Go Beyond

Every summer, Kingsland’s student ministry mobilizes students to serve on mission. This month, more than 450 students and leaders served from the greater Houston area to the ends of the earth. I have the privilege of leading our graduating seniors on their trip every year. This trip differs in that it is a worldview study tour.

For several years our graduates traveled to Israel to visit the places where our biblical worldview unfolded. We addressed the geographical, biblical, and historical context of each site. During our evening worship time I addressed the devotional context or the why does it matter questions.

This month I led our students on a study tour of the seven churches of Revelation in Asia Minor or modern day Türkiye. This biblical journey helped put into perspective how the gospel reached us. If you could trace your spiritual ancestry all the way back to the first century, you would likely find that your spiritual lineage traveled from Jerusalem through Asia Minor and across the Aegean Sea all the way to your front door.

Visiting the sites of the seven churches of Revelation was powerful because it helped our students understand the challenges believers faced in the early days of Christianity. And because many chose to remain faithful to Christ in the face of opposition and persecution and pressures to compromise, the gospel continued its journey to the West.

Being on site in Asia Minor gave our students the opportunity to glean deeper insights into the letters to the seven churches. In preparation for the trip, I wrote a study guide for our students structured around four key components.

First, I addressed the Scriptural context by exegeting the respective Biblical passage related to each of the seven churches. Second, I addressed the geographical context of each site and how those geographical considerations can open the eyes of our understanding. Third, I addressed the biblical and historical context. Finally, I addressed the devotional context or why what happened then should matter to us now.

We concluded each evening with a worship time followed by a devotional session in which we looked deeper into the lessons we should glean from each of the seven churches. And, as I do every year, I challenged our students to remain faithful to Jesus as they begin the next chapter of their lives.

Using the message to the church at Ephesus, I cautioned our students about how the world, the flesh, and the devil will try to persuade them to forsake their first love. I shared my own story of dealing with professors and students in college who were hostile to the gospel and how I dealt with each challenge.

I am thankful for the opportunities we give our students to serve the purpose of God both locally and internationally. And I am thankful for the investment that our student ministry makes into the lives of our students — equipping them to serve the purpose of God in their generation, to understand what they believe, and to live out their faith incarnationally in the context in which God has placed them.