Collegians for Christ Leadership Podcast: Recent Episodes
Collegians for Christ
A podcast providing conversations and resources geared towards everything related to campus ministry, college ministry, and young adult ministry. Whether you are already involved or are thinking about starting a ministry, this podcast is meant to help you in your journey to start and grow an effective ministry.
The episode draws on passages including John 4, Matthew 13 and 9, 1 Corinthians 3, Romans 10 and Ecclesiastes 11. Key topics include selecting the spot, preparing the soul, planting and nurturing the seed, discerning the right time to harvest, and the importance of prayer for laborers.
Practical takeaways include asking spiritual discovery questions, building relationships, following up, using hospitality, knowing your gifting (gardener vs harvester), and practicing conversational evangelism. The episode features student testimonies from Amy, Ethan and Briannnon that illustrate real one-on-one conversions.
Listeners should expect hands-on encouragement and concrete next steps to be intentional in campus ministry: get your hands dirty, love people well, and be willing to ask the question that could change someone’s eternity.
On this episode, we examine the dangerous reality of the “Almost Christian” — people who know "about" Jesus and Christianity but lack a genuine, saving faith in Him. Jesus’ warns in Matthew 7:13–23, that there is a huge distinction between a head knowledge and true ventured trust. Too often people equate salvation to growing up Christian, moral living, or church activity.
The episode offers clear tools and conversation starters to help move someone from Almost Christianity to true faith. A few tips examined are: never assume anyone is saved, always ask open‑ended discovery questions, dig deeper to uncover someone’s testimony, pinpoint a decision, lead them to call on Jesus, and be patient and compassionate in follow‑up.
Outreach tables are an effective means of reaching and connecting with students. These tables are so effective because they bridge barriers, create gospel opportunities, and bring students into both the Bible study and local church. The ideas are unlimited when it comes to these tables. On this episode, Kyle and Kosta talk through table ideas that have proven effective this school year and share the logistics and practical side of the table set-up.
In this episode, we examine practical methods to engage skeptics and unbelievers by finding common ground and removing intellectual blocks to the gospel.
Listeners will learn practical tools about how to ask open-ended questions, identify common objections (Big Bang, evolution, dinosaurs, “who made God?”), explain the first-cause and design arguments, and build relationships so the Holy Spirit can work. This training is designed for anyone in campus or young adult ministry who wants confidence to engage unbelief effectively and with compassion.
In this episode, we walk through Acts 17 and outline practical, everyday strategies for engaging unbelief in today’s culture. We examine five types of unbelief and talk through topics about starting conversations back at creation, appealing to people's conscience and the moral law, avoiding using Christianize, and using non-Christian sources and critics as bridges. This episode emphasizes asking compassionate questions, building relationships, and patiently guiding people toward Jesus, not merely converting them to a label.
On this episode, we talk through the effective way of using conversations and questions to share the Gospel with unbelievers. These practical tools will equip you to start a conversation, identify where people are spiritually, present the Gospel clearly, and bring a person to a point-of-decision for Jesus Christ.
In this episode, we learn how to engage with unbelief in today's culture through meaningful conversations. Discover the importance of making room for the gospel, building genuine relationships, and using hospitality to break barriers. Explore how open-ended questions can lead to impactful discussions about faith, and understand the significance of demonstrating the gospel through actions. Gain encouragement and practical tips to start conversations about spirituality, backed by research and real life experiences.
I consistently get asked these questions: Can anything at all can be done to reach the secular university and how do you start a ministry on a secular university campus? This episode is from a recent training session that was offered at the Loving & Leading Conference that answers these two questions and much more. This was recorded in a live class room setting but edited to remove attendee's questions.
College and career young adults love a discussion based Bible study. It generates great interest and allows them to participate in the study. It is an excellent outreach tool. In this session, we will talk through study topics to cover, leading the study while allowing discussion, the importance of the room set-up, and utilizing small groups in the study.
Too often we measure our success by the number of people who attend an event. While this may be an indicator or by-product of success it is not the correct measuring stick for success. On this episode, we talk through how we are to measure success in ministry.
We have heard about the reports of revival occurring at Asbury College and other places over the past few years. Is a revival happening at your campus or ministry and if so what would it look like? We talk through this question on this month's episode.
With so many young adults feeling lonely, there is a great need for us to build a relational ministry. This type of ministry takes a lot of time which is hard to come by our fast paced society. On this episode, we talk about ways to maximize and be efficient with your time plus share ideas on how to do relational ministry. In the end, a relational ministry will produce growth because it will be a place young adults want to be and will want to invite others.
With the spring semester being very different from the fall semester, there are some specific areas we should shift our focus. We will discuss the differences between these two semesters and what to focus your time and energy on to ensure that you are maximizing your efforts for the spring semester.
I have noticed a big issue in the lives of young adults when it comes to connecting with other people. There is what I would call a "connection anxiety" or even a "connection dysfunction" that many young adults are experiencing. On the episode, we will talk about what we are seeing in regards to this issue and give 5 ways that leaders can react to be a help to young adults.
Patience is a virtue that is hard to practice especially in our fast paced, click instant society. If there is one ministry that requires patience on behalf of the leaders and leadership team is it college and career ministry. It can be hard to practice at times and without it this ministry can become very frustrating. But can I say that patience will pay off! We talk about why patience is so necessary and how we can practice patience more in our ministries.
How can I get students to our meetings? What are the best ways to advertise on campus? I get these questions like these often. On this episode, we talk about ways that both a campus ministry and a local church ministry can advertise their ministries well on the campus.
This is an excellent question that we receive often. We will talk through some ideas on establishing an environment for a Bible study setting. There are a variety of topic ideas that can be done effectively in teaching young adults which we will walk through. You can find the free Bible studies that we offer online at https://www.cfccampusministry.com/bible-study-material
There are two great enemies to spiritual growth for college students and young adults and that is busyness and pornography. Both of these enemies are also relevant to Christian leaders. On this episode, we raise awareness to the impact that these two issues have on young adults and some ideas to help navigate these enemies.
With the semester complete and graduation over, now what? No need to completely forget about campus ministry until August. Take the summer to gradually prepare to have an effective and stressless launch for the fall semester!
We share ideas on how to identify the type of young adults you have in your ministry and which ones we should spend our time working with. Four ideas are given on how to build leaders in your ministry that can in turn build other leaders.
Not all Christian students who attend a secular university will forsake their faith or drop out of church! Listen to this insightful and encouraging conversation as he shares about his experience on campus and what the turning point was that helped him not only survive but to thrive on campus. Special guest Jacob Clower.
What about all the international students on your local campus? Is there a way to reach and minister to these students? On this episode, we share six ideas that you could utilize to reach and impact international students on your campus.
Have you ever considered the international students who attend your local college? Where are they from and what is God doing by sending these students to study in America? This episode highlights these students and the opportunity it present to you.
The college campus provides many opportunities to reach students with the Gospel. Our special guest, Zach Campbell, joins us on this episode to share insight into conducting an outdoor outreach service right in the heart of campus to reach students.
The universities host numerous events throughout the school year that campus ministries are allowed to be a part of. These events provide a tremendous opportunity to get the Gospel out to reach and connect with students. On this episode, we have special guest Matt Phillips, the CFC campus minister at Florida State University, share about these events and how their group has utilized these to reach and connect with students.
Young adult & college ministry can be hard and even discouraging at times. On this episode, we share a few thoughts on how vital you are to this ministry and to encourage you to keep going.
It is essential to help young adults know what they believe and why they believe it. This is at the core of apologetics. On this episode we talk about ways to use apologetics in college and young adult ministry.
We discuss 5 key elements that young adults are searching for. As our ministries facilitate these elements, we will have a place that young adults will not only love to be at but will naturally gravitate to!
We talk with Zach Campbell about a recent outreach event conducted at Harvard University and share how you could do this same type of outreach at your local campus.
Our special guest Joel Norris gives an inside view of what it was like starting a Collegians for Christ ministry at Middle Tennessee State University. He also shares encouraging testimony of what God has done through this ministry in the hearts and lives of college students.
Do you have a college campus in your area that you would like to reach? This episode shares the practical steps to take in order to establish an officially recognized campus ministry on your campus.
Are college & career retreats really that important today? Should leaders make the effort to get their young adults to these type of retreats? Special guest Drew Sikma joins us as we dive into these questions and share upcoming Collegians for Christ retreat opportunities.
We have our special guest, Zach Campbell, with Known Ministries, as he shares an inside scoop of what it's like being a Christian at a secular university. He reveals what helped him not become a statistic of rejecting his faith or dropping out off church while in college.
Our special guest Joel Norris joins us on this episode to share his insight and experience in reaching young adults through the local church. God has done an amazing work over the last 7-8 years in building Crosspoint, a thriving young adult ministry at Franklin Road Baptist Church.
A sneak peak of our upcoming conversation with Joel Norris, the young adult director at Franklin Road Baptist Church. You will not want to miss the full episode as he shares very practical helps from his experience as God has grown a strong young adult ministry over the years in his church. Episode will be available on July 15th!