Growing up at Redeemer and watching many friends stand here on youth Sunday, I always believed nerves would be the hardest part of the day. I was correct about the nervousness, but it isn’t the hardest part of today. The hardest part was trying to describe all the Redeemer means to me in 350 words or less. But, this is a good thing.
I have grown up in a loving, Christian, family and it has always been a given that we will be going to church on Sunday. I moved here when I was in the First grade. Our first mission other than finding a house was finding our even bigger house, God’s house. At six years old I can say I didn’t pay a lot of attention to all the churches we visited – until we visited Redeemer. I do remember and can speak for my family when I say it was love at first sight. Right away Redeemer felt like home.
Growing up in this church, I realized that Redeemer is a CHURCH. It is a family full of God’s people. But this really hit home last year. Many of you know my brother, Koby, underwent open-heart surgery in September. As you can imagine, it was a tough time for him but also for everyone around him. I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for this church, the journey would have been a lot longer and scarier. The thing about Redeemer being a real church is that the clergy and congregation don’t think twice about helping, loving, praising, and supporting anything or anyone that needs help. My family will be forever thankful.
The only unfortunate thing about Redeemer is its distance from my house and US41. With that, it has been difficult to make it to all of the amazing youth activities this church offers. Everything that I was able to make was well worth it. Confirmation here at Redeemer is actually a blast. Father Marsden is wonderful. St. Michael’s conference is another amazing offering which allowed me to make friends with kids all over the US and I can say these were life-changing trips.
Another thing that has made Redeemer very special to me is the Nursery. I spend most of my Sundays in with the babies, even when I should probably be here in Mass. But, being in the Nursery is being the Church for me. The relationships I’ve made in there will stay with me a very long time.
Redeemer will never leave me. Like I said before, our church is a church – the non-stop love and acceptance is the true definition of what God wants for his people and his church. Thank you for being part of my family over the years and most importantly, my church.
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
Youth Sunday
1 May 2016