JACKSON, Tenn. — “These are days that are calling for a generation of courage,” Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd said in a Union University chapel message Sept. 2.

“If they scorn us, so be it. If they kill us, so be it,” Floyd said at the Jackson, Tenn., campus. “God is greater than all of them.”

God has appointed today’s Christians to live in this time and to influence the culture, Floyd said, but they first must evaluate the difference they currently are making.

“You really only have one shot to live, one shot to do something big in your life, and one shot to even do something big for God that will outlast you and outlive you,” Floyd said to “a generation that has the opportunity to change America, and a generation that has the opportunity to change the world.”

In this fast-paced era, Christians must place God at the center of their lives and be quick to ask God for their purpose —- and quicker to say yes when God calls, Floyd said.

Prayer and courageous faith can bring spiritual awakening to the university, the city of Jackson and the United States as a whole, Floyd said, noting that no extraordinary movement of God ever began without prayer from His people.

Prayer is a Christian’s “greatest action,” Floyd said, calling the students to develop “a culture of prayer … . That’s really God’s intention for every one of our lives … to experience His glory every day.”

“This is the time to rise up like never before in your life,” Floyd said, yet cautioning the students, “… if you’re not careful, you’re going to miss the moment.”

“God can do more in a moment than you can ever do in a lifetime,” Floyd said. “So sell out, all the way. Let’s give him our all.”

Video of Floyd’s address is available at new.livestream.com/uu/chapel. (BP)