He is worthy of all of the glory!

Hello everyone! I hope each of you have had a lovely month and that you have been experiencing closeness to God recently.  This month God has been so abundantly good to us here at UTD. The students have been chomping at the bit to know more about Jesus! In all of the student cores, we are seeing more students be eager to be involved, consistent, and pursue a personal relationship with Christ. A few weeks ago, the UTD staff women got together a number of students in each core and we calculated over 200 students. We found this to be true also of the men’s side of our ministry. Our leaders and staff are so outnumbered that our students have been offering to study Focus on Jesus in groups of 3 and 4 instead of the typical 1 on 1. Even still, we have been sourcing alumni and members from the church to come and help us get these students studied with. I have been encouraged by not just the student leaders who are leading these personal studies, but also the returning members of our ministry who have taken up the call to make and mature disciples. One of the girls in my core, Andrea, recently asked a freshman, Geraily, to study FOJ with her. Andrea told me that she was nervous but excited for what the experience would be like. I saw both of them individually after their first meeting and both of them expressed how fun and exciting it had been to have started. Geraily told me, “It was awesome and I can’t wait until next week!” Andrea said “It was awesome, I love Geraily!” It seems like as I’ve gone along this month, I have found students sitting with the Bible laid open studying FOJ. I saw a couple of students sitting in the on-campus apartment clubhouse, a couple sitting outside of the library, a handful of groups sitting in the Student Union, several couples at Starbucks just north of campus. God’s word is being opened and studied all over campus and God will be faithful through his word that is alive and active to turn hearts towards him and to deepen maturity among those who have chosen to follow him. Please join me in praying for each of these studies!

At the beginning of this month we also had our annual fall retreat called The Getaway! We spent all weekend praising God, praying, and learning about spiritual friendship. We spent time in Scripture exploring what it means to be a friend, conflict within friendship, and sacrifice within friendship. Each of the sessions was so thought provoking and challenging, we all learned so much. We also all together memorized 1 John 4:20b which says, “Whoever does not love a brother and sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” Please pray with me that the seeds planted at the retreat would continue to be watered and grow throughout the semester and that really great spiritual and Jesus-rooted friendships would bloom.

This semester our staff has been reading through Luke and Acts for our book club and it has been SO AWESOME! Last night I read Acts in its entirety and I was so encouraged by the disciples’ faithfulness in spreading the gospel despite the opposition they kept facing wherever they went. Today I was listening to a podcast episode sent to me by my coworker Peter about the growing movement in Iran of people choosing to follow Jesus despite the persistent persecution of Christians by the Iranian regime. The combination of Scripture and the living stories of Jesus turning hearts towards him both at UTD and throughout the world has ignited in me a deep encouragement and a stirring of the Spirit within me to praise God and to dedicate my whole self to him. In a couple of weeks I will be preaching on Jesus’ words in Matthew where he says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30). I have grown compelled to say that there really is no other name on heaven and on earth by which one can be saved. It is only through Jesus Christ that salvation can be found! (Acts 4:12). I pray that each and every day we would all become more and more convinced of this and that on that Day we would all stand before God and exalt his name together!

I want to extend an invitation to each of you to come and join us for our annual Alumni Night happening on November 21st at UTD. I would love for each of you to come and experience God’s presence among our students and for you to see the faces of the students you are investing in. It would be a delight to see you there! We also have our annual Keep FOCUS Growing Campaign starting tomorrow for the rest of the month of November. I want to invite you to read and tell your friends and family about the good work God is doing!

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your constant support towards what God is doing here at UTD. I pray an abundant blessing over each of you. God is good, y’all! Blessings, Andrea