Student Week of Worship Influences a Passion for God

From January 21-25, Pacific Union College was blessed with five students who spoke for Student Week of Worship, themed  “Passion: As Told By You.” Students Abiel Irving, Josue Hilario, Elena Blum, Julian Clarke, and Leila Beltran shared how passion is the force that drives intentional action toward God, everyone, and everything.

It was a powerful week seeing students from different backgrounds, some of whom haven’t spoken upfront before, sharing personal stories on their relationship with Christ and encouraging others to seek Him. “Students could be in the audience and think, ‘That could be me!’” said Beltran. “It was so inspiring to see people share how their mind works when it comes to PASSION, our theme. You connect so much better with speakers who are like you and that’s what this quarter’s Student Week of Worship was all about.”

Irving enthusiastically kicked the week off by speaking about how faith plays a part in our lives, with the Holy Spirit working in the people and situations around us. Reading from Hebrews 13:5, she reminded the audience that God will never forsake His people. Irving shared another uplifting text from Philippians 4:13 and encouraged students to find strength in Christ and be passionate about their faith.

On Wednesday, senior film student Hilario voiced the importance of focusing on the journey toward our goals. As a graduating senior, he shared a common struggle many students share: attaching worthiness and happiness to their goals. Hilario told the story of David as a shepherd boy going through challenges, fear, and doubt but praying to God to help him. Mentioning his own times of doubt, it was through those moments Hilario created a deeper relationship with God and saw Him guide his life to make his goals possible. He encouraged students to focus on their journey because they might miss out on special moments in their lives.

The next day, freshman music education major Blum talked about finding passion in the Bible and finding Jesus through scripture. She engaged the students through questions and dialogue from the book of Genesis to Hebrews as they examined Bible verses to deeply understand the Word. Blum reminded the campus of how they are God’s joy and how He looks forward to spending eternity with them.

Clarke and Beltran spoke to a larger congregation as PUC welcomed academies to play in their annual basketball tournament for the weekend. On Friday, Clarke discussed how passion is the force that drives behaviors and has a profound influence on lives. In the book of Psalms, he explained how Jesus created a passion for pursuing Him and not the things of the world. “God’s passions are so rooted in His Son that He gave for us because He loves us,” said Clarke. He reassured students to keep pursuing God in everything they do, big or small.

To end Student Week of Worship, SA Religious Vice President Beltran focused on how passions make people different and, because of that, life is worth living. “Someone told me when I was working on my sermon that I should start by preaching to myself,” she said. “Passion can bring us closer to Christ. God wants us to choose Him, and when we do, our lives will change for the better.”