As the local church, it is our responsibility to help fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18–20). We go because Jesus reigns and we want the whole world to know and submit to his reign.
The Immanuel College Collective is an arm of Immanuel that seeks to help her walk in this mission, which means going out to find, connect, and share with students where they are. This passage in Matthew implies that if we go and share, people will be saved! As the Lord saves his disciples, we are called to teach them all that he has commanded. This means we teach them how to follow him, and following Jesus starts with the local church.
We want to go where the students are. This means we want to have a presence on college campuses. We want to be strategic and consistent.
Once established on the campus, we want to connect with students. We want to live life with these students and invite them into Christian community. We want to shower them with Christian love and hospitality.
As we connect, we want to be sharing the good news of Jesus with them. We want to tell them about our Savior and call them to repent and believe in him. All that we do is meant to lead students to worship and follow the risen King Jesus.
As the Lord draws his people to himself, it is our role to teach them what it means to follow him. We want to teach them how to pray and read their bibles. We want them to know the importance of the local church and be devoted to loving and serving the body.
The first step of discipleship is to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. But baptism is meant to happen in the context of the local church. Therefore, they are to be baptized into membership at a local church. It is our conviction that discipleship must take place in and through the local church.
As these new disciples grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, it is our hope that they will be on mission themselves. We want them to be disciples who make disciples. And specifically, those who make disciples on the campus where God has placed them.
The Collective has been so monumental in my walk with the Lord. Coming into this ministry as a newer believer, I was surrounded by older believers who poured into me and encouraged me to dive deeper into community by joining Immanuel. Over the last three years, I’ve also gotten the chance to grow in evangelism, pour into younger girls, and learn how to disciple them. I wouldn’t give up time in this ministry for anything and can’t wait to see how the Lord uses it for college students in the future!
Mae Stinson // Student at UofL
By God’s grace, we hope to see students finding and following Jesus on campuses all over Louisville. Will you join us?