Ryan Leak kicked off Orange Conference 2023 with a message that tomorrow is hopeful. For a lot of people, though, tomorrow can be very scary. In fact, it’s really easy to scroll around social media and begin to feel overwhelmed and lose hope.
“As flawed and disappointing as human beings are,” said Ryan, “Jesus put His hope in a crew of them to carry His Gospel.”
We probably would not pick the same people Jesus did to be the 12 disciples. In fact, many would have looked at them as thought of them as hopeless. But Jesus used them to do some amazing things. And in spite of all our weaknesses and flaws, Jesus is still calling us to reach the next generation.
The people who Jesus chose also had very different backgrounds. Ryan specifically points out the vast difference between Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector. Jesus also pulls us up close and tells us that we need to not only love Him, but we also need to love others, even those who are incredibly different than us.
Ryan then said, “Hope happens tomorrow when leaders act like Jesus towards people they should have given up on.”
We need to be ready to face the challenges that face the next generation and not give up hope! And when they see us come together and make space for those we disagree with, powerful things can happen. Ryan explained that Jesus brought together bad people to be with other bad people to be with Him, the best person!
Ryan then ended with a charge for us to be the reason why people put their hope in Jesus.
Steve Cullum 