Summer LINK Clemson: Stewards of God?s Grace

?As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God?s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies?in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.? ? 1 Peter 4:10-11

What a wonderful command we have been given, that by God?s grace we are to use His gifts for His glory by serving His people.  This is just one example of many that demonstrate how God?s glory is our greatest good; how thankful we should be that He has ordered things thusly! By serving one another humbly and in His name, we can demonstrate His worth to each other and those yet apart from Him.  Certainly serving Him takes many forms but, to some degree, we can generalize them into two broad categories that Peter hints at; how we speak and how we act.  My hope for this summer is that, here in Clemson, Christ would be made known throughout the community in what we do and in what we say, as a love for him is fostered amongst our team.  As we encourage each other up in him, I prayerfully believe that He will give us a singleness of heart and of action to then be intentional and eager to reach the community for His name?s sake.  This is going to be an exciting summer as we trust the Lord to do His work in Clemson! Don?t you agree?

My name is Zac, I?m 25 years old, and I?m a graduate student pursuing a M.S. in Food Science at Clemson University.  I have been blessed with the privilege of helping lead the Summer LINK Clemson team for the next 10 weeks and am looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us!  We just met together with our 14-member team for the first time less than a week ago and have been having a great time getting to know each other and starting to set the trajectory for the summer.  We?ve got people on our team from many different areas of expertise, different ages from incoming freshman to graduate students, and even one brave soul who came down south from Boston to spend the summer with us!  Needless to say, God has blessed us with a team with a lot of giftedness and it is going to be a joy to begin to develop our gifts together for the edification of one another and for the proclamation of Christ in Clemson.  It is always fun to think of what the Lord may do with a group like this during a summer devoted to pursuing him.  I most definitely couldn’t begin to say what He will do, but I can say with certainty that it will be exactly what brings Him the utmost glory and is also the absolute best for us. He has never compromised on this in the past and I don?t expect that He will now.  I can?t say that everything and everyone will be without conflict and, truthfully, we will probably see our sinful selves in new light through our brothers and sisters who bear together with us.  This, too, is a great grace that I am thankful for our team to have as we are continually being sanctified and conformed into the image of our God, master, savior, and friend Jesus Christ!  That?s the hope for this summer; that our team would display Christ by being united in loving service to the Lord.  A family of servant missionaries reflecting the gospel?s hope and power as it continues to work in and through us as individuals and as a team.  I pray that our actions would be done only in His strength and that our words would be full of grace and truth to a people who desperately need to see their need of a savior.  God is good and I?m excited to watch Him continue to display that through his servants on our team in Clemson this summer; please pray hard for our God’s glory through us!

By: Zac Hopkins