MOVE Update, Day 3

Most MOVE days are full, but Wednesday was packed out!  From the moment we woke up this morning we were on the go, taking our students on a journey through today's theme: You are Near.  Our study all day interacted with the continuing story of Daniel and his friends, as recounted in Daniel Chapter 3.

In this episode, King Nebuchadnezzar persists in his attempt to usurp God's authority, by setting up a golden image and demanding that all people worship it. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refuse, he throws them into a furnace of fire.  Mark Christian opened the morning with this thought, "When the you stand while the world bows to culture, you are going to be noticed.  When you are noticed, not everyone is going to cheer."  For Daniel's friends, standing up meant that they were sentenced to be executed.  For students, the choice to Stand Up and Speak Up can seem just as daunting as facing a furnace of fire.

After lunch, we viewed CIY's new documentary, Aullido, which recently won Best Short Film at the Justice Film Festival in Chicago. Aullido follows the story of Vincente, a student from Guatemala who was sexually abused by his soccer coach.  This film sparked some intense conversations among our students as we grappled with what it means to stand up and speak up against injustice whenever we encounter it.

Later on, Frank and Tracy dropped off care packages that you, the church, crafted for our students and adults.  I cannot thank you enough for your support of our students on this trip.  God is changing lives here, and our students feel loved by SLCC!

The rest of the day was filled with a dune hiking adventure, supper, ultimate frisbee, an all-campus student talent show called “The Alternative,” and our final session of the night.  During this session, Rachel Grindle reminded us that God has been seeking to be near us since the dawn of history.  From the Garden of Eden, through the Tabernacle/Temple, to Jesus Christ, and now to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God has always wanted to be with his people.  Yet we seem to so often be blind to his presence.  Students had masks with tape over their eyes, representing things that keep them from seeing Jesus.  As our final act of the night, they were given the option to throw those masks into the fire and to seek Jesus Christ with their whole self.

God continues to work among us, and we still have two more days to go!  Thank you for your prayers, and please keep them coming.  Continue to pray with me for our students and adults as we dig into Daniel’s story!

MOVE Update, Day 2

Today started waaaay too early for just about all of our students!  After being too excited and hyped up to get a good night's sleep, we all arrived at breakfast at 7am, not in any way awake, and in serious need of caffeine.  As I write this post, many of our students are crashing, and I'm pretty sure we will sleep soundly tonight!

The theme of Day 2 has been "You Are King."  Following yesterday’s discussion that wherever students are, God is right there with them - "You Are Here" - today's discussion turned toward authority.  In the Daniel story, King Nebuchadnezzar tries to set himself up as the ultimate authority.  He demands that Daniel and his friends become entirely subservient to him, even to the point of worshiping his idol.  Yet even as King Nebuchadnezzar tries to usurp God's authority, God is shaping Daniel's life.

Mark Christian opened this morning with a question: "What do you do with a God who sends you to Babylon to be a slave?"  In other words, how do we respond to God when he lets us experience trouble and hard times.  Do we recognize God's ultimate authority as King and Creator, or do we try to usurp him?  Brad Tate, our evening speaker, ended our night with this question: "Are we spending our lives trying to build our own kingdom, or are we trying to build the Kingdom of God in our life?"  Recognizing and submitting to human authority does not come naturally to students.  Submitting to God's will can at times be excruciating!

Aside from the topics we are wrestling with at MOVE, our day was also filled with a ton of fun.  Almost all of our students spent some time in beautiful downtown Holland.  We all made crowns out of newspaper, and our adult staff spoke words of affirmation to each student in our group.  We played some card games and Frisbee.  We ate a ton of food at Hope’s incredible cafeteria, and we ended the day together at Pizza Hut.

Please continue to pray for us as we look forward to tomorrow.  God is good, and he is working on our hearts.  Students are beginning to open up in our groups, and are becoming more comfortable sharing.  Pray with me that they will come to know our God as the ultimate authority in their lives, because God is King!

Sunday's Message

Frank shared about Father's Day this past week. You can listen to the message HERE.  

If you would like to listen on itunes, search for South Lansing Christian Church in the podcast section.  

You can also listen on our app. Visit the Apple App store or the Google Play store and search for seekstudyserve.