Colorado, arguably one of the most beautiful states in the nation, is also one of the most secular. One study found it to have the 12th-lowest percentage of people who attend church at least monthly.
But the volunteers who participated in Will Graham’s two-day Northern Colorado Look Up Celebration in October were passionate about reaching people with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
“We’d better be about God’s business,” said Bob Miles, one of more than 500 people who were trained as prayer counselors for the event in Loveland, a city about an hour north of Denver. “These are difficult times in the world, and people, I think, are searching for the truth. And this is the truth. I want to be involved in the truth—bringing people to Christ.”
As prayer counselor Jan Bruzewski waited in Blue Arena for the meeting to begin on the Celebration’s second evening, she reflected: “I can’t think of anything more important to do than to bring others home to Jesus. So, when I first heard about the opportunity, my heart just leapt. … I’m just sharing the yearning in Jesus’ heart to have people come home.”
And that evening, Will preached about coming home. He recounted the story of the prodigal son, who wasted his inheritance on wild living. After the young man’s money dried up, he was forced to work feeding pigs, even as he himself was starving. But eventually, he came to his senses and went home, humbled and repentant.
“Tonight,” Will said, “I’m going to give you a chance in a few minutes to get out of your stinking pigpen and come home to Jesus. The Bible says, ‘If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ (Romans 10:9, ESV).
“Ask Him to come into your life and forgive you of your sins. And my friends, He’ll do it! That’s your way home. Are you willing to take it tonight?”
Will invited people to come forward and pray, confessing their sins and asking Jesus to come into their lives and be their Savior and Lord.
One woman who responded had tears in her eyes after praying to receive Christ, and she shared a heartfelt hug with a prayer counselor. “I just felt like Jesus has done a lot in my life and felt like it was time for me to acknowledge it, to step forward,” she explained later. “I felt like I was called to be here today.”
Her concern turned immediately toward her family, and even before she left the arena, she was praying that her husband and children would also come home to the Savior.
Hundreds responded to the Good News. Karen Rivas could hardly contain her joy as she watched her 9-year-old daughter pray to receive Christ during KidzFest, a Saturday morning event that communicated the Gospel in a way that children could easily understand.
“It’s so exciting!” Karen said. “[My daughter] got to hear everything, and so she’s accepting Jesus.” Karen said her own life has been transformed in the two years since she put her faith in Christ. “I think of my life before Christ—which I call my B.C. (Before Christ) era—as the era of rebellion. But once Christ came into my life, I saw those things I had been doing and was disgusted by them. Now I’m just like—it’s a new life!” ©2024 BGEA
Photo: Ron Nickel / ©2024 BGEA