This year’s experience for CPC’s Middle School youth at The Edge Conference was absolutely spectacular! The Edge Conference is a middle school youth camp hosted at Covenant College where reformed churches (mostly from the Southeast region but sometimes from as far away as California) bring their middle school youth to have fun, to build bonds of community, and to experience the power of the gospel message. This year, all three of those things happened for our youth; and looking back over this week, I am in awe at the goodness and faithfulness of God.
We started out by gathering together at CPC on Monday morning, June 17. Veteran "Edgers," excited to go back, were telling stories to the first-timers; the first-timers were eagerly anticipating a week of fun. After driving up to Covenant College, we unloaded our bags and made our beds and dorms our temporary homes for the week. Following dinner and leader meetings, the first great event of the week took place - large group worship. The experience can be overwhelming, as the bright lights and loud, joyous music can be unfamiliar to CPC students; yet the music also expresses the energy, power, and pathos of the Gospel. Our students eagerly participated in singing songs of praise to God and listening to our speaker talk about the Gospel.
The rest of the week was filled with lots of chances to make friends, build community, and have fun. As a CPC group, we played games (our students particularly love experiencing the thrill of murder mystery and criminal organization that is the game “Mafia”) and spent much time laughing and getting to know each other better. But we also played in large camp games such as water fest (slip and slides, relay races, water games) and color wars (students and leaders threw bunches of colored starch at each other, resulting in our students looking like tropical birds with hues of bright yellow, green, blue, or pink). Later in the week, we went rafting on the Hiwassee River, and appreciated both working together in our rafts and enjoying the wondrous beauty of the
river, forests, and mountains in the area that we call home.
While fun, The Edge is not primarily about fun and games. Each night, our speaker walked us through a presentation of the Gospel. This year’s theme centered around the fact that in Jesus we are truly known and truly loved. Jesus knows all of our problems and desires - which on its own can be a terrifying realization! He knows the terrible things I’ve done or wished for, and yet, He loves me more deeply than any other person - not because of anything I’ve done, but simply because He loves me. Throughout the week, I was impressed by our students’ insight into the Gospel and their questions that led to rich discussion on topics varying from apologetics, to phones/screens, to Islam. In all these topics, we were centered around these facts: Truth can only be found in the Bible; God is the Creator and Lord of creation; In Jesus there is salvation; God is love; God is good; and God is just.
On the third night of The Edge, students are invited to respond to the Gospel message - either confirming they already love and trust Jesus, aren’t yet ready, or for the first time want to put their faith and trust in Jesus. Known as “Commitment Night,” it is a powerful experience. To witness so many students from across the country both confirming their faith in Jesus and coming to faith for the first time is extraordinary, overwhelming, and powerful. After that night, our students commented on how amazing it was to witness such an event, and they articulated a love for Jesus and a strong understanding of the Gospel (That though we have sinned, God calls us to repent; and when we put our faith in Jesus to save us, He washes away our sins completely. God no longer looks on us as sinners, but as clothed in the righteousness of Jesus!)
As the week ended, our students (and leaders) were tired but so happy from experiencing a time of drawing closer to God and drawing closer to each other. In my reflections, I was struck by several things. I was struck by how our students already loved Jesus and grew in understanding and appreciating the power of the Gospel and how that is an amazing reflection of the love and care that their families and our church have shown them. As youth leaders, we water the seeds that all of you plant!
Secondly, I was absolutely overwhelmed at the faithfulness of God across the years. On Commitment Night, as I began to silently pray over our leaders and students, streams of tears poured down my face. Not from conviction or sorrow, but from joy! Heather Morrison, Kallie Arbuckle, Will Horton, Melissa Horton - all of them have grown up in CPC’s Youth Group across the years, and I have been humbly honored to watch them grow from spunky, wide-eyed middle schoolers to wise, caring, Jesus-like leaders and fervent believers in the Gospel. That in itself is a powerful testament to the power of God and the Gospel of Christ.
Finally, after this week, I am so excited about the future - both of CPC and of the Church as a whole. Witnessing so many people from across the country loving Jesus and putting their faith in Him is a powerful reminder not to despair at the evils of our time. More particularly, I saw so many instances of Middle Schoolers from our church coming together, being kind to one another, establishing new friendships with each other, getting to know their leaders better, and truly desiring to know more about Jesus. The future of our youth and of Covenant Presbyterian Church is very bright! I am so deeply honored and humbled to have witnessed such a week of laughter, joy, praise, and worship. To God be the glory!
Justin Martin
