The Ultimate Guide to Being a Christian in College: Don’t Forget to Pack Your Faith - Softcover

Baxter, Jeff

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310732239 ISBN 13: 9780310732235

Verlag: Zonderkidz, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

Are You Ready for the Rest of Your Life? You got the high school diploma, received the college acceptance letter, and have your eye on that dorm fridge. Everything seems new and exciting―but with those positive feelings come huge questions about what awaits you once you're no longer home but sharing a small room with strangers instead. Don't fear! Here is your essential guide for everything you need to know to survive and thrive, with tips on: • Dorm life • Dealing with professors • Selecting classes • Balancing school and fun • Standing firm in your faith • Becoming who you’re meant to be • And more! With godly wisdom and understanding, Jeff Baxter draws from his experience helping young adults like you build a solid foundation for your life ahead.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Doctorate in Family Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary, Jeff is a pastor, author and has been a speaker and trainer in a variety of settings with youth, young adults, and adults. Jeff lives in Littleton, Colorado with his wife, Laurie, and their three children, Lillian, Levi, and Lara, where he is the Lead Pastor at River Church in Lakewood Colorado (RiverChurchMovement.org). Jeff blogs at sacredoutfitter.blogspot.com

 

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The Ultimate Guide to Being a Christian in College

By Jeff Baxter

Zondervan

Copyright © 2012 Jeff Baxter
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-73223-5

Contents

Foreword by Chap Clark..........................................................................9Acknowledgments.................................................................................11Introduction....................................................................................12Part One: Identity—Who Am I?..............................................................211 Grace: The Priceless Gift.....................................................................232 The Bible: Your Authority.....................................................................303 The Bible: The Whole Story....................................................................394 Belief: Faith in Jesus........................................................................545 Doubt: Those Uncertain Moments................................................................626 God's Will: His Design for You and Your Future................................................687 Prayer: Talking With God......................................................................77Part Three: Belonging—Where Do I Fit?.....................................................14115 Parents: Adjusting Your Relationship.........................................................14316 Friends: Finding and Keeping Them............................................................15117. Dorm Life: Bonding With Strangers...........................................................15818. Campus: Getting Connected and Involved......................................................16419. Mentoring: Spiritual Growth with Others.....................................................16920. Dating and Sex: Searching for a Spouse......................................................17721. Church: Finding and Investing in a Local Family.............................................190A Final Word (or Two Thousand): The Next Several Days of Keeping Your Faith.....................197

Chapter One

Grace: The Priceless Gift

I try to love God and love others. It is really hard sometimes. —Billy, 16 The law detects, grace alone conquers sin. —Saint Augustine of Hippo Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live. —Jacqueline Winspear The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out. —Dwight L. Moody

Real Freedom

Quick. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word grace? Is it a girl's name? A prayer before a meal? A characteristic of a person? Depending on your background, the word grace might be familiar or foreign. I want to start here because grace is often misunderstood, but it is possibly the most important piece of the puzzle of following Jesus beyond high school. Without grace there is no Christian faith, no Bible, no personal God, and no salvation. Life would not be worth living without this five-letter word, and the college experience will not be as fulfilling. There will be moments when you will need to receive grace from God and people, but also need to extend grace on the road to the real world.

Have you ever received something you didn't work for, earn, or deserve? Doing good things didn't get it for you. Acting a certain way didn't earn it. You didn't clean up your behavior for a day or a week to deserve it. It was just given to you with no strings attached.

Imagine a man convicted of a horrendous crime he didn't commit. He goes to the gallows completely innocent. Now imagine you are the one who committed the crime. He is innocent. You are guilty. He did nothing wrong. You did everything wrong. He didn't work for, earn, or deserve an ignominious death. You did.

In the Bible there is a verse that says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Because of our sin, we work for, earn, and therefore deserve spiritual death. In the story above, you deserved to be hung. But the verse doesn't end there. It says, but. What a wonderful little word. God gave us a gift. Like the innocent man in the story, someone else took your punishment for you. Jesus Christ provided the gift of eternal life for all who believe in him (Acts 16:31). It's free. Just believe.

This gift of Jesus Christ is salvation completely and totally without works or effort on our part. You can do nothing to get it. God didn't look at you and see goodness and therefore give you his Son. He saw guilty garbage piled up in your life. This is called sin, and grace is the only way to clean it up. It is God's determination to move before us. It started as God was making the world, and it continued after Adam and Eve sinned against him in the garden (Genesis 3). God's grace stretched throughout the Old Testament by way of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and on through Moses, David, and the prophets. And it culminated in Jesus Christ on the cross, dying for our sins. We receive this grace by faith (Ephesians 2:8). Just believe in Jesus. That's it.

Have you heard the old song "Amazing Grace"? Here are some of the words written by the song's author, John Newton:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear The hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come; 'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far And Grace will lead me home.

Maybe you've sung that hymn. Grace is amazing, but I think we've lost sight of some of its luster. This is why I'm starting here. If you've already received this grace and Jesus is your Savior, always remember how incredible God's grace really is. If you've been wrestling with God recently or for some time, maybe you need to take a closer look at his free favor given to you today. He loves you right where you are and not because you deserve it.

Grace is to capture, embrace, and love with no expectation of something in return. God really did go ahead of you to show you incredible love through Christ's death on a cross. He is smiling in heaven for you. As a matter of fact, he is singing over you. Really. He's singing (see Zephaniah 3:17).

Paul's Perspective

Did you know that the opening lines of almost every one of Paul's letters to the churches mention grace? Yes, he starts with a prayer, but that isn't what I mean. Paul starts with the word grace because he got what grace is all about. In Romans he says, "To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:7). In 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Paul says in some variation, "grace and peace to you." In 1 and 2 Timothy, he gets really creative and changes the introduction to say, "grace, mercy and peace."

Even Jesus's most trusted friend, John,...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Zonderkidz
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0310732239
• ISBN 13: 9780310732235
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 208
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar