In the presence of greatness...

Thank God it is warm again. One more night of trying to do games in the sanctuary. One more night of trying to eat snack in the foyer and I was going to strangle one of the little ones (by little ones I mean one of the 6^th graders, not one of Jeff’s kids, they would make too much noise). Games were played outside and snacks were done in front of the Church which immediately made the night go smoother.

To acclimate the students to the presence of Greatness, were visited by the Latin American World Champion wrestler, who has literally ripped thousands of peoples faces off: Fantassimo Forcina (Pictured Here) He was carried in by his faithful followers and greeted by a fabulous round of applause:

The students were allowed to ask questions of him and were really blessed by his presence. Most (Ramsey and Whitney) were awed by his presence and some (Jacob, Ian, Eli, and Aaron Jones) found themselves trembling in the face of greatness. Some (Tyler, CJ, Kosten and Gage) were stupefied by the hulking muscle on display and the obvious power he possessed.

We talked about worship tonight, settling on the understanding that God must be present for worship to happen. For perhaps one of the only presence greater than that of Fantassimo, would be that of God. We looked at Genesis 3: Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. They were able to look upon God, to see him, to experience him everyday. We looked at Revelation 21: God and Jesus dwelling in the midst of the Celestial City…the New Jerusalem. So in the beginning (at creation) man dwelt with God; and at the End (heaven) man dwells with God. What happens right now? How do we experience God right now?

We worship. We come into his presence when we worship. We talked about the purpose of our life being worship. Psalm 19 talks about creation declaring the glory of God. Simply put, our purpose for life is to bring glory to our Creator, through worship.

The students split up into groups and discussed times in their lives when they felt God’s presence. Hopefully, this gave them the understanding that worship can happen with anything they do. “Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10.31. Some were able to find new ways to worship him.

I am excited about this series and how they took part in the discussion groups; how they interacted with each other; and how they paid attention during the lesson.

Mad props to the winner of the Trashcan game and to Miranda for getting in her Jr. High Camp registration.