St. John's College
Christian Union
fellowship, family & faith
CICCU exists to make Jesus Christ known to students in Cambridge
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 he considers to be of
first importance in 1
Corinthians 15, 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 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’.
So if this is the message we share,
What is our motivation for doing so?
Paul gives us four reasons in Philippians
2:
1. The love of Christ (v.1-2)
Jesus loved us with such passion that he gave up his life to save us.
As we begin to recognise the depth of this love we will want to tell
people about him. Love for our friends will also urge us to share his
goodness with them.
2. The fear of Christ (v.12)
We are to ‘work out our own salvation with fear and trembling’, in
recognition of God’s power and our own weakness. He is sovereign and
‘every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth’
(v.10).
3. The commission of Christ (v.15-16)
We have been commanded by our Lord to ‘make disciples of all nations’
(Matthew 28: 19-20) and have been made ambassadors of his saving
message. We are required to share the truth we have been given: ‘I have
not concealed thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness from the great
congregation.’ (Psalm
40: 8-10)
4. The Day of Christ (v.16)
Jesus is coming soon to judge the living and the dead. This realisation
should motivate us to reach out to our friends with his saving Gospel
while we have the chance.
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
6).
Being part of the CICCU vision will involve:
- Being active in witness themselves and using the resources provided by CICCU.
- Praying towards the work of the CICCU (crucial!).
- Serving in one of the many necessary roles.
- Giving financially towards the work.
- Providing encouragement to those in leadership and giving feedback.
- Taking the initiative in working out the aim of the CICCU
themselves.
- Passing on the vision of the CICCU to others!
If you are interested in becoming a member of CICCU, please have a look at the Membership Form.