by Jeshua Aveno
Church is traditionally seen, primarily by teens and young adults, as a place devoid of excitement or enjoyment. Many view church as a place where they will be judged and ridiculed by the so-called “perfect Christians”. Others say church is just another room filled with people masking their true identities. And there are those who say church is a waste of time. They say they can find more productive or entertaining activities to do on Sundays elsewhere. The bottom line is many people in our society say church is not the place they would spend “precious” time, except for the occasional wedding or funeral. However, there are the fortunate teens and young adults who are proud to call themselves “born again believers” or Christians. At Good Shepherd, the youth willingly attend Sunday services, ready to learn and commit themselves in serving our God.
Not only does GSCC welcome the youth to join the Sunday services, but it also provides many other ways for the youth to fellowship, and more importantly, worship. Friday Night Life ( FNL) is held at Good Shepherd every Friday night at 7:43pm. These Friday night gatherings give the youth ample time to fellowship and worship with fellow believers. The messages delivered at these services are geared towards the youth with speakers using a variety of approaches to relate to young believers. “I love coming to FNL every Friday to learn about God’s word,” says Patricia Bayaca.
Not only do the youth get various chances to worship and learn about God’s word, but they, too, have a chance to give back to God. Members of J-Youth, GSCC’s youth group, also have the chance to worship God through playing in the youth band supervised by Bong Olivar and Alfredo Fernando. Daryl Purificacion quips, “I love being able to use the musical gifts God has given me to worship our God.” In the past few years, the youth band has grown, not only in numbers, but in their relationship with God, and with one another, as a band and as friends. The youth has been given many opportunities to share God’s word through music at a variety of events, such as Light of the World’s Youth Jam and the mini-concert at Season’s Mall in Milpitas. .
As followers of Christ, we all have a responsibility to reach out to our peers and acquaintances and share the word of God to them. As teenagers, it is natural for them to try to find their place among their peers.. Many of them sport different styles of clothing, go for rock music, don weird hair styles, and indulge in “cool” activities and hobbies. However, as young Christians, they find difficulty to achieve acceptance since they are seen as outcasts for being “Jesus freaks”. Because of this label, many young believers don’t take the opportunity to invite their friends and peers to church. However, when they finally overcome their fear of being considered “outcasts”, they find the courage to fully do the work of God. “I was invited to church by Lized. Everyone was so welcoming and it made me want to keep coming back,” says Carlos Chavez.
The youth at GSCC, and those form other churches, show their love for God through a lot of ways. They worship through music, fellowship with one another, hold Bible studies, and spread God’s joy to those around them. The young Christians are growing in numbers and in faith incredibly. With the coming of 2011, the youth are ready to stand and deliver. They are prepared to go and tell the world the good news of God, without shame or fear. The saying, “Home is where the heart is,” has never been so true to us. As Christians, our heart and soul is with our heavenly Father, in Heaven, our home sweet home, and the youth are proud to say they know where home is.
