Over the next two weeks, the articles will be a little different due to no youth on June 19, 2019, as well as June 26, 2019. We have been preparing and taking part over the past two weeks for the annual vacation bible school event our church puts on. Articles will be back to being commentary and reflection of youth sermon's from Wednesday nights on July 15.

This week, I wanted to take time to focus on young people, particularly our generation, in the church. Many churches have begun to have two worship services on Sundays to appeal to both the old and young. Sometimes, during these services, you will see some of our generations at the more traditional services, and vice versa with the older people in contemporary services. This is especially the case at First Baptist Jacksonville, for example.

Where exactly does our generation fit in, though? People tend to give our generation this "they only like flashy lights and loud bands and the like." People think our generation is just trying to make a church a popularity contest or just a "feel good message" like prosperity preachers give. There may be some truth in some respects, but the last part simply isn't true.

Don't get me wrong, I love the older hymns; however, I also love a lot of the newer and more contemporary songs that groups like Passion, Elevation Worship, Jesus Culture, and Chris Tomlin have produced in recent years. Not to mention, Passion has even done at least a couple hymns, adding to them a little. A lot of the music we worship with at Engage, for example, is contemporary, but the message behind contemporary songs and old worship hymns is the exact same. We are singing to a God who has done so much for us and blessed us with eternal life by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.

A chief complaint I have heard in churches that are still blended is the music. My home church, for example, does a couple of hymns and a couple of contemporary songs each week. A majority of the people enjoy it; however, there are a few who aren't as receptive to the change. I personally like the change, because it gets everyone involved.

Jesus actually talked about this in Mark 2:18-22. In the passage, the Pharisees are complaining because Jesus's disciples aren't fasting like they are. He uses the comparison of new wine in old wineskins, and how putting new wine in old wineskins will cause the wineskins to burst. We actually went over this passage during our Sunday service on June 23, 2019, and our pastor, Bro. Ryan Fortenberry made a couple of points that really stood out to me when speaking on this passage.

The first point Bro. Ryan made is don't miss God's celebration because of selfishness. Pride is a big thing that Satan uses to cause Christians to fall. They want to use the gifts God gave them for their glory, rather than using them for God's glory, as they should. Like the Pharisees were doing, we shouldn't be seeking to do things in the church for attention; instead, we should be doing things in the church to glorify and honor God.

It should also be noted that different churches have different mindsets, and that's okay. The Gospel is for all to hear. It doesn't matter whether you worship traditional or contemporary. What matters to Christ is the Gospel being shared in a way that all people can understand it. If bringing in something young people relate to, such as the Avengers (which the next series I plan to do with the youth is called Endgame, based on the most recent Avengers movie), then we should seek to tie it into the sermon in such a way that shows that God is our ultimate superhero, and the rapture and Apocalypse are His ultimate "endgame" to bring His children home to Him. Think about this. Jesus used parables taken from different things in the culture during His time to show that God had sent the Messiah to bring them to Him.

The second key point Bro. Ryan made was don't let tradition keep you from having joy. Think about all the traditions you may encounter in everyday life. One tradition my family has during football season is every year when Alabama and Arkansas square off, we have BLTs. While the Tide has won every year since we began the tradition, that doesn't mean they will always beat those Razorbacks from Fayetteville, Arkansas. Similarly, not all generations are going to worship the same way; hence, the different songs from hymns that have been sung for centuries to contemporary music that has only been sung maybe ten years in most instances. As churches bring in some newer music, older Christians should be receptive and not let their traditional hearts be set on opposing it.

Every great revival in this nation starts with the young generation. I'm not saying we should completely reform the church to just bring in young people, because the church is supposed to be like a hospital for sinners of all ages. I am, however, saying that as Christians, we should all come together to worship our Lord and Savior who sent Jesus to die for us.