Back to School

Pause

School has begun, and in a few short weeks, the blissful days of summer are going to come to an end. The weather will turn cooler, the shadows deeper, and the busyness of the new school year will really take over.

Though each school year promises exciting opportunities to meet new people and build new relationships at school, pause for a moment and consider the relationships that you share with others in your faith community.

Listen

If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body? But as it is, there are many parts but one body. So the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” or in turn, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

1 Corinthians 12:19-21

Think

Consider this very important point: Your church needs you! I’m not suggesting that if you didn’t go to church every week or if you didn’t participate in your youth group, that the church would have to close its doors … that’s not likely. What I am suggesting is that for the past 2,000 years, the church has needed its youth to be a part of the life of the community.

You are a living reminder that the church has a future … not just because eventually you’ll be older, but because the seeds of faith that grow within you will nurture the church in decades to come. This doesn’t mean, however, that you have to wait to take an active role in your church until you’re older. Rather, it means that you have an important place now as you participate in all those practices and activities that make the church a vibrant place to be. Your church needs you!

Jason Santos

Pray

God of faith, I know my church needs me, and that I need my church. Help me to plug into the shared life of faith that you have given me. Help me to serve as I am served. And help me to bear witness to your love and grace in all that I do. In Christ’s name, amen.

Go

Okay … now seize this day and those wonderful relationships you have in your church by sharing a moment with someone from your faith community. As you begin this transition to the next season, try sharing it with someone close to you.