Someone asked me a bit before GIFT in June, "What's it going to look like?"  I had to chuckle at that.  I never know what GIFT is going to 'look like' until it happens.  That's one of the benefits of having different speakers every month as well as different faces in the pews.  You never quite know what to expect except, I think it's fair to say, to expect that the Word and work of God will be preached and praised in word and song. 

 

This past month we heard from the younger generation: four local students returning from their first year away.  All four have been regular attenders of GIFT in the past so it was good to hear what they have been learning about life, God and life with God over the past year.  One young man spoke about what he had learned about prayer.  Another shared about going to a place where he knew no one and what it was like to depend on God to make friends.  He also shared about how studying the Bible for himself and thinking through it made it much deeper and real.  A third shared about thinking of Jesus as our King and how that's hard to imagine in a society where we don't serve a human king who has complete authority over us.  On a missions trip he also learned that "God doesn't love me because I'm a Christian; He loves me because I am His creation."  The fourth student to share spoke about her experience in a close knit school, learning about confession and being vulnerable.  "Who am I and who is God?"  She briefly shared a story about the intense spiritual warfare in India, where she ended her school year, and how that completely changed her perspective on prayer.

 

This was a month of letting go and letting God.  In the end, three of the regular music team members were unable to come (thank you to John and Erin for stepping in) and three students who had originally planned to share weren't able to make it either.  But the time was still sweet.  It was good to see some newer faces as well. 

 

To God be the glory.