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I had the blessing of starting the new year at Cross Con 26 in Louisville, Kentucky, alongside 21 faithful brothers and sisters from Lighthouse and 12,000 fellow saints from across the nations. Cross Con is a 3-day conference for 18 to 25-year-olds and their leaders, organized with sermons, musical worship, panels, testimonies, and topical breakouts, all with one leading message: Make your life count by making Jesus’ name known.
As I have been praying for new work opportunities the past few years, one commitment I made was to pray with open hands for God to work in any way He wills. About a year into praying this prayer, it occurred to me that “open hands” to anything in God’s will meant “open hands” to global missions as well. While God has not yet called me to the mission field, in the chance that He does, I wanted to be more equipped. In God’s providence, Lighthouse started a book study on biblical missions that also opened up an opportunity for me to attend Cross Con. Through both of these resources, I am beginning to study what God’s Word says about missions and prayerfully considering where my life fits into it.
Blessings from Speakers
Two messages in particular have been on my heart since the conference. The first one was preached by the well-known and loved Pastor John Piper, who took us through James 4:13-16 and pointed us to the hope we have in the meticulous providence of God. One thing that I appreciated about all the speakers at Cross was that they didn’t sugar-coat the life of a missionary; they acknowledged the persecution, suffering, loneliness, sickness, and even the deaths that come with the commitment to following Christ in missions. But Pastor John reminded us of the hope we have in God’s purposeful sovereign will that governs all things, good and evil, and because God is sovereign, our life in His service will never be wasted, even in death (Psalm 37:23). And he ended his sermon with this truth that brought me great peace, “If you are in the hands of an all-sovereign God, it will always be well with your soul.”
The second message that spoke deeply to me was a breakout session led by Pastor David Platt whose session was titled “How Do I Know God’s Will For My Life?” As someone who has been struggling with unemployment for many seasons, I was naturally drawn to this topic. I was excited to finally know God’s will for my life. Unfortunately, I did not get the answer I was looking for; instead, I left with what mattered more: God’s will for the world and where my life fits into it. God’s will is revealed in His Word. His will is the spread of His worship in the world, and as Pastor David walked us through Acts 16, he showed how God directed the details of Paul and Silas’ lives for the spread of His worship, and He does the same in our lives. Anywhere and everywhere God places me is where I can spread His worship, so I don’t have to sit and wait for God to reveal His will for my life. As Proverbs 3:5-6 teaches us, as we trust and walk with God, He promises to guide us, and in this truth, I find comfort and rest.
Our Role in the Great Commission: Goers & Senders
My hope coming out of Cross Con is that we continue to foster a greater heart for global missions, that we live each day with the Great Commission in mind. Every follower of Christ has a role in the Great Commission, whether we are Goers or Senders. Senders are not lower-tier Christians compared to Goers, nor are we excused from our call to spread the worship of God to the world; Senders have the great responsibility of prayer and support for our missionaries and the nations of unreached people groups. Though the Lord has not yet called me to global missions, He has called me and you to be faithful proclaimers of the gospel here in the South Bay.
One more blessing I’m walking away with is the time I got to spend with sweet friends. The weekend I spent with the 21 brothers and sisters from Lighthouse was filled with encouragement, New Year celebrations, laughter, prayer, and humble, sacrificial love. From volunteering for food and coffee runs to making sure each person had a seat in the room, I was once again reminded of God’s love for me through the love and care I received from them. But most importantly, I came home filled with so much joy, knowing that these brothers and sisters heard the same messages I did and that we are striving toward the same goal–to make our lives count by making Jesus’ name known.
As I entered Cross Con, I reflected on what I hoped to learn during this time and remembered being struck by the missionary biographies we had heard in Lighthouse’s biblical missions book study. I was inspired by how these missionaries’ understanding of the worth of God led them to give up all the plans they had made to dedicate their lives to making Him known. I considered my own life and how often I am caught up in everyday tedium and lose sight of the greater things that God is doing.
Banners around the auditorium screamed, “Make your life count,” but instead of being stirred up, I was struck by the fear that I was wasting my life away. Was my ordinary life truly a faithful one when compared to the great sacrifices and even greater results that marked these missionaries’ lives? In that moment, I prayed that God would reveal to me how to live in a way that demonstrates His worth while resisting the temptation to justify myself by my pursuit of faithful living. And God was abundantly gracious to encourage and guide me throughout the course of the conference.
Banners around the auditorium screamed, “Make your life count,” but instead of being stirred up, I was struck by the fear that I was wasting my life away. Was my ordinary life truly a faithful one when compared to the great sacrifices and even greater results that marked these missionaries’ lives? In that moment, I prayed that God would reveal to me how to live in a way that demonstrates His worth while resisting the temptation to justify myself by my pursuit of faithful living. And God was abundantly gracious to encourage and guide me throughout the course of the conference.
I was reminded by John Piper that God will surely complete all His plans for and through me and that I cannot die until His work is done; the danger is not that I will fail to accomplish what He has set aside for me, but that in hoping to accomplish great things in the future, I will miss out on opportunities to see all that God is doing now. Through David Platt, I remembered that the purpose of seeking God’s will for me is not to figure out all the right answers but to grow my trust in God and allow Him to guide every step I take. Finally, the testimony of a fellow young adult convicted me that my own sacrifices cannot justify me because I am already fully justified by the finished sacrifice of Christ.
So as I leave this conference, my hope is that I will commit myself to ordinary faithfulness in the everyday—that I will continue to strive for obedience, but also be secure in the knowledge that my life counts, no matter how mundane or insignificant it may sometimes feel, because the God that I live for is eternally worthy.
And my prayer for Lighthouse, as we both send and go, is that each day we would seek small ways to contribute to God’s greater plans: whether by educating ourselves on the needs of global missions so we can pray and intercede more specifically, practicing our articulation of the Gospel so we are ready to share at any moment, setting aside a portion of our budgets to support those on the field, or studying a new language in case God calls us to join them. And I trust that as we grow in faithfulness together, God will make Himself known through all He has designed and designated our church to do.
Why did I go to Cross Con 2026?
Jesus tells His disciples in John 10:16, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Jesus explains to His disciples that there are souls that were chosen by God, before the foundation of the world, to be saved and adopted into His family. But some of these souls are not yet in the fold – they have not yet placed their faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And so throughout His ministry, Jesus preaches the truth of the gospel, calling every man and woman to repentance. Then after His death and resurrection, He commissions His disciples (and by extension, every believer) to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” And since then, the church has taken up the mission of finding these lost sheep, the ones who belong to Jesus but are not yet in His fold. This the heart of missions and the heart of the thousands of believers who gathered at Cross Con every year.
Personally, I’ve been interested in long-term missions since I was very young. My family had a set of missionary biographies that I would read every night before bed, and these stories of faithful men and women doing great things for God inspired me. As I’ve grown up from a little 5-year-old to a 20-year-old about to graduate college, the Lord has continued to mature me in my faith and cultivate in me a heart for the nations. I’ve had the privilege of being a part of the missions class here at Lighthouse this year and reading and discussing the book we’re going through, Biblical Missions, has been such a blessing. So when I heard about the opportunity to go to Cross Con with a group from the class, I was thrilled!
While I don’t know exactly what the Lord has in store for me over the next few years, I do know that my life is His to use for His glory. My desire is to be equipped for any and every work He might have for me, and Cross Con was such a sweet opportunity to sit under the teaching of the Word and grow in my understanding of modern global missions.
What did I learn?
Over the course of three days we had five main sessions and six breakout sessions adding up to nearly 20 hours of exhortation and encouragement. I have so many takeaways but I think I can summarize with two reminders:
1) Read the Word. This one seems like a no-brainer, and that’s because it is! The words of God revealed in His Scriptures are sustenance for the believer to carry him (or her) through every day and to prepare him for every work the Lord has ordained for him. Becoming a missionary doesn’t mean one needs less of the Word – it means one needs more! And so whether or not I become a missionary one day, I recognize that I need the Bible to survive in my daily walk with the Lord.
2) Go to church. Again, this one can feel like a no-brainer, but it is such an important part of the Christian life, especially for the aspiring missionary. No missionary goes alone – sure, some will end up physically alone on the field, but every missionary is sent and supported by a local church. Paul and Barnabas are great examples of this in the book of Acts. And so pretty much every speaker at Cross Con reminded us that being involved in the local body is crucial to life as a believer. And for those of us who are considering missions work, we were also reminded that global missions is a corporate work, not an individual one. The local church sends and supports so that some of us can go.
What do I hope for our local church?
I’ve only been at Lighthouse for 15 months, but in that time I have seen such a deep love for Christ and His kingdom work among the nations. So when it comes to missions, here is my threefold prayer for our church:
1. May Christ be glorified in the salvation and sanctification of souls here in Torrance. The work of missions and evangelism begins with personal holiness. No one can be an effective light for Christ without the Spirit working in and through them, and so my foremost prayer for Lighthouse is that every member would continue to grow in their personal walk with the Lord so that His name would be magnified here in our local context.
2. May Christ be glorified in the unification of the church here in Torrance. On top of personal sanctification, I pray that Christ would unify His church in this local context. Missions work does not happen alone. One of my favorite missions quotes of all time comes from William Carey, a late 18th early 19th century missionary to India who is known as the father of modern missions. When first presented with the prospect of going to the lost souls in India, Carey told his friends in England, “I will go down, if you will hold the rope.” This is such a critical part of missions work! Not every believer is a goer; many are senders who hold the rope and support those who do go. And as such, I hope that our local body here in Torrance would continue to cultivate a love for the Lord and a love for each other such that we would be more than ready and willing to hold the rope for anyone in our number who decides to go.
3. May Christ be glorified in the sending of believers from Lighthouse to the world. I am so thankful for the missions partners we have already sent and I continue to pray for them daily. But my bold prayer is that the Lord would raise up a dozen more men and women over the next 5 years, believers who would step forward and be trained to be sent to the ends of the earth as ambassadors for Christ. There is so much work to be done, so many souls who have not been saved! My prayer is that the Lord would use our local church mightily to proclaim His mighty name among the nations.
I wanted to attend crosscon this year because I remember the trip from 2024 being such a big blessing. It grew my heart for missions, and I wanted to go again so I can learn even more. I also really like John Piper and wanted to see him in person again.
A major takeaway was Piper’s sermon on God’s meticulous providence. He started his sermon with a true story of a missionary family who suffered an unexpected, swift loss. It can be really challenging to hold onto the fact that God sends us things like “sovereign bullets,” but it’s amazing to hear the testimonies of missionaries who’ve experienced much loss and suffering, yet are so confident in God’s sovereignty and faithfulness. To believe that tragedy is in fact divine intervention takes a lot of faith to accept. But it was a beautiful sermon with hopeful truth packed in, and I encourage others to listen to it! it’s on Youtube! [Titled: “Hoping in the Meticulous Providence of Our Great God” by John Piper (CROSS CON26)]
I hope that God would continue to foster a God-fearing generation in our church who have a desire to make the ends of the world know Christ, whatever that looks like, and however daunting that sounds! I pray that we would grow in courage to keep stepping beyond what feels comfortable or familiar, trusting that God often does His deepest work when He stretches us.
God is so kind. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to go to Louisville again, and with such a lovely group. It’s always such a great experience, and I learned so much about missions through the class and through Cross Con. I hope more people will be able to and be inspired to go!