Living Sent PART I

by Landon Reesor  

We live in big world that is rapidly changing right before our eyes.  Shifting demographics, exploding populations, and rapidly morphing spiritual dynamics create some daunting Kingdom challenges.  Think about some of these statistics...

         -   6.7 billion people on our planet
         -   1.6 billion people with little or no access to the Jesus story (that’s more than 23% of the
              planet’s total population)
         -   2,500 language groups with no Bible translation at all 
         -   200+ million lost people in North America
         -   20+ million lost people in metro New York alone (10% of the lost population of our
              continent in 1 metro community)

And yet as shocking and disturbing as these statistics are, they represent some incredible opportunities for the Church to make a difference!

Let’s be honest … we know how this story ends.  We know how the last chapter reads.  We know that people from “every nation, language, tribe and tongue” will be gathered into this new family and join us in eternity around the throne of God.  It’s not a question of “if” but “when” and “how”.  We know that God is redeeming people from every culture and community and we know that He is using His Church to accomplish that.  So the issue for us is are we going to be involved?  Are we going to do our part, play our role, complete our piece of His mission?  Each of us has been created in Christ “for good works” (Ephesians 2.10) and has been uniquely crafted to fulfill some strategic element of God’s redemptive purpose and plan.  But how do we do that?  How do we as individual believers and local churches embrace this mission and find our place in this journey?  Part of the answer is understanding what it means to live “sent”.

Come back tomorrow for Part II...

The intent of the team blog website and format is to aid collegiate/young adult leaders in their ministry to college age students in Texas.  The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention does not necessarily agree with or condone all of the thoughts in every blog written by ministers, they simply are providing a platform for resources and thoughts to be shared through this blogging opportunity.  If you have any questions contact our offices.

Discipleship That Works…

By Smokey Hurst

Jesus calls us to work together with Him in reaching the world.  His last words were not “Go and evangelize all nations” nor was it for us to “go and preach to all nations” Do I believe that these two things need to happen all over the world?  Absolutely.  My issue is when we start calling discipleship something that it’s not.  We are commanded to “go and make disciples of all nations.”  The meaning of the word that Jesus uses for disciples is “to make a duplicate of oneself.”  The discipler needs to evaluate themselves based on the qualifications that Paul gives in I Timothy 3.  For discipleship that works it cannot be merely just getting together for coffee and sharing stories about ones life or just be small talk that ends in prayer.  Discipleship is investing into someone’s life and getting dirty, allowing your heart to be broken by him or her time and time again.  Look how many times the disciples broke the heart of Jesus.  Discipleship is a relationship not a project.  Projects you can stop and start at any moment where as relationships are an on going process.  Your role is not that of the Holy Spirit.  College students just left home where sometimes parents tried to play the role of the Holy Spirit.  Meaning they were told what to do and expected to follow without question.  Your role is to pour your life into the students and allow them to think and process.  This is the stage in their lives where the reasoning and processing skills are developed.  College students don’t want to be treated as a project, but as a person. 

Discipleship is different from mentoring as mentoring is closely related to accountability.  Mentoring should happen more with older students mentoring younger students.  Discipleship that really works and changes lives occurs when the discipler gets dirty and involved in people’s lives.  You must confront and call out sin, don’t just merely discuss prayer, scripture memory, evangelism, reading the word, accountability, etc., but live it out with them.  Put into practice the things that you discuss, lead them in actually doing the disciplines.  They don’t only need information about these things, but rather need someone to live it out with them.  Someone that discipled me back in college asked “Smokey do you want to learn how to pray?” Of course I said yes, and I got out my notepad and was ready to learn.  The next thing I saw was him on his knees and he told me to do likewise.  We spent the next hour praying.  I learned more about praying by praying with men of God then I have ever learned from reading books about prayer.  Discipleship is not a project it is a relationship and relationships are dirty.  For discipleship to work you cannot be afraid to get dirty.

The intent of the team blog website and format is to aid collegiate/young adult leaders in their ministry to college age students in Texas.  The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention does not necessarily agree with or condone all of the thoughts in every blog written by ministers, they simply are providing a platform for resources and thoughts to be shared through this blogging opportunity. If you have any questions contact our offices.

As we draw near to the beginning of the upcoming school year it is worthwhile to look at some pointers on growing our ministry by ministering to incoming freshmen.  Brian Barela works with Campus Crusades and recently wrote an article that focuses on “engaging and connecting as many students as possible during the first four weeks” of the college year.  His main suggestions are as follows:

1.                Strategically plan EVERY day of the first four weeks (and the weekend before school starts.

2.                Carefully craft your contact cards to make it as easy as possible to follow up new students.

3.                Make EVERY LEADER contribute to exposure and follow-up during the first week.

4.                Treat the FIRST DAY of the year like your LAST DAY of ministry.

5.                Connect everyone with your Facebook Group or Fan Page.

For further explanations of each suggestion, click on the link below for the full article.

Brian Barela Article

If you have any additions to the list  that have worked well in your ministry, please share them with us.

Why Should Students Join a Church While at College?

By Tim Richardson

Church membership for college students can be tricky.  Many college students wonder, “What’s the point?” or see it as an outdated tradition. Others are worried that their parents, pastor, or family friends back home will have a troubling response to their thought of “moving their membership.”  We don’t hard sell our students on a formal, walking down the isle, moving your letter type of membership, but we do sell them on the fact that they need a church home in the community where their college is located.  We do encourage them to officially join the church if it won’t be a problem with parents. Regardless, we primarily promote the fact that church membership is a life lived out not a signed piece of paper.  You are a member of this church by virtue of your dedication and commitment to this place.  Every college student should find a place like this, a place they can attach themselves to while away at college.  Here are two compelling reasons why they should make “attaching” a priority.

1.       The church needs them.  The church needs the vitality, energy, passion, time, creativity, talents and spiritual gifts that college students bring to the table.  They too were given a spiritual gift at conversion with the expectation of using that in the local body.  We need them to be the hands, feet, noses or ears they were created to be.

2.       They need the church. Though they may not know it, college students need the wisdom, protection, teaching and relationships that are found in the church. They need spiritual leaders who will feed them the Truth of God’s Word and watch out for their spiritual well being. They need older people who will pour their lives out and disciple them. They need younger kids in whom they can pour their lives out into as well.

College students are notorious for being fickle church hoppers.  We need to help them understand and embrace the importance of local church attaching.

The intent of the team blog website and format is to aid collegiate/young adult leaders in their ministry to college age students in Texas.  The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention does not necessarily agree with or condone all of the thoughts in every blog written by ministers, they simply are providing a platform for resources and thoughts to be shared through this blogging opportunity. If you have any questions contact our offices.