Kevin Pike Ministry Blog #45

 March Update

    Hey everyone! I hope all is well, this month was a great one, so let's jump into it!

General Ministry:

    As of this week, I have started two more FOJ studies with guys in our ministry. FOJ (Focus on Jesus) is a ten-week study of scriptures that revolves around what Jesus said and did. These two guys were not interested in doing FOJ at the beginning of the semester for their own reasons, but on me asking them again recently, they agreed and want to study the Bible, which is exciting! Just in our first lesson, they have been asking a lot of good questions and are open to hearing what the Bible has to say. Recently, with two of the other men that I do FOJ with, we have finished the study and are now reading other books. With one of them, we are reading through a book called More Ready Than You Realize. This is one of my favorite post-FOJ books to go through, as it provides practical advice on how to live a life that is full of evangelism through friendship. The young man I am studying with is very intelligent and well-versed in the scriptures, but he is nervous about sharing his faith with his coworkers and classmates. This book has opened a good dialogue between us on how he can take steps in sharing his faith and being the evangelist that God calls us to be from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20

"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, baptizing 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.”

The other young man that I am studying with we are going through the book of Ecclesiastes. This student does not like to read at all, so getting to read the Bible on his own is nearly impossible. I chose to read this book with him because the book of Ecclesiastes is such a fascinating and different book from the rest of the biblical canon. So far, our time has proved fruitful as he is enjoying this book and asking questions that come from its teachings. He is a student who likes to think about philosophical ideas, and this book of the Bible definitely has its fair share of them.

    Mick and I's Cores have been going well! We have started a new series with our Wednesday night core over the book of Esther. We will read about two chapters per week, along with a discussion over the text. We chose this book because it has a strong theme of trusting God even when everything seems to be going wrong. We have found our students to have quite a brittle faith, as when any inconvenience or hardship comes along, they quickly get mad at God or start to question their faith. Esther will be a great book to see that God is always working in our lives, even when he seems absent. 

Here some pictures from this past month:

TNF:

    TNF has been doing great! We are starting a new sermon series called "Hot Takes". This series is all about addressing reactive needs that we have noticed in our community this semester and then addressing them in a fun, "roast" type style. During a typical sermon at TNF, we will include calling out some unbiblical or harmful things we see students doing or engaging with. Some examples from this school year include: calling out the fact that they are not good friends with each other, that they rely too much on AI for homework and don't use the brains that God gave them, and also breaking the commitments they are in based on their feelings. But we do it in a sort of "roasting" style that calls them out, and they also seem to have a great reaction to it. They love to be roasted, and they like to be teased about the things they do. Here are some of the sermon topics from our "Hot Takes" that we will be doing for the rest of the semester to give y'all some examples: "You have enough resources (time, money, etc), you're just undisciplined." "You're already an adult", "You’re not at mature as you think you are, ""You worship at the throne of the algorithm, and "Pickleball won’t build intimate, life-long friendships (one on one is how it's done)". All of these sermons will have scriptures and a theme to follow, so we are excited to see how they take it!

Here is a recent picture of our TNF that is back on campus for this week! Hopefully, Collin College will be done with its construction and remodeling of the campus so that we can permanently have TNF back on campus:

Prayer Requests:

    Please be praying for our students that they will have a desire to pursue God and the Bible on their own time. I see it with a lot of the guys that I study with; they do not study or pray on their own time as they pursue other things that they find more fun. 

Thank You: 

    Thank you so much for your generous support of our ministry at Collin College. Your generosity is a tremendous blessing that allows us to continue reaching students with the gospel, building meaningful community, and helping young men and women grow in their relationship with Jesus. Because of your partnership, students are being discipled, encouraged in their faith, and equipped to become leaders who shine the light of Christ on their campuses and wherever God leads them next. I am truly grateful for your support and the eternal impact you are helping make possible!