Last Sunday our church was filled with an energy that only young people can bring as the Youth Group from Market Drayton Methodist Church arrived to lead our worship.
A purple robe and crown of thorns were placed on our Lenten cross representing the abuse Jesus suffered from his captors. Then 12 teenagers conducted the entire service, music, singing, prayers and address on a theme from Proverbs 3 v 5, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and Matthew 14 – Jesus encourages Peter to walk to him on the water. Guitars, drums and keyboard led our singing followed by prayers of thanks and confession. Children were invited to hold up cards with words from the Proverbs text. Getting the words in the right order caused some amusement. A cartoon followed depicting Jesus approaching the fishing boat in a storm, encouraging Peter to walk to him across the water, losing confidence and reaching out to Jesus for help. In a drama sketch journalists tried to make sense of this story, Peter and his friends insisting on its accuracy in spite of their scepticism.
After prayers for others Elijah gave his thoughts on the texts. The panic and despair of the fishermen is mirrored today when we feel overwhelmed by arduous tasks and situations. He quoted King David’s Psalms 23 and 69. David turned to God trusting in his power to see him through his difficulties. Christ loves us and died for us. Peter’s experience on the water shows the importance of focusing on Jesus and trusting in him. God will help us to endure whatever we have to face in life.
After a song, You keep me from falling apart, blue cloth to represent water was laid on the floor and we were invited to walk through while the young people prayed for us. To bring our worship to a close their leader Mark Savill invited us to share the Grace.