ST. LOUIS – Author and pastor David Platt gave an impassioned plea to thousands of mostly college-age students to commit their lives to Jesus Christ regardless of the cost to their lives while preaching during Urbana 2012, a triennial student missions conference. Platt warned that many Christians have reduced the eternal significance of Jesus.
"Jesus is the alpha and the omega. He is the beginning and the end. He is the first and the last. He is the final amen … Christ our Creator, our deliverer, our everlasting father, He is God," said Platt from the stage inside the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis before an estimated 16,000. "Jesus is the very word of God made flesh … Jesus is all of these things and [yet] we have reduced Him to a poor, puny savior who is just begging for us to accept Him into our hearts."Platt, who is the lead pastor at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., made the point that people (believers and nonbelievers) need Jesus more than they realize.
"Your heart is beating at this moment because Jesus is giving it rhythm and if He were to stop, so would you," he said. "For far too long and in far too many ways we have minimized the majesty of Jesus in the church and we have deluded what it means to be His disciple in the world."
Earlier in the day, during an Urbana press conference, Platt said that he wanted to convey to his audience that "Jesus is worthy of our trust."
He explained, "He's worthy of our plans and dreams. He's worthy of our affections. When we see His worth for who He really is then we will eagerly, willingly and gladly give our lives, even lose them if necessary to make His glory known to the ends of the earth."
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