If you saw what I saw...

This past weekend, I saw over 400 high school students encounter the Lord in a special way. At Southland Students, we dedicated an entire weekend to intentionally worshipping God and creating a space where He could work in these students however He saw fit. This is one of two weeks/weekends throughout the year that Southland provides for students to escape their regular schedule and devote time to spiritual growth and community. During the services, I had the privilege of literally standing in a spot on stage where I could see people's faces, their hands lifted, and tears streaming down their cheeks during worship. I'm not saying spiritual encounters have to be so emotionally driven, but in this case, I saw the Spirit fall on these students in a way like I've never seen before. After the final service on my drive home, I couldn't help but think, "If those who doubt the Christian faith saw what I saw, they would be changed." I really do believe that.

I saw God throwing His love and grace at these students, and I saw how God was working in and through them. The hand of God was on every aspect of the weekend. While it's easy to think that the God who created the universe doesn't care about our personal problems, I witnessed quite the opposite this weekend. God sends His Spirit into the world so that we have an Advocate with Him. Whatever evil was at work in these students' lives fell in defeat to the goodness of God. Each story coming into that weekend might have been different, but the love of God quickly lifted every burdened heart in that space. As Christians, we need weekends like this to refresh our hearts and minds by being in community and filling ourselves with truth and worship. Through small group conversations, times of worship, and just fun and games during the day, the joy of the Lord was present. From my position, I could see the Holy Spirit transforming students one worship lyric at a time, and it was awesome.

In my own small group, having a weekend like this was super important. Many of them probably couldn't tell you about some profound experience they had, but what I saw happening in them was profound. I love my freshman boys, and getting to spend time with them is hilarious and enlightening at the same time. After the first service, they had trouble focusing and talking about the message of Nehemiah following God's vision for his life, but after the last service on Saturday night, each one of them identified ways they can grow and put more effort into their relationship with God. By the last worship set, instead of sitting in the very back corner of the large room, they sat in the very front. Leaders in the group emerged by using their phones (an incredibly distracting device for them) to take notes during the sermon. Spiritual growth doesn't have to look like saving the world from a natural disaster. Instead, spiritual formation can look like one freshman boy listening to a sermon for 5 minutes instead of being on his phone the entire time. I think God loves seeing these tiny steps because He knows the great plans He has for them. I think God occasionally calls His people to take a huge leap of faith, but I think He prefers when we honor Him in the little steps of faith. Taking 5 minutes before bed to pray, encouraging someone you don't normally talk to, taking notes in a sermon, trying to sing during a worship set - all these things seem minor, but in reality, they are testaments to a God worthy of praise and worship in every single thing we do or say.

If you're reading this and don't believe in God, that's totally okay. I just want to describe what I saw this weekend and how it changed me. I wish you could see what I see when I'm in front of students leading worship. When you get to experience what I do on a weekly basis, it changes you, and it's the reason I will continue to devote my life to Jesus' mission and pursue a career as a worship pastor. I get to see the work of a real and faithful God firsthand. I get to work alongside wonderful people like Delanie Crace, Jeff Poling, and Ben MacGill. I get to see the technical genius of people like Clay Mitchell and Sam King. I get to see faithful service from people like Oliver Sutherland, Jacob Gambrell, and Chris Gambrell. I get to see Godly leadership from campus pastors like Eric Schneider, Dusty Bailey, David Hausknecht, Marcus Schaeffer, Scott Ferguson, Jeremy Congdon, and Ian Schweitzer. What I saw this weekend was no ordinary occurrence. I saw a picture of what Heaven will be like. I saw students encountering a God who is gracious enough to meet us where we are so that we can have relationship with Him. I saw people devoted to making this happen for students by being intentional yet surrendered in planning and then letting God take control of the service. God's real, folks, and I get to see it day in and day out just like I saw it this weekend.