This past Thanksgiving weekend, over 2000 teenagers and young adults joined together in Mile One Stadium in St. John’s, Newfoundland to do one thing – Surrender to the one true God! Not only was the weekend filled with worship, popular Christian bands, keynote speakers, and break-out sessions; YC 2012 was a conference of many quiet moments. With a theme like Surrender, such moments just made sense.
The quite moments…
Friday night ended in a quiet moment. After Mike Pilavachi spoke on Zephaniah 3:17, he made the call to Surrender their lives to God. Instantly, over fifty people responded with another fifty or more to join them as the night progressed. People, some for the first time, started to really experience the words of Zephaniah…
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17, ESV)
Saturday night ended in quiet moment. After Matt Maher led the YC registrants into a beautiful quiet moment of worship, the Spirit naturally continued to work in many lives. As people started to respond accordingly, Mike Pilavachi embraced God’s plan for the night and proceeded to help bring facilitation and order. There was a beautiful sense of God’s presence in the stadium. In many cases, God truly spoke to individuals in ways they have never experienced before. Some were experiencing the words of Zephaniah on a whole new level.
Sunday was no different. Leeland closed the conference with a concert of worship. While offering up some of their best material, Leeland took a minute to share salvation. He shared Zephaniah 3:17 and offered a chance to repeat a prayer of repentance. The afternoon was filled with: a call to serve the one true God; a story of love; and, a purpose for ministry.
God is at work…
You might be thinking, “This is a simple to pull off…all you have to do, is plan for a theme like Surrender, and schedule ‘quiet moments’ along the way.” This might be true; however, many of these moments actually happened outside of the planned schedule. The YC planning committee works hard every year to schedule a great weekend. That said, they always pray that God’s will is accomplished no matter how much planning occurs prior to the event. God’s authority is evident through the numerous unplanned powerful quiet moments of Surrender throughout the weekend.
The Words of Zephaniah…
It’s amazing how the words of Zephaniah rang true throughout the whole weekend! From Friday night to Sunday afternoon, God’s promise of salvation, encouragement, love, and joy became the source of the quiet moments of Surrender.
