Winter Retreat Day 2

Day 2 is in the books. Students are in bed sleeping after a long day filled with lots of different activities and fun together.

Today we spent the morning spending Time Alone with God and then sharing how God has been challenging us in our youth group time together. Today we looked at Daniel 3 and the story of 3 famous men from Scripture that put their lives on the line to honor and stand out for God. In our youth group time students shared some things that have prevented them from stepping up and standing out for Him. Several themes that we heard students share included things like friendships, gossip, procrastination, fear and several others.

After finishing our youth group time students ventured out to the different free time activities that were happening like horseback riding, tubing and more. We'll be posting some more pictures sometime tomorrow.

During tonight's session students were challenged to look deeper into Daniel 3. We saw 3 men who trusted and had faith in Him and they stepped out and were obedient even when they weren't sure if the outcome would bring them success or harm. We saw that because they had such faith in God and were willing to step out in obedience that others turned to believing in God because of their example. Students were challenged to ask the question "Where has God called me to step out in obdience to stand out for Him? and..."Am I willing to trust God event when I don't know what the outcome will be?"

God had given Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego a platform for others to see an exa

mple of Faith and Obedience. In response tonight students were challenged to think about the platform God has given them to do the same. Out of this will come some next steps that students will need to begin taking to truly take what they learn at Winter Retreat home to stand out for Him. Continue to pray that God will help bring clarity to students on how and in what ways God wants to use them. Pray also that students would have the faith and courage to be obedient to His call.

Stay tuned for more updates...