Triennium Worship Sermons
SCRIPTURE READING (Ready by Zach Allen) Luke 2: 8 - 20
In that region there were shepherds living in the
fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
Then an angel of the Lord stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were terrified.
But the angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of
great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a
Savior, who is the Messiah,[a] the Lord.
This will be a sign for you:
you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in
a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host,
praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom God favors!”[c]
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another,
“Let us go now to Bethlehem
and see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord has made known to us.”
So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the
child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been
told them about this child;
and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds
told them.
But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her
heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all
they had heard and seen,
as it had been told them.
EXPLANATION OF SERMON: (Read by Zach Allen)
Scott O’Neill from Presbyterian News Service wrote the
following article: 2016 Youth Triennium Opening Worship Calls Youth to ‘Go and
See’
“Young ‘shepherds’ encouraged to be attentive to God,”
West LaFayette, Ind. – A raucous, festive atmosphere punctuated the
opening worship Tuesday night in Purdue University’s
Elliot Hall of Music. Videos, chest-thumping music, energizers, and skits
performed by Triennium staff helped work the estimated crowd of 5,000 students
and adult volunteers into a multi-media frenzy that rivaled a rock concert in
atmosphere and decibels, complete with the obligatory beach ball batted
throughout the hall until the Call to Worship commenced.
Dr. Rodger Nishioka, in his twenty-minute sermon, contrasted
the gospels of Matthew and Luke on the story of Jesus’ birth, focusing on Luke.
“There are only two stories about Jesus’ birth in all of scripture, and only
Luke has shepherds living in the field…the angel of the Lord stands before
them, and the glory of the Lord shines around them and they are terrified. The
angels say, be not afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy for all the
people.”
God’s intention from the start in announcing the birth of
Jesus, noted Nishioka, was that the ‘good news of great joy for all people’ was
not just intended for the Jewish people…or Americans, Republicans, Democrats,
or even just Presbyterians, but for all people.
Capitalizing on the overall conference theme of GO and the
first day’s sub theme of “Let us GO and see,” Nishioka told the crowd,
“What I love about the shepherds is that when the angels
leave they don’t sit back and do nothing, the shepherds turn to one another and
say let us go now to Bethlehem
and see the thing that has taken place that the Lord has made known to us. The
shepherds saw something amazing and acted as a result of it.”
Nishioka…closed his sermon imploring the students to be
receptive to God’s plan.
“For whatever reason, you are called to be here. That is not
your doing; it is the doing of the Holy Spirit and the grace of Jesus Christ.
You’re here because God has called you here and has a plan to reveal God’s self
to you in some way. If God can reveal God’s self to a bunch of stinky shepherds
who live in the field how dare you sit there and think to yourself: God could
not possibly reveal God’s self to me because I’m only a young person with no sense
of power. Your job is to pay attention and when you see something, you say
something. The shepherds go and seek, I hope you are ready, friends let’s go
and see.”
SERMONS (Kourtney, Calli, Evan, Spence)
Kourtney Lehman:
Attending Triennium this year was a very enlightening
experience for me. Each sermon brought forth some new, powerful perspective
that I had yet to think of on my own. Early on, I noticed a trend of
“acceptance” surrounding each of the worship services, whether it be accepting
ourselves or accepting others. More specifically, it seemed like many of the
pastors were hinting at the challenge of overcoming persecution of others
simply because they are different than the “norm”. However, it was not until
the plane ride home that my mind was truly able to absorb and react to the many
messages presented at the worship services. I found myself pondering those
conflicting, uncomfortable, and usually left unanswered questions, such as: Why
is it that society has become a place where division overrules unity? Why is
that the people of our world segregate based on differences rather than
allowing ourselves to experience diversity? Why is it so difficult to practice
acceptance, but so easy to pass judgement? I felt like our world has become a
place where it is easier to rely on our selfish tendencies to take care of
ourselves than to stand up for those around us. You can imagine why this
thought process left me in a state of utter confusion and complete
hopelessness.
However, after several more moments of reflection, I found
my ray of hope. I recalled one particular session during my small group time,
where the members of my group discussed the persecution they face within their
congregations. They talked about how they are treated as though they are foolish
and immature simply because they're teenagers. Upon hearing their recollection
of not feeling supported nor respected by the older members of the church, I
honestly was overcome with disbelief. During this discussion, I took a moment
to tell the group a little bit about my church family. I told them that this is
a place where the youth are not only respected, but we are encouraged to be a
voice in the church. It was this memory of my church family that gave me
hope.
It was here that I began to answer those questions. Society
has trained us to surround ourselves with people that are similar, and to
ignore or make fun of those that differ from us. This congregation is an
exception to that behavioral pattern, and thus it is the very thing that
restores my faith in humanity. This is a place where I have been taught to
speak freely and openly. I am allowed to give these sermons that are often
times challenging, and I'm supported when I confess times where I
neglected to be the Christian I aim to be.
I look around at this room and see faces full of love
and understanding. We care for one another and celebrate those unique aspects
of each individual rather than allowing ourselves to pass judgement. Acceptance
is freely given to anyone that walks through those doors no matter who they
are, how old they are, or what their story is. Triennium left me feeling like
our world is a place where people neglect one another because they are
different, but this church has shown me that through acceptance and love we find
hope in one another
Calli Ward:
For me, Triennium affected a part of my life which has been
going on since my fourth grade year. That is the year that I first began being
bullied in school. I was bullied up until my freshman year, but of course those
who did it still have the occasional comment or look to try and upset me.
Because of this starting when I was at such a young age, the
way in which I acted, and the things that I grew to be, were greatly affected.
Some for the better, some for the worse. One of the main things was that after
it began; I’ve always been extra careful about the things I do. Don’t look
weird. Don’t say something strange. Don’t act weird. Don’t be too smart. Don’t
be too dumb. Don’t forget to dress nice. Don’t show who you truly are. Don’t
give them anything they can use against you.
This is how I’ve lived my life for years. Afraid to do
anything that anyone would think is strange, even the simplest of tasks which
no one truly thinks twice about. I was terrified to perform because of how
others might look at me. Then, I walked into worship that first night in Indiana.
I had been awake since three in the morning, and had been
through all of the joys of flying. But despite just how tired I was, nothing
could distract me from the sermon of the night. Listening to Roger talking
about how God would reveal himself to lowly, outcast, shepherds in a field, and
tell them of the birth of Jesus. And then hearing him say, “How dare you tell
me that you aren’t good enough, how dare you say that God won’t reveal himself
to you, how dare you not see yourself as God does.” Every word of his sermon
struck home with me. Why care so much about what others think of me? God
sees me as he made me, God loves me everyday.
Throughout this week, this stayed with me, and as I met new
people, that message stayed with me, and as I met new people, that message
became more and more real to me. I came home, and you could already see the
change, because of the way that I held myself, the confidence that I had. This
trip helped me to realize who I could be, and helped me to stop thinking of who
I “had” to be. Being bullied has always been with me, with everything I do, but
triennium helped me to break out of the box that I had put myself into because
of it, and today I see myself as God does.
Evan Bigler:
When we heard the sermon of the shepherds, I realized that
they were the people at the bottom of the social food chain, and that is to
whom God reveled Godself. The sermon encouraged us to come out of who society
has tried to make us and live instead as God made us. I have often been on the
bottom of the social food chain, but the sermon freed me from that shell and
encouraged me to be a leader. Now as an upperclassmen have more voice, so with
football season starting, I decided to mentor some of the freshmen line. These
are freshman who are like I was, in a school that often dismisses the freshman.
I want them to know others see them as God sees them. Meanwhile I too can live
into God seeing me as a leader in this role.
Spencer Smith:
We all know that bulling is quite a big problem. And most
kids these days won't say or do anything if they see it happening. I'll admit
it, every once in a while I'll walk by an not say anything too. I'm in a hurry
to get somewhere, I don't think too much of it, or even sometimes I don't even
realize that it is happening. When we went to triennium this year, I learned so
much, and standing up for people was one of them.
I didn't really think that it was a big issue for me in the
past so I didn't go to deeply into it there. When I got back to school, I found
myself not doing anything to stop kids from being bullied. I was apparently to
busy in my mind. I knew that what I saw was wrong. After the first week of
school I realized that I needed to do something. I was afraid that I might be
made fun of it bullied if I stood up for people. I then started thinking about
triennium and how no one judged you on how weird or quiet or loud you were and
especially didn't judge you if you stood up for someone.
I figured that I wouldn't be made fun of if I helped someone
because others would realize it is the right thing to do. The next week at
school I decided to try it out. I saw someone being picked on because of a new
haircut they had recently gotten. They seemed pretty defenseless, so I stepped
in and told the bully to stop. I said that just because of someone's haircut
doesn't mean that they are a bad person or changes them at all. The bully
walked away and so did the victim. I was left feeling good about myself and
what I had done. Not a word was said between the victim and I but I knew that
he was happy for what I had done.
Triennium was a big deal to me and I wasn't until two months later I realized that all the things they said were
true and relevant.
