This past week our university students returned to school to start their fall semester. Fall is a time for them of new experiences: meeting new friends, starting new jobs, building a new schedule, routines, engaging with new classes. In all the influx of things pulling for their attention the Spirit of God invites them to return to their first love.
We are living at an unprecedented moment in history. Mental health crisis is on the rise. Many in this next generation are wrestling with doubts and the word "faith" seems to have a shaky foundation. We are having a crisis of meaning. Of identity. And right in the midst of that the invitation to all of us, including our young adults, is that God has uniquely placed all of us at this moment in history for such a time as this.
In our time of decline the invitation to seek God jumps out at us from scripture. That times of decline work similar to the ocean tides. It feels like the tide is going out further and further and just when it feels like all hope is lost the tide pours back in. It's in those times of steepest decline that God raises up a remnant to himself. A people to cry out for him to move in power. A people who have come to the end of themselves and realize it is ONLY through the Spirit of God moving that our moment of decline can be changed. The invitation is like the prophet Isaiah’s call on God for him to "rend the heavens and come down" for him to "pour his Spirit out on the dry ground". That is the cry needed for this next generation! That we would cry out for God UNTIL he moves in power.
As a ministry we are inviting our students on a retreat called "The Gathering Weekend" on September 20-22. At this retreat we will do just that: seek God as a community of young adults and ask him to move again. At this retreat we are trying to practice what we know to be true, that our young adults aren't in need of fancy production, they aren't in need of more information, or cool games! NO! The need of the moment is our young adults having a deeper revelation of Jesus and who he is! That we would try our best to actually get out of the way so that Jesus can have the floor and do whatever he wants to do.
Our invitation to you CLA Family is to partner with us and our young adults over the next year. That you would lean into prayer and intercession asking God to reveal more of himself in our young adults' lives. That you would partner in wisdom and in love to come alongside them as they learn how to partner with the Spirit of God in our fallen world. And maybe there are some of you that have gotten off the wall of prayer. Whether it was because of a busy season, or sin, or apathy. Friends, hear the invitation to seek the Lord again. To put him as first love in your heart and seek first the Kingdom of God!
Grace and peace to you CLA,
Matt Bender
Young Adult Pastor
