March 11 – “UTA Energy Infusion”

Yesterday and for several days this week we are hosting a group from University of Texas at Arlington at Seaside in our Retreat Center.  The students were in charge of leading our worship, and one of them even did the main teaching.  I still welcomed everyone, handled transitions, and even did a kids’ sermon, but they had the music and the main message.  These student-led days have been some of my favorites over the years.  And it’s not because I don’t have preach, either.  I just really get a kick out of seeing God at work in the early stages of the kids’ careers.  They have an energy, a passion for God that is infectious.  Sometimes they are nervous.  Sometimes they are shaky in the execution of their tasks.  But for the most part they are right on in their theology and over the top in their enthusiasm.

Trent, the young man who did the preaching, was a student at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, so he was a bit more advanced than most.  He works with the UTA students while he attends school.  The essence of his message was the choice we all have in our relationship with God.  Will we grumble or will we give thanks?  He began with a testimony of sorts about his Dad’s bout with a brain aneurism and his subsequent efforts at recovery.  Through it all, Trent said his Dad and Mom were the most joyful people he had ever seen.  He used two passages from Scripture – Numbers 11 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  Here are a few snippets from his talk:

Thank God for five things every morning before you ever get out of bed.

Our mindset should be that even when other people treat us like a slave, we can receive it and still love them.

If we live with humility and gratefulness foremost in our minds, we will remember that God will ultimately do the elevating, so it doesn’t matter what others say.

Rejoice in your salvation.  God took us to this place, and even when we ran away and try to fight to keep him from us, he still reconciled us.

A life of humility and gratefulness takes you beyond being bound by worry.

Find places where you can rejoice, even if they are places in your mind.  That way no matter what is going on around you, you can still find the joy of the Lord. 

The whole thing reminded me of one of my favorite truths from God.  Choose not to be offended.  If you make the decision ahead of time that you will not be offended - no matter what anyone says or does – you can then see things with God’s perspective, and look for ways to show love to even the nastiest of people.  Nice job, Trent.  Nice job, UTA Praise Team.  Thanks for letting God use you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Father, thank you for that infusion of excitement yesterday.  Walk with the students as they go about doing ministry in your name this week.  Amen.