Church on Sunday.

On Sunday several members of my family and I went to church at the Summit in High Point. It was VERY fun and there was a good message. There are a lot of nice people at the church and there is even a band that sings on the stage. It's like a rock concert every Sunday!

The message that the preacher talked about was about making a DIFFERENCE, instead of just making a POINT. The way he explained this was by referring to the a story in the book of Luke. (Luke 15:25-32). The story is about a King and his two sons. The younger son knew that when the king died he would get half of the inheritance and the other brother would get the other half. The younger brother told his father that he wanted to have his half now. He didn't want to wait for it. The King did as his son asked and gave him his half and the younger brother left the kingdom. Years past and the brother blew his money on things that were looked down on. When he ran out of money he began working for people, getting little pay and was starving. The brother knew that he had done wrong and decided to ask his father if he could work for him, that way he could be at home and he would at least get 3 meals a day. When the brother got home he did not get what he was expecting. When the brother walked up he was embraced in a huge hug by his father. His father was so excited the the lost brother had finally returned that he exclaimed that they would kill the fattened calf! The brother went inside with his father and they celebrated. While they were celebrating one of the servants told the older brother, who was working in the fields, that they were celebrating because his brother returned and that they cut the fattened calf and that he should join them. The brother didn't go in. The father went to the older brother and asked him to join them but the older brother said this....“All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing that you told me to do. And in all that time you never gave me even one goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!” As you can see the older brother does not feel that the younger brother deserve this and it is not fair that he gets it when the older brother has been loyal to his father the whole time. But the father sees it as he is making a difference in his sons life. He could tell him that he is not welcome back home, that would be making a point, but he wanted to make a DIFFERENCE.

I think the lesson was very powerful and meaningful. It was one of those times when the preacher says something and you're think in your head “how did he know that.....where does he have cameras hidden at my house?”. I think that everyone should hear this and figure out who they are....... The father or the older brother?

When I was younger my cousin and I would fight ALL the time. Everything that we said to each other was about whether something was fair or not. Sometimes instead of us making a POINT about whether it's fair or not we could have helped out the adults, by not fighting, therefore making a difference. Just a few days ago my mom said that her and my aunt were going to get Starbucks and I said that if she got Starbucks then I want Starbucks, that's not fair. As soon as I said it I realized that I was being the older brother and my mom and I laughed SO hard and she said, "What's your point?". That was one of those times when I realized life isn't always about being fair or making a point. 

There is a lot that I could do to make a difference. For example, The Summit does an event called The Big Serve where you volunteer around the community. I could make a point by telling people what it is or that they should help out or I could make a difference by actually volunteering myself. I chose to volunteer. What will you do?