Merry Christmas!

Hello, and congratulations - you have almost made it to the end of the semester (some of you may be already done!). Hopefully the next few days won't be too difficult as you rush through your exams and turn in final projects & papers before the semester comes to a final close.

We pray that you will take time as a ministry to celebrate all that the Lord has accomplished in you and through you over these last several months. We also pray that you take some time this advent season to seek Jesus, to reflect upon Emmanuel - God with us. Let's seek him like the Magi did:

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."" (Matthew 2:1-2)

During this Christmas season we have the privilege of being able to seek and find the same Jesus that the Magi met 2000 years ago. Praise God!

"After they heard the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:9-11

I thank God for the example he gave us of the wise men 2000 years ago who took the time and energy to earnestly seek the Christ child then to worship him and give him gifts from their treasures. Let us all take the time to seek Jesus and worship him this Christmas season. It would also be great for us to follow the example of the magi and worship Jesus by giving him gifts from our time and treasures.

Thank you for all you do to serve the Lord on your campus, and have a Merry Christmas!

P.S. Also, keep in mind the upcoming Boston Winter Conference. This is a great opportunity to join with others who are seeking Christ from your campus and many others throughout the Northeast. On-line registration is still open until noon December 26th (http://www.bostonwinterconference.com/register/) so you can still register and even if you don't get to pre-register you may still come to the conference January 2nd. I look forward to see many of you there!

The end is near!

Hello,

It's amazing to think that starting tomorrow December is upon us, the Christmas season has begun and the end of the semester is near. What would you like to accomplish before the semester ends? Do you have a friend you would like to talk with about Christ? Do you have a Christmas outreach planned that you and/or others in your ministry would like to follow through with? This is such a great time of year to show the love of Christ to our friends and neighbors!

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Here are some things to keep in mind for your last week or two of the semester:

• Reserve your meeting room for next spring, plan on starting your meetings during the first week of classes. Starting early is key to involving returning students and attracting new/transferring students.


• Find out if there is any club fair or orientation that you can reserve a table for to publicize your ministry to new or transfer students, reserve any rooms or tables needed for outreach activities or special events.


• Choose or design your posters and make copies of them, then you'll be ready to put them up when you return.


• Meet with other leaders to talk about next semester. Topics to study, outreach ideas, plan something fun to do during the first few weeks of the semester.


• Celebrate the end of the semester and Christmas! Either in your last weekly meeting or at a separate time - have a Christmas party, take time to have fun with one another and to build memories before saying goodbye for the next several weeks.

Also, keep in mind the importance of registering for the Boston Winter Conference and for promoting it as well. The early pre-reg discount deadline is December 15th. Once classes come to an end, it will be much tougher to get students to register. The next week or two are very important. Please click on this website to learn more about the conference and register: http://www.bostonwinterconference.com

We are praying for you!

Christmas is coming!

Hello,

Most likely as you read this, you are eagerly anticipating your upcoming Thanksgiving break! Chances are, that you may think there is plenty of time to consider Christmas outreach after thanksgiving but even with this celebration just over a week away, most of us only have a few weeks before exams end. That means right now is probably just the right time to plan for some Christmas outreaches. People are usually much more interested in spiritual things at Christmas time, so I encourage you to be ready to share the hopeful "news of great joy" that we have with your friends and classmates.

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."" Luke 2:10-11

Some outreach ideas to the campus may include:

• Giving out any remaining evangelistic books and resources and/or give out the Case for Christmas at a table, or bringing them to a weekly meeting or small group and encouraging members to take 2-5 with them to give out to friends.


• Giving out candy canes and/or hot chocolate at a table near the campus bookstore when people are selling books back. (There is an interesting story about the Candymaker using/designing candy canes to tell others about Jesus--not sure if it is true or not but there is some interesting connections in the design).


• Showing the Charlie Brown Christmas special (there is actually gospel content in it!)or the Nativity movie and having a party where people invite friends. Play some fun games and decorate Christmas cookies (made in advance).


• Get together as a group and bake cookies to give out to non-Christian friends and to the people on campus that you want to thank.
• Use the everystudent.com Christmas posters found at http://everystudentpromotion.com/campaigns/20-christmas/index.html to offer students an opportunity to seek Christ this Christmas.

One other thing we would like you to consider is taking a few moments to thank those who help to make your ministry possible on campus. (Phil 1:3 "I thank my God every time I remember you.")
Some of those people may include:

• Faculty Advisor


• The person who approves your posters


• The worker who reserves rooms for you


• The accounting person who you go to with your financial questions and for money


• Etc....

There could be many others, but consider how you might show some appreciation to them. A card signed by those in your ministry or leadership team, a small plate of homemade cookies etc. Nothing expensive or elaborate but it shows care, appreciation and the love of Christ

We pray that these ideas will help you reach out with the love of Jesus in a couple weeks as we enter the Christmas season. If you don't use one of these ideas I hope it helps spark your imagination to develop other methods of reaching out!

Praying for you,

Spiritual Growth: Community building

Hello,

"Dear friends let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7)

I hope and pray that your week has gone well and that you are keeping up with your classes! As you continue to build the ministry on campus this semester, please keep in mind the need to grow in love for one another. Cultivating community in your ministry is one of the best ways you can help students to grow in love and compassion for each other.

As students connect with one another in your ministry, they will grow in their concern for one another and their desire to come to other events and activities is likely to increase. If they keep coming, their relationship with the Lord is likely to grow. When they become more comfortable with others in the ministry, barriers will be broken down and people will more willingly open up about what they are thinking and struggling with.

Some simple steps to cultivate community:

• Incorporate simple ice breakers or games into your weekly meeting/bible study. Activities to get people sharing about themselves and laughing together. You can go to the website http://www.godsquad.com/discipleship/icebreakers.htm for some great ideas. If it isn't too difficult have snacks or refreshments at/after your meeting or Bible study.


• Plan some fun activities outside of your regular meeting times: game night, bowling, mini golf, make your own ice cream sundaes, go to a fall festival together. Go out with others after the meeting


• Get together as a smaller group - invite 2-3 people over to your apartment (if you have one) for dinner, or ask them to meet you at the dining hall. You could also meet for lunch on campus. It could be as simple as picking a day and time each week to meet in a particular area of the commuter cafeteria.


• Plan a girls night out/guys night out. This is a great way to bond and develop friends.
  People are much more apt to open up at bible study and volunteer their time to help out if they are friends with the people in the ministry. Don't forget the fun!

Acts 2:42,46 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,"

Spiritual Growth: What do you thirst for?

Hello,

What are you thirsty for? What do you long for? The Psalmist David writes “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2

Isn’t it wonderful that the God of the universe loves us? He loves us completely and unconditionally. Our prayer for you is that you would grow in experience and understanding of God’s love for you. This is also a prayer I have for myself.
Eph. 3:17-18 "...And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ," He loves you no matter what. Do you really believe it?

One of the best ways to grow in our love relationship with God is by spending time with Him. Only as we practice recognizing his presence with us, talk with Him and read His love letter to us (the Bible) will we be able to truly grow in our love of and longing for Him. It is amazing that he is present with us throughout the day whatever we do and wherever we go. I find it helpful when I remember this and go through my day recognizing that he is with me.

There is actually a great little book that is very helpful for learning to practice or recognize God's presence with us. It is called Practicing the Presence of God and it was written by Brother Lawrence (a 17th century French monk who learned to practice the presence of God continuously).

Please take the opportunity to go to the godsquad website to check out some other ideas related to connecting with God.

Quite often in ministry we get so busy doing, that we forget Who we are doing it for! It isn't good for our ministry to be born out of duty or obligation. We experience so much more joy and motivation when it is an outflow of our love for Him and His love for us!We encourage you to take time with your Father today, and every day.

Spiritual Growth -- How well are you satisfied?

Hello,

What does it take to be satisfied with your walk with God? How about right now? Sometimes I don't feel as close to God as I would like or lack satisfaction in my relationship with him. When this happens it is an indication that I probably need to take a few minutes to stop and talk with God about some of the anxieties on my mind. 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Sometimes in our busyness and efforts to do good things like leading a ministry or sharing our faith, we can trust in our own efforts and strength to live the Christian life. When we take this approach, it usually results in frustration and discouragement. I want you to be encouraged and equiped as children of God to stay in fellowship with our Heavenly Father, to walk in the power of the Spirit.

This can often involve a moment by moment struggle for us. For example, I know that all too frequently I say yes to my flesh and no to the Spirit when I don't get my way. Often it can be as simple as me getting anxious or irritable because I'm behind schedule with what I want to accomplish, or the person driving in front of me is driving slower than I like or someone behind me is too impatient for my liking. Then if Melissa (my wife) asks me to help her with a small task or asks a question, instead of responding in love, sometimes I say yes to the flesh and get impatient and irritable ("the fruit of the Spirit is .... 'patience'"). Can anyone identify with this type of struggle? I am sure that at times you can, Paul illustrated this well when he wrote Galatians 5:16-26. Verse 17b says: "They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want"

The following are some principles taken from Campus Crusade's "Satisfied?" booklet:

It is only through faith in God and in His promises that we as believers can live the Spirit-directed life. As we continue to trust Christ moment by moment our lives will demonstrate more and more of the fruit of the Spirit and we will be conformed to the image of Christ.

Moment by moment we are making decisions to either gratify our sinful nature or say yes to the Holy Spirit.

We will also have a more meaningful prayer life and more fruitful times in the word. We will experience God's power in witnessing. We will be prepared for spiritual conflict and receive power to resist temptation and sin!

If you are ready to yield control of your life to Christ, confess any sin that you are aware of and desire to be filled with the Spirit; You can be filled with the Spirit right now by faith through prayer. This is based on God's command found in Ephesians 5:18 "...be filled with the Spirit" and His promise in 1 John 5:14-15 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him."

As we yield to the filling of the Holy Spirit, He will produce great fruit in our lives (see Galatians 5:22-23). Please take some time this week with the Lord to read and meditate on Galatians 5:16-26 and Ephesians 5:15-21. As we apply the principles of the Spirit-filled life, He will transform us from feeling frustrated and discouraged. We will experience true joy and the excitement of seeing God at work!

How wonderful is God's provision for us!

Spiritual Growth: Helping New Believers Walk with God

Hello, We pray that you are doing well and that your fall semester is going well. We talk a lot about sharing your faith - the importance of taking the initiative, talking with others about Jesus, and reaching out to other students on your campus. We pray that you will get to see many students make decisions to begin a relationship with Jesus. We also want you to know what to do once you have seen someone trust in the Lord. Whether you led them to Christ, or they are a young or new believer that is involved in your movement, there are several excellent resources that might help you, help them.

On the website http://www.godsquad.com/discipleship/index.htm there are some tools that are called "Life Concepts". They are found under the discipleship section. These lessons cover valuable topics such as:

• Assurance of salvation
• Forgiveness of the believer
• Filling of the Spirit
• Walking in the Spirit
• Spiritual growth

New Christians need to understand who they are in Christ, the above topics will help lay that foundation. The new believer also needs help in these areas:

• developing a regular habit of spending time with the Lord in prayer and in His word
• finding a good local church where they can learn and grow
• close fellowship with other believers
• encouragement and equipping on how to share their faith with those around them

Ephesians 4:14-15 "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ."

What a wonderful privilege we have to be involved in what God is doing in the lives of His children! We pray that your ministry will bear much fruit and that you will have the awesome joy of helping others develop a closer relationship with Christ.