Two days ago, I got to give the following testimony at Knox. I was only given 5 minutes, and had I had more time, there was SO much more that I wanted to say. But anyways, here it is.
Good morning, Knox Church. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Caleb, and I’m a recent graduate of U of M. I don’t actually attend Knox anymore, because I’ve moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana for my new job, but I did attend Knox for four years when I was here.
I first visited Knox a few weeks into my freshman year when I was looking for a church to challenge me spiritually and intellectually. The richness, honesty, and depth of insight of Pastor Chuck’s sermons kept me coming back.
It is through Pastor Chuck’s preaching that I learned one of the most important lessons of the Christian life my first few months here at Knox - and that is that the gospel isn’t something you learn and you “graduate” from. It’s not something that you learn, get over, and go and learn deeper and more majestic things. No. The gospel is huge. The gospel is beautiful. The gospel encompasses all of Christian life. And every Christian should be striving to understand the gospel more deeply every day.
What I appreciate so much about Pastor Chuck’s preaching is that I think that it’s impossible to visit Knox and to leave without hearing the gospel. It doesn’t sound the same every week, and he doesn’t use the same words every week, but the life, death, and resurrection of Christ are always central to his sermons.
But it’s not only through the preaching that my understanding of the gospel deepened. The people of this church embody the gospel. In 2 Corinthians 2, it says, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”
Knox Church, you smell good. I’m not talking about the bathrooms here which smell deliciously of Fruit Loops, though it is that too.
This church has a real gospel fragrance, an aroma of the knowledge of Christ, which I first got a whiff of as a freshman smelling those donuts and bagels after service. Your love and care for college students is a real, tangible way that we college students get to experience Christ’s love through you. So on behalf of myself and all the college students that attended Knox, past and present, thank you for all the things you’ve done to display your love to us.
But the gospel fragrance of this church isn’t smelled simply in what you do, but it’s simply who you are. I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, and I don’t think it will, but I love how Knox is a church of just ordinary people. Believe it or not, I didn’t realize this when I first came in and saw the big, beautiful church building and all of you beautiful people all dressed up, and it wasn’t until I sat in Sunday school and got to talk to some of you and hear your stories that I really realized that this church is full of people with family issues, relational issues, and spiritual issues, just like mine. I take comfort in knowing that I’m not surrounded by a group of “super-Christians” without any problems. And in Sunday School, I take comfort in knowing that in knowing that I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand what Pastor Bob is talking about all the time, and that I’m not the only person that doesn’t know as much church history as he does.
And while you are ordinary people, most of you are still more experienced and advanced in life than most of us college students. But your experiences and your lives are the answers to so many of the questions that we have as college students, especially those of academics, career, and how they relate to the Christian life. Questions like, “How do I glorify God in my studies? Can I glorify God by being a doctor, even if I’m not a medical missionary? What does it mean to be a Christian in academia? Is it possible to be active in the church and a high ranking officer in a company at the same time?” We have all of these questions, and the people in this church are a great resource and example to all of us college students thinking through these questions.
And it is for all of these reason that I really believe that churches like Knox, and Knox especially, are perfect for college students. So if you’re a freshman and this is your first or second time here at Knox, I really encourage you to consider making Knox your home church for the next few years. And if you’re already a college student here and have been attending Knox, I challenge you to go to Sunday School. It’s only an hour a week, and it’s a great way to get to know some of the people you worship with every week and to participate in the life of the church, even when you don’t have time during the week to participate in other activities.
And again, to all of you who serve and care for us college students, even kids like me who rolled out of bed and came to church in sweatpants and a hoodie, and kids like me who took more than my fair share of donuts in the morning, thank you so much. God has really used this church to bless me, and so many other college students like me.
Thanks.
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