First Baptist Asheville Youth

* The devotions the student choir will use July 31-Aug 2 are provided by the Baptist Youth World Conference. During that time, I will post the devotions that they read the first 3 days of their trip: July 25-27. - Tracey

Hush! Somebody’s Calling My Name

Remember:

Hush! Hush! Somebody’s calling my name.
O my Lord, O my Lord what shall I do?

I’m so glad that trouble don’t last always.
I’m so glad I got my religion in time.
Soon one morning death come creepin’ in my room

Hush! Hush! Somebody’s calling my name.
O my Lord, O my Lord what shall I do?
Hush! Hush! Hushsshshshshshsh...

Read: Matthew 10: 29-33

Reflect: Write out your full name: _________________________________________________________

Write any nicknames you have: _____________________________________________________

Why did your parents give you the name you have? What characteristics make you unlike any other person? Who gave you your nicknames? Do you think your names fit you?

Consider: Didn’t you hate it in elementary school when on the first day of a new school year the teacher called the roll for the first time and totally screwed up the pronunciation of your name? Or worse, called you by your full name which nobody had ever heard in public - like Fred Clark Sorrells!

A roll call is an inevitable part of life, though. Because we are all unique individuals, we are given names so who we are can be distinguished from everybody else. Yes, God made each of us carefully and purposefully. God knows each of us by name and knows the number of hairs on our heads. And since God knows us so personally, then we each can also know God personally.

Faith and Christian living are not things we just naturally inherit from our parents or that we get through the osmosis of being a part of a church. A relationship with God is a gift we each must intentionally seek. It is a treasure we must find ourselves. It is something no person can give us or achieve for us.

This trip is a great opportunity to discover and deepen our relationships with God. That can only happen if we admit our own need for God. Traveling in Europe with this great group of people will be awesome, but this adventure is about so much more than that. It is a great chance for each of us to receive God’s gift of meaningful life. Right now, if you can be quiet and listen, somebody’s calling your name.

Pray: Pray that you can know you the way to discover and develop your own relationship with God.

(Written by Clark Sorrells)

Shout to the Lord

Remember:

My Jesus, my Savior, Lord, there is none like You.
All of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love;
My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength,
Let ev’ry breath, all that I am never cease to worship You.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth, let us sing power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands, forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand.
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

All creatures of our God and King lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise Him,
Alleluia! Shout to the Lord! Alleluia!

Read: Philippians 2: 1-11

Reflect: What do you think is the most common theme in the current presidential campaign? in American culture in general?

Consider: Tonight will be the beginning of the Baptist World Alliance Youth Conference. We will be with thousands of teenagers and young adults from all over the world. The world has come to Leipzig for one reason: the words of Shout to the Lord, “Lord, there is none like you.” It is the perfect time for you to ask yourself some questions: “Is Jesus Christ really the most important person in my life? Do I genuinely want to be someone who makes him Lord, even if that means being different from other people I am around everyday? Do I want to dive deeper in my commitment to God?”

Of course, saying “yes” to these questions requires sacrifice. The scripture passage from Philippians says we are to have the same mind as Jesus had. We have to be a servant to others as he was. We have to be obedient to the ways of God. We are not promised “success” in the world- Jesus’ life on earth ended in his being killed by the misunderstanding establishment. What we are promised is significant purpose and everlasting peace in life.

These questions are relevant for all Christians in the twenty-first century. More so than any other time in history, the status and influence of authentic Christian faith is in peril. Especially in America, the power of materialism and the need for constant entertainment and recreation have people saying, “Almighty Dollar, there is none like you.” The desire to be self-giving servants is dwarfed by the thirst for comfort. Involvement in church is at an all-time low. In spite of, or maybe because of the saturation of Christian witness in our culture – television, internet, music industry – true discipleship in Christ is becoming more and more rare.

Your decision about the direction of your life amidst these challenges is not one that can be put off until “I get out of college, settle down, get a job and start a family.” The energy and time you give right now to whatever you think is most important will determine who you are for the rest of your life. Now is the time to decide to either be swept away by the strong tide of “looking out for number one,” “image is everything,” or “just being happy,” or to dive deeper into the rich, refreshing waters of joyful Christian living.

Pray: Connect with the spirit of God, submitting your values and highest hopes to the example and Lordship of Christ.

(written by Clark Sorrells)

* For the next 3 days, the devotions the student choir will use will come from the Baptist Youth World Conference. During that time, I will post the devotions that they read the first 3 days of their trip: July 25-27. - Tracey

Gute nacht! I would say that in Czech but I would have no idea how to do so. It has been a very long day here in Prague, but I mean that in the best way possible. All those people who call this place the most beautiful city in the world have a great point; all those who disagree have never been here. We started our day this morning by seeing possibly the prettiest and most worthwhile sites in the entire city of Prague: its castle and cathedral. After our breakfast, we got on the bus with our two Czech tour guides and headed up the hill to the castle which, as we were told, used to be an entire city by itself. The beautiful buildings actually form a complex of palaces, gardens, courtyards, and countless works of art known as the Prague castle. Half now in use as the offices of the President of the Czech Republic, the complex is also beautifully preserved for exhibition to the public. The most fascinating building in the castle, and the one that occupied most of our time, was Prague’s cathedral. This absolutely beautiful building (parts of which were built in the 14th century and others in the 20th) is the third largest cathedral in the world. Not in the Czech Republic or Eastern Europe, the world. Containing breathtaking architecture, priceless works of art, and the tombs of Kings, Emperors, and Saints (including Saint Wenceslas, of Christmas Carol fame), the Cathedral left all of us speechless. Or nearly so. After being informed by our guide of several choirs singing in this beautiful house of God, the group proposed and performed an impromptu concert in the cathedral, albeit without a method of attaining the proper key. The notes were not perfect; our placement in the Transcept made things a little awkward, but the experience of singing in that place was like no other I can remember or imagine. There are moments in life that take your breath away, when we manage to find a moment to empty our minds and let God fill the space. For me, at least, this was one of those moments.
In a wonderful turn of events, however, this was not my only moment of astounding closeness to God today. After a quick change back at the hotel and a somewhat awkward lunch on the Old Town Square we had the opportunity and blessing to sing in St. Nicholas Church, a 17th Century building that, at perhaps less than a third the size of the great cathedral, still managed to leave me in awe. The crowd that gathered for our concert (surprisingly large, perhaps due to the surprise fliers that were passed out on the square) was more than appreciative of our program. Several spoke to me afterwards, usually in broken English, but the tears rolling down several cheeks spoke more clearly to me about what we had done than even the best articulated conversation of thanks. Even during the concert (I promise this didn’t distract me, Clark) I had another moment of breathtaking closeness to God. The acoustics of the room caught the sound of our singing like few venues I have ever heard, and the sound of our music glancing upward off of the magnificent frescoes of saints and angels, as if carrying our voices and our praises directly to God, honestly left me near tears, even while trying to make it through “Sometimes I Hear God’s Music.” These are the moments, I think, that make the difficulties faith presents us with worthwhile; these fleeting times when we see the Almighty with startling clarity, the moments so beautiful that we are left on the verge of tears in the presence of God. I had two today, and I count myself blessed and hope that my peers can say something similar.
There was, of course, plenty of time for fun in the midst of our busy day. For me this included a wonderful dinner at KFC (with free refills!), a trip to the Franz Kafka museum (don’t ask), several hours perusing the narrow cobblestone streets of Prague and the countless souvenir stores and, coolest of all, a river cruise through the city courtesy of our friendly neighborhood ministers. The cruise gave us all a new view of the city, including a view of the Presidential residence and a giant metronome, as well as a much-needed opportunity to take a moment to sit down, slow down, and relax. Altogether, I have been going nonstop for the past 17 hours, have sung in two of the prettiest churches I can imagine, walked I don’t know how many Kilometers, asked myself how many Dollars this costs (converting from Crowns for now) countless times, and had two beautifully near-to-God experiences, all in the most beautiful city in the world. So, like I said, it’s been a long day (again, in the best possible way). I know I’ve written too much already, but on a quick personal note: Mom and Dad, we are in Prague alive, and I love and miss you. Mom, I apologize for all the grammatical errors and overly-used commas in the above. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and thoughts, please continue through the rest of our journey, including the BWS Youth Conference beginning tomorrow. Until I see you all to thank you in person, Auf Wiedersehen (again, not in Czech).

Jamie Gorsuch

Remember:

Laudate eum in virtutibus ejus, secundum multitudinem magnitudinis ejus.
(Praise God for mighty acts, according to God’s excellent greatness.)

Laudate eum in sono tubae, psalterio at cithara, tympano et choro, chorids et organo.
(Praise God with trumpet, psaltery, harp, drum, dance, strings and organ.)

Laudate eum in cymbalis benesonantibus, Laudate eum in cymbalis jubilationis.
(Praise God with high-sounding cymbals, praise God with cymbals of joy.)

Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum!
(Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord!)

Read: Colossians 3: 12-17

Reflect: Write the name of a song that really moves you: ___________________________________________ What is it about this song that you like? Does it make you hyped? Depressed? Romantic?

Consider: Music has a great power. It can penetrate our lives to the center of who we are: our emotions. Our feelings motivate all we do. If someone’s feelings are affected then their behavior and attitude will also be affected.

This adventure we are on is more than just a rockin’ good time. It is more than just seeing the world or showing off our musical talent. It is about influencing people with our music. It is about sharing Jesus. It is about singing the truth and love of God as we connect in a deep way with the people we will meet and with one another. You know, that’s the whole purpose of being a Christian – thinking about other people and finding ways to help or encourage them. Singing your faith is a great way to give your time and energy for the benefit of other people.

Salmo 150 was written by a composer from Brazil, Ernani Aguiar. His piece reminds us that all over the world people sing to God. The scripture in Colossians tells us followers of Jesus have always sung together. It says singing was an important act of faith, of teaching, of community building. It also shows that if the people who are singing love each other and let that love spill out to others, their music makes an even bigger impact. That’s what we are doing as we sing together on this trip. That’s what the church of Jesus Christ should always be doing, in whatever language, in whatever time of history, in whatever place they live.

Pray: Thank God for music and ask God to show you more ways to serve other people through music.

(written by Clark Sorrells)

Remember:

Come flood this heart of mine with your great love divine.
Come, Spirit, make your home, my heart is yours alone.
Come flood this heart of mine with your pure joy divine.
My every sin forgive as one with you I live.

Come fill my heart, I am longing for your power.
Your presence and peace will be mine this very hour.
Come fill my heart with your Spirit in this place.
Let my heart overflow with the fullness of your grace.

Make of this heart of mine a vessel wholly thine.
Drive dark and doubt away, O fill me Lord, I pray.
Come flood this heart of mine with your true light divine!

Read: John 10: 7-10

Reflect: What is your definition of the perfect Saturday? How-do you describe absolute, ultimate, losing-track-of-time, as-if-you-were-still-four-years-old fun?

Consider: A true story: When I was young my uncle and two cousins, my dad and my brother would go “grabblin” every chance we got in the summer. That’s where you walk through the water down a creek and catch fish by sticking your hands underneath big rocks or underwater holes in the bank and literally “grab” them out. You can catch everything from hand-sized perch to twenty-inch bass, catfish, “hog-suckers,” even snappin’ turtles and snakes. (I am being totally serious.) Well, one day when we were all on a big trip we came to a large, fairly deep place in the creek where we could see some really big fish swimming. We all got down in the water on our sides and formed a human wall around a big rook in the middle of the creek. On the count of three, we stuck our hands up under the rock, and the fish were everywhere! We were pulling them out as fast as we could, throwing them up on the bank and putting them in a big burlap sack we carried for the “big haul.” All of the sudden my father started screaming like a madman, jumping up and down, shaking’ every part of his body that he had no business shaking. When we finally got him to tell us what the heck the problem was, he pointed to his swimming trunks. What a sight it must have been to see all of us sticking our hands up his trunks to retrieve the two fish and one water snake that had found an interesting escape route from underneath the rock!

Living on this earth is wonderful. There is so much potential for hilarious fun and pure joy. That’s what Jesus meant when he said that He came to give us abundant life. Our hearts can be flooded with joy when we discover the simple gifts God has given. They are found in the enjoyment of the earth’s beauty and the laughter of family; the stimulating high we get from being creative or influential; the fun of touring a new place with Christian friends. These kinds of pleasures never wear off. They do not pass through our blood stream and leave us with a hangover in the morning. They do not fry our brains or result in an unwanted pregnancy. People look for joy in many places, but we need not look beyond the promise of John 10:10.

Pray: Ask God to show you how to discover abundant life, and to live it with people who want the same thing.

(written by Clark Sorrells)

Due to technical difficulties (FBCA's server has been down since Saturday), I can't post the devotions and trip information that I promised for this week yet, but I will have something on Monday.
Tracey

We have arrived in Germany!!!

It has been almost 29 hours since we left Asheville and we are just now settling into our hotel in Nuremburg! Despite being the seeming neverending day, it has been a great experience so far.

After arriving in Frankfurt we took the bus about 2 hours southeast to Rothenburg - a picturesque german town. It represented the epitome of what a lot of us expected to see in reference to architecture and the kinds of people we expected to encounter. Our tour guide, April was great in explaining what we should expect and showing us around the town.

We were able to walk around the streets for a little over an hour going into shops and eating in bakery's and other quick little food shops before having the chance to sing on the steps in the town square. What an experience!! We sang 5 songs a capella for the crowd that grew larger and larger the longer we sang. It was great to see the expressions on the faces of all the people that joined to hear us.

While we were singing, people from Indiana, Switzerland, England, Chicago and Spain as well as Germany all approached Roy to inquire about this group...where we were from, what we were doing there, and to thank us for bringing music to Rothenburg. One lady even offered us 10% off in her store as a thank you for being there!

Despite being on very little sleep, we were told we sounded pretty good. Impressive!

After we sang we all went to visit St. Jakob's Church of which St. James of the bible is the Patron Saint. The church was gorgeous. The artwork inside was esquisite, the pipe organ one of the biggest i've seen, and upstairs in the balcony there was a famous alter that is rumored to contain a vile of holy blood within its cross. The choir loft reminded us of Duke Chapel. Overall, Rothenburg was amazing and we only wish we had more time to enjoy it.

We are now currently settled in Nuremburg where we ate dinner at an authentic German restaurant. We are excited as to what tomorrow in Nuremburg will be but probably most excited about finally getting some sleep!

Take care and we hope all is well back home. Thank you for your support, thoughts, and prayers as we continue our journey seeking Christ in Europe.

Melinda Redinger

Mini-update: The FBCA Student Choir left Asheville on time this afternoon. The flight left about 2 hours after it was scheduled to, but they should be fine to make their connection from Munich to Frankfurt.

Additional pictures, a link to a Google map of their journey and other information about their trip are available at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17493313703.

Say prayers for them for smooth landings in Germany!

Tracey

We are 3 days away from leaving Asheville and beginning our trip to the Baptist World Alliance Youth Conference in Leipzig, Germany. The flight is on Lufthansa Airlines from Charlotte to Frankfurt, Germany. The Student Choir practices one last time tomorrow night at 6pm. The Choirs first concert will be in Rothenburg, Germany on Saturday afternoon in the Rothenburg Markplatz at City Hall. Please pray for final preparations, our flight, and our first day. We will try to have pictures and journal entries throughout the trip posted on this blog. Again...Thank You FBCA for making this trip possible. Roy