In Genesis 32, Jacob was returning home after years in another land, fearful of what lay ahead because of the discord he had sown long before. As night fell, instead of finding needful rest, Jacob found himself wrestling with a man until the break of day. That night, as Jacob clung to the Lord, his perspective and trajectory were changed. His hip was put out of joint, but, even more significant, his name and his identity were changed. God used His providence to bend the course of Jacob’s life and lift his eyes upward.

God used one weekend conference for just such a purpose in my life 20 years ago. My freshman year at Purdue University was a spiritual awakening. I grew up in a solid Christian family, but my involvement with the Lafayette, Ind., RPC’s Men in Training (MIT) discipleship program under Pastor Dave Long called me to a deeply biblical, thoughtful, passionate, and visionary faith. The year was full of new experiences: expository preaching, personal discipleship, Reformed theology, and loving hospitality. Though I had faithfully attended church my entire life, I never knew the depth of fellowship, joy of worship, or committed discipleship that I experienced in the Lafayette RPC. God had led me to a church that fundamentally redefined what church was and could be. I knew I was right where God wanted me to be: in a congregation where I could grow, serve, and worship God.

But God had more to teach me about His church. During the summer, I attended the Bloomington, Ind., RPC. Associate Pastor Andy McCracken met with a few students for evangelism training, and he challenged me to spend a long weekend at a youth leadership conference at Geneva College. I’m not sure if I’d heard of Geneva before, but I was intrigued by the invitation, especially after hearing that several friends from Purdue and other Indiana colleges would be going for the weekend. We met in Indianapolis, loaded ourselves into a few vans, and drove across the Ohio countryside. The vans were filled with students from various places. As we drove, I began to meet other like-hearted young people. A sense of excitement and broader community was building with each passing mile.

God used the next few days to further change my perspective and trajectory. Pastor Barry York’s messages from Psalm 110 challenged me to see Jesus as both Savior and King. Although I had long ago trusted in Christ as my Savior, I had never considered the truth that Jesus is King of men and nations. I saw how Jesus reigns with power and purpose as He brings His kingdom about on earth as it is in heaven. He calls His people, including the youth, to offer themselves in His royal service (Ps. 110:3). This offered a new perspective on everything: on Jesus, the church, the world, vocation, government, economics, and missions, and how I fit into all of it. Since Jesus was King, then His rule and reign impacted every dimension of my life.

During this weekend, new friendships were forged and existing ones strengthened. My roommate, Jonathan Morton, whom I’d never met before, was a student at the University of Pittsburgh. Our mutual interest in music, math, and serving Jesus made us fast friends. Twenty years later, we still catch up annually on life, family, work, and kingdom building. John Hindman, a young adult from Colorado, was our small-group leader whose quiet and humble demeanor set a deeply spiritual tone for our discussions each evening. These relationships beyond my immediate context served to connect me personally with a church whose reach was much broader than my prior experience.

My church experience before Lafayette RPC had been limited to one relatively young (30-year-old) congregation. Even this was an old congregation by many standards in modern evangelicalism. During this conference weekend I was introduced to a church with “old roots”: centuries-old institutions like the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary; a spiritual heritage reaching back to the Reformation, Scottish covenanters like William Symington, and finally to the martyrs who remained faithful to King Jesus rather than submitting to the kingdoms of this earth. I found myself in the midst of God’s great story of history: one that had begun centuries before and was destined to advance from strength to strength until His ultimate return (Ps. 84:7).

God wasn’t content simply to change my perspective; He was also using this conference to change my trajectory. Through the challenging messages and workshops, I was faced with deeper questions than I had wrestled with before. Would I live for Jesus as the center of my life only, or would I live for Jesus as the center of my life and of all things? Not only would Jesus be my Savior and Lord, but He was working actively in every area of creation to build and advance His kingdom. Jesus wasn’t just my personal Savior, but also the King whose reign affected every area of every life and every institution. Vocation was in service to Jesus, and active engagement in the life and ministry of a congregation was vital. Every area of my life was an area of Christ’s kingdom to be built and in which to engage others.

I returned that weekend with the call of God on my life to serve my King Jesus with new perspective and trajectory. God laid that foundation during a 72-hour summer weekend in Western Pennsylvania 20 years ago. He has been building on it ever since. I pray that He will move even more powerfully in future generations so that those yet unborn might see and sing the praises of King Jesus.

The 2018 Youth Leadership Conference will be held July 5–9 at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa. Learn more about the conference at rpymcs.com/ylc.

Ben Larson is blessed to be married to Anna (Magill), his best friend. They have 6 energetic children: Lily, Mariah, Paul, Julia, Titus, and James. Ben is a plant manager in pharmaceuticals with Evonik in Lafayette, Ind. Ben and Anna serve with Immanuel (West Lafayette, Ind.) RPC—Ben as an elder since its time as a church plant. Ben enjoys staying active in work, family, and church, and exploring God’s creation across the U.S. Ben and Anna also lead high school youth ministry in the Great Lakes–Gulf Presbytery.