Tonight we talked a lot about what it means to love one another. Shane made the point that we often judge other people even before we know them. “Oh, this person’s a druggie. Stay away from them; they’re trouble!” “This person looks weird with piercings and tattoos; they must be violent!” We often form first impressions about people by how they look, act, or by what we’ve heard about them. These impressions may be right, but more often than not they’re wrong. To truly love one another, we first need to learn how not to judge. What are some ways that we judge others? How can we keep ourselves from doing so?

So tonight Christian talked about who we really are. In small groups, he asked us questions like, “What are three words you’d choose to describe who you want to be?” “What are some character traits that you need to work on?” and “What’s the square root of 28,224?” These deep questions got me thinking, “Who AM I, really? If everything I cared about were stripped away from me, everything that gives me an identity in the eyes of the world… in that moment of truth, would I still be the same person? ”

In the eyes of the world, we’re one person. Sometimes, we wear a mask depending on what people expect of us, who we’re with, or how we’re feeling. Sometimes we wear so many masks that the true self, the one we’re called by God to be, is lost. Realizing which masks we wear when can help us to know more about ourselves and how to better be who we’re supposed to be. How about you? How many layers of masks are you wearing? When are you simply yourself?

Elisha Challenge: Week 3 . . . .Big Prayers! A new week, another challenge. This time, we are each choosing one thing to pray about, and committing to pray about it every single day.  Join the conversation here with praise reports, or telling us what you are praying about so we can all pray together! Remember Isaac’s teaching – Prayer is Faith + Perseverance!

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their prayer.” 1 Peter 3:12

Inspired by the story of Mephibosheth, we are praying about one person who doesn’t come to youth group. We are choosing one person to pray for—for two weeks—and then inviting them to youth group. As we go through this, if you have any comments or testimonies – let us know!