"…Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”- Matthew 17:20

It started with just a few college kids who had a vision, a vision that was formed from their love and passion to reflect Christ to those around them. Not even a week ago a few good friends of mine got the idea to plan a worship night for anyone to come and gather in community and celebrate our God… but never would you believe where this spontaneous idea lead…

They threw together a set list, were able to get sound equipment, and decided to put on this worship night simply in the courtyard. Within just a few short days started this idea became a reality and was shared with friends among friends and word of this Thursday night spread like a wildfire across campus.

It wasn’t until I was actually standing there in the middle of one of GCUs courtyards, bundled up under hanging lights and Gods personal touch of the stars did it really hit me how crazy amazing this night was. That God planted this small idea in the minds of a few college students and it bloomed into an experience they or I could have never imagined! He allowed that seed of an idea to be planted and through nourishment, persistence, dedication, and commitment that little seed began to grow with each passing day leading up to this night of worship.

I expected maybe 15-20 people to show up…expecting just close friends to be there for a small get together to worship. But as the songs started to play the voices of love and worship for our King began to fill the air getting louder and louder as more and more people gathered together. One instant I had my eyes closed while singing and the next they were wide open in complete awe of the number of people that showed up within just a few short minutes.

All these people having something so great in common; a love for Christ and sharing it with those around them. As the night progressed something interesting occurred… a few people in their dorm room next to the courtyard decided to open their window and start blaring explicit music… it took us aback a little… I wasn’t mad about it, but I will admit it broke my heart a little that these people felt the need to make this type of action. You see this moment the Lord used to remind us of something so crucial, of a major reality we face in our day to day lives; distraction.

The world will do its best to try and pull us away, to shift our gaze and our focus. We live in a noisy and messy world and that’s when we need to step back and look up with our gaze upon Heaven and stop, tune out all the noise and narrow our hearing to truly listen to that still small voice of the Lord. When we learn how to tune into His voice and recognize it, that’s when the distractions begin to fade and your focus becomes more consistent and stable.

“Don’t let the noise of the world keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord”

In response to this, we only sang louder, to the point where we couldn’t hear their music but they could hear ours in which I hope filled their ears with love, with a reminder that they are so greatly cherished and cared for by the creator of all. Throughout the rest of the night, I kept thinking about them, kept hoping that maybe they were listening, maybe God was using this to impact their lives as well and make a difference within their hearts through the songs of praise and readings of truth from the Word.

And as I took this all in I lifted my eyes up to the sky and as I did my gaze wandered from window to window as I cached people in their dorm rooms sitting on their window seat taking it all in as well…and in this moment I couldn’t help but smile… for the Lord truly is alive and well. He is at work here on this campus and within each of our hearts, He is planting seemingly small seeds within each of us that He wants to us and help us grow to produce good works in His perfect and precious name.

"…The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES." -Matthew 13:31-32

I got the chance to speak with one of the guys who helped make this night a reality in which he told me:

"It all started with me and my friend Steve (the box drummer) who I just met 2 days ago. We decided to plan a day where we could jam out together and decided to invite 5 -10 people. We messaged people who messaged people and before I knew it my best friend (Sean Palmer) told me we had lights, microphones, speakers and over 70 people expected. I’m going to be honest, I was so excited but I knew that it wasn’t about me or the band, it was about God touching someone that night. It doesn’t matter if we have 10 people next time or 100, if only one person feels Jesus’ presence that night then it’s a success". -Victor Canavra

After speaking with Vic he shared with me that he feels the Lord calling him to make this more than just a one time thing and to offer this experience to anyone who feels drawn to join. To have strangers and friends, whether nonbeliever or believer come together in community. A community filled with love, understanding and acceptance. So my dear friends keep your eyes and ears open towards the next opportunity that may arise!

Mark 4:8-12,20