Church & Studentsనమూనా

Jesus’ promise here that the Holy Spirit will be given as a gift to empower our evangelism pre-empts the amazing scenes of Pentecost and beyond. So often in the Church, we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit as a gift to empower our own discipleship and communal worship. These are both, of course, true and biblical examples of the Holy Spirit at work. This first time we see the church filled with the Spirit, though, it is for a very specific purpose - to empower the disciples as ‘witnesses’, to share the promises of God to those gathered in Jerusalem who did not yet know Jesus and ‘...for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.’

The power we see the Holy Spirit bring seems to outwork itself in both releasing gifts that enable the disciples to communicate the gospel and increasing their confidence in sharing God’s promises.

Recent research conducted by Fusion shows that 76% of university students would go to church if a friend invited them, yet we have also found that many Christian students lack confidence when it comes to inviting friends to church and sharing faith. As we read previously, with 24% of UK students being from non-UK communities, our universities, like Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, are gathering places of the spiritually hungry from local, national and international communities. Let’s pray today that the Holy Spirit would empower students with the gift and confidence to share their faith with those around them, from their equivalents of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth!

Prayer: We pray for students who know you and are a part of student communities across England and Wales. May your Holy Spirit empower them to be your witnesses in the global communities they find themselves in at university.