One Reason for Hope

Woodside has a number of special services during the year. Naturally there are the Christmas, Easter and other holiday services. But there are also other special days. There is Mother’s Day & Father’s Day, when the women and men, respectively, participate in the services more than usual. There is the Sunday that the children have their drama, and Senior Sunday when the High School Seniors say “so long” to the congregation as they head off to new adventures.

And then there is my favorite of the additional special Sundays: Youth, or Confirmation, Sunday. Every year the ninth graders in the senior high youth group have a 12-week study to prepare them for their confirmation. It is capped off with Confirmation Sunday. On this day each of the youths steps up in front of the congregation and reads their “Statement of Faith”. They often attempt to be funny (and many of them succeed), but most importantly each of them ends up explaining what it means to them to walk with Jesus, as well as the road they have taken so far to get there.

The groups are so large that they usually split the statement of faith readings in half. Half of them read them at the Celebration Service and the other half at the Classic Service (although they all attend both services). As an added bonus this year, the confirmation class pushed Woodside’s total membership above 600. Every year is always a little different, and each is special. One year I remember there being a lot of emotions shared; one year the kids were especially funny. This year had a great combination of humor and sincerity.

The reason I enjoy it so much is that it is a great example of what is right with the world today. So much is always made of the troublemakers and the negative actions, that the positive influences by so many kids are overlooked. They have their cliques, but the hatred sometimes seen in many such rivalries is not evident. It’s not that they are perfect youngsters (they are teenagers after all). They might not do things as we would like them to all of the time, and they certainly make mistakes (of course, so do we adults – God knows we make mistakes). It’s just that their love of Christ and the respect they show for each other is so refreshing.

And many of them aren’t embarrassed to discuss their faith with peers that are not part of the Woodside Family. That was something I struggled with as a high school student. I think it’s great when friends come to visit a service, or come to a youth group night, or attend a youth group event – and then continue to come back.

I’ve also seen a focus on the relationship with Christ, over and above the focus on religion, and I think that’s great. I joined the 21st century a few months ago and got myself hooked up with Facebook. One of the things I like to do is to glance at the “Religious Views” section of the profile and see what people enter. I see a number of Christians, some Presbyterians, a Methodist or two, but my favorites came from my three nieces and my daughter.

My youngest niece (with the exception of baby JJ) writes, “Jesus rocks my socks off”. My middle niece states, “Jesus saves”. My eldest niece explains, “I call it a relationship with Jesus Christ”. But my daughter wrote my favorite, “Music is my passion, Jesus is my life”. This serves a s reminder to me. It’s not about religion, it’s not about church and it’s certainly not about me. It’s about Jesus, and what he did for us. It’s good to be reminded of that once in a while.

Say a prayer for somebody today.