Students

Matthew is the Student Worker at St Mary's. He lives in New Cross, S.E London, which he argues is undoubtedly the best part of the city.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'

I designed and printed new business cards for the Students ministry. I can safely say seeing them arrive was the most exciting moment of my life thus far. I spent hours designing and in the end it is just a tiny piece of paper. It is so notable that whenever you are so immersed in a situation you can lose perspective about what is important.

In today's passage we see what Jesus' instruction was for His disciples (including us). In my previous devotional, I mentioned how Jesus extends his mission to not just the Jew but the gentile as well. Similarly in this passage we see the call to extend His kingdom on earth. When Jesus says proclaim the Good News, he doesn't necessarily suggest classic student evangelistic events like 'Acoustic Cafe' or 'Text a Toastie'. Instead, Jesus promises something better- that all authority has been given to him. So when we attempt to tell someone about Jesus, we are just vessels in a greater work.

I think this is the key to growing in mission- growing in discipleship and following the ways of Jesus so that people are naturally drawn to us. The focus is not on us, but of how beautiful God is. It's not on us if we don't adequately answer questions, but how knowledgeable God is. And when we mess up, we can remember that the maker of the air we breathe is championing us every step of the way. Isn't it beautiful that God wants us to partner with him to share his kingdom with other people?

PRAYER: Jesus, I thank you for this call to mission. I thank you for the student community in our church. I pray that we would see more students discover you. I thank you that your promises are always true.