What it’s like to be a Christian

by Hannah Park

Being a Christian is more than just being baptized and asking Jesus to be lord of your life. It means to change your actions of a sinner to a better person. To make better choices than some bad ones you’ve made before. But it can be hard sometimes. As a kid you could get tempted to do the wrong thing or make a bad choice, or to hate some other person’s action and just want to do something to them. But you have to stop and think for a moment what would God have done? How does God see this person? How can I handle this person nicely?

I remember only a couple of months ago when my class went to gym at school. Our teacher broke us up into teams of four. You know the one kid that will do anything to get attention by being annoying? Well that kid happened to be on my team. And he made me so mad by being so annoying, I wanted to scream and yell at him. I couldn’t take being on his team much longer so I asked the teacher if I could go to the restroom. While I was in there I prayed. I prayed for the Lord to help me see him the way He sees him, to help me be a better person to him. And you know what? I felt better. I went back in the gym and I was nicer to that kid even if he did annoy me sometimes. I tried to handle the situation as God would have handled it.

For me being a Christian can have its ups and downs; trying to be like Jesus is hard for me. I know it’s hard for everybody. Before I asked Jesus to be my savior I had to think am I willing to except him as my Lord? Am I going to be ready to have all my sins washed away? Will I be ready to go wherever God leads me? And I was. I wanted to become one of God’s children and I was ready to go where God would lead me. I was ready to become a Christian.

READ I Timothy 4:6-12

6If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. 7Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, 8for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. 10For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 11These are the things you must insist on and teach. 12Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Some people might think at my age that would be too much for an eleven year old kid to handle. But I just answer them nothing is too much for me to handle while Jesus is leading me all the way.

Being a Christian
by Caleb Park

I have always gone to church. Except the times when I have been sick, I have been in church all my life. Of all of the activities that have taken place at church, my favorites are the Easter Egg Hunt in the spring and Vacation Bible School in the summer.

Even though I have always gone to church, I knew that it was important for me to ask Jesus to be my Savior. I would think about this every time I was in church: when Daddy preached and when I was in Sunday school with Ms. Janie and Ms. Jane. The stories that we read in our Sunday school books have changed my life. A couple of weeks ago, at Mr. Frank’s and Ms. Joyce’s anniversary party, I was in the youth room and I prayed and asked Jesus to be my Savior. After I prayed, I called Mommy in and I told her and she cried. Then Mommy got Daddy and when I told him, he cried. I am going to be baptized in two weeks on Palm Sunday.

My mom and dad are helping me to realize that becoming a Christian is not one decision that you make on one day, it is a thousand decisions that you make everyday for the rest of your life. That means that I try to live my life for Jesus everyday. I have been trying to put that in my life. To be honest with you, that is not an easy thing to do.

For example, last Sunday I broke a window at the church where we had an Encuentro. I told my mom and she helped me tell Pastor Lee about the window. It was an accident and they understood that. I offered to pay for the window, but Pastor Lee said that it was an accident and I didn’t have to worry about it. What I did not tell my mom or Pastor Lee was that I had been throwing the ball against the side of the church building when the ball hit the window.

I’m not sure why I didn’t tell them right away. I guess I was afraid that they would get really mad. But the truth sat with me all week long. I finally told my mom the whole truth day before yesterday. I was still afraid but I felt like I needed to tell my mom the truth. It was hard, but I knew it was the right thing to do. Being a Christian didn’t make it easier, but being Christian helped me know the right thing to do. I have a feeling that there will be more times like that in the future, but I will always try to tell the truth.

What Being a Christian Means to Me

by Brandon Harcum

Good morning. I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today for Youth Sunday. I've already had a great time teaching the Men's Class with Caleb.

I will be reading scripture from John 3: 16 - 17. You can follow along in your Bible or just listen as I read.

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

I chose this scripture because it's one of my favorites and I believe it teaches a good lesson.

Before I was baptized, I gave a lot of thought to what it meant to be baptized. Would I be happy after I was baptized? Would I be different after I was baptized? How would I feel after I got baptized?

How many of you have heard of the ABCs of becoming a Christian? Some of you are probably thinking what the world is he talking about!

A stands for admit - you admit that Jesus is your Savior.

B stands for believe - you believe that Jesus is your Savior.

C stands for confess - you confess your sins and confess Jesus is you r Savior.

Pastor Kenny and my parents have influenced me greatly about becoming a Christian. They told me about their experiences being a Christian. My Vacation Bible School teachers Miss Frannie and Miss Linda also helped me learn about being a Christian.

During Cub Scouts, I wanted to earn a religious badge called God and Family. Pastor Kenny helped me with this. Pastor Kenny and I worked on a pizza. The crust and bottom of the pizza was the foundation which is our church. The sauce and the cheese are the people you love. Even though I was working on a badge for scouts, Pastor Kenny taught me even more about becoming a Christian.

My mom and my dad have taught me right from wrong and to make good choices. Mom and Dad have taught me not to give up (which believe me, they know I am very persistent).

An example of my persistence is the day we were all out in the boat and saw something in the water. I kept after Daddy to go closer to it. Then we realized that something was flapping in the water. I told Daddy lets go help it. Come to find out, a fish hawk was drowning. The fish hawk was in the water trying to get up to fly but could not. It wasn't caught in anything. So Daddy got an oar and stuck it underneath the fish hawk. The fish hawk grabbed on and we got him on the back of the boat. When Mom saw its claws, she would not let me pet him. Next thing you know, the fish hawk was in the water again. He had slipped off the back of the boat. So we had to do the oar thing allover again. This time he went in the bottom of the boat which was good. Both Mom and Dad were really worried that the fish hawk might attack and claw us. So my Dad drove the boat very slowly to the shore and put the fish hawk on top of a crab trap. Well, all these other fish hawks started messing with this fish hawk and I got upset all over again. So we had to go get it again and this time, we carried it to an old duck blind. The fish hawk was safe here because the duck blind had a top on it. Later that afternoon, I convinced Mom and Dad to go back out in the boat to check on the fish hawk. The duck blind was empty and the fish hawk was back on its nest. Every time we went in the boat for the rest of the summer, the fish hawk would follow us. My Mom and Dad said my persistence had saved the fish hawk and that God was with us that day. And God helped save the fish hawk. I gotta tell ya - Mom was NOT happy with the fish hawk in the boat when she saw its claws.

When I see Mom and Dad do something like this, I know they care. They didn't have to help the fish hawk but they did. I also know God loved us and the fish hawk.

Miss Frannie and Miss Linda in Bible School talked about team work and how we all need to work together. We had fun in their class.

I like going to church. I like Sunday School, VBS, Family night and I like helping with the suppers for other people.

Passport Kids Camp was an awesome experience for me. Miss Leslie got me signed up for Passport Kids Camp. Meeting lots of new people and making new friends was exciting. I really liked a guy named Patrick who was from Africa. I met Patrick the first time I went to Passport Kids back in 2005. Talking with him was interesting and fun because he talked about his life in Africa. I began to realize that living in Africa is much different than living here in America.

I know I am closer to God now and I have Mom and Dad, Pastor Kenny, Miss Leslie, Miss Frannie and Miss Linda to thank for it. I also have all of you who are my church family.

Knowing that God loves me is a great feeling. It's awesome to know God loves me and sent his Son to die for me. And to know that God did the same thing for all of us. I know God is with me every day. God is with me all the time where ever I am.

Please join me in prayer.

Dear God:

Thank you for loving the world and all who inhabit it. Thank you for sending your Son to die for our sins. Thank you for giving me the chance to teach the Men's Class today. Thank you for our church and all the people in it. Please take care of everyone. Thank you for loving us. Amen.