A Youth Sunday Sermon
by Payton Sumrell
Good morning everyone. I would like to start off by introducing myself. My name is Peyton Sumrell and I am a senior at Laney High School and I will be attending Auburn University in the fall to study business. I know I probably do not look too familiar to most of you this morning because I typically attend church at Port City Community on Sundays. There I teach the kindergarten Sunday school class each week but have attended St. James youth group over the course of the last school year.
Youth Sundays are not a foreign concept to me because before St. James I was a part of another episcopal church youth group in Wilmington where I fell in love with things like the Trinity Center, Sunday night get-togethers, and of course the community of people my age and those who advise over them. Now being a senior myself it is surreal and an honor to be alongside Will and Web this morning.
If you have ever had the pleasure of being a part of a youth group I would like for you to think about how that group made you feel. From bible studies to retreats, and even fun activities there is always so much love for each other being shared. Excitement is in the air and friends new and old share lots of laughs, stories, and even meals. Sometimes those feelings can also show themselves through tiredness at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday mornings, Sundays at Happening, and at 9:00 a.m. in the pew but you always know that you are welcome, loved, and taken care of just the same since you are surrounded by your church family.
When reflecting on what to say this morning, those same feelings I thought of when I looked back on youth events reminded me so much of Jesus and his disciples. Jesus loved others so well, which shows us how important it should be to love in our day-to-day lives too.
Jesus loved the sinners, the unclean, and everyone in between setting the example for us to follow his lead. A question to ponder among yourself is this… in what ways have I loved and ways I did not love today?
John 14:15-21 reads “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
What a wonderful message Jesus was teaching to his disciples. If you have loved today you show that you are one who Jesus loves too. He lives in our hearts all the time even when we feel distant or frustrated with Him. With the love that Jesus has shown us so well we should use his love when speaking and acting with others. It’s just that simple. We don’t need to have this extravagant act or huge moment where we can show that we displayed the love we have for the Lord and those around us. We need little moments sprinkled throughout the day and for lots of people to make God’s love truly have an impact.
During the course of this week and hopefully beyond, I hope you remember these few things. Jesus talked to His friends a lot about how we should identify ourselves. He said it wouldn’t be what we said we believed or all the good we hoped to do someday. He said we would identify ourselves simply by how we loved people. It’s tempting to think there is more to it, but there’s not. Love isn’t something we fall into; love is someone we become. No one expects us to love them flawlessly, but we can love them fearlessly, furiously, and unreasonably.
I just finished reading a book titled Everybody Always written by Bob Goff. I highly recommend everyone read it but one thing he said about love is what I want to leave you with.
“You’ll be able to spot people who are becoming love because they want to build kingdoms, not castles. They fill their lives with people who don’t look like them or act like them or even believe the same things as them. They treat them with love and respect and are more eager to learn from them than presume they have something to teach.”
Tags: Youth Ministry