Event #1: Student Organization

Thursday, I went to a Cornerstone student organization meeting. Cornerstone is a Christian organization and it is part of Campus Crusades which not only meets at Chapel Hill but at other colleges within the area. I was surprised at how many people were there and my friend said that normally, there were more. I recognized alot of people that I had seen around campus, there seemed to be a pretty good amount of freshman there. At the beginning of the meeting, we sang songs of worship and watched some of the leaders perform some funny skits to lighten the mood and allow the audience to mingle. The mood became a little more formal when a guest preacher came to talk to us about what God wanted us to do at this point in our lives as college students. He talked about what we need to do spiritually, socially and physically to honor and become closer to God. To grow spiritually, we need to read our Bibles and pray even when college life becomes crazy. Physically, we need to honor our bodies and take care of ourselves that we tend to overlook when the stress of college exams come around. Socially, we need to surround ourselves with good people but at the same time, don't cut ourselves off from the rest of the world. Share God's love and wisdom with those around you and try to become a role model to others.
The preacher was pretty young and he talked about how he was a college student not too long ago and how he remembered wondering what God wanted him to do when it came to picking a major, becoming involved in activities and eventually picking a job. He said that if we listened, we would know what God wanted us to do and we would eventually follow His direction because God has no plan B because He doesn't need one. We can fight Him all we want but everything works out the way He wants. I really appreciated his personal accounts because many of us are experiencing the same feelings of uncertainty. The preacher was able to give a serious sermon that was not too formal and relate to his audience of college students. Throughout his sermon, he used "we" and "us" to include the audience in his sermon. He walked all around the lecture hall making it seem that he was talking to each one of us and not just a huge crowd. He also managed to work in some basketball and football references particularly the basketball game on Wednesday against Duke. He didn't seem to press any beliefs onto us or condemn us for any actions. His sermon was not too "preachy" and therefore, the audience listened to him and what he had to say. I was very glad that I went and I look forward to hearing some more sermons in the Thursdays to come.