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Youth Workers Challenged to Seek High Ground
By Craig Pinley
ROSEMONT, IL (February 5, 2002) - Alise Barrymore of North Park University preached to more than 400 individuals attending the Youth workers and Children and Adult Ministry Connection opening worship Saturday night.
Marti Burger, director of Youth and Family Ministries of the Department of Christian Formation of the Evangelical Covenant Church, and CHIC Council chair Noel Becchetti introduced a two-minute video for CHIC2K3: Reaction, which will take place July 31-August 6, 2003, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The video presentation climaxed a high-energy 90 minutes of worship at the O'Hare Hyatt Regency Hotel ballroom.
Barrymore, campus chaplain at North Park, challenged listeners to reach for the higher ground of ministry excellence, reminding them that God's silence doesn't necessarily mean that God is absent from their ministry efforts.
Barrymore used the story of the prophet Elijah's encounter with God in I Kings 19 as the centerpiece for her sermon, stating that silence can be an opportunity to see another side of God's personality.
Referring to God's becoming audible to Elijah through the 'still small voice' of silence in I Kings 19, Barrymore said, "Maybe there's a difference between being in the presence of God and waiting for Him to show up."
Barrymore said that servants of God often want to see the proverbial winds, earthquakes and fires that are visible signs that God is present. She discussed Elijah's special relationship with God by stating tongue-in-cheek, "It was not unusual for God to co-sign on any Elijah.com projects."
As she told how Elijah's life was threatened later on in the story, she surmised that perhaps Elijah turned and ran because his vision and perception became skewed. Barrymore suggested that hearing God during those times could be made easier by examining scripture, obeying the laws of the land, silently listening for God's word in decision-making and using common sense.
"Sometimes you need to take a step in a direction and trust that God will tell you if you're going in the wrong direction," she said in closing her sermon. "God has not left us in the silence. God is with us in the silence."
Worship began with a variety of songs provided by an eight-person worship team led by Matt Lundgren that included Danny Martinez, Eric Case, Bill Hammond, Tim White, Tonya Franklin, Jelani Greenidge and Tracy Perrelliat. Anne Otto, a liturgical dancer, and scripture reader Wally Coots, were also part of the service.
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