As the semester draws near…

Fellow brothers and sisters,
I hope you are finding some rest and relaxation this winter break.  I know that I had a great time being home with family and celebrating Christ’s birth.  TCX was an amazing time of fellowship and rejuvenation in my faith.  God is always faithful to bring us back to him even when we drift away.
I want to encourage you all to remember your first love, Jesus Christ.  I have had the chance to discuss the book of Ephesians with a friend and he reminded me of my identity in Christ.  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved-and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:4-6
If those verses don’t get you stoked, I don’t know what will.  Basically, you and I are dreadful sinners and apart from Christ we are Dead!  Like zombies!!  I find it amazing how I so easily revert to living under the law and think that I need to try harder to overcome sin.  But you and I know we cannot bridge the gap between our sin and God.  God knows we are desperate helpless human beings, that is why Jesus Christ bore all of our sins so that we can experience Life!
Finding our identity in Christ and realizing our need for him is the only way to experience that life!  So, I encourage you to remember God’s great love for you and his desire to be with you.  I understand that winter breaks can be a desert for our spiritual lives but remember that you are alive with Christ!  Christ literally lives in you, run back to your loving savior every day, and experience freedom from living under the law.
I love you All! 🙂
Your brother James

Making The Most Of This School Year

Welcome back to the new year.  This time of year, if you are like most students, you are probably hoping to make the most of the 2010-2011 school and Student Impact is committed to helping you do just that.
For the next five weeks, we will be talking about all things that are important in your time at college, like friends, dating, post grad jobs, experiences, and grades.  We want to explore how a real God can positively impact all of these areas in life changing ways.  Check it out, 9:00 pm every Thursday night, DUC.

Surviving Winter Break

Winter break often confronts each of us as believers with a scary reality. A reality filled with the habits and patterns of life which defined us before we placed our trust in Christ. In addition to being confronted with this reality, we are suddenly starved of quality Christian fellowship which we enjoy in some way throughout the semester. Understanding this reality then begs the question: what can we do to continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord over break?
I believe that there are three things which are imperative we do if we are going to continue to grow over winter break. The first thing that we must do is understand the reality we are faced with. We can’t go through break believing as Christians we are free from the temptations that plagued us in our past at home. The devil isn’t threatened by luke-warm Christians, but the same can’t be said for those impacting lost college students for Christ. The devil desires to see us as students fall back into old sin habits and patterns. Please acknowledge the reality which faces you and be ready to stand strong!!
The second principle we must embrace is to get into the Word of God and communicate with Him on a daily basis!! John 15:4 says “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” What better way to remain in Christ than to be constantly reading His inspired Word. Yet more than simply reading the words on the page let each of them saturate your being and encourage you over break.
Finally, acknowledge and use the power of the Holy Spirit which we have been given. It is a choice we must make moment by moment to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual buzz from last semester or even TCX eventually wears off. It is through choosing to live in the power of the Holy Spirit that we stand strong and grow in our relationship with Christ this break. You must recognize that you are going to be confronted with this choice. When the sinful patterns and habits seem so appealing this break what will you choose?
The truth is that you can take what was discussed above and do nothing with it; however, I would like to close by challenging each of you to embrace these three practical principles. Our effectiveness to reach lost college students this upcoming semester depends on it. We need to start this upcoming semester filled with the Holy Spirit and plugged into God’s Word so that we can be the hands and feet of Christ in Stevens Point and Central Wisconsin.
Until the Whole World Hears,
Robert Scot Dykstra

TCX

1600 hundred Upper Midwest students are crammed into the downtown Hilton in Minneapolis, MN. Awesome things have been happening in the lives of Point students including a rousing round of the dice rollerskating game. Good times in the cities.

CRU TONIGHT

First CRU meeting of the year is tonight!  It starts at 8 PM in the Laird room located in the DUC.