By This past weekend was AYL at my church. AYL stands for Altar Your life. The thought is that you alter your life by leaving your troubles at the altar. It’s a weekend for youth to come together, worship and potentially transform their lives. I say potentially because not everyone has the giant a-ha moment over the weekend. The weekend is an opportunity to plant a seed that hopefully will grow.
To finish off the weekend, the youth minister led the sermon (with a very hoarse voice) in church on Sunday. I thought he was going to talk about youth and the weekend. Instead he talked about relationships…and how we’re searching for our purpose in life. Here are some notes I scribbled down as he talked:
- Evermore = forever and always
- Loving God and loving people unconditionally
- Intentionality
- Vulnerability
- ATL = Ask the Lord
The scripture he quoted was from Luke.
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.“
Luke 10:27
Isn’t life the adult version of AYL every day. We are always transforming. Life presents us with opportunities to grow our relationship with Christ. Sometimes we grow toward Him. Sometimes we stumble.
I love the idea of being intentional in our relationship with God. We often take it for granted during good times and cry out, shaking our fists, during bad times. What if you spent every day intentionally loving God and loving your neighbor?
My ATL is this prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the opportunities you provide each day to be intentional in my relationships with You and my neighbors.
I need your guiding hand and steadfast love in good times and bad.
I love you and I want a relationship with you.
Amen
You can find his entire sermon here – look for Evermore (2/11/2024).