to summarize challenge...

My friend Glenn summarized the CHALLENGE experience really well in his recent note sent out.  Basically he said...

"Faithful is the new Radical."   This is a quote that God has seared on my heart since returning from the Challenge student conference.   In our world, we are always looking for a new or better way of doing things.  I want to be efficient and effective in the work that I do.   As a result, I find myself running to the next thing that will help tomorrow be easier or better. The book of Colossians starts out with who Christ is and what life is about.   Then it transitions to our freedom in Christ.  We are free from the chains that tie us down, and no longer need to live with sin.  I am called to live a holy life that is dead to myself and alive in Christ. I would think the next thing we'd find in Colossians would be, so go help the helpless, feed the hungry, release the slaves, or change the world in my name -- but that is not what is said.  Instead, the Word of God talks about some of the hardest areas for us to consistently honor Him:  "Wives submit to your husbands, husbands love your wives, children obey your parents, husbands don't embitter your children."  (Col. 3:18-21)    Could it be that the most radical life for Christ is found in living  faithfully in the common areas of relationships?  When I hear Jesus say you can sum up the Bible by loving God & loving people, it starts to make me think that faithfulness -- in my relationship with GOD and in my relationships with the people closest to me -- is the Radical life that God has called me to.

Note from a student's perspective

Jordan Immermann

I couldn't describe Challenge 2012 in one word...so here are a bunch of synonyms for the word "epic"

bigger than life, bold, classic, courageous, daring, dauntless, doughty, elevated, epic , exaggerated, fearless, fire-eating, gallant, grand, grandiose, gritty, gutsy, gutty, high-flown, impavid, inflated, intrepid, lion-hearted, noble, stand tall, stouthearted, unafraid, undaunted, valiant, valorous

We are leaving...

Bitter sweet to see our conference come to an end.  Incredible experience as usual.  The EFCA puts together the best student conferences.  Thanks for praying.  Next stop I breakfast in St. Louis.  Check out the challenge channel on vimeo for the main Gathering messages.

Prayer walk day.

Love moves

Breakfast

Bryan McWhite

Bryan really nailed us tonight with the question of what does it mean to be alive?  "____________ is the way of the dead but I am ALIVE and I choose _______________!"

After dinner fun

Worship and challenge

After some awesome worship and humbling reminder of the price paid for our sins by Francis Chan we are off for more training in our afternoon seminars here at challenge. Thanks for your prayers. One awesome Thu.g we did was have all 5500 people lay hands on and pray over two church planters here in new Orleans.  So cool!

Francis 1

Francis Chan nailed it tonight. Colossians 1:15-19 and described Jesus....well tried to.  Great description and reminder of his pre-eminence and position.  Reminding us we are the created made to honor the creator.  So much so fast.  More from Francis in the morning which will come fast. 

Love moves

Josh carrying our supplies for the love moves Haiti project.

Church at challenge

We begin our week with worship.

Hanging out on Sat. evening.

We made it.

we made it all safe and sound to new orleans .  The group was excited to hit the pool and take some showers.   Very hit and humid so the pool feels very refreshing.

Breakfast in Memphis.

Sleeping in Memphis

Almost ready for first stop in Memphis. Not a bad drive. Making good time.  I will be challenging our crew to be looking for ways to show Gods love to people today in practical ways.

Darin

Got the whole gang

Grabbed the group from Grace in stewartville and after some announcements we are off.

We are off to get stewartville crew.

We leave TODAY!! Are Your READY!!

Big Idea:  Through the gospel, God enables a whole new way of living!

Scripture (Colossians 1:11-14)

“11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light. 13 For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

Overview:

In verses 11-14, Paul continues to pray for the things that matter most—the things that will always matter. But as he comes to verses 13-14 he really begins to introduce the themes that will dominate the rest of the letter: Something real happened to us when Christ captured us. We weren’t just forgiven; we were changed.  

Something very real changed about us. God moved us into a new kingdom and rescued us from slavery. We really need to understand what this means so that we “live to honor God” not just out of “white-knuckle will power,” but by recognizing that if we are in Christ and the resurrected Christ is in us, everything is new. We are living new lives—lives as sons and daughters of a new King—no longer enslaved to evil, but free to choose what is good, beautiful and right.

Challenge Conference Prep Day two

Big Idea: The gospel is news that must go viral.

Scripture: Colossians 1:7-8
“7 You learned about the gospel from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful
servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy
Spirit has given you.”

Overview:
One of the most beautiful things we can do as communities of faith and small groups to build true
spiritual fellowship and passion for Christ is to share with each other how God brought the gospel to
our own hearts.

Reflect on the way the Gospel came to you, and how the Gospel can now overflow from your life into the lives of others.  This is helpful to get a good litmus test before Challenge of the confidence and clarity you have of your own faith in Christ.  It can give a good heads up on how to be praying for each other.  Also, it may be helpful to define love this way: unselfhishly seeking what is best for the other.  If the gospel has changed my life and I know it has the power to change the lives of others (see Romans 1:16) then I might need to consider how I will deal with the situation of my friends and family not knowing the Gospel and if I truly am a friend if I don't tell them.

Write some notes in the comments section below and start a dialogue about this.  How did the Gospel come to you and how can you, without being preachy, allow the Gospel to overflow from you and into others?

Just a few days till CHALLENGE...

Just a few days til we leave for our summer trip to Challenge and it is going to be HOT!!!  As we prepare join us in some pre conference time in the word.  The challenge team has put together a great prepare study and it would be great if you joined us along the journey.


Big Idea:
The gospel isn’t just about life after death. The gospel is about true life before death.
Scripture: Colossians 1:3-6
“3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we 
have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your 
confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since 
you first heard the truth of the gospel. 6 This same gospel that came to you is going out all over the 
world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first 
heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.”

Overview:
One of the most important things we want to do at Challenge 2012 is convey to students how the
gospel affects our lives now. Often times we only think about how the gospel affects us after this life.
But throughout Colossians, Paul emphasizes that what Christ has done on our behalf has really
“changed our lives from the day we first heard” (v. 6). This first message might focus on helping
students reflect on this reality: The gospel isn’t just about life after death. The gospel is about true life
before death.

Think of the song by Switchfoot where the band asks the question "Why would I wait til I die to come alive?"  The Gospel has so much more for us now and we need to see that all things are made new because of the Gospel.


Landing:
As we prepare for Challenge, pray expectantly for one another, asking God that others may see
and hear how the gospel is at work your life.