Building Fascination

Written by Allie Sampson
Photography by Sydnee Mela and Gabriel Ramirez

Week Two of the 18 Inch Journey is one of our favorites.  The whole second week of our school is dedicated to the person of Jesus Christ and falling in love with Him again.  Every year, our dear friend Adam Cox comes to teach our students and lead them through the God Story.  Adam and his wife Juli lead Navah Church in Kansas City, and Adam is one of the most passionate lovers of Jesus that we know.  The way Adam communicates about the heart of Jesus is electric as he pulls the story back into historical context and the cultural realities of Jesus’ time.  Against that backdrop we begin to understand how bold, how humble, how loving our King really is. 

As Adam shares, we find ourselves undone as our assumptions unravel and the word of God comes alive. For three days, we dive deep into the Gospels as Adam unpacks Jesus the Son and Jesus the Christ.  Beginning with His birth and moving all the way through His baptism, His ministry, His death and resurrection, we walk through the weight of His life and what it means for us. Together we marvel over Jesus’ humanity—the depth of His emotions, His compassion, His love for people—and invite the Holy Spirit to help us move from familiar to fascinated.  This week is essential to the school as we go back and rebuild foundations of our understanding of Jesus.

One of our favorite parts of this week is coming together in small groups and reading the book of Mark aloud together.  All across our campus, we gather together, invite the Holy Spirit to come reintroduce us to Jesus through the Scripture, and lean in close as we hang on His every word.  In hearing one another read, we find different parts of the Word coming alive, often catching our hearts for the first time. For many of our students, this is their first time reading a whole book of the bible out loud with a group, or together in one sitting.  By drinking in the Word this way, we get caught up in the story, moving past what we’ve assumed we know to let ourselves rediscover Him like it’s the first time. 

Reading Mark aloud with a group filled our hearts with wonder at who the man of Jesus really is.  It made space for us to receive the story from one another, building fascination and connection in our hearts.  This simple exercise is something you can do any time. This week we want to encourage you to gather with friends or family in your home and invite the Holy Spirit to reveal the person of Jesus to you and move you beyond what you’ve grown familiar with.  Ask Him, Jesus, are there places in my heart that have grown tired of the Gospel?  Will you fascinate me again with who you are?  Let Him reveal Himself to you through His word and through your friends and family.  Let your heart get caught up in the story again.