We’ve now finished our third week here at Project and time is flying by! It is amazing to see how the Lord is moving through all of us participants as we learn and grow together. As many of the STP staff say, Project is similar to a greenhouse. It’s an environment in which we have the opportunity to cultivate a firm foundation with Christ as the cornerstone. Where we can gain wisdom and habits that will be fruitful throughout our lives.
At Monday night’s Theme Training, Reid Jilek talked about how as Christians, we sometimes use words that can be difficult to understand. One of those words, and what we focused on this week, was justification. If you’re not familiar with justification, it can be defined as the act of God declaring a sinner to be righteous, because of the blood of Jesus and through faith in Jesus. Justification is the reason why a sinner can walk with God in his light. An analogy Reid used to help explain this is a courtroom. Picture you are on trial, about to be condemned before God. Just as you hear the verdict, Jesus jumps in front of you to take your punishment, so you can walk free. Paul explains in Romans how we are justified by His grace as a gift.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Romans 3:23-26 ESV
Wednesday morning Elisa spoke to us about anxiety. This is a common feeling for many people today, so it was great to talk about it from a biblical perspective. The biblical definition of anxiety is the experience of not fully trusting God. Elisa pointed out that we feel anxious when we face challenges, when we try to handle thoughts and feelings on our own, when our identity is threatened, and when we feel powerless. Psalm 46:1 reminds us “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Knowing this we can move forward and rely on Him when we are in a time of fear. We can rest in the fact that God is greater than any challenges we may face.
One of this week’s fun highlights was Thursday night’s social event! The guy rooms performed synchronized swimming routines for the girls. We saw a variety of skills including dives, backflips, and dance moves. The girl rooms judged each group to decide if their routine was up to standard. If they met the girls’ expectations, the rooms went on what we call a group date. This is an activity rooms do together that helps us build friendships with one another. This week’s social allowed the guys to practice teamwork and have fun. Their creativity did not go unnoticed!
Overall, this week left us with a lot to ponder and reflect on internally. It has also given us the opportunity to continue discussing what we have learned through conversations, not only at Project, but also on our campuses when we return home. We encourage you to ponder one of these points as well and leave you with a question to reflect on:
What are ways you tend to justify yourself instead of claiming the blood of Jesus Christ?