Blog

Lessons from Dessert Theatre

After hours of rehearsals and four great performances, our youth choir and an exhausted director can relax. It was a great weekend for First Baptist on so many fronts, and our house is still humming “Taylor the Latte Boy.” I learned a few lessons from our students to share with you.

1. Generations can learn from each other’s music. The students sang a “something for everyone” program and reminded us a bit about our own musical tastes. Our students appreciated that variety and showed us how to sing it well. They united to sing across grades and school lines. Our church is about as varied in musical tastes as Delilah, Kenny Rogers, and NPR. We sing together, “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” on Sunday mornings each week. We have much to learn from each other if we’ll take the opportunity.
2. Find where you fit. Each student had a part to play. They played it well, not perfectly. Some were out of their comfort zone, but their leaders found a way to fit each person into a part that brought out their strengths. No one person can do everything, but everyone can do something. Your thing doesn’t even need to be the perfect something. Simply by trying and serving, you contribute to the sound. God honors that, and you don’t have to be anyone other than the person God has created you to be.
3. Give someone your raw material. I heard a few students sing this weekend who sang better than they ever had. “They have it in them,” but someone brought their talents out of them. Pam Cooke and her team knew how to coach and coax sounds out of young people. Everyone needs a person in their life that can take what is inside them and bring out the best offering they can give. We not only need to do the Christian life together, but we also need experts. We need training and direction. That requires humility.
4. Little things matter. Back stage and the back of the Quad were beehives of action. Costume changes, technical calls, food distribution, desserts, you name it. So much goes into a program that you never see. Work on the small things in your life. Those details that only God can see really count.
5. Tell your friends what matters in your life. As I greeted our guests, I realized about half the room came because someone personally invited them. Many of them have no church home but were drawn by the invitation and enthusiasm of the performers. Let Jesus matter to you, and you’ll invite people. Our students are some of our best evangelists.

I’m grateful to you for coming and giving. We have a talented church and an incredible staff. Give thanks to God for a wonderful weekend. I’m ready to learn more.