About UsThe John's Christian Union is part of CICCU. The main CICCU website is far better at explaining what's going on and why we exist, so visit their site first here. What's the Christian Union all about?The focus of the CICCU is to 'make Jesus Christ known to students in Cambridge', and the John's College Group shares this aim. During our time here we have a unique opportunity to reach out to a large number of young people with the truth of our saving God. 'But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.' (Ephesians 2:4-9)As we tell this glad news of deliverance it is important that we are clear about the message we are proclaiming. The apostle Paul is very clear on the truths that he considers, in 1 Corinthinans 15, to be of first importance, that 'Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day' (v.3-4), that he reigns (v.25) and that he will come again to raise the dead and judge the hearts of all (vv.12, 24). The Bible also teaches that God did this because of His great love for us (John 3:16) and that it was necessary because of our rebellion against Him (Isaiah 53:6). This is the Gospel that we seek to make known, more fully explained in the Doctrinal Basis of the UCCF (Universities & Colleges Christian Fellowship) and more simply explained in 'Two Ways to Live'. To find out more about what Christian's believe, please click here. So if this is the message we share, What is our motivation for doing so?Paul gives us four reasons in Philippians 2:
These reminders should be an encouragement to us to tell the great news to our friends, but we must always be mindful of the fact that the conversion of unbelievers is God's work, and His alone. A person comes to faith by hearing the Gospel (Romans 10:14-17), but it is the Holy Spirit of God who brings them to faith and not the words of the speaker. How does this work out practically?It all starts with prayer. We try to make prayer a major feature of our Wednesday night meetings and there are prayer meetings currently running during the week. We also place emphasis on listening to God through the Bible. We host an evangelistic event once a term and run a Christianity Explored course once a year in the Michaelmas Term. We look to encourage one another by all these means to 'be active in sharing our faith, so that we will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ' (Philemon 1:6). Being part of the CICCU vision will involve:
If you are interested in becoming a member of CICCU, please contact the reps to get a membership form. What do we do for Internation Students?'How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?' (Romans 10:14)CICCU runs several events that specifically reach out to international students, and allow CICCU members to maintain their awareness and interest in Christianity worldwide. Here is a brief summary of some of those events (more can be found on the CICCU website).
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