30 Jul Summer LINK Myrtle Beach: A Life Proclaiming Christ as Authority
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2
With only ten days remaining of SummerLINK Myrtle Beach, it would be easy to cruise along and focus our minds and hearts on what awaits us this coming fall and lose sight of what our Lord wants to do through us and in us as we conclude our summer in this dark city that seeks to fulfill our every shallow, worldly desire at every street corner, but right now, in this time of conflicting desires to finish strong or to focus our minds on how close we are to going home back to our comforts, is the time when we need to see Him rightly. God is our Helper and ultimate Authority who will give us the desires of our heart if we ask Him to keep us centered on His mission, for perseverance, and to rid us of our inwardly-focused hearts and selfish minds that are eager for the end because we may be growing weary. I must realize that I gain nothing from worldly comforts except a wrong idea of why I even have breath in the first place. The Bible says that even the Son of God did not have a place to lay His head, and Paul suffered for the Gospel in prison over and over again, so why am I concerned with these shallow thoughts centered on myself?
I desire to see the Lord as my ultimate Authority and to depend on Him above all else and others. Luke 14:26 tells us that, ?If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Throughout my life, I have depended on my mom and other believers and friends around me for guidance, clarity, advice, and direction because I liked how it sounded and what it did for me. This summer, the Lord has been teaching me that He is the only voice I need to listen to because He is above all, and no one has been, is, or ever will be even close to like Him. He tells us in Matthew 28:18-20 that, ?All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.? Since we are confident in what His Word says, I just wonder why I do not believe this every single moment and realize that making disciples is my only purpose for being on this planet–not for eating, working, exercising, studying, or having shallow, small talk all day long.
The Lord of the smallest grain of sand and of the most grand galaxies is WITH US and is in total control and wants us all in His kingdom. He promises us all these things, so instead of rushing through these last ten days and dwelling on all that the Lord has done these past two months(and He has done a ton!!), I want to have the mindset of seeking to complete all that He wants me to do to conclude the summer and to talk and share His Gospel with all that He puts in my path and not waste a second on myself and my worldly desires or emotions that do not proclaim His name or truth. I pray that this will always be my attitude, and that I will never fall victim to Satan’s lies that what I do for the Kingdom is not enough or not good enough because the truth is that we are not saved by works, but only by the Lord’s sovereign grace! The Lord is pleased with me when I am obedient to Him, but my relationship with Him is not a checklist. I love that His mission is never ending and that I can live missionally anywhere He places me.
This past week has been teeming with evidence of God’s goodness and faithfulness in answering the prayers of His people and just being who He says He is as our team continually saw Him and still see Him in our day to day lives. For example, last Sunday we learned about Psalm 121 through Scott Moody, an Elder at Cornerstone Church. It was humbling to be reminded that “self can’t help,” and that God is our Helper and Keeper always. He is big enough to handle all our doubts and struggles, and He never sleeps! We have all experienced the not-able-to-form-words-right state of almost drunken consciousness after being up all night or after not getting our eight hours! It was so good to learn that He watches over us constantly and does not even need rest. Praise Him for being so high above us!
Also, praise the Lord that Sunday,the Lord allowed Logan Pierce to help Him fill over a row of seats with his co-workers and one of their families at Cornerstone! The Lord is at work, and it’s beautiful to witness the growth of His kingdom.
Monday night, we switched up routine and heard from Andrew Flowers as He led our Bible study at the Seamist on Psalm 121 as we dug deeper into God’s Word and discussed highlights from Sunday’s message from Scott. I always love to hear how the Word is working in the lives of my teammates and how the Lord speaks uniquely to us as individuals who seek Him. Michelle Ellis assisted Andrew by passing out note cards so that we could apply what we learned from this Psalm in the coming week. We prayed about and wrote down how we could practically trust the Lord and lean not on ourselves and our own understanding. I really appreciate the thought that these two put into preparing for our time studying the Word together and the encouragements that they both are to me.
Tuesday, we all gathered at the Scott and Jessica Moody’s home for a night of dinner and fellowship while discussing what our biggest takeaways are from reading Life Together this summer. We had the opportunity to play with their beautiful three boys, Sam, Cole, and baby Elias, to hear Scott and Jessica’s testimonies of how the Lord brought them from darkness to light in Him, and to be reminded that Christ is the glue of any Christian community seeking to please Him. We were also reminded of our need for each other in fellowship, confession, bearing burdens, and being transparent in order for a Gospel-centered community to exist fully. Praise the Lord that He does is so patient and loving to constantly remind us of His truths and goodness because we forget so easily and often.
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| Yummy food prepared by Jessica!! |
Wednesday night was unique in that we had the opportunity to participate in prayer meeting at Cornerstone, led by Paul and Jenny Moore, a mission-minded couple whose love for Jesus is evident in how they speak and live intentionally for the Lord. We got to gather together and pray specifically for the lost that we know, for healing and physical needs, for every part and person of Cornerstone who has and will enter, and for every neighboring business surrounding Cornerstone and all the people who enter the doors daily. What a precious evening spent in community hearing the needs of our church body and going on a prayer walk. We always have time to talk to our Lord, and He loves to hear from His children! Afterwards, we each had our own reflection night where we take time to seek the Lord and dwell on what He has done and pray in expectancy for what He will do. I love these intentional times set apart to spend with our Creator, and I always walk away feeling convicted, refreshed, and with more hope in the Lord and His attributes than ever.
Thursday night was much needed after a hectic day, at least at my workplace! We all met at Mr. Fish for a splurge dinner because the Lord has been providing more meals by families of the church and by others than expected. It was such a blessing to fellowship with each other and talk about our days and enjoy some high-class seafood together for the first time since we have been at the beach! Yum! I love going out together and ministering to our waiters and just trying to show them Jesus in the way we behave and speak with her. Kristy was her name, and let’s continue to pray for her salvation because the Lord desires all to be saved! Then, we split into men’s/women’s time where the ladies played tennis and discussed Biblical womanhood and what it actually is, and the men talked together about Biblical manhood at Cornerstone for the remainder of the evening. What a blessing to have a time set aside for intentional bonding and discussing our separate roles in the Kingdom that the Lord has created for a purpose!
I had been looking forward to Friday all week because it meant taking my new friend, Lucie, a lifeguard from the Czech Republic, to dinner and to Walmart on our free night. It was the first time we spent together outside of the mornings when we set up her chairs and umbrellas on the beach together, and I had asked many people to pray for our time together on Friday. Mackenzie and Michelle joined us at none other than Cracker Barrel where we enjoyed seeing Lucie devour her first ever sweet potato that she ordered only because I always talk about their tastiness to her almost every morning I am with her! I loved watching her take pictures of every little thing and her getting to know Mackenzie and Michelle and just experience community with us as we blessed the food and held edifying conversation. Lucie has been such a blessing in my life this summer, and I know she is one of the main reasons the Lord placed me on SummerLINK MB this summer. He is so faithful in answering my prayers for perseverance, for opportunities and boldness with Lucie, and so much more. I pray daily for her salvation and am confident that the Lord is planting seeds in her. Praise be to God for his sovereignty and for giving me the desire for her to know Christ as her Savior and Lord and for all of our desires for the lost to be saved.
Saturday morning our outreach included helping the lifeguards near the Seamist set up their umbrellas and chairs, giving them frozen waters and popsicles, and just spending time talking to them, especially Alex and Lucie who we have been in consistent contact with throughout the summer. I praise the Lord for his faithfulness in building these relationships and for these opportunities to serve together and proclaim of His Gospel and love to the lost.
Thanks be to God that He has given us ten more days to serve and love and witness to the lost throughout Myrtle Beach. His timing is perfect, and He is sovereign and will guide us in His perfect will if we seek Him and trust Him wholly, above all else. Let’s ascribe to Him all the glory due His name and seek Him in both the small and large daily things in life. He is constantly at work in us as we seek Him and have faith that He will complete the good work He began in us.
“Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14b
I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14b
Hannah Watkins