Chancellor Gordon Robertson Shares His Challenge to Regent University’s Class of 2024.
During Regent’s 44th Commencement on May 4, I had the privilege of delivering my first charge to graduates as Chancellor. I’m confident those men and women will take what they learned here and apply it out in the real world. But I wanted to give them a “secret weapon” as they commenced with the rest of their lives.
I told them how, on April 29, 1607, a group of 144 Englishmen landed at Cape Henry, Virginia, which is now Virginia Beach. After spending four months crossing the Atlantic, one of their first actions was raising a wooden cross and dedicating this land, not to the king of England, but to the King of kings.
But with God, all things are possible.
Matthew 19:26 (NKJV)
Those brave and faithful men bent their knees, bowed their heads and prayed for God to bless their venture into the New World. They also asked that, from these shores, the gospel of the kingdom would go around the world. Regent University is their legacy because we are fulfilling that prayer.
My father and Regent’s founder, Dr. M.G. “Pat” Robertson, once told me that the only position no one will ever want to take from you is when you’re on your knees. But it’s also the position that determines every success in life. So, I told the Class of 2024 that their secret weapon for life after graduation was doing what the English settlers did: Take your cross with you.
I urged them to set up their cross and bow their knees in prayer every time they face a moment of testing, doubt, or unbelief. Our modern culture wants to convince you that you can’t do it, that you’re going to fail. But God sees you and knows exactly what you’re going through. On our own, we can’t succeed. But with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
