God Moments..... Holy Spirit Signs

So yesterday was “the day”.... the day I heard so many share about their God sightings...their God moments. There was time to learn “hands on” at the interactive center; to have small group choice time and to dig into God’s Grace. The people of Houston are so nice and so willing to visit and share...(and help with directions. 😉) But with the whole day, the mass Gathering brought it all together for the day. I call it my “feels night”. The music was better than amazing. The DJ even drew attention to our FLY white shirts... “now there’s a group that has fun” 👍🏻 We even made the big screen. Later Cole R started (actually created)a dance and before we knew it, there was a group on the floor who caught on. The night of music went from emotional highs to deep emotional absorbing. I can’t even write enough to explain the speakers. Tough teen topics...topics that you know God had a hand in talking about. The message that came through.... “there’s grace for that.” God’s Grace and Love covers everything. And then when Nadia Bolz-Weber spoke, the Holy Spirit was talking. Nadia talked that we all try to be something or someone that we think we should be or is worthy enough. No one has ever become their ideal self. It’s a moving target. Your ideal self is a lie. “Your ideal self doesn't exist. The self that God loves is your actual self." The self God loves is your actual self, not your ideal self. And there’s a word for this: grace. And....We’re too busy trying to earn a free gift that’s already been given to us. You are magnificently imperfect. Nadia’s favorite part of the baptismal liturgy is when we are asked, “Do you renounce the devil and all his empty promises?” So...We stood up and we renounced lies: Beloved of God, do you renounce the accuser and all his lies and empty promises? Do you renounce the lies of white supremacy and its history in our country and at our borders? Do you renounce the lies that your body isn’t already perfect and made in God’s image? Do you renounce the lies that only able-bodied people are worthy of taking up space on this planet? Do you renounce the lie that queerness is anything other than beauty? Do you renounce the lies that tell you grace isn’t real, that there’s anything grace can’t redeem? Well, us too. Amen. Tonight’s worship was all about the heart of being a Lutheran. Grace. God loves us just as we are: broken and confused. We are loved. To see our group come together and have arms around each other as we let the music move us was humbling. I’m so proud of our youth. They get it. They participate. They listen. They are letting this Gathering change them. (And parents.... they are noticing how many youth and adults are missing out because of their phones. Seriously!)