This sermon was preached for a joint St. Andrew's - St. Michael's online service for Sunday, September 20. The texts for this sermon were: Exodus 16:2-15 ; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45 ; Philippians 1:21-30 ; and Matthew 20:1-16 . So I’ve spoken with some of you about this before but I don’t think I’ve preached on why I wanted to become a youth minister in the first place. When I was a teenager, I was part of my church’s youth group. And every Thursday night, we’d roll up to the barn, this old building in the back of the church property that was filled with dilapidated couches. And we’d walk in the door and one of the adult advisors of the group would come up and give us this huge hug. And in that hug was all the love and acceptance and grace that I needed and longed for as a teenager. What I noticed, and what I was fascinated and intrigued by, was that happened to every kid that walked through the door. Even the “bad kids”, even the kids with failing grades, and the kids who went