The beginning of the school year is a time to reset and cast vision for staff and students. We painted a picture for our student leaders that the upcoming year will primarily consist of these two things: abiding in Jesus and sharing the joy. As a branch abides in the vine, we are called to abide in Jesus. Spirit-filled abiding innately causes us to move towards others for their joy. As we disciple students, we desire to establish them in the gospel. With God’s help, we aim to teach, inspire, and model a Christian life rooted in gospel identity, saturated in the scriptures, and embedded in the local church.
We need not look any further than God’s word to see that God is faithful. He has been and will always be. After we sinned, God promised to bring forth a Messiah to save us from our sins. He could have given up on Israel, given their constant unfaithfulness, but instead he keeps his promise and sends his Son to die on a cross to save us from the penalty and power of sin. After he rises from the dead and just before he ascends into heaven he commands us to make disciples, leaving us with a truth and a promise. He reminds us that, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [him].” He then promises to be “with you always, to the end of the age.”
Our ministry has been blessed with incredibly devoted student leaders. We have 11 upperclassmen this year being discipled to grow in Christ-likeness with the intent to know Christ better. A key strategy for us this year has been being unified on a vision of evangelizing, and then moving to act it out. We strive for our student leaders to feel that they are constantly being equipped so that Campus Outreach at the UofM is not not just moving through staff efforts, but for students to take the calling of Christ to make disciples to a student body that is searching for something more in life.
