The fall semester of ministry has been a great one for GAP! We’ve been blessed with a great group of graduate students and young professionals and hopefully you’ll be encouraged by reading a little about what God is doing in the GAP ministry at Northstar!
Our Vision
Without a clear vision, we recognize that GAP can easily just become another “social club” where people can come and hang out but never really be challenged to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Because of that potential, we want to consistently reinforce our vision, which is that we would be an authentic community that welcomes people in and encourages them to pursue a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We do this through small groups, discipleship, and events, a couple of which we’ll highlight here.
Small Groups
We have been blessed to have four different weekly small groups meeting this semester, with an average of 40 people spread out among groups during the week! We decided to study the book of Galatians as a ministry, and it has been encouraging to hear stories about how people are engaging in discussion and learning more about Scripture. Small groups have been a great way to get involved in the GAP ministry and Northstar as a whole.
Big Group
The opposite of small group is…Big Group! We have a couple of big groups a semester where all the small groups come together for a time of teaching, fellowship and food. It’s a great time to refocus us on the vision for GAP and also to be able to meet people outside of regular small groups.
Fall Retreat
The annual GAP Fall Retreat has become one of our favorite events, and this year was no different! On the weekend of October 26-28, about 30 of us went to Smith Mountain Lake for a time of rest and relaxation, along with teaching, worship…and a costume contest! Our theme was “Spiritual Maturity,” and we were blessed to have Trey Moore from Cru and Neal Nelson from Northstar come and share about how our maturity in following Christ manifests itself in both our emotions and in our relationships with others.
GAPsgiving
Another one of GAP’s favorite events is our Thanksgiving potluck meal, which we have dubbed “GAPsgiving.” It’s always an awesome time to get together and eat some delicious food and have some time of thankful reflection on what the Lord has done in our lives and ministry over the past few months. It’s also a very invitational event, since everyone is always excited to eat some Thanksgiving food. This year we had over 50 people attend!
Thanks for reading about some of the things that God is doing in the GAP ministry at Northstar! We’re excited about what has already happened this semester and for what’s to come. If you are a grad student or young professional, we’d love to talk to you about getting more involved!