Taylor and Grayson are close friends. They pal around together at Mariners HSM, serve KidMin on Sunday Mornings and enjoy youth camps at Hume Lake. Coming home from winter camp early in January, they decided to take their friendship a step further and begin meeting together with God to study his word.
Winter camp at Lake Hume has a little something for every youth in attendance: Ice skating, tubing, boarding and broom ball; worship, prayer and devotional time; great food and learning experiences. It was a featured speaker, Pastor Christopher Hilken of North Coast Church in Vista, who captured their attention.
In order to emphasize the weight of God’s sacrifice of his son to save mankind, Pastor Chris asked his teen audience to “personalize it,” to consider their feelings if they found themselves in a similar circumstance with a family member. “Whoa,” Taylor said. “I have a little brother. What if my Dad said, ‘He has to die to save everyone in my church.’ It gets you.” Jesus died “thousands of years ago, but (Pastor Chris) made it all so realistic,” Grayson agreed.
On the bus ride home, the two friends compared notes. They researched Pastor Chris online and discovered a set of short video lessons he had created called “Daily Dose.” They decided to meet weekly to watch the videos, discuss each message and look for applications to their lives.
“We come together on Saturday nights after church and we debrief and have a good conversation, said Taylor, who said those meet-ups have already helped ease anxieties about college. “We talk about what’s been going on in our week at school and stuff that we’ve been going through … and see if there’s something in the Word that can help.”
Grayson notes the great value of talking through God’s Word and life’s challenges with a fellow Christian. “It’s really helpful to talk with someone who has the same views,” Grayson said. “Not everyone is a Christian. Not all of our friends believe in God.”
And they also are beginning to share insights and questions raised during their shared time with God with their HSM friends, and hope their experience will inspire others. “If questions are brought up, we share (our insights). Or we witness,” Taylor said. “We’re kind of testing the waters.”
