Life Surge’s one-day inspirational event in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday, Sept. 27, featured talks from Life.Church Pastor Craig Groeschel, evangelist Nick Vujicic, Willie and Korie Robertson of “Duck Dynasty,” and activist and former pro football player Tim Tebow.
Attendees, over 1,100 of whom committed or recommitted themselves to Christ that day, were encouraged to live their lives with faith and purpose and to use their resources to make a difference for the Kingdom of God.
“Life Surge is really for the body of Christ in general to truly step into the call of God in the marketplace,” Life Surge President Shawn Marcell told ChurchLeaders in an interview in August. “It was a desire to see people recognize that God has given you gifts, talents, [and] abilities that he anoints for his purposes to go and make impact.”
Life Surge Event Encourages, Inspires, Equips
Over 4,100 people decided to spend their Saturday at the Broadmoor World Arena for an event that started at 8:30 a.m. and ran until 6:00 p.m. Gospel artist Donnie Bolden Jr. and Bethel Music, led by Paul and Hannah McLure, took turns leading worship throughout the day.
Marcell addressed attendees at the beginning of the event, encouraging believers to be open to how God wanted to use the day in their lives and not to treat the experience as “business as usual.” Chris Graebe, an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and speaker, hosted the proceedings and told people they could expect the event to lift up Jesus, inspire the body of Christ, and equip the church.
Equipping came not only in the form of the advice offered that day but also in ongoing education opportunities. In addition to hosting one-day, in-person events, Life Surge is an education company. Throughout the day, attendees were offered the option of joining three “Impact Classes” on the topics of trading and investing, real estate, and business, respectively.
Craig Groeschel gave the first talk, titled, “A Faith That Starts,” based on Acts 20. “God has more for you,” the pastor told attendees, explaining that Christians who listen to the Holy Spirit and follow the Spirit’s prompting can expect to face uncertainty and resistance but can also expect to make a difference for God’s kingdom.
David and Jason Benham, known as the Benham brothers, are identical twins who formerly played professional baseball and who are now entrepreneurs and best-selling authors. Their talk set up a framework for understanding the Christian view of wealth. That view promotes neither a “poverty gospel” nor a “prosperity gospel,” they said, but is based on the idea that God put human beings in the world to cultivate it, as described in Genesis 1-2.
The Benhams noted that Genesis 2:11-12 says that God put gold in the land that he gave Adam and Eve. The speakers drew from that passage the principle that wealth is something God intends for us to cultivate. Moreover, it is common in the church to emphasize generosity, but if people have not cultivated their resources, they have nothing to be generous with.
