Steve Edwards, Campus Pastor of Brewton-Parker College, began the Sept. 19 chapel service with a special prayer time. Edwards stated that he felt moved by the Holy Spirit and encouraged the congregation to spend a few minutes in prayer before the service began. Following this time of prayer, BPC students Beth Mathews and Jeffery Covington led students, faculty, and staff in worship with the songs “Ever Be” and “Beneath the Waters”.
After the time of worship, Billy Shiver, Head Pastor of Connection Church in Vidalia began his message titled “What I Wish I Would Have Known.” Shiver opened his message by reading from 1 Samuel 16: 1-7. “God is more concerned with your heart than He is anything else in your life,” Shiver explained.
Shiver went on to tell about the things that changed in his life once he realized this, starting with his relationship with God. He explained that during his early Christian walk, he felt that being saved was more about what to do and what not to do rather than developing a relationship with God. Shiver said, “My relationship with God was more about behavior modification than a heart transformation.”
In addition to changing Shiver’s relationship with God, realizing that God cares about his heart changed the way he treated people. “We can’t hate the people that God has called us to reach,” Shiver stated. He went on to explain that everyone is looking for satisfaction, but can only truly find it through Jesus. According to Shiver, it is a Christian’s duty to get to know these lost people and lead them to finding that satisfaction in Jesus. “Relationships are the key to evangelism,” Shiver explained.
The final change that Shiver went through was a change in his view of salvation. He explained that a Christian life filled with the mentality of constantly working to follow rules and regulations will be miserable and lead to ultimately abandoning the Christian faith. About this, he said, “You’re not created for a list of rules and religion, you’re created to know a creator, to be in a relationship with God.”
Shiver concluded the message by urging students to surrender to God and to stop trying to do everything on their own.