Going Away and Going to God

Last week, our Crossfire Youth Choir returned from its tour to Florida.

This week, we have children at Bridgeport Camp.

Next week, our middle schoolers are going to San Antonio to help with home repairs.

Like going on vacation, our young people are going away. But they are also going to God. There is an intentionality to draw near to God and draw near to the people of God in all the places they are going. It is a time of play, to be sure, but moreover, it is a time of intentional spiritual formation. In the earliest gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to “a place apart” (Mark 6:31) that they might rest with Jesus, talk and laugh with Jesus, learn from Jesus, and pray with Jesus before they re-entered their “real” world. We still do that in the church—in our women’s retreats, Emmaus Walks, even Dinners for Eight. There is something lasting about time spent together with Jesus apart from the daily cycle—even the cycle of church and small group attendance.

Cammy and I are taking the opportunity to go away this summer, and I hope you do too. We all need the change of pace and scenery—even if it’s just an overnight somewhere nearby. But I challenge us to also see that time as going to God. Take some quiet time, and maybe a journal, to observe and record where you encounter God in that different setting—for God is surely there, beckoning. God wants us to find renewal in those spaces so that we might be our better and best selves, representing Christ when we return to our “real” world.

Savor!

Connecting God and Grace to Self and Community,

Matt Gaston
Lead Pastor

From Atlanta to Orlando, Gulf Shores to Baton Rouge — our Crossfire Youth Choir did their own “going away and going to God” by singing, serving, and making memories on an unforgettable tour!