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RISEN: Seeing, Savoring & Spreading

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RISEN blog header (Jon Nowlin post)

From Jon Nowlin, Pastor for Youth and Family Discipleship, North Campus

In the midst of the first Holy Week, in Mark 14:3–9, an unidentified woman came to Jesus during a meal at Simon the Leper's house. She anointed him, pouring costly ointment upon him. The ointment from this act of worship ran down his head, filled the room with its fragrance, lingered for days, and has been remembered across the centuries. This woman, no doubt, had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ, which led to an extravagant act of worship that displayed his great worth. By his grace, our risen Savior is still transforming lives today, and producing this kind of worship. I saw evidence of his gospel work last Wednesday, March 23, at RISEN, a Bethlehem Sr High Easter Outreach.

On Wednesday evening, young people from Bethlehem, their friends, and adult leaders gathered in the North Campus Commons for ping-pong, carpet ball, and conversation. The joyful interaction quieted down for instructions and prayer. We saw Jesus’ grace at work even at this point as a young man, unprompted, poured out his heart to the Lord in prayer, first with thanks for Jesus and his death and resurrection, and then in praying a blessing on our meal. 

After enjoying Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and more time together, students were invited to take opportunities to reflect on Jesus through art and videos. A few students at a time entered a gallery to view art from Chris Powers that was paired with Scripture. The piece that seemed to stand out most was the depiction of the Zechariah 3:1–5 priest whose sins were atoned for. Students could also consider the work of Christ displayed through a 26-minute gospel-rich video compilation (including a video from Matt Chandler and two from Chris Powers: It Is Finished and These Are Written). We encouraged students to not simply take it all in, but to seize the opportunity to talk about the presentations  as they moved from one to another. 

Next came a time of worship in song and proclamation. One of the highlights was a student’s testimony. The young woman shared with hope and vulnerability how she, like Thomas (John 20:24ff), was powerfully met by Jesus in her place of doubt. 

We ended the night by hearing the gospel from John 1:5 and calling young people to come into the light and believe. Students were invited to respond in worship, prayer, and spreading. My heart rejoiced to see most of the gospel resources taken from our table when we encouraged students to take them, pray for opportunities to use them, and pass them on. 

Seeing the church being the church that night was a joy to me—the welcoming, sharing of a great meal, reflecting upon Christ, talking about him with friends, singing to him, hearing of him, and being sent out with full hearts to spread his fame. Our prayer was that Jesus would be lifted up. Thanks to his grace, we saw many encouraging signs that he answered our prayers!   


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