JR. Forasteros - March 10, 2019

The Gift of Awkwardness

Cringeworthy

Why do we feel awkwardness? And when we feel it, what, exactly, are we feeling? The first awkward moment in the Bible, Genesis 3, shows us both the danger and opportunity of awkwardness. How can we refuse to hide or flee, and instead stay in the awkward promise of the cringe?

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Is there a time you can think of that God called you out of your comfort zone?

I was a sophomore in high school when my youth pastor asked me to teach Sunday School — for the middle school boys.

I was sixteen years old. I didn’t know much about anything. What was my youth pastor thinking? Fortunately, he didn’t just throw me to the wolves. I was a co-teacher with Rich, one of our youth ministry volunteers. We even had a curriculum book to work out of — so all I had to do was just follow the book!

I’ll never forget how terrified I was to teach that first lesson. These were kids I knew, at least a little. Younger brothers of some of my friends. And who was I? Just some high school kid. I had a few Bible verses memorized and could tell you some of the stories about Jesus, but I wasn’t qualified to teach.

To this day, I’m not sure why they asked me to help Rich out. Maybe it was because I had shared with my youth pastor I felt a call to ministry, or maybe it was because I was annoying my own Sunday school class. I’ll never know.

I do know two things: first, I know I was wildly unprepared to step up in that way. Like, couldn’t have been less qualified if I tried.

And second,  I know teaching that middle school Sunday School class grew my faith in a big way. I was never again quite as intimidated stepping of my comfort zone when it came to teaching and leading.   I had already done it, and I saw that God never asked me to be an expert. He just wanted me to be faithful and do what He was calling me to do.

So back to that first question: can you think of a time God has called you to serve outside of your comfort zone? One way God grows our faith is to call us to serve outside our comfort zones.

When we step into areas we’re weak, we see clearly how God works, and our faith grows!

Join us Sunday as we learn how God uses serving to grow our faith.

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