Steubenville 2025: Consumed
Deuteronomy 4:24 states, “For the Lord, your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” What does it mean to be consumed by God? This weekend, 4,026 teens from all across the region are gaining a deeper understanding of what a consuming relationship with our Lord entails.
Meet the Team
Our team for Week 2 of Steubenville STL Mid-America is packed with incredibly talented people with a sincere love for bringing teens closer to Jesus. Deacon Bob Rice will host the weekend, and Kyle Huelsing will lead worship. Sr. M. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM, Fr. Rufino Corona, TOR, Joel Stepanek, and Tim Jara will all give keynotes on a variety of topics for this year’s conference.
Friday Night Keynote – Consuming the World
“To be consumed by God’s love is freedom.” -Joel Stepanek
Tonight’s keynote set the tone for what promises to be a transformative weekend. Joel Stepanek described a time in his life where he was consuming what the world had to offer. He was focused on relationships, his studies in what promised to be a lucrative career, and other worldly things. “What I was consuming ended up consuming me. Everything felt disordered.” Joel went to prayer, and ended up switching his major from pre-med to ministry. The consuming love of God gave him the freedom he needed, something we all need. God’s love burns away all of the things in our lives that keep us from being free if we invite Him in. He never tires of giving us grace and the opportunity to turn to Him. His love requires us to grow and stretch, but the freedom He has for us is worth it.
Next, Joel then led a reflection on the parable of the sower and the seed. Our hearts can be like the soil. Is your heart like the smooth path: comfortable, living life in the world, mostly on autopilot? Or is it more like rocky soil: busy and filled with some good and some not so good things? Will the message of Gods love stay with you or fade in a few days? Next, is your heart full of thorns? Are there vices in your life that choke out God’s love? Has sin become rooted in your heart? Finally, is your heart a place of good soil? Do you hear God’s Word, let it consume your heart and give you the freedom to live as your truest self? “Lord, make me good soil.”
