grace campus ministries

WE'VE MOVED!!

2006-03-19T20:29:00.000-06:00

Due to some problems with Blogger lately, we've been planning a new and better blog for all of our community. So where is our new blog?? You can find us very easily at http://blog.gracecampus.net. So please come there to continue checking in with what God is doing in and through our ministry. Thank you, gcm

grace.

2006-03-16T23:49:00.001-06:00

Tonight, Matt talked about grace. He painted a beautiful picture of how amazing it really is. Every breath is God's grace. Below is the story that he read at encounter. It's very powerful and speaks for itself.

My mom turned 41 last week. i am 23. what this means is that she gave birth to me when she was 17, and in high school. she wasn't married, and as a matter of fact, when her long-term boyfriend found out she was pregnant, he deserted her altogether (it was hard for him too, he was a 17 year old kid, and had a pretty tough home). when i was born, my mom gave me his last name, hoping that would make him stick around and want me (it didn't work). but all of my baby things - my blankets, little cross-stitched pictures, etc - just say Courtney Lynn. no last name. i think everyone around my mom and i was confident that i would not keep the last name i was given at birth. on your birth certificate there is a section that reads "Father present at birth: __________". seeing as he was nowhere to be found, that section of my birth certificate was left blank. i can't help but think of how we are all born into sin, to a father who abandoned us long before we were born. he abandoned us when he ate the apple, and even though we were given his name at birth, we only bore it with the hope that it would one day change. life without a dad was really tough. my mom and i struggled just to live - i'm talking poor. welfare poor. but when i was 4 years old, my mom met and married the man i call dad. and not only did he marry my mom, but he adopted me, which meant that his last name became my last name, and i no longer had to bear the name of the man who ate the apple and left me hungry. instead i was given the name of a man who chose me, who wanted me, tainted past and all. and what's more amazing - upon adoption, my birth certificate was re-written. long after my actual, physical birth, a new law was written. one that said that my father, who chose me at 4 years old, was actually present in that hospital room on the day i entered this world. my birth certificate now reads - Father present at birth: William Hurst. do you see? i lived for YEARS apart from my father. i had a long history by the time he even met me. but he CHOSE me, and that decision not only changed my future, but it changed my past! i was given an identity, i was no longer illegitimate... with the adoption fees, i was purchased out of my own sinful past. he PAID to give me his name, and to give me HIS history! "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade..." I Peter 1:3-4 Our Father purchased us with the greatest price - He knew that our last name would not be Adam forever. He CHOSE us before the foundations of the earth. although our history was one of sin, when He adopted us with the price of His Son, not only did our future change, but our history did as well! He became the Father that was present at our birth. we are no longer sons and daughters of Adam, but of our Father God, who "in His great mercy has given us new birth".
WOW!!! That's truth. That's a real-world example and testimony the grace and faithfulness of Jesus.

Stay tuned for our next post to come in the next couple of days to read about what else happened at encounter!!!

the renovations begin.

2006-03-14T22:16:00.000-06:00

Today was a long hard day for a few staff members at the new gcm office. There are many renovations to be done before our new office can be the inspiring work environment that we all need and desire. Many things happened today, the painting began, the trim work began around the ceiling and floors and light fixtures were bought and prepared to be hung. All-in-all, the renovations are running smoothly and things are looking good. The beauty of it all is that it would be impossible without the help of our community at encounter. Everyone responded in a big way as we asked for help financially to make our office a reality. There is a major need for an office for those that are currently full-time on staff and those that are currently working to come on staff in the fall. Our hope is that this office will be an environment where we can be creative and generate inspiration for new and effective ways to reach our campus for the name of Jesus. It will also be a place for us as a staff to be together as a family and grow in our love for one another. Thank you for your continued support as we continue to work hard to create a place that the staff of grace campus can call home.

fighting for joy

2006-03-12T23:24:00.000-06:00

In our small community we are continuing to learn what it means to fight for joy. We're coming to grips with what it looks like acknowledge the truths of God and fight for our own joy when our emotions say otherwise. We're also learning to embrace what Christ did for us on the cross for our joy and in remembrance of that we're fighting for the joy of others. And to dive deeper into fighting for the joy of others, this week will be more outwardly focused. What does it mean to fight for the joy of others outside of your friendly circles? In other words, because of the cross and the joy we experience as christians, how do we fight for the joy of others by sharing the gospel?

This should be an amazing week at encounter as we look outward into a world of salvation hungry people. If you would like to catch up with what's been going on with this series called, "The fight for joy" then go to www.gracecampus.net and look under the Media section for the message series and you can listen to both talks from the past two weeks.

salvation came.

2006-03-03T22:54:00.000-06:00

This week Matt started a new series called "The fight for Joy." And we had a joyous night last night for sure! We clapped, sang, shouted and danced for our joy and for the joy of God.

As fun as all of that was, the story is even bigger. The buzz going around afterward was that Jesus had brought salvation. What happened through our little offering of worship was amazing. One guy who walked in off the street because he heard music came to know Jesus last night. Another guy heard Matt talk about joy that never goes away and he experienced a whole new freedom. Another girl was speechless after the Lord set her free from what was holding her back from a life of joy.

Last night seemed to be a night of setting the captives free to experience a new joy in the presence of their King.

"Now to HIM who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of HIS glory blameless with GREAT JOY, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 1:24

We are praying for our community this week as we all fight for joy.

presence or presents?

2006-02-24T00:43:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I rested in His presence. That's all that was needed. Just the Spirit of God breathing life into my weary soul. It's good to just rest. Sometimes I get caught up in thinking about what I can get from God instead of just being with God. Matt brought amazing truth and light to a subject that is seldom discussed, the gifts of God. The things that God does for us. Whether it's tongues or encouragement or prophesy or leadership or administration or whatever gift that God has given you is first of all, from God. And I believe what we can all walk away with tonight is that all gifts are first and foremost for exalting the name of Jesus. no other Name. One Name matters. And secondly, the gifts are rooted in love. As we live our lives and use the gifts that God has uniquely give all of us, it's most important that people walk away from us not talking about what great gifts we have, but talking about how great God is. Jesus is THE gift. If you didn't make it to encounter tonight for whatever reason, then I have a bit of bad news for you. Because of a minor technical error, Matt's message didn't get recorded. I am terribly sorry. So, if you're trying to go to the website and play the message from tonight, I'm sorry, but it's not there. I wish there was something we could do because I know there are many of you that don't live in Auburn and like to listen to the talks online. Sorry for any disappointment.

Living for what matters.

2006-02-21T20:55:00.000-06:00

As a ministry we're getting into the heart of community groups and pushing through the mid-semester as students strive to survive midterms. I'm confident that God's name is made great in all of the community groups. As I've spent time with several of the leaders, it's becoming more obvious that the King is leading these groups. The leaders are vessels, and very effective vessels I must add. As for Encounter, Matt's finishing his series called, "Presence" this Thursday night. Come join us as we capture what it means to live life in the joy of His presence. But here's what I really wanted to bring to the table in this short post. If you have 2 extra minutes, go read this article. It's about an olympic snowboarder living for the glory of God everywhere she goes. This is a really cool encouragement. See you Thursday!

He's on the move.

2006-02-19T22:19:00.000-06:00

I just left the community group leaders meeting tonight and it is now more clear than ever than God is on the move to show His glory in our community. Student leaders were literally on their face tonight worshipping and proclaiming truths about who God is. We then got into small circles and prayed for people in our groups by name. People were praying that the lost would be redeemed and experience the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It was an amazing night seeing all of the leaders passionate about seeing the 300+ students involved in community groups experience what it means to live in light of grace for the glory of His name. The leaders aren't taking this thing lightly, they're are determined to see God's glory take over this campus. It's definitely exciting. I pray that the passion that these 50 leaders have will infiltrate the lives of every student they come in contact with.

glory.

2006-02-14T16:59:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday we finished a series at encounter that we called "Great Awakenings." This series focused on five core ideas that as christians God wakes us up to. The last talk was called, "The Bottom Line." Glory. It's all about the glory of God. God is focused on His own glory. Everything He does is for His glory. That's a hard idea to come around. That shakes my thinking a little. It's easy to slip into the mindset that God is a selfish God if He is primarily concerned with His own glory. But, when I think about that logically, who else do I want God to be primarily concerned with other than Himself? If it's right for me to make God central, how is wrong for God to make God central. Needless to say, the ending to this Great Awakenings series was amazing. I think we could listen to glory talks all day long and never hear it all. At the beginning of his talk, Matt put it perfectly. He said, "There's an endless supply of wonder when we start talking about God's glory." If you missed a week during this series, I encourage you to either listen online or buy it on CD because the Lord did amazing things over the past 5 weeks. So, what else is going on around GCM? Well we are continuing to hear about what God is doing in all of the community groups. I'm thinking of one group in particular right now where I know God is on the move and changing hearts slowly, but surely. It's a very exciting time as we continue to press into learning about our identity in Christ. This week we learned about purpose. What is our ultimate purpose in life? What is your purpose? Did the Lord teach your or your group anything new about purpose this week?

Dear Slaves,

2006-02-12T14:01:00.000-06:00

Recently, an involved leader of our little grace campus community sent an email to many other leaders telling of what God had put on her heart. The truth contained in the email cut straight to the heart and was overflowing with freedom. It was so freeing that it had be shared here for all the community to read. I hope you enjoy it. The following is the email we received from this passionate Christ follower. Dear Slaves, We are slaves of righteousness. WE ARE SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! WE ARE SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!!! PLEASE Hear His word, His promise to you on this, which is the blanket over us - His children. "What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once committed your members a slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification." Romans 6:15-19 SO THAT IS WHO WE ARE... THAT IS WHY WE ARE FREE FROM SIN BUT NOT TO SIN. "When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things that you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:20-23 THAT IS WHY, ALONG WITH THE MIRACLE OF IT BEING OUR VERY IDENTITY, THAT WE LONG TO DO GOOD. WE ARE NOT ONLY SLAVES TO GOOD, BUT THE FRUIT THAT COMES FROM GOOD IS... GOOD... ETERNAL-LIFE-GOOD. THAT'S AS GOOD AS IT GETS! In Ecclesiastes 3, He tells us that He has put eternity into man's heart. SO THIS ETERNITY IS WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO. THERE IS NO DENYING IT. IT IS BY DESIGN. SO... OF COURSE SATAN WILL TRY TO COME IN AND TWIST THIS AND DESTORT IT. AND THERE LIES THE MUNDANENESS INSTEAD OF THE EXTRAORDINARY, THE COMPLACENCY INSTEAD OF THE MOTIVATION, THE GUILT INSTEAD OF THE FREEDOM OF GENTLE CONVICTION. THIS IS NOT HIS DESIRE FOR US. HE HAS FREED US. ALL BECAUSE OF THE FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE, NAMELY JESUS. I claim His truth that His word does not return void, and that He is not the God of confusion. And I trust Him with the cultivation of this in each and every one of our spirits. Take heart in who He is and who we are in Him. REST.

Blog comment problems.

2006-02-11T15:09:00.000-06:00

Ok everybody, it was brought to our attention that the blog has had some issues with allowing new comments. That could possibly be the reason why every post for past couple of weeks has had 0 comments. I'm here to tell you that the problem has been fixed and you can now feel free to add all the comments you want and we can join together to proclaim what God is doing in our community. We apologize for the mistake and look forward to reading your thoughts. -gcm

community

2006-02-10T17:41:00.000-06:00

The rumor is that last week's community groups started off with a bang. Hundreds of students with a desire to dig deeper with each other and in their relationship with Jesus are meeting on Monday/Tuesday nights in various homes all over Auburn. Stories have already been circulating from group to group about what God is doing in their midst. Students are eager to learn more truths about their identity in Christ and what it looks like to live in light of grace for the glory of God. The 50+ leaders that are involved in facilitating these groups are meeting on Sunday nights to cover each other in prayer. People in each group have been prayed for by name at these leaders meetings. The Spirit of God has rained down on these meetings and sparked a fresh desire in each leaders heart to lead this community of Christ followers. We look forward to sharing more about these groups with you as the next 10 weeks unfold. If Christ is on the move in your group, feel free to comment about it here. Just click on the "comment" button, and tell us what's going on in your group. -gcm

A cloudy night in auburn

2006-02-03T10:56:00.000-06:00

Most cloudy days seem glum until today, where the fog hanging over our little city is a reminder of God’s presence. The LORD used clouds to reveal His glory, strength, and the details of living for His people. Clouds were the backdrop for life-changing moments for the people of God. Tonight, in a similar fog, we were reminded that not only is God’s presence with us, but God’s presence resides in us. The mystery of the gospel, is that Christ lives in His people. The very presence of our Risen Savior is housed our hearts. It’s no fairy tale, wishful thinking, or pop theology. It’s God’s intent. It’s His promise. It was His plan to place us in Christ before the foundation of the world, before the fall, before the mess, before the Cross came to be, God knew. God chose. God accomplished. God planned. God placed…us in Christ to be holy and blameless. So, moving from doing “for” God and embracing life “from” God really is life changing. It’s one thing for the presence of God to be with His people, yet it’s altogether astonishing that He would place His presence, His life, His glory in fallen people like you and me. Talk about being totally secure in who you are. In the words of God, “I AM THAT I AM.” God desires not just part of our lives, segmented and shallow; but to consume our very life for our joy and His glory, wholly and forever. How has God moved in your heart? How has the life of Christ in you been expressed? What does it mean for you to be in Christ and for Christ to be in you? -gcm

"Any raising of the heart to God"...

2006-01-27T23:40:00.000-06:00

Thursday night Biscuet shared from his heart how crucial it is to spend time in prayer. Prayer has been defined as "any raising of the heart to God". We learned that we can raise our hearts to God while we're walking to class, sitting in a coffee shop, watching tv... we can have ceaseless conversation with God no matter what is going on around us. When we allow God to be a part of our every-day activities, our prayers simply become a seamless conversation with the living God. We also learned that there is another kind of prayer, a much deeper, more intimate time. This is the type of prayer Jesus was speaking of in Matthew when He said, "find a quiet, secluded place" to have One-on-one dialogue with the Father. In these times, we can be honest with God about who we are and how we feel. Through our honesty, He is able to peel away our flesh and transform us according to the truth of who He's created us to be. We want to hear your thoughts on prayer. Are you struggling to find that seamless conversation with God? Are you floored by the intimate times that only you and He have shared? Are you rejoicing over the flesh that He is stripping away and the truth that He is revealing? Share your heart. Share specifics or share the big picture. We are so encouraged by your responses. What a blessing for our community to be able to share in the greatness of what God is doing in our lives! - gcm

A heart for the Nations...

2006-01-23T13:29:00.000-06:00

This week at encounter, Matt Browning spoke about the need and urgency for people to go overseas. If you missed it then check in at the media section of www.gracecampus.net and the message will be online soon. He emphasized that there are more than 6,000 unreached people groups in the world. These are people that have never had a chance to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ! What does it look like for us as comfortable American's to be broken and burdened for those that have never heard of Jesus? Do you have a desire to see the fame of Jesus spread to the whole world? How does that happen? Can we really make an impact? Add your comments. Let us know about your passion for Jesus that overflows to a passion for missions. What have been your experiences overseas? What have you seen or heard that could encourage our community to make a difference for His Namesake? Also, feel free to continue to tell us your story by commenting on last week's post. A few people have told some amazing stories and we continue to be encouraged with each new comment. For His Name, gcm

Your story ::

2006-01-12T22:58:00.000-06:00

If you've been around encounter or Grace Campus Ministries for any time at all you've probably caught a glimpse of our story. A big vision with big desire to see college students learn what it means to know Christ as life. If you haven't heard the story in full then keep checking back and you'll continue to learn more about our roots and where we're going in the future. But for now, this post isn't about our story, but rather we want to know your story. Your salvation story to be exact. Or, if you prefer, some other great God story that's occurred recently in your life. In a nutshell, tell us about how Jesus is being glorified in and through your life. for HIS fame, gcm

welcome.

2006-01-09T15:41:00.000-06:00

hello. We're glad you're here. The purpose of our blog is to stay connected with the grace campus family as we journey together to live for the glory of Jesus Christ. We look forward to posting regulary and expressing what God is doing in and through this ministry. Feel free to write comments to tell us what God is doing in your life, how He's used you to spread His fame, tell us how we can be praying for you or better serve you, or just say hey. by His grace for His glory, the gcm staff