Students: Stay plugged-in over summer
We’ve all done it. Wasted the long summer holidays lying in and watching Netflix whilst scrolling down your Facebook feed to see your friends gap year posts - in Thailand, of course. The summer can be hard and it can drag when you’re back home and away from your university friends. It can be especially hard for Christian students who got involved at church in their new city and are now at home feeling spiritually dry and unmotivated.
You may not have a church to go to back at home, or maybe your home church has changed while you’ve been away. You may not have close Christian friends back home or have a non-Christian family. And after discovering people who shared your beliefs at university, you are now feeling underwhelmed and distant from God.
You’re not alone; even if it feels like you must be the only one out of your new christian friends to have left your Bible unopened for weeks, with that christian book you bought sat neglected in your still-to-be-unpacked suitcase.
Here are a few things you can do over the summer to help stay connected both to Jesus, and your university friends and church:
- Be realistic: Give yourself small, realistic goals of when and how much time you will spend with God. If you can read the whole of the NT over the summer then that’s great but reading a psalm each morning (or whenever you roll out of bed) and praying it back to God is equally valuable time spent if your heart is in the right place.
- Stay in touch: Put effort into staying in contact with your christian friends over the summer. Arrange that skype call, plan to visit one another or meet in a city halfway. Talk to each other, encourage each other and pray with each other. The same goes for your university church. Believe it or not they miss you and notice when you’re not around. And of course, the same goes for Jesus. Stay in touch. No facetime or texting required, just taking time out to be in his presence and talking to him as a true friend who already knows and understands how you are feeling. A friend who is always there waiting to hear from you and ready to respond.
- Remember grace. Don’t spend your summer feeling sorry for yourself and condemning yourself because you think you’re not doing enough or aren’t good enough. As a Christian you are free from condemnation and because of the cross you have grace lavished upon you. This means that you will always be good enough because Jesus paid more than enough through his death on the cross for you.
So, how do we work this out practically? Here’s a few things I found really helpful during my time at Uni, which I hope can help you stay plugged in to Oasis life whilst you’re at home as well:
Listen to the podcast: Hearing God’s word preached truthfully and powerfully is always great but by listening whilst you’re away from church you will still feel involved and in the loop when you return.
Follow us on social media: Catch up with blog posts like these, join the Momentumites Facebook Group and follow us on Twitter. This way when we pop up on your newsfeed you’ll be able to see what’s going on and be reminded that you’re still a part of it.
Catch up with each other: Make the effort to stay in touch with your Oasis church friends. It’ll do you good!
Contact us: Finding the summer hard? Need prayer? Or just want to catch up more on what’s going on at Oasis? You can always get in touch with Rich or me by emailing us on richard@theoasischurch.com and emma@theoasischurch.com
