It was so weird to me...you know the God-weird times when things match up and you just look up and say, "thank you!" Brad was planning to speak to our graduating seniors this past Sunday, so he was thinking over what he would like to give them as a challenge and the theme of brokenness kept flooding his mind....so he was working that out on the way to the conference. In the opening session....the very first speaker spoke to our complete brokenness....BUT, that we have a God who RESTORES....it was incredible!!... and just what Brad had on his heart for our youth.
It also kept coming back around to what I read a couple weeks ago in my daily Bible reading in 2 Corinthians 5....they never used this scripture in the conference, but I felt like God planted it in my mind, so He could grow it a little bit through the conference....His Word is like that, you know?! I always remember the part about being a new creation, but this whole section of scripture is wonderful and can be quite the mission statement....I don't know if it will end up being a mission statement for something at my church or if it is just for me....but, it is powerful!
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.---2 Corinthians 5:16-21
I have been thinking through this passage for a little while now trying to let the challenge sink in....the things like I'm an ambassador for Christ....Christ passed his ministry to me and the message is reconciliation....not counting men's sins against them....regarding no one from a worldly point of view....God making his appeal through me.....I am to implore others to be reconciled to God....these are all huge things...sometimes it seems overwhelming, right?
Want to see a video that had me bawling at the conference? I mean seriously, like more than usual :)....it is so simple....but, the concept is profound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is6weMrenls
On Sunday, Brad gave the message to our church that it is not so much what we are called, but what we respond to....and he gave everyone time to pray about what God would call us now that we are his children. We received a blank name tag and were supposed to write a word on it and take it to the front to post in on a big board. Kassi leaned over to me and asked, "How do you spell generous?" Side Note: I love that kids can respond in such sensitive ways to the Holy Spirit and I do not think we give children enough opportunities to hear from God in our church services as we (most of the time) have their church time super programmed... just a thought. Anyway, I want to be generous with my little Polaroid camera...showing the hope I have in Christ....the forgiveness I have received, the grace and mercy that are given to me everyday....it's not mine anyway....isn't it given to us for us to pass it on? Here's the thing about generosity...it is not always about the money. God can make us rich....enrich us in many ways that we can share with others.
In every way....for every occasion!
THANKS GOD!
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