Crossroads

It's hard not to be emotional when hundreds of students praise a God who sacrificed Himself so that we might find life in Him. Clayton King says, "We find life by losing our rights, our cravings, our wants, and our obsessions." We find life by surrendering our lives over to God, but He has better control of it anyways. Some would say we are surrendering our 'freedom', but really, we freely surrender to be free. Galatians 5:13 says, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love." Jesus did this perfectly and we ought to mirror who Christ is. This week we took 600 students and chaperones to Crossroads Worldwide Camp. Clayton King and Pastor Steven Furtick spoke powerful messages into our students this week. We saw 120 students give their lives to Christ the very first night and had 85 students express that God was calling them into full time vocational ministry or mission work. Praise God.

The theme of this week was the Kingdom. The Kingdom is God's rule and reign over all things. The key to the Kingdom is a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is a difference between believing God and believing in God. Belief is not agreeing with facts and figures but is total surrender to Jesus. The need is not new rules, new answers, or new efforts...the need is a new life found in God. Jesus did not come to make bad people good, but to make dead people live...

The cost of the Kingdom is significant. Fortunately for us, Jesus already paid the price for our sins through His blood on the cross, but that does not mean we can act foolishly because our sins are forgiven. God's rule over all things starts in our heart. The things that we value the most are the things that we sacrifice for. The choices we make reflect who or what we are living for. There is no guarantee that our lives will be easy but we need to quit making excuses. The reality is, rejection will always happen. Most people however are not rejecting you, they are rejecting God. It is still our job to be obedient and share the love of Christ with others.

Your treasure is what you put your priorities in and how you spend your time. Matthew 6:21 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." The temptation is to remove God from your life and replace Him with wealth, pleasures, and earthly desires, but we are called to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). We need to trust in Him because when God guides, God provides...If it's God's will, it's God's bill. God's past provision is the best proof for His future faithfulness. Make your treasure Jesus and live your life seeking Him.

In reality, we really are unstoppable. Pastor Furtick brought a powerful message to the students about being the unstoppable Kingdom of God. Acts 5:12-42 proves it.
1) If you're not willing to face opposition, you're not ready to be used by God. Big blessings bring big battles. Are you willing to be lonely for Christ? Are you willing to be the only one standing up for what you believe in? Do not let people talk you out of what God has called you to do.
2) When God gives you specific instructions, do as you have been told...immediately. Read Acts 5:21, the apostles did "as they had been told." The best time to do the right thing for God is right now. Waiting to do what God tells you to do makes it harder to do it. God wants you to be an influencer, not someone who is influenced...meaning be a person to fill others with the influence of God. Obey God, rather than men.
3) When you want what God wants for the reasons God wants it, you're unstoppable. This is where you just need to trust God and believe.
4) Day after day, never stop. Acts 5:42 says that day after day the apostles never stopped teaching and proclaiming Jesus Christ. It doesn't say that they never failed or that they never got tired or discouraged. It says they never stopped. Tough days will come, hard circumstances will unfold, but stick to what you know and never stop living for Jesus...it's always worth it.

It truly was an incredible week to see the lives of so many changed. God is always faithful and worthy of our praise!