Won't He Do It?

-

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

Maybe this verse is all too familiar to you.  Or maybe it’s not.  I have had a chance to spend some time reflecting on these words over the past couple of days.  These words remind me that Jesus transcends time.  He is not limited to constraints of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  These words remind me how I am to view my past, present, and future. 
When I look to my past, I am to remember what Jesus has done for me – dying on the cross to take on the punishment that my sin deserves.  He has saved me from a life of eternal separation from God and instead, given me a life full of hope.  At my small group last week we somehow got into the topic of adoption and how expensive it is.  But really, this is not such a new development.  Ephesians 1:4-7 explains that my adoption into God’s family was quite pricey, after all.  This knowledge of what Jesus did in the past should inform my present, helping me to live a life of gratitude and freedom, knowing that I am forgiven and redeemed. 
When I look to the future, I am to do so without fear.  God’s word tells me how it will all end, with Christ seated on the throne, and sin and death defeated.  I also know, though, that there will be a day of judgement in the future and this too informs my present.  How am I living to show Christ's love to those around me?  Am I seeking out every possible opportunity to share the gospel with the people in my life, not in an obnoxious way but in a way that shows that I believe this Good News to be the truth of God’s love for a sinful people?  If I’m honest, I forget to live with that perspective far too often.  This faith in what the Bible says about the future helps guide my steps in the day to day, reminding me that I have a purpose here on earth to love and glorify my Father.
This past weekend was our Virginia FCA Leadership Camp.  I spent last Thursday through Sunday in Scottsville, VA with limited cell phone reception.  The first 24 hours or so was spent training up college students to serve as huddle leaders for the 161 students, 58 of whom were from Loudoun County, who attended this leadership camp.  I won’t lie – camps are a lot of work.  We start planning for them eight months or more in advance.  Countless hours are spent in meetings and on conference calls planning out schedules and details, not to mention the hours that each staff member spends recruiting coaches, athletes, and huddle leaders to attend and serve. 
Huddle Leader Training - Digging into the Word before campers arrive.


All star Huddle Leader group, right here.

By the time we get to the camp itself, we know that we have several long days with little sleep ahead of us.  Still, we eagerly anticipate how the Lord will work.  We’ve seen Him do it before and, as the Elevation Worship song says, we know He will Do It Again.  Between Friday night and Sunday morning, we had roughly twenty students who gave first time commitments to follow Jesus Christ with their lives.  God moved mightily at Watermarks Camp this past weekend.  But even if only one student gave his or her life to Christ, all of the work still would have been worth it.  That is twenty students with hope for eternity and a relationship with Jesus forever.  Twenty students who went home Sunday nights to their families, friends, teams, and schools with a new purpose for their lives.  Oh that I would live each day of my life loving people well and displaying to everyone I meet that the same Jesus who redeemed my past, is giving me purpose for my present and hope for my future.  
The second students start arriving our huddle leaders get to work!

58 students and 5 coaches attended Leadership Camp from Loudoun
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Idolatry of Safety

-
My favorite scene in C.S. Lewis’s book, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is when the children are learning about Aslan, the Christ figure in the books, for the first time.  In the scene, Susan, Lucy, and their brothers are talking to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who inform them that Aslan is likely not exactly what they expect: “Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"... "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” He’s not safe.  But He’s the King.  How often do I live in a way that equates safety with God’s goodness?  I mean, this is crazy thinking, right?  But don’t we all feel this way sometimes?  Even though the Bible clearly says that following Jesus means taking up your cross (which doesn’t sound very safe to me)...
Read more

Step by Step

-
Image
Tomorrow morning I leave for my first FCA camp of the summer, Virginia Leadership Camp.   My role at this camp and our upcoming multi-sport camp at the University of Richmond is Huddle Leader Coordinator.   I love this role because it means I get to the camp early and train and equip the college athletes who will then lead the middle and high school students attending the camp.   If I’m honest, over the past couple of weeks, I’ve spent more mental energy stressing about filling these Huddle Leader roles than I have spent praying about it, forgetting that the battle is not mine, but God's (2 chronicles  20:12 ). What if, every time I start to feel my anxiety elevate, I pause and praise God in the midst of the battle? What kind of great blessing would I see then, both for our camp in and in my own life?   I believe the enemy knows that students’ and coaches’ lives are changed at camp and he will do whatever he can to discourage us before we even get there. ...
Read more

A New Adventure Begins!

-
Image
Welcome to my new FCA blog!  I can't wait to share how the Lord is working in the lives of coaches and athletes in Loudoun County.  Here are a few highlights of the past few months as I've been working to raise support and transition into this new women's ministry role on the Loudoun FCA staff: Women's Ministry teammates, Rebekah and Noelle at the NSC in April In April I traveled to FCA’s National Support Center in Kansas City, MO to attend Fundraising Bootcamp.  I flew out with two other amazing women who are also prospective women’s ministry staff for Northern VA FCA.  We were given about 20 hours of prep work before coming to bootcamp, all related with understanding the Biblical model of support raising in ministry and being able to share our personal stories of how the Lord brought us to this desire to work for FCA.  The prep work was so helpful and the information I learned at bootcamp has been invaluable as I started raising support.  La...
Read more