GARLAND– About 6,000 young people gathered to learn how to find their story at the Baptist General Convention of Texas Youth Evangelism Conference last weekend.
Themed "Testify: Find Your Story," the conference was designed to share with students that they can have stories like the missionaries they hear about.
"The concept and the idea is to teach students to find their stories," said Leighton Flowers, BGCT youth evangelism director.
Last weekend 32 people came forward responding to the hope of Christ for the first time. Sixty-one came to restore their commitment to Christ. Seventeen people felt called to ministry and 32 came forward for more than one of these reasons.
The event included musical performances by 33 Miles, Delirious, Jeff Johnson and Stellar Kart. A duo called the Skit Guys used comedy to teach students about Christ.
During the conference, Jon Randles, BGCT Evangelism Team leader, said Texas churches and Christianity are so easy to access that people are hardened to it. People take the Christian message for granted.
"It is so cheap you don't hear it," he said. "It makes you knowledgeable, but it doesn't change your heart."
Randles pointed out it is not like this everywhere. He challenged students not to get stuck in that mentality. He encouraged students not only to give God their hearts but their minds as well.
"You men and women, as young people, are a generation that lives on the cusp of what could be the most important generation since the book of Acts 2,000 years ago, " he told the students. "We could possibly be the greatest revival generation of all time."
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The other keynote speaker, Wes Hamilton, a teaching pastor at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, used Moses to illustrate that there is no excuse for not doing as God calls.
"The thing I love about heroes of the Bible is we can identify with them," Hamilton said. "You see them with all their flaws."
He talked about how Moses offered excuses for not doing what God asked, but God had an answer for every excuse.
Hamilton told students if they feel like they don t know enough about God to share their faith with others, they need to get to know Him better.
He reminded students "when God calls us, He goes with us."
Hamilton said that there are two types of people — those without a story because they have not allowed God to come into their lives, and those who need to tell their story.
"It is our belief that every student can have a story of their own, " Flowers said.
Click here to view the BGCT's photo set from the Youth Evangelism Conference June 27-28 in Dallas.
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