Church family, you’re invited to join our Youth & Young adults groups for a special workshop hosted by our director of youth ministries, Richard Gomez. Tomorrow, Saturday Feb. 11th in Wylie Chapel, our youth will meet together with the youth & young adult groups from several other local churches to ponder and discuss the impact of Faith within the context of our culture in Hollywood and Los Angeles, in 2023.

DON’T FORGET ~ This section will be directed at our teenagers. We will be persuading them not to forget what anchor’s their faith and identity in Christ, being convinced they will never be isolated from the safety the Father provides. We will teach them not to forget the tools and resources the Christian faith gives them to navigate our modern – secular culture without feeling threatened by it, because we are called not to be influenced by the culture, but to be redeemed and reconciled influencers sent to the culture. Our teenagers are in a context that attempts to persuade them to achieve their worth and to prove their own belonging through a self-expression that is defined by the burdensome and overwhelming assumptions and contingent expectations of our secular culture. Our goal at this Workshop is to anchor our teenagers in Christ, as we seek to persuade them, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, that their identity is secured in Christ, and this enables us to love and reflect the Father’s grace.

PLEASE REMEMBER ~ This will be the section directed to our young adults. We will be persuading them to remember the beauty, joy, and love they felt when they first received Jesus. The older we become as believers the easier it is to become jaded, feeling overwhelmed and burdened by the assumptions and expectations of a culture that persuades us to merit our place within it; to perform to belong; to store up accolades and achievements to prove our self-worth. However, allowing the culture to define how we receive identity will inevitably make us emotionally burdened and relationally overwhelmed, as we forget our first love, Jesus. I hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God rekindles their hope, reorders their loves, as we collectively see the world anew as we first did when we first believed.

BREAK OUT SESSIONS ~ This will be the practical portion of our time together where we will divide young adults and teenagers into small groups, to discuss the topics covered. What does all of this we have discussed look like tomorrow in practical application to a secular culture that is not defined by God’s loves? How can we hold onto these convictions, remaining hopeful in a world that can so quickly stifle and suppress our hope in Christ? How can we love our neighbors outside of the church in light of the Father’s grace without feeling threatened by our neighbors, never becoming influenced by the culture but influencers sent out to it? This will be the portion where we seek, from a Christian perspective, practical common ground with our culture with our neighbors without losing sight of our identity in Jesus. 

Please contact Richard Gomez for RSVP’s