This Wednesday, I'm speaking to my youth group about Salvation and I'm completely stoked. However, I'm nervous. I don't usually get this nervous when I get up in front of youth to speak, but this time is different.
My youth group isn't as strong as they used to be, so the purpose of the new youth setup is to strengthen their walk with Christ, and also to strengthen our bond as a unit. This is our first youth worship night and I'm honored to be the first speaker.
I've been preparing my sermon for about 2 weeks now, making sure its top notch. There are points when I'm not sure how I'm going to keep their attention, or how I'm going to make sure I deliver the sermon effectively to where I can be sure someone's life will be changed before they leave that church.
But something happened today that really put things in perspective, in a way I would never have thought possible. My sister came in today from spending the night in Bowling Green, and the first thing she said to me was, "Hey bub, I made something for you that you might like!"
She runs back into the living room where I was sitting and handed me a sheet of paper. On it was the passage Matthew 10: 19-20. The first reason this caught me off guard is because my sister isn' t a christian. She has been baptized, but here lately she has lost her faith in Christ (to avoid confusion, she hasn't lost her salvation, just her trust.)
Just the fact my sister would read some scripture, and take the time to make something out of it for me made my day! But it's what the scripture said that helped me and shocked me the most.
"Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your Father speaking through you."
At that time, everything seemed to make sense to me, and every butterfly I had in my stomach had disappeared without a trace. God used my sister, someone who I'm very close to, to answer my cry of help with this sermon. Coincidence is definately not what this is about, however, its about divine purpose, and how God can answer our prayers in ways we don't expect. We just have to keep our hearts open, ready to recieve His blessing.
