Graduation Thoughts

On Sunday morning I was invited by our youth pastor to say a few words to the high school graduates. Well actually... he invited me to plug my ministry, which is to singles and young adults. But for some reason I did less plugging and more pleading. I'm not sure why... or how effective it was... but I guess I was overcome by a comment at our staff meeting last week.

One of the pastors mentioned that statistically this might be the last time that those high school students are ever in church. I don't know if that is true... but if it is in the least, it burdens me. So with that thought plaguing me here is what I said to the graduates:

Stats say that this is the last time that you will ever be in a church. Would you please not be that statistic... here are my two please for you... high school graduates.

Number one... don't graduate from Church. You have the new found freedom of being a young adult and making your own decision. You have the choice of never walking into a church again. No one will wake you up on Sunday morning and drag or bribe you to church. It is your decision. But please don't be a statistic... don't graduate from Church.

Number two... don't graduate from Jesus. Your freshman year will give you the freedom to make really, really good decisions.... and really, really bad decisions. You can party every night. You never have to go to class. You can sleep in whenever you want, where ever you want and with whoever you want. But don't walk away from Jesus... he can guide you and protect you from make bad decisions.

My prayer for you is that someone will come across your path this semester that invites you to consider Church or invites you to consider Jesus. And when that person comes across your path that you will accept the invitation.

**If I had it do over again, I would same the same thing... just more positively...***

First, re-consider the church. The church is very relevant. The church is not a place it is a people who are set apart to pursue Jesus. Reconsider how valuable a group of people like that can be in your life. Don't let your parents church scare you off or turn you off... open yourself up to the idea of the church.

Second, re-consider Jesus. Jesus is very relevant. Maybe in high school Jesus meant very little to you... but don't write him off or forget him during these extremely important years in your life. If you have forgotten Jesus... use these years of freedom to re-discover and re-consider who he is and what that means for you.