REACH UNC

1 John Small Group Study Guide

admin — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:16:11 +0000

To download the new small group study click here.

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admin — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:45:47 +0000

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ReachUNC’s Strategy

admin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:43:36 +0000

With the many changes our ministry has experienced over the past year, I thought it would be helpful to give an overview of our strategy . We are receiving reoccurring questions about why we do what we do as we function differently than has been the tradition for Baptist Campus Ministry (or Baptist Student Union). Some have questioned if we are unfairly emphasizing certain things over others (e.g. evangelism over christian community) or neglecting things that should be elevated to a level of greater importance (e.g. discipling christians). Hopefully, this short explanation will help to communicate what we believe is a balanced approach to college ministry.

Bridge

First of all, the glory of God is the end goal for all we do (1 Cor. 10:31, Hab 2:14). We are not consumed with the glory of a church or a campus ministry or even the practice of the Great Commission itself. We are passionate about Jesus. With that said, the church is the vehicle by which God has ordained the spread of the gospel. Christ commanded that we “go… and make disciples” (Matt 28:19), so that by our obedience the world would know who Jesus is and that the enemy would stand no chance of defeating it’s testimony (Matt 16:18). We believe that everything we do must be deeply connected with the local church. We are not a church and challenge our students not to think of us as a replacement for becoming a covenant member of a local church. Through constant waves of emphasis on the importance of biblical ecclesiology (the study of church), we believe that we have been given a vital role in seeing students who come to college get connected and commit to a local church, thereby avoiding the trap of becoming a noncommittal young adult who “dates” local churches and settles for christian consumerism rather than the biblical command of covenant community.

Within ReachUNC students will have an opportunity to join our leadership training (Pipeline). During their time in the Pipeline (2 semesters), students will be trained to lead small groups that are held throughout campus. During this time they will learn how to train and disciple in a system that mirrors that of church planting. As they experience growth and see other students come to Christ, join the local church, and develop through discipleship, they will actually be learning and experiencing many of the things that go along with church planting. The goal of this is simple: Function like a member of a small group planting team for four years during college so that you will know how to function as a member of a church planting team when you graduate. Our prayer is that as students learn to advance the Kingdom during college, they will continue in this obedience afterword.

Lastly, the only authorized access to our campus is through an officially recognized student organization. As we know, bridges connect to both sides. We not only want to connect students to the church, but we also want to connect the church to our campus. ReachUNC is the access point to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Community

Community is the element that takes the least amount of work for our ministry, but is currently the most challenging for us as a staff. Christians in general, not just students, have a tendency to flock together and avoid engaging in culture. As God’s “called-out ones” we are not of this world, but we are still in it. This means that we mustn’t separate ourselves and become a “holy huddle” that excludes the rest of the campus, either intentionally or unintentionally.

With that said, we believe that local christian community localized to the campus is important. We want those who are unreached to see groups of Christians living out the gospel and pointing to Jesus through their proclamation of the Truth and the good deeds they perform (Matt 5:16, 1 Pe. 2:12). We want them to know that we are His disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35). A friend recently sent me a link to this article written by Logan Gentry from the Gospel Coalition. In the article, Logan says, “Many small groups have only a façade of intimacy because they do not help members reach friends and neighbors they want to know Christ. A small group that reflects the focus of the Acts community to love God, one another, and others becomes a community on mission with depth of intimacy.”

As God’s image bearers (Gen. 1:27), people are created with an innate desire to be part of community. This is because the Trinity is the perfect example of constant, harmonious community. College students hunger to be part of something. Moreover, they want to be part of something that is important. What could be more important than seeing people come to know the one, eternal Son of God and join a community that loves and worships Him?

For all of these reasons, we believe that Small Groups are the most important component to our ministry.

Mission

We believe, biblically, that the church is the ultimate training ground for disciples (Eph. 4:11-16), which means that the primary purpose for our existence is NOT for believers. Once again, we are NOT a church. Furthermore, the danger of elevating christian discipleship over evangelism leads us not only to the aforementioned pragmatic problems of exclusive communities that reject obedience to the Great Commission, but also a compromised biblical hermeneutic that views evangelism and discipleship as mutually exclusive, rather than unified in obedience to God’s Word and a passion for the glory of Christ and the expansion of His Kingdom.

We believe that we are all called to be missionaries to the campus at UNC-CH. Students and staff alike, are commanded by God to love this this university to which we have each been “sent” and to obey Jesus by sharing the gospel (both verbally and non-verbally) with humility and joy.

Once again I must emphasize the importance of our small groups with regard to our missional identity. God did not call us to be lone rangers out trying to win the world alone. Even Jesus sent out witnesses in pairs (Luke 10:1). Our small groups are not only groups that seek to grow together in their knowledge and understanding of God and His Word, but they are missional. They are groups that are on mission to spread everywhere at UNC, RDU, and the world the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 2:15).

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C2C

admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:44:55 +0000

Thank you to any of you who joined us on Wednesday and listened to the demonstration. We hope that it was informative and that you would look further at what the Bible teaches. If you have any questions, you can reach Lance or any member of our staff or leadership team from the “About” tab above. Below is a link to a chart that lists out the Creation to Christ (C2C) story that you heard presented.

C2C Chart

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How We Do It Announcement

admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:37:44 +0000

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Spring Conference 2012

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:02:39 +0000

March 30 – April 1, 2012 — Caraway Conference Center

“Strength In Leadership” is the theme for the 2012 BCM Spring Conference. The SC ’12 team, led by Aaron Hall of ECU, is now in its planning process. Caraway Conference Center has been confirmed as the host site for this event. The theme verse for the weekend will be Matthew 17:20 – ”…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move.”

Matt Orth of Crossroads Worldwide will be our featured speaker. We want this to be a time of fellowship, worship and learning with leadership lessons that will empower individuals and groups to lead with a Christ-like love.

The annual Spring Leadership Conference is a special weekend designed for all college age students from both church and campus groups in North Carolina with a focus on leadership development. This fun and educational weekend provides opportunities for learning through leadership breakout sessions, chances to fellowship with people from across the state, engage in praise and worship, and just get away from the world for a few days.

The Spring Conference has a primary focus on leadership development.

As part of the weekend, state elections take place for the 2012-2013 leadership teams. The following positions are elected on this weekend:

Statewide President
Spring Conference Team Leader
Summer Missions Team Leader
Action on Issues Team Leader
Evangelism Team Leader
FC 12 Team Leader
Internationals Team Leader
Prayer Team Leader

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Weekly Announcements 3.22

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:34:02 +0000

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Spring Conference 2012

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:31:07 +0000

Hey guys, I want invite you all to Spring Conference, which will be from March 29-April 1. I’ve mentioned this to you in the past but every year we have two state wide conferences for BCM. The Spring Conference is more tailored for leadership teams, but we are opening it up to everyone. The cost is $60 but if you are a little depleted in the cash department don’t let that stop you. We’ll find a way to get you there.

We will leave here on Friday afternoon and it’s only takes about an hour and a half to get there. We’ll be done by 11 on Sunday. Matt Orth is the speaker and you’ll love him. I actually brought in him to do one of our retreats several years ago. He’s connected with Clayton King of Crossroads, if you’re familiar with Clayton. This will also give us an opportunity to spend time together as a ministry. I know most of you are thinking, “that’s final four weekend.” I have already arranged a big screen TV with the Carolina game, so that can’t be your excuse.

I need to hear from you if you are interested ASAP. I don’t need your money until we leave but I need to hear from you asap on your availability. I need you to make this a priority. Carolina has never had a strong representation at state-wide events and it’s time for us to bring a strong voice. Many of the other BCMs across the state operate much differently than we do and we have a great opportunity to influence change. If you have any questions let me know. Thanks everyone, I’m honored to serve alongside you all!!

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Weekly Announcements 2/28/12

admin — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:51:01 +0000

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February 20th Announcements

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:59:17 +0000

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