Youth Impact III

Last Night was a special night at the Comunidade de Cristo.  It was the third annual Youth Impact.  The young adults invite their friends to see a theatrical presentation and hear a biblical message about what they just saw.
 

They did an excellent job presenting a piece in which three armed men enter the church and force members at gunpoint to admit their sins in front of the congregation.  The leader of the three insists that there is no such thing as true conversion, and tells the congregation that everyone who claims to be a Christian is only wearing a mask.  He says that they only act Christian at church but have secret lives outside of church.  For the first several hostages this is true.  But the last one the gunmen force to confess is a true Christian who has been genuinely converted.  This drives the gunman mad.  He cannot accept that it is possible because he doesn't believe in the power of Christ.  In the end, he turns the gun on himself. 

John had the honor of following the play with a message about wearing masks in church.  He talked about the fact that the world loves us because of something we have to offer but that God loves us in spite of the fact that we have nothing to offer.  He said God is not impressed with our masks and loves us just as we are.
 

There were over sixty people at the event last night.  Over thirty of those were visitors.  We were very impressed with the great job the young adults did to prepare the evening and we were very happy that they managed to get so many of their friends to attend.  If just one of them is reached for Christ, the whole evening will have been worth the effort.