1 Youth Sunday Sermon: 2/7/16 First Presbyterian Church Alli Lapps Hi, my name is Alli Lapps and I m currently a senior at the L&N STEM Academy. If you know anything about me it s probably that I m a swimmer. And yes, I do get many comments about my last name, my personal favorite being from a hairdresser, Did you get your last name after you started swimming? I ve been swimming as long as I can remember. Basically my life in high school has been wake up, swim, eat, go to school, eat, go swim again, eat, and sleep. So with that, swimming and school have always been the main areas my faith has come into play. I ve always prayed for good grades, strength to finish my races, sanity while I stare at a black line at the bottom of the pool all day. I even recite the stereotypical athlete Bible verse in my head, Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength, before every race. Up until this past year, that was the extent of my faith. I never questioned anything; I simply went to church and said my prayers, because it s all I d ever known, and it seemed like the right thing to do. However, at end of summer/beginning of the school year, I found myself in a rough patch. Most of my friends at swimming were graduating and moving onto college, and I was left alone. Of course, I had a few close school friends and one close swim friend left, but most of the people I d essentially grown up with were leaving me, and to put it simply, I was angry that I was stuck in Knoxville another year. I d never had many friends at school, and now I was stuck swimming with a bunch of little kids for another year, making me get ready for the next step in my life. I did not cope with these changes well, and my anger and frustration only heightened. Eventually, I brought my faith into question. If the Lord is real, how could he let these things happen? Why did they happen? Unfortunately for about a month, I concluded the answer was that maybe God isn't real. Going to a stem school full of plenty of science people who insisted there was no God, I figured why not just become one of them. So I abandoned my faith, and to put it simply, the results weren't awesome.
2 A little ways into the school year, my best friend asked me to come to Young Life. If you're not familiar with this, it s a school oriented, non-denominational youth group with a goal of exposing high school students to Christianity. I was hesitant at first, but I figured I d give my faith another shot. We started by playing silly games, and singing pop songs like Taylor Swift, and I was just thinking how in the world is this considered religious at all. But eventually one of the leaders, Mandy, got up to speak and essentially shared her testimony. She said two things that night that truly caught my attention. First, she explained that sometimes bad things happen because the Lord is trying to build a testimony, so that someday we can share our experiences and help others just as she was trying to help us by sharing her experiences that night. Secondly, she said that if you don't have a solid relationship with God first, nothing else is going to fulfill you. Everything else might make you feel better temporarily, but it s always going to leave you searching for more. When I got to my car, I just started crying. I don't know if they were tears of joy or sadness - probably some of both. Everything Mandy said just seemed to answer all the doubts about my faith I d been having. But whatever it was about that night made me realize that the only answer to my problems was to turn to God. So I did. Since that night my faith has grown stronger than ever. I finally accepted that I m going to be stuck here for another year, so I might as well make the most of it. Just as Mandy shared her testimony that night, which tremendously helped me, I ve already been able to use some of my testimony to give advice to my closest friends. But most of all, putting my trust in God has made me feel so much more confident in myself, worry less, and overall have a better attitude about life. Isaiah 41:10 reads, So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. Little did I know that the hardships I underwent at the beginning of the year were transforming me into the person I am today. They were all part of God s plan to help me grow as a person. Although they might've seemed like the end of the world in the moment, I realize they ve helped me grow into such a stronger person. One of my swim coaches has been extremely influential in furthering my certainty in trusting God. He understood the change I was going through, because he saw firsthand virtually all of my friends leave. There were many, many days he stayed to talk with me after practice and
3 make sure I was doing okay. One night recently when we were chatting, he told me over the past months it d been wonderful to watch me mature into the person I am today. As I move onto my next stage in life and start college in a humongous city where I know hardly anyone, I hope I ll be able to keep the lessons I ve learned close to heart, and remember that no matter how hard it gets, God has a plan for me. Youth Sunday Sermon: 2/7/16 First Presbyterian Church Laura Skipper Do not fear for I am with you: Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand. Isaiah 41:10 Reading this verse initially, it seemed pretty simple to understand. God is asking me to remain calm, cool, and collected, and to not spend my energy or time worrying about things I can t control. It makes sense and it resonates nicely in my head. It is safe and it is easy. However, after rereading the verse a couple of times, I began to realize something pretty confounding: Nobody possibly does this, do they? I mean, I know that I definitely don t. I feel fear every day. Not the gripping, all consuming kind that defines the lives of refugees or the hungry, but my own personal fears. Things like, Am I good enough to achieve my goals? or What will I do if I fall short?, and Am I making the right choices for myself today? To be honest, these internal inquiries leave me anxious and afraid almost constantly. A few weeks ago, I had an assignment for my AP Psychology class to interview three people on a series of questions. They were What is the worst age to be and why?, What is the best age to be and why?, When does old age begin?, How old do you feel?, and What are three adjectives to describe the age that you are currently at? When I interviewed my mom, her first answer was what really surprised me. She responded fairly quickly that her worst age was probably seventeen the age that I am at right now. She answered that this age was the worst
4 because of all the unknowns that existed in her life at the time. I guess I m a lot like her, because these unknowns are what cause me the anxiety and fear that I feel, too. Although her answer made me feel more normal about my own unknowns, it didn t fit in my mind with what I thought my life should be like right now. I thought these were supposed to be the best times of my life, and that everything was supposed to be sugar coated and fun in comparison to the things that were ahead. I was confused. A few weeks later, I had a conversation with an adult and mentor in my life about how this age really marks the beginning of things ending. In context, we were talking about the death of a loved one, but it really applies to everything in my life right now. As far as which college I will attend, I m undecided. If I will continue to dance, which has been my hobby and passion for the past fifteen years, is dependent on one single weekend at a tryout. The friends I have had over the years are moving to new places, and after June 2 nd, when I get a diploma in my hand and take pictures, seeing each other all together will be a rarity at best. So, reading Isaiah 41:10, and letting the idea of a God who tells me that He is strong enough for me not to have fear or anxiety is pretty bewildering. At this point in my life, I am overwhelmed, and it is all too easy to ask if God will really hold me up, strengthen me, or make sure that I don t make the wrong choices But, the Lord doesn t make promises that he can t keep. We see this in the birth of Jesus and the covenant that is intact to this day. So, how in the world can I find the trust and assurance that God offers to the Israelites in the verse? Beyond my own life, our world is pretty similar to the world that Isaiah was witnessing. Things exist all around us that cause us to dismay and turn to God for support. In the context of the verse, the Lord is telling the people of Israel that it is He who has caused the rise of Cyrus the Great to come from the east and conquer the Babylonians. With the impending trouble, the Babylonians chose to blame God for the turmoil and turn to idol worship instead. Through the verse, God is assuring His people, the Israelites, that his loyalty, love, and commitment to them would not cease with worldly hardship and pain.
5 The message is pretty clear, trust in God in times of hardship and don t turn to other things for comfort or solace, because you probably will make things worse. But I still needed more of a step-by-step method of how I could do this, so I decided to break the verse down a little bit. Looking at the first part of the verse, Do not fear for I am with you: Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. wrestles with the idea of spiritual focus. I interpreted this verse to mean that we need to sharpen our attention. Instead of gazing out over all of the possible opportunities, worrying about missing out or falling short, or overloading ourselves with goals and aspirations that are impossible to reach, we instead should keep our eyes on the path in front of us, keeping in mind that everything that occurs is by design. I think this idea tackles a big part of my anxiety and fear. My lens is narrow right now, and the picture I view to be my future is probably a little out of focus. Some things will go differently than I planned or hoped for, while some will go as I wished, but my spiritual focus will really determine the attitude I have on the outcome. By listening to Isaiah s message, we can all find a way to trust in God s presence and plan. And instead of being distracted by life s possibilities, we can be content with the reality that defines our personalized time on earth. The second part of the verse, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand. seals God s earlier plea to give up fear and anxiety for his trust. God is telling us that it s going to be okay, even if we are suffering, mourning or uncomfortable. He isn t going to give up on us, just like he didn t give up on the Israelites, so we can t give up on ourselves either. Relinquishing fear and anxiety for trust and calm is going to be something I work on over time. But, I will enjoy my last few months in a life I know and am comfortable with, and I will remain optimistic that the essentially new start I have coming will bring more joy to my life. In conclusion, this verse has helped me to see that hope and faith are much more fruitful than fear or anxiety. With God s plans at work in my life, I can be calm and excited for whatever life has in store for me in the coming months and years.