

Put others before myself

stand up for justice

forgive others even when I don’t want too.

Becaue of Jesus I don’t

Lie for my benenfit

put others down

Gossip

Go around sleeping with a bunch of people.

Now on that note I want to make this abundantly clear. Many of you may know pople who have doe that and even some of us here in this room. I want to tell you this tonight, Just becaue that has happend doesn’t mean God stopped loving you. You are not writtten off and you are not outcasted. I personally belive there is a next, a future for every person and a person’s definiton is not found int heri mistake but in their creator. THat doesn’t define you. ONe of the reason that thisis on the list is that that act is super personal and was created to eb shared among husand and wife due to the fact that it is the giving of ones self to another. BUt if you know of people wh ahve doe that or even if you have, shame will afoten say that becaue if it you aren’t allowed back.m I say that this is fale.

Now to make that clear, I’m in no means giving permission to do that, I am just saying that God’s love for you isn’t depend on your actions. Okay cool?Let’s keep going

If you’re like me this list can see downright impossible and may even seem unfair, but Here’s the thing though, I want to amke this VERY CLEAR. this change is progressive. This new creation have in Jesus is a continual renewal. It makes people grow continually in grace and knowledge until they reach what they were meant to be—full humanity in the image of God

We

David sang this soing earlier I personally belive that it fitting for tonight. That we are no longer slaves to sin,Slaves to depression, anxiety, emotion, acceptance, slaves to shame, or addiction.

That Jesus comes removes the shackles that we have been wearing for far too long and says “you’re free”

But sometimes it is a journey to rewire our brains and hearts to think differntly, to act differently. To be differnt.

And so we need peopel to come along side of us to help in our jjounrey. To remind us who we truly are, to be a lsiteing ear if we need it, to provide advice, counsel, or just a hug.

We need friends who act differnently. And for the past two years I was given the honour to do just that with many of you.

BIG NEWS

As some of you alrreayd know and some of you don’t, recently I have taken a new posisiton within the church to become the Young Adult Pastor. Effective April 1st 2022 less thannone month away you will have a new youth pastor to journey alongside you.

April 1st will be Cailtin and I’s last youth night and it is being planned by the student leaders. I know some of you maybe sad, some of you maybe super excited lol, but I just wantes you tohear it from me, from my heart to yours.

It has been an absoulte honour to be your youth pastor over these past two years and to jounrey alongside you in soime of the most challangeing, rewarding, andn awkward stages of your life.

I am proud of each and every one of you and Cailtin and I know that God is going to do something great here at FCC Youth, Just like how I belive thre is a next for each person, i belive there is a Next for FCC youth.

So April 8th you will ahve a new youth pastor, one that I am honoured to know and work with already. So pastor Isa will be taking over youth minsitry (CLAP)

I am so excited for what God is going to do in this Next season.

But wiht thata being said, we have a month, well kind of, less than a month

and my hope is this. We get as many people out to everything as psssible. NExt week we are kicking off our alpha series here on wednesay and my hope is that all of you would be there. We will ahve food, games and just time to connect.

And if anyone want to come on sunday ngith Pastor Andy will be hsoting a New belivers group here at teh church Sunday night at 7:30-9pm.He wanted me to let you know that if anyone is interested, that you are personally invited.

but Yeah, that’s the big news and like many of you ahve heard me say before, “food and ministry go hand in hand” so we have a bunch of desserts out in the cafe for you to eat. Here’s the rules, no mess, clean up your area, and throw out all garbage.

Pastor Isa will eb inn teh cafe so go talk with her, welcome her to the youth family and I will be walkng aorund if you want to chat.

Love you all and let’s go eat.