Intimacy with the Father

Hebrews 11:13–16 ESV

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Right now as we look out to the state of campus ministry, a lot of of feel really disheartened by what is happening. Most of our movements are small or dying. We have just closed the Iowa location, the pipeline for young campus miniters seems to be drying up , and support is getting harder now that less and less people are identifying as Christians.

As heather shared last night, campus ministry is hard and we are in a unique room of people who “get it” but I know many of you are struggling with feelings of inadequacy, like you don’t have what it takes, like the reason the ministry is dying is because of your incompetency and you wish the dynamic personality would show up on our campuses and turn Cru around for the better. Or at least I know I feel like that.

This isn’t a distinctly Cru problem, campus ministries all over the country are slowly dying as more as students become less capable than ever to lead, and those who can want to go to bigger ministries where they can just consume, and it feels not fair.

I am struggling with feeling like, am I doing anything actually worthwhile with my life? Is what we are choosing to wake up every morning and do meaningful. I am looking at a group of men who I have the most respect for than really any other group in the world. This group of men choose to give their entire professional career to a religious cause, sacraficing money, status, vacations and everything middle class affords, working the probably most unstable and inconsistent job in the world. I really don’t know if I can think of a less structured profession out there. Why are we here?

I want to leave you with two things from this text today with my time. One it is that God’s people live by faith in things not yet recieved, as strangers and exilex on the earth. you probably feel lke that on your campus. You are outsiders walking onto campuses where you were not invted trying to start a movement of the Kingdom with young men whoom did not ask you to come. You are there because God has called out out of your homes and our of your plans for your life inot his purpose for you. You are on the cmapus you are as a stranger and exile, showing people a better way, helping them seek a homeland that the American dream could never afford them.

Next it is that God is not ashmaned of you. god is not looking at you with a downcast face hoping youd just do better on your campus. God calls you His son and has a place for you in His home. God has brought you into the better country for you to rest, he has prepared a city for you and in it you are royal priests.

Intimacy with the Father in this heavenly kingdom is going to be your greatest ministry success. We’ve heard a lot about prayer and keeping Gods purpose in front of us and I am here to tell you that what you are doing matters. We may be the generation that does not see the fruit of our labor. We may be like Moses who by faith led the Israelites to the promised land but was never allowed to enter, but God is still at work.

When you get to be 55 and you look back on your staff life, how are you going to know you were faithful? how are you going to know it was worth all of the time and mental stress and putting out families through international travel, new students constantly in our home who never pan out to be leaders in our movement. You will know you are successful if you have intimacy with the Father. Christ died so that we could be one with God. That is the greatest good you will ever receive. You go and share the gospel with students out of the deep sense of satisfaction we get from our unity with God.

This is why at the end of chapter 11 it says Heb 11:39-12:2 “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

We are in this roo surrounded by a great many witnesses of God’s faithfulness and we are here to build community to lay aside our burdens and sins so that we can run side by side with one another as we look to Jesus. Please pray with me and then I’ll leave you to discussion time in your tables.

Be Thou My Vision: A Liturgy for Daily Worship Day 2

Almighty God, heavenly Father, because we are so weak in ourselves that we cannot stand even for a moment, and moreover, our sworn enemies—the devil, the world, and our own flesh—do not cease to attack us; will you, therefore, keep and strengthen us by the power of your Holy Spirit, so that we may firmly resist them and not go down to defeat in this spiritual war, but remain persistent until we finally obtain the complete victory and reign together with your Son, our Lord and Protector Jesus Christ, in your kingdom forevermore. Amen.