Saturday Night L2L Style

We ended L2L with an awards ceremony celebrating the kids' success this past year.

I am just thrilled for them not because of awards they won but because of the way they

have grown in their service to God this year.

What a great year!

Here Am I, Send Me!

Carter never hesitates when asked to do something in front of a crowd.

It's in his blood.

He has enough of his Great Papa Whittle and others in him.

This year for L2L was a first for him.  He wrote his speech completely by himself.

He has always helped with the majority of the planning but this year he did it all himself.

I am so glad he is fearless when it comes to speaking in front of others!

“Here am I, send me.” This verse taken from Isaiah 6:8 is one we hear quite a bit.  We all know people who have said this or lived by these words.   However, what does it mean to me?  I think of someone asking a group of people to do a job.  From that group of people, one person stands up and says he will do whatever the job is.   We see many examples of people in the Bible who were asked to do special assignments.  Sometimes, people responded and took the job.  Most of us would like to think we would be the one to stand up and say yes.  But when the time came, some of us might be like others, who didn’t want to take the job.  John Gordon once said, “God does not call the best.  He calls the most willing. You don’t have to be the best to do great things.  Just be willing.”  These people that say, “Here am I, send me!”  have that willing spirit in them.  I want to look at two examples from the Bible that show us what we can do when the time comes for us to say, “Here am I, send me!”

1    The first example I want to look at is David and Goliath from 1 Samuel 17.  The Philistine army was preparing for a battle against Israel.  Each army was on a separate mountain with a valley between them.  The Philistines sent their giant, Goliath, to ask one Israelite to fight.  Nobody wanted to fight Goliath.  Goliath was “defying the armies of the living God.” (v. 27) David’s God.  Israel’s God.  However, in verses 10-11 it says the Israelite soldiers were afraid. They had lost faith in God even though God had saved them other times before.  David was not afraid because he remembered God’s faithfulness.  “Moreover . . . The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion, ... the paw of the bear … He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (17:37) Even though he was the smallest one, he was going to fight the nine-foot monster Goliath.  People tried to tell him not do to it but David didn’t listen to them.  Goliath thought it was going to be easy to defeat David, but he was wrong.   David came to fight not “with a sword, a spear and a javelin” as Goliath did in verse 45.  He came “in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.”  The result, David took Goliath down with a slingshot and stones, but most of all faith in God.  What can we learn from this?  Nobody was willing to fight.  Was it scary? Probably.  Yet, David put his fears behind him and stepped up when no one else would.  To a 10 year old, I can volunteer to step out of my comfort zone and answer God’s call by saying “Hear am I, send me!”

2    My second example starts off with the complete opposite attitude.  This is the story of Jonah found in the book of the Bible that is named after him.  God is asking Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to tell them their wickedness had come up before God (1:2).  Jonah did not want to go there, so he ran away from God by getting on a boat that was going in the opposite direction.  Since Jonah didn’t do what God said, God sent a big storm.  Jonah was on the decks below trying to hide.  After casting lots, the crew on the boat asked Jonah what he had done to make his God so angry.  Jonah told them he had run away from God, so they threw him out of the boat into the sea.  A giant fish, made by God Himself, swallowed Jonah and Jonah prayed to God because he had sinned.  After three days, the giant fish spit him out on land.  When God asked him a second time, Jonah went to Nineveh, preached, and Nineveh was a changed city.  Our lesson from Jonah is to go willingly the first time.  Sometimes, like Jonah, we will not want to do God’s will.  We might think our way is better and do what we want to do.  Only to find out in the end, God directs us back to where we really need to be.  And it is then that we step and say, “Here am I, send me!”

From these examples, we learn we don’t have to be the biggest and best to answer God’s call.  We also see that sometimes, we do mess up, but we can make it right by turning back to answer God’s call. Therefore whether I am the smallest, least talented or even the one doing wrong at one time, I can always look to God when He calls and say, “Here am I, send me!”

Elvis Has Left the Building

Most people are shocked when they hear that LB has a shy side to her.

She also is not one that will put herself out there in front of others although she is getting better at that.

So each year when she says she is going to do speech at L2L I am a little surprised.

This year marks the 2nd year where she really wrote her speech by herself.

We helped a little but she did the majority of the work herself and for that

we are super proud of her.

Many said this was her best speech yet.

We are just proud of the fact she did it.

The Church has Left the Building

“ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!”  You have all heard this popular saying!  Recently, our congregation built a new auditorium.  On the first Sunday night we worshipped in it, one of our ministers challenged us with this saying, “The church has left the building!”  What did he mean by that saying?  He meant the church needs to leave the building to spread God’s word.  Many people my age and older, don’t want to “leave the building” because they are scared and don’t feel like they know much about the Bible.  But we should not have “a spirit of fear” like 2 Timothy 1:7 says, because we should have a spirit of “power and of love and of a sound mind.”  Why?  God’s plan is for us all to leave the building.  Mark 16:15 says, “He said unto them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.’” If this is what He wants us to do, He will give us the way to do it.  So, what does that mean to me as a 12 year old?

I have to be willing to leave the building.   God is calling us to do His work and spread His word.  He calls us just like He called Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:3-10.   We have to be willing to answer God’s call and hear Him.  In Isaiah 6, we see God calling Isaiah, but Isaiah didn’t think he was right for the job.  God had faith in Isaiah to be His prophet.  Isaiah finally said in verse 8, “Hear am I, send me!”  We see here that Isaiah was willing to go.  Jon Gordon said once, “God doesn’t pick the best.  God picks the most willing.  You don’t have to be the best to do great things.  Just be willing.”  So, even being young, I need to be willing to answer God with, “Hear am I, send me!”

I must have confidence in not just myself but in my God as well.  What is confidence?  We use the word a lot.  Julie Andrews even sings about it in Sound of Music, but what is it? Confidence is the belief or faith that I can rely on someone or something.  I have to rely on God and the fact that He can get me through anything.  Two synonyms for confidence are trust and belief.  When I leave the building, I have to have trust that God is with me to catch me when I mess up.  I also have to trust in God that He will go before me shielding me from danger.  Psalm 18:20 reminds me that “As for God, His way is perfect . . . He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”  Part of having confidence is having a belief. I have to believe in His word or why would I want to share it with people?  God’s word is a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105) showing me which way to go in life.  Hebrews 4:12 tells me that God’s word is a two-edge sword that cuts to the soul just like in Acts 2 when the Jews heard Peter’s words at Pentecost and they were “cut to the heart.”  When I share God’s word with people it can change them and me for the better. So actually, I see that my confidence does not need to be in me but 100% on God!

Finally, I need to have big plans.  As humans, we sometimes limit God to what He can do through us.  Ephesians 3:20 is a great reminder of what we are able to achieve when God is at work in us.  It says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”  To me, this means that if God is working in and with you than anything is possible.  I have plans to study more to become Christian.  One day, I would like to go on mission trips to Oregon and to Haiti with my youth group.  I want to teach young kids at VBS and maybe even be a Sunday School teacher one day.  I also want to be able to teach others about God when they ask me questions about what I believe.  To achieve these plans, there will be tough times in front of me, I just need to remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:26, “ . . . with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

I want to be part of the church that leaves the building.  In order to do that, I need to be willing to answer God’s call, to have confidence in God’s faithfulness, and to think big when it comes to my spiritual goals.  Every Sunday and Wednesday as I leave the building, I want to be able to say, “Here am I, send me!”  I am leaving the building!

Saturday's Events

Saturday of L2L began bright and early with Bible Bowl.

This year the kids studied the book of Acts.

They worked so hard.

Then it was off to give speeches.

Carter getting ready to lead singing.

Friday Night Awards

Friday night is always a fun night with pictures and the awards ceremony.

The kids have worked hard all year on many things.

Winners or not... We are SUPER proud!

Friday Afternoon of L2L

L2L 2014 has come and gone and with it some great memories and skills

that will, hopefully, be used for a lifetime.

Friday afternoon consisted of running from puppet team to puppet team with a little

Bible reading mixed in there as well.

Lads to Leaders: Saturday Night

We are always proud of our kids for just participating in Lads to Leaders.  Some years are better for others and some years other kids will shine.  We are always just proud of them choosing to better their talents for God's kingdom.

Carter won first place in scrapbook.

Carter won first place in song leading.

His precious (yes, I can still call them that since they are in 3rd grade) friends congratulating
him on his winning!

Some very special ladies

Carter won third in speech.

Carter, Wayne and Cade - Wayne did a great job working with the young men on their speeches.

Carter's Bible Bowl team won third place!!!! 

The other team in his age group also made finalists!!! Gran was their coach!

David was great to work with the boys in song leading all year.

 The highlight of the night was puppets! Carter's team was called as a Finalist team.  Watch their faces over the next few pictures as they realize they won first place!!!

They are just pleased to be in the top 3!

Carter realizes they will have won first or second.

The realization has hit some of them that they won first place - notice Trenton's fingers are still crossed!

Blurry but AMAZING!

YAY!!!!!!!

With coaches Bonnie and Randall!