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Hey St. Louis are you ready to do the math?

Posted on Thursday 8 February 2007 by Greg @ 3:21 pm
Filed under: Rants

It started nine years ago in St. Louis at North County Community Church with 241 teenagers. The next year it grew to 600 at 1st Baptist Church of St. Charles. We doubled the next year and then again the next year after that. Pretty soon we had to move out of churches completely and move to regular event venues. Year after year the conferences kept growing and growing through hard work, prayer and duct tape (it fixes everything!)

And now here we are. It’s hard to believe that somewhere around 9,000 teenagers will be waiting for us at The Scotttrade Center (formerly Saavis Center) in downtown St. Louis. This huge arena that is used to screaming professional hockey fans had better gird itself up and prepare for the loud crowds of Dare 2 Share. These teens won’t be buying any beer at your concession stands (or had better not be anyway!) but they will be full of the Spirit and teen adrenalin…and did I mention that they will be loud?

Thank you Lord and thank all of you who have been attending Dare 2 Share for so many years in St Louis!

I am humbled and grateful. Not because of the big numbers. But because each of those 9,000 or so teens represents a potential changed life.

Why am I so thankful? Because each one of the teenagers who will be there this weekend carries huge potential in them and with them as they yield to the Holy Spirit. Dr. John Maxwell says that even the shyest of people will influence ten thousand others over the course of their lifetime.

Do the math on that: 9,000 teens X 10,000 people = 90 million people potentially being impacted by these teens over the course of their lifetimes.

Pray with me that God uses the conference this weekend to energize and equip these teenagers to make a powerful difference in their friends’ lives, their campuses and communities. Pray that the impact of this training weekend ripples out all across the nation.

The arch in St. Louis has been nicknamed "The Gateway to the West". May it be the gospel gateway to the north, south, east and west as these 9,000 or so teens go far and wide and high and low with the good news of Jesus ringing forth from their lives and their lips!

26 Comments for 'Hey St. Louis are you ready to do the math?'

On February 8, 2007 @ 4:27 pm Rebecca Brown said:

I’m assuming the conference starts Friday? Wowww. 9000! That’s a lot more than we had in Columbus. (5000, at least that’s what StarField said) I think we had around 8000 though last year. I’ll send up a prayer for you though! Hopefully everything goes smooth, the bands will make some awesome praise for God, and the drama turns out great! By the way, has the actors in this year’s drama always been with D2S? I slightly remember them from last year… Anyway, good luck & have lots of fun! ~Rebecca
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On February 8, 2007 @ 5:44 pm Becky said:

I’m Praying!!!!! Still can’t wait until march.Becky~
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On February 8, 2007 @ 6:33 pm Dave and Carolyn - NTM said:

Hey Greg, Looking forward to seeing you again. We are bringing 100 youth with us from the Lake of the Ozarks to make an impact in St. Louis! See you Friday night…….. Blessed to be there - Dave and Care
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On February 8, 2007 @ 7:10 pm Jodi Warner said:

I will for sure be praying…if God works like he did in Cbus then there will be some amazing things going on!!! Good Luck :O)
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On February 8, 2007 @ 7:43 pm Littlekbaker said:

I’m coming tomorrow and i have been praying!! CANNOT WAIT!!
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On February 8, 2007 @ 8:52 pm Tracey said:

Hey Greg! My name is Tracey and I was at the Dare 2 Share conference in Ohio on the 2nd and 3rd. Even though I didn’t do the 48 hour chanellge, I did talk to my friend who is a wicca. She didn’t really change her mind, but she did agree to come to youth gourp. Thank you for all your inspiring words and sharing the G.O.S.P.E.L. with me so I could pass it on. God bless, Tracey
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On February 8, 2007 @ 9:04 pm Brianna said:

Hey Greg! Ill be praying that all goes well. d2s is soo powerful everyone loves it! IT changes everyone that goes in some sort of way! Good luck!! God Bless Brianna
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On February 9, 2007 @ 9:20 am Chip B. said:

DUDE!!!! I’m so stoked i went last year and LOVED IT!!! its today! I CANT BELIEVE IT CAME SO FAST!!! WOOOO!! I’m on FIRE for God!!!! I cant wait to get a wake up call. ive been needing one. I pray for all those teens to get effected in a good way from this! i love you man
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On February 9, 2007 @ 10:02 am BigDaddy said:

WOOOT!!!! Between some of the comments from your Cbus post and "still alive after 9 years passion" in this post , I Just got to WOOOOOT!!! I love the privilege of praying for D2S on conference days. You guys really make my heart race and my eyes mist! One more WOOOOT!! for St Louis!!!!
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On February 9, 2007 @ 10:09 am Duckie said:

oh man i am SOOO pumped for d2s. this is my first year.. i cant wait!! DUCK
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On February 9, 2007 @ 11:21 am Melissa said:

I’ll be there and I’m looking so forward to it! You and the teenagers will be in my prayers all weekend!
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On February 9, 2007 @ 1:31 pm Jeff said:

I will be there with the youth group from my church. I have never been to a event like this since I was a teen, a long long time ago. This is so awsome and I look forward to being there and getting to share in this event.
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On February 9, 2007 @ 3:21 pm Kevin said:

Hey Greg I’m waiting to see how many people are here this year. It changed my life and makes me excited to return to over 9000 teens. Our church (Open Door) is bringing more so see you there!!!!
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On February 10, 2007 @ 10:47 pm stella said:

Dear Greg, I was there at the conference in Saint Louis this year…this weekend. I just want to share with you that when you asked us all to pull out our cell phones, I had no CLUE what was coming next. haha and imagine my surprise when you asked us all to call that one friend we had committed to sharing Christ with. Dude, I started shaking all over and I couldn’t sit still in my seat. I was so nervous! But my friend prayed for me the entire time I talked to my friend (Pauline). Pauline has shared with me before that she doesn’t believe that God exists and if He does, He is a big jerk. And of course it breaks my heart that she thinks that. I called her tonight when you challenged us to make that phone call. She didn’t accept Christ but she said she was really happy that I love her that much to tell her something that deep. I decided I wouldn’t allow Satan to defeat me after I hung up even though the outcome of the phone call was heart wrenching. I had done what God wanted me to do even though it was hard, and though I might not have suceeded by my standards, I suceeded by God’s. Here’s what’s really cool. Extremely random, I know, but I’ve always gotten phone calls from people I don’t know for "Sharonda." My name’s not Sharonda. Nor am I related to anyone named Sharonda, or know anyone, for that matter, named Sharonda. But it happens. haha its always a good laugh. Tonight I got a text message from someone who thought I was Sharonda and you know, I did the standard "I think you might have the wrong person", "This isn’t Sharonda", "Try to remember I’m not Sharonda from now on" thing, but then the other guy asked me how I was. Dude, I shared the gospel with him through a text message! I found out he’s already a believer but he’s having a few troubles trusting in God all the time and leaning on God for support. I told him I’m praying for him and we ended off on a mutual "Peace." Wow…WOW. I never would have thought God would use me in any way like that, or a wrong number could turn into a situation like it did. If it hadn’t been for you asking us to get out our cell phones and make a daring call, I wouldn’t have realized I had a text message waiting for me and when I would have later on, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. I probably would’ve just said, "This isn’t Sharonda. Wrong Number." and left it at that. God works things out like that and they’re SO TIGHT.
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On February 10, 2007 @ 11:59 pm ashlee said:

hey there well yeah i was just gonna say that this year dare2share had to be the best year i have been!! and oh yes st.louis rocked out and was on fire for god… this year meant alot more to me and actually made me think about my friends around me and if i didnt reach them soon that they would soon be goin to hell…and i couldnt just let this happened and i truely think that in the next few weeks st.louis and surrounding areas will see a change and the expansion in youth that is on FIRE FOR GOD!! i just thank you for coming to our town and sharing the word with us and having a good show…… oh oh and wwwoooowwww…. STARFIELD….those are gonna be some major christian stars they are the best worship band around hope they are coming back next year cuz i know i will be!!! love and joy to you and thanks for the support and reassurance this weekend!!! love ashlee
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On February 11, 2007 @ 12:05 am Lisa said:

Greg- I was there also this weekend at the D2S in St. Louis, This past year has been a very rocky year for me, See, I came to know the Lord, when I was 14 after a suicide attempt after finding the news out that My father that raised me was not my biological father, Since then My family situation, well, has not been A " Family".. I’ve never met my biological Father, My father that raised me doesnt want anything to do with me, and My mother and my sister are Drunks. I’m now 19, and I have not talked to my mother in over 8 months, and have no clue about my Father. Well, This past year, my anger and hurt, was just overflowing out of me, I was so angry I felt so alone, and Abandonmed and did not know why God allowed this to happen, I ended up putting all my trust in my best friend, I quit going to church, And just was so angry at God, and My friend well, Was there, Unlike my family I really felt like I was cared about by her and I could trust her with anything. Then She walked out of my life in a flash, She was gone, On friday night in the drama, The girl was down on her knees Screaming NO! Crying when she found out she was loosing her friend to eternal seperation. I saw myself, I fell on my knees, I attempted suicide, I cried, When the friend I put complete trust in left. I thought to myself, If I can get so upset over loosing a friend, Yet they still be alive, and still be breathing and have a chance of going to heaven, What if I had a burning desire for my mom, dad, friends, sisters to know Jesus, and with that burning desire just know that I wont only be loosing them as a friend, parent or sibling I will be loosing them Eternally. I want more of that Desire. When You had us call the person that we had been thinking about, I was scared, I wanted to call my Mother, I havent talked to her in over 8 months and honestly I miss her, So I dialed her number, Sitting in my chair already crying before it even starts to ring, My tears just filled my face, I cant remember the last time I could say I wasent Angry at my mother, I couldnt remember the last time I said I loved her, I cant even remember the last time I truly wanted her to know Jesus, I could remember how badly she hurt me, How badly She needed to stop drinking, but, For the first time in a long time, I didnt care about that, I want my Mother to know Jesus, Not the pain, not the need for drinking, not anything but that. My mother didnt pick up, I left a message on her phone, and for the first time in over 4 years, I told her I loved her. I wont lie to you Greg, I still have my anger, and my hurt, and I still wake up everyday just wanting to be loved by my mother, just wanting her to tell me she loves me…. But, For the First time ever, I didnt care about having that. Greg- I would appreciate if you could say a prayer for my mother, I dont know if I’ll ever see or talk to her again, I want to, But I cant force her to want to see me, My mother has been drinking for several years now, and since the divorce, she has been in a black hole. PLease pray, I dont want my mother to spend eternity in hell.
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On February 11, 2007 @ 1:00 am Eric said:

Wow. i didn’t expect to get hit with a conversation when i got on the internet (chat room) with a bunch of my friends(a Mormon and some who just have it their way religion, etc.) who have different beliefs and views of God and religion. it was a nice conversation without any one arguing. everyone was respectful towards each others opinions. I picked one person out of the bunch to try and bring the GOSPEL up to him and LISTEN to what he had to say, so i could learn more about his views on how he thinks a person can get into heaven. He told me he likes to be of the world and doesn’t think he would go to Heaven if he died. he also mentioned to me a few views that were interesting to hear that gave me a better understanding of where he is coming from. we talked about events like the holocaust, and that things like that etc. happen for a reason. I asked him if he would be willing to listen to my beliefs (share the GOSPEL)…he said he is interested in listening to my beliefs. Please Pray for me as this continues. I hope this will be my 48 hour challenge and that the holy spirit works through me to show that my friend Stoud, which I call him can know for sure that he will go to heaven. I know it will be a challenge because he loves to be of the world. his exact words were "I love the world." God bless St. Louis, the teens and youth pastors that attended this years Dare2share conference and Dare2share. I am 25 yrs old and still growing in my relationship with Christ. I want to encourage the teenagers that attended this weekend to always know that God is with you wherever you go. A few of my favorite scriptures that encourage my relationship with Christ are: 1 Timothy 4:12 says Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Keep me in your prayers and my friend Stoud. Thanks and God bless
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On February 11, 2007 @ 1:25 am Shelby said:

Ok..so Dare2Share deffiently touched me this year…it did a lot more last year because that’s when I asked Jesus Christ to be in my heart…..but tonite…when you told us to get out our cell phone’s and call that one person that we had been thinking about…that one person came to mind and only them….I hesitated at first to call because I didn’t want to tell him and him think I was weird and never talk to me again…well when I called him he was riding around town with his friend….I was scared to say anything but I told him what you told us to say….when I said it he said that he knew he was probably going to hell and I go…well do you want me to tell/show you how you can go to heaven? and he goes "You can do whatever you wanna do" and so I kinda told him some of it. Then I told him about the drama and I said that I didn’t want that to happen to us because he’s one of my bestest friends and I don’t ever wanna lose him and never see him again. Well this friend of mine is kind of an alcohol user….he knows it’s wrong but he’s addicited…he used to be addicited to chewing tobacco also but I got him to finally stop craving that..but alcohol…that is still a problem. When I called him he had already had like one and I just had tear in my eyes…my heart literaly was breaking just knowing that when I wanted to share with him the G.O.S.P.E.L he was out drinking and was getting ready to go to a party to get even drunker. By the time I got off the phone I was bawling and I went into the bathroom to whip away my tears and there was this really nice woman in there and she looked at me when I just stood and looked in the mirror thinking "how could I let this happen? He’s one of my top 25 people that I want to go to heaven with me when I go" well the nice lady asked me "Are you okay?" and I said "yea" then I kinda started crying again. Well she goes "Are you sure that you are okay? You look like you need a hug?" so I gave her a hug and I told her why I was crying and she told me that it wasn’t my fault that he was just avoiding Jesus Christ. And right now…I know he’s not gonna make it but I don’t know how else to tell him to get him to understand how important this was. I just ask that anyone who reads this will please pray for my friend and lead him to know Jesus Christ so that whenever his time comes he will be able to rejoice in heaven. I wanted to come pray with you and I asked my Youth Leader if there was any ay that was possible and he told me to get on here and leave you a comment and that you would pray for me. If I would have found you during the concert you would have got an earfull. but I know that you will listen and that you will pray for my friend. But thank you to anyone who does pray and thank you Greg for listening to this. Good Bless Everyone!! <3
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On February 11, 2007 @ 8:38 pm kevin stout said:

hey this is kevin stout from festus last night was the first time i ever been to d2s and i have beentrying to be a good person most of my life then after my famialy was kicked out of our house i had to live in a hotel for 1 1/2 months i decided i needed to get away i went to The Cave the best place in town and decided to give my life to christ and have given up on my life before i found God and he "smacked me in the back of the head"as my youth leader puts it and have tried my best to be a good christian and camp at steelvile,d2s,and The Cave is all ill ever want to look forward tolast night was the best spiritual event ive been to since camp everything was the best it could be and i found the courage to spred the gospel to my friends that dont know him and i have the best arsenal of all:The Bible and Jesus Christ thank you so much ~Kevin~
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On February 11, 2007 @ 9:58 pm Tiara (Yes the one that hugged you) Feith said:

I GO TO THAT CHURCH!!!!!! Hehehe… Anyways… I just wanted to say thank you again for helping me find Christ and helping me restore my relationship with Him. Anyways… after I left that night, I wrote a poem I wanted to give to you in person. I’ll email it to you later. And by the way… ever since last night (the last night), I’ve witnessed to 3 people!!! Well… thats all!! GOD BLESS!!!!!! Tiara
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On February 11, 2007 @ 10:49 pm Nancy Drew said:

WOW! This weekend was truly amazing someone in our youth group got saved another re-dedicated their life, and we all got closer to the Lord! I love dare to share this is my second year and every year gets better and better. Tell Rachel Washington she rocks!
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On February 12, 2007 @ 3:21 pm Emily said:

Goodness. There was a conference in Columbus Ohio, and my youth group, from Greencastle Indiana drove ALL the way to St. Louis??? Despite no room in the car, the 4 and a half hour long drive with NO stops and 2 meals the whole weekend, it was AMAZING! I took the 48 hour challenge, and one of my friends, a devout buddhist is really thinking about christianity. We used to argue all the time on controversial subjects, because I would post a blog about homosexuals or abortion, or even things in the books that I’m reading (Case for Christ, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, and Answering the Objections of Athiests Agnostics and Skeptics). I think I’m really getting to him, but prayer is a time bomb and only it can tell!
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On February 12, 2007 @ 8:09 pm Devon McNeal said:

Dear Greg, This year was my first year attending Dare 2 Share and I absolutely loved it! You really reached out to me. Hearing God’s word being preached through skits, dramas, song, and all of you guys was really exciting. I am now not afraid to spread God’s word to anyone. You really made an impact on my life. Thank you for such a great message. Take care and God Bless! Devon
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On February 13, 2007 @ 11:58 am Caleb Lewis said:

Hey Greg, I went to the Dare2Share conference in St. Louis for the first time and I must tell you, it meant so much. I been to christian summer camps during the summer and, I’m not saying I’m perfect, but it was full of a bunch of hypocrites. They always cursed and sais the Lords name in vein and I assumed that this would be the same but man was I wrong. I was so happy to be surrounded by thousands of christians and people who cared that wanted to hear the word of Christ. I am a new Christian. I got saved on Sept. 10 2006, and was baptised on Oct. 8 2006. I couldn’t believe how many people were there that really cared. I was so happy. I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed Dare2Share and can’t wait to go again next year.
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On February 15, 2007 @ 10:11 pm Sarhea Hall said:

OOO I went there it was great I would like to share how much my church youth group has grown through D2S 4 years ago our church wanted to experiment with it so 6 ppl (including the adult ) went the next year(my first year) 12 went the year after that(my second year) 18 went, This year are you ready we only excpected 19-22 but we got 30 ppl to go isn’t that great and here is the bestest part we have more and more ppl enrolling in our youth group ever since Sat This is the most amazing thig yet this is from a church whos regular Sunday school attendace is 150-170 that means a good portion of us went to D2S and another thing only 7th grade ^ went and I konw of tons of 6th graders who can’t wait till next year I AM SO PSYCED ALREADY
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On February 19, 2007 @ 2:08 pm Jennifer said:

Dear Greg- My husband and I just got married in December and we were asked to be the youth leaders in early January. We are a young couple and don’t have too much experience in this whole thing, but we took them to D2S in St. Louis since they already had tickets and all we had to do was drive. I had been to D2S two years ago but only as a volunteer and was so busy that I never once walked into the actual arena to hear anything. So this was a big change and I was not that excited about being there, but then the drama hit me hard. It hit our youth hard! Then we realized that we were unequipped as youth leaders at the youth leader meeting Saturday morning so we purchased Gospel Journey and Go Wide. We have started the Gospel Journey and they love it. We get on these long discussions about the material that it takes us sometimes more than 1 meeting to get through a lesson. But to make a long story short - people in the church (we have a very small church under 50 people and the youth is only about have already said that they see a difference in the youth group and how the act. We also went back to our church Sunday night the 11th after the conference and gave testimonies about the weekend (they told the church that Greg Stier rocks!) and they also said that they have changed and appreciate the whole D2S ministry. So thank you! Thank the whole D2S crew! Thanks for all that you do! Thank you for helping us become great Youth Leaders and for growing and showing our kids how to grow and share their faith with others. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hey St. Louis are you ready to do the math?

Posted on Thursday 8 February 2007 by Greg @ 3:21 pm
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Hey St. Louis are you ready to do the math?

Posted on Thursday 8 February 2007 by Greg @ 3:21 pm Filed under: Rants

26 Comments for 'Hey St. Louis are you ready to do the math?'

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Posted on Thursday 8 February 2007 by Greg @ 3:21 pm
Filed under: Rants