Saturday night, my cousin Beka and I ventured up to Atlanta to attend Winter Jam at the Georgia Dome.  It was a much-needed day away for the both of us. We arrived early enough to check out the Kia Jam Zone then have dinner at TacoMac before shuffling into the Dome with over thirty thousand other fans and believers.

Once we found a seat the festivities began! We got to see About A Mile, Veridia, Blanca, For King & Country, Newsong, Family Force 5, Building 429, Jeremy Camp, Francesca Battistelli, and Skillet!

Waiting with thirty thousand others.

Let the festivities begin!

For King & Country. Just as easy on the eyes as the ears.
And their performance definitely deserved that Grammy.

Building 429 shook the house with ‘We Won’t be Shaken’ and ‘Press On’

Newsong was just as amazing as ever before.

Jeremy Camp. Holy biceps, Batman! But serisouly. I love every song he’s ever made.
And he even brought the Swamp Country Swagger to the stage. His new CD is a must buy.

Francesca Battistelli is one of my absolute favorites.
And I was so excited she performed Unusual and Holy Spirit. What a call to worship!
Brave, unique and set apart/ Masterpiece, a work of art
Living out what you believe / Being who you’re made to be
I love to see the way that you are Unusual

Skillet’s performance. Seriously.

But in the middle of all of the worship and praise was a small yet impact-full message by Tony Nolan. The title was *Gasp.*

He read Matthew 7:21-23:

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

 Can’t you hear the gasps of those listening? They performed all these works, sure they were good enough. But that’s just the thing… We don’t get into Heaven on our works alone. We get into Heaven by believing in the Son of God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Good works can bring glory to our father and provide witness to our faith and salvation, but it alone cannot save us.

They were doing all of those mighty works to try to look good to God, taking ‘selfies with the savior,’ as Nolan put it. But “You don’t get into Heaven through a selfie with a Savior. You get into Heaven when you surrender to the Savior! All in!”

“Christianity isn’t a ‘figure it out’ thing. It is a ‘faith and in’ thing.” That kind of love and grace is so indescribable. So wonderful. He loved us even when we were at our darkest. (Romans 5:8)  He meets us where we are at. Forgives us and saves us THERE. We don’t have to wait until we can make ourselves worthy – because we will never be holy enough or righteous enough on our own. We must confess our your mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, and we will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Good deeds should follow that, if we honestly believe in Him, but they are not our salvation. They are simply the consequence of loving and being loved by our glorious Savior. I hope you know Him or come to know Him as well. It will seriously change your life.

 
We had a great time worshiping God with so many others. It was also great to just have a small road trip and family time. I can’t wait until next time!

You can listen to WinterJam’s Spotify playlist here.