So today I went to Elevation Church for the first time with my friends Marcus and Amy. From the moment we pulled into the parking lot I was blown away. The church had volunteers in the parking lot, on the sidewalk leading into the building, and all throughout the lobby, all wearing matching green shirts that matched the series theme “The Essential James.”
Once actually in the service we were able to enjoy a powerful worship set from the front row. The music was as spiritually uplifting as it was visually stunning. Then came time for the speaker. I was expecting to hear from Pastor Steven Furtick, but we were surprised to have a guest speaker via video, Pastor Craig Groeschel. His sermon titled “Practical Atheist” dealt with the passage in James that says faith without works is dead. He challenged us to stop just professing our faith and really live it out. The part that stuck out to me was the part about serving others.
This sermon divinely coincided with the Bible study I attend in Hartsville called WIRED. Tonight we discussed the same passage, which they had discussed this morning in my absence. We ended the night talking about how to put our faith to work on our campuses and in the community. We are planning on doing a service day as a group at a local food bank next month, and have plans to do even more group service in the future. I look forward to telling yall about that when the time comes.
