Who We Are
BSM: Baptist Student Ministry. A student led mission organization, living in the grace and rest of God and creating disciples in community.
Jesus
God in the flesh come to earth to remove all that stands between us and him (called sin) by shedding his own blood to pay the penalty for that sin. He is miraculously born to a virgin, crucified for our sins, raised from the dead by the power of God. He is the only way for mankind ot be reconciled to the Creator.
We have chosen our own way, and that way ends in eternal separation from God. Anytime we choose religion we are still choosing our own way so it must be God’s terms that bring us back to Him. He simply wants us to trust Him as He had established in the beginning. Through Christ alone do we trust God and not ourselves. If you want to do that today believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Email us here and let us know so we can talk to you more about this decision.
BSM
The #1 thing above everything else is that we love Jesus. We do not exist to promote religion but to proclaim our being set free by the KING Himself. Everything else goes out the window. With that understanding, we exist to create disciples because that is what the Lord Jesus Christ said to do. We are about what He is about. We do not make converts because it is part of our religion. We create disciples because that is the heart of the Lord.
What is a disciple?
A disciple of Jesus reveals and reflects God by living a word-centered, prayer-centered, spirit-led, compassionate, transformed, and missional life in community. Let’s break that sentence down.
REVEALS and REFLECTS God– we believe whole-heartedly in the Sabbath (rest) of God. That means you are under no obligation to prove yourself. When we were dead in trespasses we had to try to prove ourselves by doing all of these religious things, but Christ came to give you rest. When you are approached about praying to lead, it should be brought to the Lord in prayer. Do not worry about losing heaven points, disappointing, or offending. The BSM staff will not be offended if you say no. Thus, the Bible only speaks about two kinds of ministry:
- the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:14-21) which is where you share Christ with other verbally as you serve as His ambassador wherever you may go (revealing);
- the ministry of spiritual transformation (2 Cor. 3:18-4:10) which is where you decide to die to yourself daily so the Lord can reveal who He is in you and through you (reflect). Notice, none of this takes up so much extra time in your day. You are simply revealing and reflecting God where you live, work, and do school.
Being Word-centered, prayer-centered, and spirit-led are actions you take to cultivate a field where God can work in your life to do what 2 Cor. 3:18-4:10 says- die to yourself. This is spending time in the word, praying, and being led by the Spirit of God living inside of you.
Being compassionate, transformed, and living a missional life in community are practices you live out daily. You are transformed and communicate to people that you are being transformed. You are compassionate because you have been shown much mercy and so you also show much mercy. You do not have a segregated life but you whole life is lived with the intention of being on mission with Christ and representing His heart- missionally.
Finally, we were made to live in community. We were made for community, and as hard as it may be from time to time we must force ourselves to be in the midst of others. We seek to live out transparent and genuine lives with one another- not soiled with rude talk and drama.
That is the heart of what we are doing- creating disciples, living in the rest of Christ, and striving for community.
We encourage you to assume co-responsibility with Christ for your major/dorm/club in community with other believers in the same major/dorm/club. We encourage you to begin a small group geared toward your area where you spend your time. We also encourage you to begin to pray for that community of people. We will come along side of you as you engage your peers.
How we accomplish these goals:
- Free lunch– every Tuesday from 11-2 we serve free lunch to over 200 students. This is an extraordinary opportunity to bring along a friend who you are developing a friendship with or to meet new people.
- Large group meetings– we have a worship service on Tuesday nights at 7pm in our building. We have hang-out times and other potential large group times.
- Small group Bible studies– join us every week to learn from the Bible and seek truth together.
- Prayer- nothing will move on this campus and make lasting change like the spirit of God.
- Missions- in addition to living out the cause of Christ on campus we want to remain aware of needs throughout the world and respond with true compassion. We serve mainly and primarily through Go Now Missions.
- Social networking- I bet you didn’t expect to see this on the list, but this is the primary tool of communication these days. We hope to include daily devos and worship experiences for students through youtube and apps. We want to include people in prayer and meetings through Insta Live. We want to communicate fresh ideas and events through Facebook/Insta/email.
- Men/women ministry- a specific way that we desire to make disciples is by speaking to the unique questions/needs of women and men in separate arenas. We want to walk with men to become full of honor and women as they live a life of integrity. We have retreats, special nights, and bible studies specific to these needs.
- Internationals- each year 6000 students from across the world come to UH to continue their studies, but mostly to experience American culture and meet new friends. Most of these students do not have a relationship with Christ. We work alongside partners in the gospel to make sure to welcome and befriend our guests from all over the world.
The Baptist Student Ministry is a student-led organization. We do have staff, but our primary responsibility is to serve you. If you want to do some sort of ministry in your sphere then we will get the resources. If you want to be a teacher or part of the worship team we help you find your spot. We also walk alongside of you in your journey with Christ. We are not looking to take it over or make your walk look just like our walk, but we simply serve as a companion that can possibly answer some questions and help you out.