This past week, 55,000 college kids gathered in the Georgia Dome to worship a God who is worthy of His name and IT. WAS. EPIC. Jesus changed hearts, including mine, along with thousands of others as we dug into all God has for our generation ( that's right, our generation , the millennials, is going to do something big for Jesus). We worshipped. We danced in victory. We cried in awe. We shined a light on slavery. We hugged our friends. We met strangers. We walked a lot of footsteps. Freaked out when Carrie Underwood sang her song. We prayed harder. We sang loud. We ran out of our graves. We echoed through the Dome. We remembered our campuses. We layed down our pasts. We said YES LORD. From speakers to songs to community group.. here are some take-a-ways from Passion 2017.

1. The cross is the ONLY place where dead people come alive again

2. Our "here" turns to "there" and our "there" turns to "here" - Be faithful where you are today

3. The essence of evil is losing a taste for God/ preferring anything else more than God

4. The cross cancels shame and guilt

5. Look Up Now

6. As long as we see breaking or keeping commandments as the essence of God, we are missing it. We are failing to treasure the glory of God, find fountain of living water satisfying, and to want God most. We are exchanging our selfish desires with the glory of God.

7. You'll miss Jesus due to pure distraction. Sit your phone down.

8. God wants to take the "some of us" and make it an "all of us" - Awakening in our generation

9. You cannot "be more like Jesus" without the Word of God being present in your life.

10. The cross is the place where our worth is measured, without the cross we don't know the love of our God

11. "Us Also" - The Word is for Us Also. It is relevant.

12. It is destructive to value your thoughts more than Gods. Isaiah 55:8-9 says "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are higher than yours." It doesn't matter what I think about anything, it matters what God thinks. Learn to tell yourself to Shut up.

13. It is going to take faith plus endurance

14. Some relationships have to end to get you to where God has you. That is going to hurt, but following Jesus costs something.. your life.

15. The eyes of your heart need to be opened to the devastating beauty of the cross.

16. Don't do a backflip for anything but Jesus

17. You have the keys to get out of your prison. Do not let live your life contained in the boxes you've thrown up around your life. YOU ARE FREE

18. We aren't alone in anything. God with us.

19. Before Jesus does anything, He always breaks the bread. Persecution leads to multiplication. Expect to be broke, but rely on God's power, not your will power. Catch your second wind.

20. God's children are your friends. We all made 55,000 new best friends when we looked to Heaven this week.

21. Many of us are spiritually dead, we have missed the realization that we, sinners, put Jesus on the cross. We held the nail. But in God's great love, He saved us. It is devastatingly beautiful.

22. The cross ends one story and starts another

23. Nothing is a mistake. Out of 8,000 people in the orange community group (AHHH, GET JUICED) , I sat down "randomly" ( in my second family group because our first had to head home) with a girl transferring to Valdosta State in the fall. That is not a coincidence out of 55,000 people. Jesus is in control ya'll.

24. We are changed from victim to victor because of Jesus

25. 55,000 college aged kids can make a difference for the World. Four countries' waiting-list compassion kids are sponsored.. by broke millennials. Woah.

26. Jeremiah had to face the reality that He was being prepared for more. He had to run with the footman before the horses. It started at home. Small. Seemingly unimportant.But necessary. And very important.

27. We are all a lot alike, we don't know everything about life. We struggle with things together. YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS.

28. The only way to get to our destiny is through trials.. we need to be challenged, pressed, crushed.

29. Two of the most important words we could ever say is "Yes, Lord"

30. Jesus' love is a firm foundation

31. We can END modern day slavery ( Shine a light on slavery day 2/23/17 )

32. The Lord can take the hardest, most devastating, trials of our lives. Such as a broken body, and use it to glorify Him through our stories. ( Hope Heals )

33. Jesus is worth of His name. Worthy of every song we could ever sing.

I know that is A LOT, but it isn't even kind of close to what happened this week. Jesus is so faithful to us. He uses leaders to share his Word in such a relevant way whether through song or through a talk. Nothing is by accident. There is so much comfort in that. That Jesus is totally, 100% in control of this crazy beautiful life. His love can't be measured for you. He would have died if it was only for you. He died for you, with you on his mind. This year let's lean in as a generation. A generation after God's heart... MORE THAN ANYTHING. Move from the position of victim to victor and RUN OUT OF THAT GRAVE. The cross... "Chains fall. Fear bows. Here now. Jesus you change everything. Lives Healed. Hope found. Here now. Jesus you change everything."

If you are looking for more about anything we dived into at Passion, most of the sessions are up on Youtube!