How have you seen God working this term?/How has God answered prayer?
Tim:
I’m currently writing this in a Starbucks in Hamilton (W city) near my home. The last time I sat here was during reading week in October and it’s crazy how quickly the time has gone by since then. This was shortly after Pastor Will from Trinity came in to speak on Colossians 1:24–29. He touched on a lot of things, including (but not limited to) suffering in Christian ministry, an exhortation to attend a church that preaches the Gospel, and an appeal to growth in Christian maturity, echoing what Paul says in v28:
“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”
Our desire at the time was, and continues to be the same —- to present everyone mature in Christ. Something cool about serving on committee is the “bird’s eye view” you get on God’s work in the fellowship. It’s so easy to get tunnel-visioned in on a particular issue going on, or get frustrated by one problem plaguing a part of the ministry. But CCF is so much bigger than that, and God is so much bigger than that.
When we zoom out, it’s truly a beautiful thing to see how God is bringing so many people closer to Him as a result of CCF. And this isn’t because committee has done anything particularly brilliant, or because any specific ministry is especially “effective”, but rather because the Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of many. Honestly, if even one person came closer to Christ as a result of CCF, everything would be worth it since one person’s soul has infinite value.
How much greater is it that many have drawn near to Christ? How amazing is it that there have been people hearing the Gospel for the first time and have been transformed as a result? How wonderful is it that members of the fellowship have gone from a place of lukewarmness to a genuine desire to know Jesus and love Him? I’ve been particularly encouraged by the increase in church involvement in the fellowship, and the hope is that we can continue to foster a healthy church life in our members, where we don’t just go to a building on Sunday and consume a sermon, but be actively involved in the body of Christ through the local church.
Of course, there’s always so much that committee can do to improve things, and we’re excited to be able to do that in the coming term. However, something God has made abundantly clear to me is that even if I fall short and completely mess things up (as I have numerous times this term, and I’m sure I’ll continue to), He’s still going to do His work. I’m just grateful to be a part of what He’s doing on campus, to participate in the “ministry of reconciliation” that He has given us (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Stanley:
I think the biggest prayer point was simply that God would be honoured in our work. I had previously learned not to stress or worry about numbers or perceived success on worldly scales, but rather to be truly content if God simply just allowed me to be faithful to Him. And I know that this term God has carried me in walking the path that He wanted for me, and allowed me to be faithful to His calling for my life in this term.
It was also a big prayer request that the Gospel would not be watered down, but proclaimed faithfully and clearly. And by the end of the term, I my heart felt really full seeing many people I know coming to an understanding of His goodness, beauty and love as revealed in the Gospel. Hearing them share about understanding so much more of the weight and importance of the Gospel, and seeing them develop a deeper love for Christ accompanied with a strong desire for evangelism was so incredibly encouraging.
In light of everything as well, the greatest fruit and joy that I experienced for myself is just my personal closeness to God and deepening in my trust/dependence upon Him. There were ups and downs in serving this term, but through it all, it is mythe greatest joy to have been able to go through it all with Him, and with His divine blessing and comfort. He continues to show Hhimself as faithful, and helped give me peace throughout the craziness of this term.
Grace:
A prayer this term has been more local church integration for the fellowship – not just going to church on Sundays but really being involved in the church community. We’ve had more people see the need for and take steps to be involved in church through small/community groups, adopt a university student program, serving, or simply reaching out to pastors or other church members. I’ve personally been blessed by being in a Trinity small group and have heard others echo similar thoughts of leaving SG renewed each week, with a greater desire to read the Bible, pray, and fight sin. It hasIts provided a place to learn from and be invited into the lives of older, more mature Christians in different stages of life. We get a glimpse of what life beyond our university bubble is like and what it looks like to follow God faithfully daily, in whatever life stage we’re in. It’s been a reminder to live missionally duringin university, reminding us of the unique place we have on campus and to use it well. So praise God for all the ways He’s been answering this prayer and working in our church lives :)
God was so faithful in answering prayers in relation to admin things as well – things that are often overlooked and taken for granted, but really are out of our control. From room bookings to many retreat complications that were petitioned in prayer, He always worked it out in His timing. They might seem small and insignificant, but it shows how God is actively involved in every aspect of CCF and our lives. Every small detail, He is behind it all and is sustaining us. It’s by God’s grace that we were able to have CCF every week, and that the fellowship continues to run.
What has God been teaching you this term?
Tim:
It’s interesting how when we set out to prepare a feast (ie. prepare a Bible study, plan out the ministry, practice for a musical worship set) for others to eat, we end up being fed the most. The time spent preparing, the reliance on God in prayer, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the reading of Scripture —all of these serve to equip and nourish us to do the good work that God has called us to do. And the actual act of service, of giving ourselves for the good of others, ends up filling us more than if all we did was receive. This is because we were made to reflect Christ, the one who not only served others, but gave Himself to die for all, the greatest act of giving.
All of this leads me to believe that serving in humility ought to be the most nourishing and life-giving thing we can do as Christians. Serving on committee has given me a taste of this nourishment and I’m grateful for it. Unfortunately, this humility can often be absent in our service, which then leads to service causing stress and burn out. Too often, when receiving feedback this term, pride has kicked in and led me to jump to defending myself rather than listening, giving into frustration rather than the peace that the Spirit gives.
This also causes me to wonder —how much of what we stress about within the fellowship is fixable or worth stressing about? Have we become too obsessive over small details and a specific way of doing things and thus lost sight of how grateful we should be for the existence Christian community at all? How often have I subscribed to a “my way or the highway” mindset? But even in this, God is good —He has used serving this term as a way to point out my sin in greater detail, which is the first step towards defeating it.
It’s also clear that through this struggle, so much of my sinful self cares so much about pleasing others, looking good, and proving myself to the crowd and to myself. Thinking of this, I’m redirected to Paul’s words in Galatians:
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
I’m also reminded of the quote from Chad Gardner I put in my nomination package 9 months ago:
“If I’m doing it to prove something to myself or something to the world, it’s always left me really unsatisfied or God’s pushed the timeline back on being able to record. And then anytime I’ve been able to just release and let go and just be like ‘I really don’t care about anything right now except being satisfied in you, Jesus’ then it’s always like God allows something crazy to happen.”
The hope is that through this coming term, God would continue to refine me, to cleanse me of this sin, to provide me with brothers and sisters to keep me accountable, and to continue to make Himself known to me, to committee, to the fellowship, and to the campus.
Stanley:
‘Faith is the grace which honours God by its dependence upon him; everything in the life and usefulness of a believer will be found to be in proportion to the strength or weakness of faith.’ – Iain H. Murray.
‘He is engaged when He is trusted.’ – Puritan John Howe
God has so exhaustively taught me this term to trust in Him and lean on Him with full dependence. The more you trust in the arm of the flesh, the less you will see Him work. There were many times during this term where I felt so utterly weak and could do nothing but hold onto God and His promises. And every single time, He showed Hhimself faithful to me. He would always provide people in serving and always sustained me in the work when I already felt emptied out, and according to the riches of His grace and His goodness, He enabled me to articulate His truth faithfully and with great power. Things would seem discouraging and hopeless at times throughout the term, but God always provided and created a way out every single time. God is so good.
What would you like to tell the fellowship as the term closes and your time on comm ends?
Adam:
Hi everyone, I’m Adam. This term was my first term serving on committee, but also my first term serving ‘officially’ in CCF. While this isn’t usually the not the usual case, it was still one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had.
This leads me to my first point about serving. First and foremost, we should always be serving God. Therefore, the answer to the question: “Are you serving this term?” should always be “Yes”. There are so many ways to whole-heartedly serve God with our actions —yes, it can be through SG/DG/etc.., but you absolutely don’t have to do one of these to be serving Christ. You can start and continue to keep up with doing devos with your friends. You could wake up 5 minutes earlier every day to pray for your family. You could finally learn to cook, or learn discipline through another hobby. So much can be done, and what you do does not matter as much as how you do it. These are the scenarios where Colossians 3:23 applies: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Imagine if this was the culture at CCF!
The second point is that this serving is joyful. It’s joyful not because of us, what we do, or the fruits of our labour; but joyful because of Christ, what He does, and the fruits of His labour. This term I’ve been able to rejoice in the amazing works that God has been doing. I’ve seen people come to Christ, new and old people coming back to CCF, and people starting to go to church and do their devotions. I’ve seen people pass school somehow, people’s families improving, or even people finding a suitable partner. How great is our God!
By themselves, people aren’t ‘powerful’. Certain years aren’t ‘powerful’. Churches alone aren’t ‘powerful’. As committee, we aren’t ‘powerful’. Being on comm or being chair isn’t a position of power, or something to be ‘gunned’ for out of pride. It’s truly God who is powerful, and it’s His power that is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10). And so this is what allows us to rejoice! Let’s rejoice in the fact that God is always working, and open our eyes so that we may be able to enjoy Him in all His glory.
Stanley:
If I could give advice to myself in first and second year just being part of CCF: The truth always comes out with time, don’t stress about what people think you are. What you actually are should be of utmost importance for you, focus on that. Stop trying to be seen, God is hiding you for a reason. Be authentic, and just make sure your authentic self would walk in a way that is glorifying to Him. And know that hypocrites talk and judge the most. As long as God knows, that is enough, keep going shawty, God got plans for you and is so definitely not done with you.
Grace:
Spend time in Scripture first and foremost, it’s the best thing we can do. There’s a sermon that explains it much better than I could in a short paragraph, so I’d encourage you to check it out here. But God’s Word is truly living and active. It renews us, exposes our sin, sanctifies us, provides wisdom and shows us who God is. It’s truly beautiful. CCF is great, but it will never replace personally reading the Bible, meditating on it, and putting it into practice. It can be a struggle, but pray for a desire and as you continue to persevere you’ll find a growing joy, desire, and life change. This is something I have to remind myself and pray about, and my hope and prayer is that we’ll be a fellowship that is more and more rooted in God’s Word :)
