The very essence of what it means to be human is that we bear the image of God. When God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” He tells us fundamentally why He is making man – to bear His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). Therefore, our most base-level Identity is “image bearer of God.”

Everyone is an image bearer of God and everything we do in life is either accurately portraying what God is like or (more…)

Disciples

As we begin to plan for next year, the College Ministry leaders are going back to the fundamentals to see why we do what we do.

When Mars Hill thinks through what its College Ministry is all about, we think about Jesus and making Disciples of Him. God brings man in on His story in Genesis, creating men and women to fill the earth with His image and, therefore, the glory of God. Tragically, the image of God in man is distorted because of our sin.

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Tonight, Chris, Steve, my brother-in-law, Mike, and I went to Status, a 20’s ministry in Orlando. It was super helpful for us to think about the Kingdom of God in the story of the transfiguration found in Matthew 17.
I should get a chance to meet with Status’ Pastor Josh Loveless sometime this week and it should be a great conversation. Our team had a lot to talk about after the service in how we show mercy in the College Ministry to serve the campus and connect with students. One opportunity to really focus on this is the San Francisco ‘08 trip coming up.
More tomorrow…

It’s kind of ironic that, as our team leaves to go to Orlando, it’s 172 thousand degrees in Seattle! I wish this trip were a couple months ago, during the misery of Seattle cold and dampness, but oh well.

As I write this from the plane, 

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On Wednesday night we will be back to our normal rhythm on the Ave.

This quarter we are going to be working our way through a new series detailing the Description of a Disciple’s Life. Most people have heard of the great commission given by Jesus, but many don’t know what a Disciple is…
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20)
Its hard to “make disciples” if we don’t even know what a Disciple looks like. If you have ever wondered what it really means to be a Disciple, this series is for you.
This week we will begin to look at a Disciple’s identity in Christ. I hope to see you there!

Our first Spring BBQ will be this Wednesday at the Chi Psi Fraternity house (The Lodge) at 7pm. Bring your friends and we’ll provide the food!
(This is in place of MH on the Ave.)

Time and Place
Date: Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Time: 7:00pm
Location: Chi Psi Fraternity house (”The Lodge”)

At Mars Hill, we don’t Retreat, we Advance! Advance the Gospel, Advance the Mission of Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith (Heb 12:1-3) . This year, the advance will once again occur at Warm Beach Camp on May 16th - 18th. Pastors Mark Driscoll, Bill Clem, Tim Smith, Scott Thomas and the campus pastors will be preaching and teaching. Check out this link for more information and registration.

We are praying for 50 College Dudes to hit this up.

Film and Theology
Tonight at 7:30 we are going to be watching Juno at the Paradox in the Ballard campus. Be sure to make it out and bring a friend or two to watch this amazingly hilarious flick.
Sign up at the Facebook event.

Last nights BBQ was a lot of fun. Apart from the Australian grease fire, with the potential to burn down the whole U-District, things went great for our first ever BBQ at UW. We had just the right amount of food, with around 100 students showing up for the free grub. The official rule for Facebook events is to double whatever the confirmed guest list number is. I think I’m going to do a dissertation on Facebook, look for it stores near you.

Last night was the last event of the quarter, Mars Hill on the Ave. will resume on Weds. April 2nd. Check with your community group leaders to see if you will be meeting next week or not.

Hope everyone makes it through exam week, and has an awesome Spring Break! Remember don’t drink the water in Mexico…

1. First things first: how and when did you become a Christian?

I became a Christian this past summer. It was late June and I was taking my girlfriend to the airport where she was leaving for a 2 month mission trip to Ethiopia. Before she left she gave me a bible. Looking back on it that was probably the best gift I have ever recieved. Within the next couple days I was addicted to reading it and read it as much as I could, every chance I could. I gave my life to Christ about a month later, when God really humbled me and I realized how jacked up I was.

2. What do you hope God does in and with your group?

The forum started as a way for guys in my fraternity to get together and talk about God. It is really cool to see this because there are only 3 guys (myself included) that have a personal relationship with Jesus, and about 7 guys that have really diverse faiths, whether it be non-practicing Jews, atheists, agnostics, or guys that grew up in a Christian home but don’t really have a faith of their own. With this kind of group I really hope that we can show these guys what it means to love God with our thoughts and actions. All that we can do as Christians is to live and preach the gospel to these guys, pray for them and leave the rest up to God.

3. Who comes to your group what do you do when you meet?

When we meet I usually try and read some scripture at the very beginning, so these guys can be exposed to the word. We will look into the passage, and I ask them some questions, then without fail the conversation takes off and we talk about anything and everything that relates to faith and God. We actually haven’t studied that much scripture yet, we are still working on why to believe the bible, the historical accuracy of scripture, how to develop faith, and the basics of Christianity. We are still learning how to walk and trying develop a solid foundation that will lead us into really analyzing scripture.

4. What would you say to someone who doesn’t think they are ready to start a group in their fraternity or sorority?

It can be daunting to start and lead a group for sure, but God makes it possible! I started leading this group not even knowing what a community group was, I had been a Christian for maybe 3 or 4 months and I really had no clue what I was doing. I would say if you want to start a group in your fraternity or sorority you should give it a try. Greek houses are a great place to start, you already know your group really well, it builds friendships in your house, and it is really good for your own faith. It really makes you think hard about why you are a Christian when you get asked some really tough questions that you don’t even know the answer to. It proved invaluable for me to have a good mentor in discipleship, theology, and faith. There are some truly amazing guys in the college ministry that have gone through similar things, so the resources you need are there waiting.

5. Where and when are you meeting?

We usually meet Wednesday nights at around 10pm in our fraternity.

6. How can people get a hold of you if they want to start a group like yours?

You can get a hold of my via:
Email: stuarts@u.washington.edu
Phone: 2069095966
Facebook!!!