When Will, a college student, stood at the microphone Feb. 5, he had two main things to say.
One was that he’d been a believer in Christ for one year and one month.
The second was that he wouldn’t be one now if it wasn’t for his friend Jordan, standing there at the podium beside him.
“Jordan asked me what my testimony was, and if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have known what the void was in my life that needed filling,” Will said.
The two were a picture of what Mike Nuss said this year’s Collegiate Evangelism Conference (CEC) theme of ‘in-gaged’ was all about.
“This year’s event called us to be completely ‘in-gaged’ in our personal relationship with Christ and ‘in-gaged’ with His world,” said Nuss, director of the office of collegiate and student ministries at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
“At a time when students are usually focused on themselves, school, work and relationships, we’re praying that the message of the weekend helped them focus on the ‘lostness’ of their world and what they can do to make an impact,” he said.
During the conference — held Feb. 5–6 at Taylor Road Baptist Church, Montgomery, in Montgomery Baptist Association — hundreds of students made commitments to pursue holiness, pray for and share with their lost friends and intentionally develop relationships with non-Christians.
Students also heard from Ed Litton, pastor of First Baptist Church, North Mobile, in Saraland, and Mike Satterfield of Field of Grace Ministries, based in Alabaster.
Acoustic band Shane & Shane led worship, and breakout sessions were offered on topics ranging from America’s cults to beach evangelism.
“CEC was a great time to think about how intentional you are with sharing the gospel,” said Zach Pratt, a student at Troy University. “From the speakers to the breakout sessions, there was somebody there to remind us that there needs to be a burden on our hearts for the lost people around us.”
Litton told the students that while his generation is failing to see God’s purpose for their lives, “your generation gives me hope — you can have God’s vision just like Isaiah did.”
Preaching Friday night from Isaiah 6, Litton challenged students to see God’s glory and hear God’s call on their lives.
“More than anything, what we need is to see God’s glory,” he said. “The problem is that He shows up all the time and we say, ‘so what?’”
On Saturday, Litton continued the challenge from Luke 5, encouraging students to bring God glory by sharing His love with others.
“Our culture has separated ‘missionary’ from ‘everyday person,’ making it about going to other people and other cultures. But you do that every day, especially on your campuses,” he said.
Satterfield urged students on Saturday to be engaged with Christ so then they can engage others. Preaching from the story of the paralytic in John 5, he said, “If you’ve been paralyzed for too long, get up!”
“Get up to engage culture,” he said, challenging them to determine their connection, commitment, confidence and cause in order to engage the culture.
For more information and photos, visit www.thestudenthub.org.
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