Daily Devotion

PUSH Week

This is not the first time that GSLC Flock students have participated in a PUSH Week experience. We hosted one in 2019 at GSLC and were joined by high-school youth from Guardian Angels Catholic Church (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and from Lutheran Church of our Redeemer (Watertown, South Dakota). During both PUSH week experiences, we put our theme verse into practice. 

Romans 12:9-13
⁹ Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.^[a] 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

               PUSH WEEK 2019                               PUSH WEEK 2021 

In 2019, our GSLC Flock students extended hospitality for a whole week to two other youth groups. That meant they arrived early to make our church building ready to receive 40 additional guests for a week. They grocery shopped so that we had food ready to prepare for our guests. They took out the garbage each night and in general played tour-guides as people settled into our space. 

That same year the GSLC students served at Stepping Stones each day as one-on-one volunteers for the youth attending their Day Camp program. We learned what genuine love looked like as we supported the Day Camp counselors in helping each Stepping Stone camper have a successful day at camp. 

This year was different. We were extended hospitality at the Farm, always having cold water in a cooler for us to refill our water bottles from and a plate of homemade baked goods ready for us to enjoy at break time. 

When we met each morning at Tikkun Farm after sleeping in our own beds in our own homes, we started our time together with a Gratitude Circle, a short moment to share what we were grateful for so far that day. Responses ranged from “being in the fresh air” to “being grateful for support from family” to “good breakfast food”. We were taking a moment to rejoice in the hope of the day to come.

At the end of each day, we closed our time together with an Appreciation Circle – a time to share a specific moment of appreciation for something that happened that day. I heard lots of appreciations shared for specific help given during a project, a warm welcome received or even a joke that was made. We were practicing showing honor to one another.

Even though both PUSH Week experiences looked and felt different, we served the Lord during both of them. PUSH week is an opportunity for each participant to push themselves to live faith through Prayer, Unity, Service and Humility; to collectively contribute to the needs of the saints.  

PUSH week would not be possible without the support of our congregation. Thank you for the gift of your financial resources, your prayers of support and your involvement with our various youth ministries at GSLC. We hope that our PUSH Week experience will encourage you to PUSH yourself to live more faithfully through Prayer, Unity, Service and Humility too. 

1 comments on article "Daily Devotion"

Roy Johnson

Thank you for sharing the positive information about faith development for the members of youth groups.

7/16/2021 2:54 PM

Reply to

Leave a comment

Name:	Please enter a name.
Email:	Please enter an email address. Please enter a valid email address.

Comment:	Please enter comment.
I agree	This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data. You must read and accept this rules.

Add comment