“Jesus is the only way to salvation, life and fulfillment!” worship team member Michael Pierce shouted as he held up his rugged, weathered Bible.

The impassioned drummer preached his message as part of the Carry The Love Campaign at the Calvin College leg of the tour. A couple hundred students crowded the front of the dimly lit Chapel Sanctuary stage Monday, April 1 from 7–9 p.m.

The mission of the group is clear: “we set out with a dream: that the campuses of America would be saved,”  their website states. Ten teams make their way to college campuses and high schools all over North America from January until May, with more touring in Europe.

The night began with worship songs evoking intense reactions. On songs like “What a Beautiful Name it is” people threw up their hands to God. People were jumping, swaying, praying, and kneeling on the ground, with their focus on Christ. The worship team matched the energy through their jumping bass player and swaying singers. Nothing was held back.

The team told the worshipers to lay down their anxiety, fear, and depression right before Jesus. To be clear, Pierce insisted everyone look to discover who the real Jesus is.

He said, “It’s frustrating how Jesus is being misrepresented these days.”

His stories offered hope of people who thought God was condemning and angry with them, but instead found his love right then and there.

Pierce discussed how faith constitutes no list of facts or a checklist of duties but a complete surrendering over to God’s will. The passages Pierce highlighted showed Jesus’ power going out, healing every single sickness in several cities so that no one was left ill. Jesus performed no magic tricks; he did this so people may experience the mercy and love of God.

Over and over Pierce said to each person to surrender it all over to Christ, to give him your heart, and ask yourself about the condition of your soul. They brought people forward who were unsure of their standing before God to ask for salvation, and prayed for them while wrapping their arms around them. According to one worship leader, after prayer that evening, healing happened for a man with a difficult knee injury.

Carry the Love drew out intense emotion from people, different from other forms of worship.

Sophomore Logan Mansberger affirmed, “oh okay, say… “I appreciated the opportunity to worship God alongside my friends and simultaneously hear the voice of God speaking in my life……Overall, I felt a deep sense of peace.”

The songs and teaching touched on aspects of Christ and church rarely spoken about in contemporary preaching. The worship teams earn no money but give of their time and money to spread this news.

Pierce’s message proclaimed, “If you feel like you can’t do it — it’s because you can’t! You need to give it to Jesus.”

To learn more about Carry The Love, visit https://carrythelove.com/.