Arise Youth Summit

Allow me to begin with a question: are the young people of Revival Centres ready to support the future of the church?

The Arise Summit (9th–12th Jun), held in Melbourne, was, in short, the first international summit for young people within RCC, in four years! Under the determined work of the whole youngies team, and in unison with the older members of the church, what has transpired over the past four days was nothing short of extraordinary. The last time I wrote was the ‘23 Freshie Launch Camp, and the fruits of that camp can be seen reaching into this event, six months later.

The Summit began Friday evening with a meet and greet, and the leaders had gone all-out! There were arcade machines for all, a generous supper, and lots of great company. On Saturday it began in earnest. With people from almost every state, from New Zealand, and some very special guests from Fiji, it was a diverse cast of saints who had come to praise the Lord. Many of the speakers were not from Melbourne, and once again the Holy Spirit proved its unifying power through the talks they gave. The ministry began on the Saturday at 11:30am (11am was the scheduled time, but Youngies Time made quick work of that).

The uniting theme across the talks was, of course, to arise as young members in the church to greater responsibility and commitment, but also on how to be prepared to do that. The necessity of the Holy Spirit –and being strong in it– was present in all the talks. Human wisdom is faulty, but God’s wisdom is perfect from the beginning (Prov 16:25). Let God increase in our lives, and our ways decrease – through our anointing we live for Jesus in full (John 3:30). Are we engaging with the world through the lust of the flesh, or through our Godliness in the Spirit (Gal 5:16)? Be brave in God, for He can do all things! Towards the end of the Sunday meeting we were also reminded by Trav Noonan, that we can’t get comfortable in letting those older than us bear the future of the church alone. We are here now, and they are here now.

We are the present of the church, and as pastor Joel Murray said, there is no baton we need to be handed for us to begin our work. The baton is with us from the moment we’ve joined God’s family. Finally, Pastor Simon made a very sincere nod to the young people, who, by all accounts, succeeded in delivering a high quality convention. As Monday began, the final meeting was had, and slowly the horde of youngies disappeared into airports, trains and cars. For some, the party went on well into Monday night. By the end, we were all well built-up in the truth of God’s words, and with a clearer, optimistic and ambitious vision for what youngies really means in the church.

Are the young people of Revival Centres ready to support the future of the church?

Yes.

–Angus