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Matthew 13:23

Dear Friends,

I want to thank you again for taking the time to read this blog post. I have been incredibly encouraged as I have gotten to witness in the last month God's Spirit produce fruit in the lives of the students that I get to interact with on a daily basis. I want to share with you some of those stories so that though hearing them God's Spirit will encourage you as well. I want to thank you for your generosity in supporting college ministry. God is using your gift to produce His kingdom on college campuses and I am so grateful to you because of that.

 This was our turnout at the most recent winter camp retreat! Over 600 students came together to worship God, play games together, and hear teaching on what it means to be a sent disciple of Jesus. Since the camp I have had so many follow up conversations with students who attended and just over and over again I have gotten to hear how God's Spirit has inspired those students to rethink their faith in a way that is more aligned with following Jesus daily, not just believing in Him.

Recently I was reading Matthew 5:14 with a student. In this passage Jesus says this.

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

I asked the student how he thought this passage related to his own faith and life and he told me this...

"My whole life I have lived pretty comfortably in the background. Not feeling a need to shine for Jesus, instead being completely content just having my relationship with Him. But I think following Jesus means that I have to live in a way where the light of Jesus does shine in me to those that I'm around."

Another student that I study with and I were reading this passage from John 15:1-8 which says

5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

After asking this student what he thought the meaning of this passage meant he responded with "If in you're discipleship you're the only one being blessed, then you're not really living as a disciple"


Those are only a few of the conversations that show evidence that God's power is at work here in the lives of these college students. I fully believe that God is going to use these students to win this campus, to win the Metroplex, and that the world will be transformed because student's hearts are responding to the gospel and the good news of Jesus. And those students are eagerly desiring to share that good news with their peers and everyone else that they come into contact with.

Because of all of this I'm reminded of what Jesus says in Matthew 13:23

"23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”


When someone hears the word of God, and takes it to heart, the Lord uses that person to produce a crop of 100 times what was expected to be produced. Praise God! That is happening here at UT Arlington and that is because of your gift and your generosity. I wish you all the best. Please let me know if there is any way that I can be praying for you because I would love to be able to pray for you if there's anything you need.

As a last update I wanted to share an invitation with all of you! Every year we have an open house night for our ministry where people can hear student testimonies as well as testimonies from parents or loved ones who have seen their student impacted by their relationship with God in college. It's a night of celebrating God for being able to use college ministry to win the world for His name. This years open house is Saturday the 10th at 5PM at UT Arlington. All of you are invited and I would love to see you there if you can make it! Let me know if you have any questions.


As always don't forget to check out the student testimony for this month below. Please continue to pray for me and for the students that I encounter as I also strive to bring the good news of Jesus to this college campus. I'm grateful for all that you do to serve as a partner in that mission.


In Christ,
Austin.

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