Getting a truer picture of the Body of Christ
Left entirely to itself, a small youth group can quietly absorb the message that “church” means our small room and our familiar faces. Combining with other churches corrects this. Young people see for themselves that the Church is far bigger than their own congregation. They get to see that believers worship differently, emphasise different things, and still belong to the one Lord. And the differences can be a good thing. Proverbs says iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). A bigger, more varied group brings a wider range of testimonies, questions, gifts, and perspectives. Youth learn from peers whose walk with God looks different from their own. By mingling with people from a different background, they get to be stretched with harder questions, and discover gifts they would never have found in a setting too small to need them. This is not a distraction from the local church, it is precisely the local church teaching its youth what Jesus prayed for: “that they may all be one… so that the world may believe” (John 17:21). Unity across small churches is a living lesson in the gospel.
Praise God for the recent combined youth dumpling-making competition (25 July) outreach held at Bethesda Katong. May the gospel seed sown bear fruits in due season.