7th Nov 2012. By Donna Uning, Kuching. CM –
Saturday, November 3, 2012 – Over a thousand youths gathered for the annual ACS Youth Concert in the Association of Churches (ACS) building Saturday night. The purpose of the concert is to bring together and promote activities toward Christian youths in Sarawak.
According to the concert Committee leader, Jasmine Wong, the aim of ACS Youth is to unite Christian youths from different churches in the State. The theme for the concert this year is taken from Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The ACS Youth consists of youth ministries from SIB, Catholic Church, Seventh Day Adventist, Methodist Iban Church, Salvation Army and Anglican Church. This year, by rotation, the Anglican Church youth hosts the event. All participating churches involved presented this year’s theme related performances.
The wet evening did not damper the mood of the young people as glorious celebration of praise and worship filled the hall. The praise and worship team were made up from various youth ministries from Anglican churches in the city. The Anglican Church played host this year, with guest speaker Reverend Fr. Donald Jute from Good Shepherd church, Lutong, Miri.
“God’s commission to us is to make disciples of all men,” said Rev. Fr. Donald Jute. He challenged all the youths who think that they are “the future of the church”. “The church is saying to you that YOU ARE the church now, today!” he voiced out. He further challenged the youth to know who they are, if they are ready to serve in the name of Jesus or are they just attending church, following their parents and not Jesus.
“You are the workers now! You are different! Praise God!” he exclaimed. In every church, there are many challengers. He continued saying that in the last couple of years, “We appreciate youths; we want them to know that God loves them, and will do anything for them.”
“Who are you in Jesus? We are Christ disciples; each and every one of us has been called to serve. Why do we do this? Because God has commissioned each and every one of us, not just the bishops,” he said. “We are called by God to go! Go! Go!” he called out.
“As you go about” means everywhere you go. He called them to live it out and spread the gospel. Jesus loves each and every one of us, he told them. “How can we do it?” he asked. “Prayer; anywhere and everywhere we go. God has made us many opportunities to spread the gospel – bus stops, coffee shops,” he added. He reminded that we cannot do it on our own; we need to pray in everything we do and seek God’s direction.
We cannot wait for people to come. We have to look and find them. When we call and go – people must see in us that Christ is real, he said. “Is God real for you? Is Jesus’ forgiveness real for you? Do you know?” The Rev. Fr. Donald Jute then emphasized that God can use us more than we can imagine. He must be your foremost. “This is a wonderful thing to be a part of,” he said then finished with a prayer for everyone.
The ACS Youth has been in existence for five years and the concert has been running annually for the last three years. The current ACS Youth Chairperson is Lucy Kutel. Some of their activities include helping out in community service, visiting the prison and Campus Crusade, which is an outreach program to campus students.
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