What is Ignite?

I love going to Ignite! It is great fun being there. I guess if you are reading this you probably think Ignite is pretty awesome as well. But if someone asked you "what is Ignite all about?" or "why do you go to Ignite?" what would you say?

There are so many answers that we could give. "Ignite is a great place to see my friends" or "I go to Ignite cause it is great fun". These answers aren't wrong. I hope that when you come to Ignite you see some great friends and have awesome fun. But is this the heart of Ignite? Couldn't we do that stuff without coming to Ignite?

So what is a better answer? I think the reason we come to Ignite is to be a community who follow Jesus. This means that Ignite is a place where people gather to encourage, challenge and train each other to follow and rely on Jesus. We do this by reading the Bible (in small groups and Bible talks), by praying together and by using our words to build each other up.

Why do we do this? It is because we know the true identity of Jesus. We know he is God's King and rescuer. Jesus died to rescue us from sin and eternal death. Jesus' resurrection allows him to give us new life. Jesus is raised as God's King and therefore he can give us the Holy Spirit, so that we can become new and changed people, who have a hope of heaven.

Ignite is not a normal youth group. We are a community who follow Jesus because we know who Jesus is and how important he is. How would you answer "why do you go to Ignite?" I would answer with "I go so that I can know Jesus better and help others to do the same."