Know that prayers were answered in some big ways during this weekend. Not only did the 20ish students we brought really bond with each other, they also grew deeply in their knowledge of Christ. Evidence of that is this post by one of the students who came with us:
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And although this was my view for the first portion of the weekend because of a migraine, through your prayers I was able to spend the second half of the trip enjoying the beautiful PA fall weather with students.
Praise God! Maryland RUF joined together with RUF's from Pitt, Penn State, and Millersville, as well as students from Frostburg State University. The weekend consisted of hiking, worship, a dance party, star gazing, a bonfire and more.
While a bit stressful, Logan did a great job leading us in worship through 4 different services. At each of these services we also heard preaching from former RUF campus minister and now church planter, Pete Hatton.Pete titled his series, Life in the Kingdom of Grace. Which at first seemed interesting to me as we dove into the story of David & Bathsheba. He focused on the aftermath of David's sin, how God did not give up on David but sent Nathan to David to lovingly convict him of his sin. We looked at David's repentance as a response to God's grace and the way that God restored David. Even after these atrocious sins of adultery, murder, and injustice God did not give up on David.
I could write a very lengthy post about his sermons alone since they were SO good. If you are interested in hearing them, you can listen to recordings of all of them here or download them at the bottom of this post.
Instead I will tell you some of the things our students shared on our last day as we sat together to talk.
Over and over again I heard our students share their wonder at a God who could love them so deeply even when He knows the depth of their sin. I heard students share how much more amazing and real Christ's death was to them. Pete encouraged the students that in Christ we are save to own up to our sin fully so that we can then cast it away in order for it not to own us any longer.
Logan shared in his latest news letter about one student in particular who came up to him after Fall Conference with great urgency asking to meet. That week, Logan sat in a crowded foot court as this student poured out his heart, weeping & confessing his sin. He then said to Logan that if it weren't for the love of Christ he didn't know how he could continue.God was at work at this retreat. God is still at work on our campus. His great love and mercy is sinking into the hearts of our students and I'm so excited to see their lives change!
Keep praying that students would ponder and reflect on this retreat, that the relationships the were formed would continue to grow, and that God's kingdom would expand here at Maryland.
Thank you for being a part of our ministry! We couldn't be here without you. Your support and prayers are changing lives!
Grace & Peace,
Hear the Sermons from Fall Conference:
Our 2013 speaker, Rev. Pete Hatton, currently serves as a church planter in OK. His series on the life of David is titled, Life in the Kingdom of Grace. Each is about 35 minutes long, and worth every second.
Life in the Kingdom of Grace:
Message 1 - Psalm 32
Message 2 - 2 Samuel 11
Message 3 - Psalm 51
Message 4 - 2 Samuel 12:13-25
