As Katie began her talk tonight, she reminded us of the reality that Jesus loves us so much that He wants to be with us. He chooses to be with us. He thirsts for us.

She encouraged us to consider the implications for each of us in the Biblical story where two people asked Jesus, “Where are you staying?” and Jesus’ incredible response to them was “Come and see.”

By responding to Jesus’ invitation to “come and see,” His disciples were able to witness incredible things – the calming of a storm, the healing of seriously ill people, the miraculous feeding of the hungry, and so much more.

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Every soul is thirsting for Christ, yearning for His love. When we fall in love with Christ, we want to please Him. For many, that is easier to say than do. How do we please God and discern His will? How can we use our talents to serve God? Katie begins to answer these questions in this afternoon’s workshop.

All for Him

What everything ultimately comes down to is simply living with God’s purpose in mind. We must have the courage to ask ourselves if what we are doing would please God. If not, we have to go even further to gather the courage to stop doing it.

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This afternoon, teens could choose to attend a workshop presented by Matt Regitz about life in the Holy Spirit. He helped show teens how they can be more open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their own lives, especially this weekend.

The talk fittingly began with a prayer asking for the Holy Spirit’s guidance both in the talk and in our lives. In order to receive the gifts that God wants to pour upon everyone present tonight, we must be open to receiving them. For example, as Matt explained, if you have an umbrella held up, it does not matter that water is being poured; you still will not get wet. The water is the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the umbrella is our own fear and resistance. We have to be open to what the Holy Spirit wants to give us.

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Same-sex attraction is not an easy topic to talk discuss but it’s an important one in our society today. Joel Stepanek tackled this topic at one of our afternoon workshops.

Same Sex Attraction: A Matter of People

Joel started by acknowledging how challenging the topic of same-sex attraction is to talk about. But the heart of this discussion is not a matter of philosophy or politics. When we talk about same-sex attraction, we are talking about people. We must always approach this through the lens of people.

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College can be difficult; that’s not exactly a secret. You’ve got to deal with new spaces, new people, new classes, new teachers, time consuming homework, weird sleeping schedules, and of course, the dreaded freshman roommate who may be you new best friend or worst enemy.

High school has prepared you some, but the next four years are still an unwritten story. When you unload you bags in that dorm parking lot, you will be walking into a world more daunting than it is familiar. So how do you survive? How do you navigate the complex changes while still keeping your personality, your faith life, your soul?

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