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Jarrett Stevens Speaks at First Worship Service for CHIC2K3
KNOXVILLE, TN (August 1, 2003) - The energy by 5,000 students at CHIC2K3:
Reaction began to be seen at 7:55 p.m. on Thursday night when youth groups
started doing "The Wave" inside of Thompson-Boling Arena.
At 8:18 p.m., hundreds were forming a "boogie train" and dancing throughout
the arena. And when the CHIC2K3: Reaction band opened at 8:30 p.m. with a
singing/rap version of "When Justice Rolls Down," the rest of the crowd was
on its feet ready to worship. A loud and diverse music set, the first video
episode of CHIC2K3's 24/7 adventure, and the words of speaker Jarrett
Stevens were more than enough to keep students interested as worship began
at the University of Tennessee.
Jarrett Stevens, the teaching pastor for Axis, a community for "20
something's" at Willow Creek
Community Church in Barrington, Illinois, challenged his audience to
consider following God with all of their heart, using biblical references
and his own story during his message.
"Everything we've experienced is a reaction to something else," said
Stevens, a native of Fremont, California. "And the Bible tells us so many
stories about people... reacting to a God who has already moved."
Stevens gave snippets of the Genesis creation story, the story of Noah and
the flood, the response of Abram to God's promise that if he left his home,
his family would be the line through which God would build a nation. He
continued with the story of David, the shepherd boy being told by God that
he would someday be a king, and about a man named Jonah being asked by God
to tell a wayward people to turn to him.
He used the gospel story of Mary and her reaction to God's promise that she
would someday birth the Savior of the world. And he finished his biblical
illustration set by telling about Jesus - the reactions of people who were
blessed and healed by Jesus' words and his actions and the reactions of
those who chose to reject Jesus' promise of a better life through following
him.
Growing up in Northern California, Stevens said he accepted Jesus into his
life as a child, but his lukewarm response left him wondering why he
believed in God in the first place. He stated, "My response to Jesus
saying, 'Come follow me,' was to say, 'Maybe later.' My reaction to growing
with him was no reaction."
During his sophomore year of college, Stevens told of challenging God to
prove that he was active in his world. The incident changed his life and he
told the Thompson-Boling Arena crowd that this week was a perfect time to
seek God's challenge for their own lives.
He said, "I asked God, 'If this (Christianity) is it, then I quit. And if
there's something else, I want to know it.' "...He recalled those moments,
when "God was so clearly burning Jesus into my life. There was no way to
avoid it. And my reaction has been to follow him all of my life because
there is no life without him.
"I know that for a lot of people, you've shown up with a lot of pain on
your shoulders," continued Stevens. "...And in the midst of all that pain,
what is your reaction to God? The eyes of people are wondering what your
reaction will be...and even more, the eyes of heaven are watching too...what
will your life say about your choice?"
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