Into The Light

New Sundays

Zack hugs me tightly, "God is using all of this to make you stronger, He has a plan for your life, and mine,"

"Good Morning everyone!" a guy who looks to be in their late 20s or early 30s says as he gets on the stage. "My name is Pastor Evan for those who don't know me, I'm the youth pastor here, and today we're going to talk about everybody's favorite week of the summer, but first, we're going to worship,"

When I look up at the stage, I see Luke playing the guitar, and standing in front of a microphone, There were three people that I didn't recognize, one standing behind a keyboard, the second sitting behind the drums, the other standing in front of the microphone, not playing an instrument. As the band starts playing an unfamiliar tune, most of the people in the room stood up, I decide to stay in my seat and just observe.

"Let's start by singing the Chorus," Luke says into the microphone.

As I look around the room, I see some kids with their hands in the air, and others are just standing still. I didn't know what to think. As the song ends, and the next begins, I hear a somewhat familiar tune, one of the songs that played on the radio on the way to Church this morning.

Zack sits down next to me "You okay?"

"These kids are crazy,"

He laughs "Worship can get a little crazy sometimes,"

"I didn't know you could worship like this. I thought it was supposed to be boring,"

"Every church is different, one of my favorite things about this church is that we are allowed to worship however we want, you can worship however the spirit leads you to,"

The music begins to quiet down and Evan gets back up on the stage again and begins to pray.

"Father God we love you so much, Holy Spirit, please come and fill this place, I pray for hearts to receive the message this morning, and for eyes to be opened to your love. In Jesus' name, Amen,"

"Amen," echos throughout the room

"Alright you have two minutes to greet someone in the room and tell them you're favorite part about camp,"

Everyone starts walking around the room and the room is instantly filled with talking and laughter. I chose to remain seated, not really knowing who to talk to, or anything about camp

"I've already greeted you, but I don't want you to sit here alone," Zack says remaining in his seat.

"So what's your favorite thing about camp?"

"The activities, the food, the messages,"

"So everything?"

"Exactly,"

"Alright, who wants to talk about camp?" Pastor Evan yells over all the talking. "Camp will be held in Virginia again this year. We will leave on Saturday June 23, and we will be home on Monday, July 1st, as usual camp is paid for by the church, so you'll only need money for food on the way there and back, and if you want to buy anything at camp. I have an information sheet that Grace is going to pass out, Are there any questions about camp?"

When nobody spoke up, he continues speaking "We'll have a short devotion to finish up our time together this morning,"

As he starts to speak, I can feel this unexplainable feeling of peace. It was like someone telling me everything was going to be okay. He begins to close the service in prayer. I looked around to see everyone with their head bowed. Once I heard Amen being echoed throughout the room, I looked over to see Zack smiling at me.

"Did you like the message?"

I nod, "I can't explain it, but this feeling of peace washed over me as he was speaking,"