USA (MNN) — InterVarsity Christian Fellowship has announced its Scripture focus for the upcoming Urbana 18 Student Missions Conference. The book of choice — Revelation.
Scripture for Urbana 18
(Image courtesy of InterVarsity)
“The primary reason we said ‘yes’ to Revelation is because we really believe that’s what God was directing us toward,” InterVarsity’s Ruth Hubbard shares.
“Our primary means of the decision making was prayer, in a group of staff who have some gifts of discernment. And we came together after a period of time after reading through a number of books of the Scripture, and this was a really clear decision.”
Confused about what Urbana is? Well, Urbana is one of the largest student missions conferences in the world, mainly for undergraduate and graduate college students. The conference is held every three years through InterVarsity in St. Louis, Missouri on December 27th-31st. Urbana 18 will be InterVarsity’s 25th student missions conference since Urbana’s beginning in 1946.
Traditionally, the Urbana conference is a place where students come face-to-face with missions and the needs in the world. Today, many students are already aware of crises throughout the world and the pain and suffering that’s taking place. What they need, in addition to awareness, is encouragement to get involved and share the hope of Christ.
Why Revelation
“We recognized in this book [of Revelation], there are a few key messages we believe are perfect for the times we’re in and for this generation of students,” Hubbard explains. “And one of those key messages, or key things in the Scripture, is that Revelation is about Jesus. It is about Jesus as the worthy lamb who was slain and who receives our worship, that he is on the throne eternally.”
This truth can be easy to forget when students are daily bombarded with images of refugees and phone alerts of ISIS attacks, droughts in Africa, and much more. Living in the time of the world’s largest humanitarian crises since World War II can debilitating.
This is why InterVarsity’s leadership team for Urbana 18 is focusing on Revelation, which is very much a revealing of Christ.
“To focus on a passage of Scripture that talks clearly about this lamb who is conqueror and who invites us into his throne room, this slaughtered lamb who is worthy and who is worshipped eternally, and that act of his death and resurrection is what makes him worthy because he has called together a kingdom of priests for God,” Hubbard explains.
“And so in many ways, the invitation is to say, ‘Let us look together, let us view together this Jesus and receive from him this invitation to be and to act and to function as a kingdom of priests for God.’”
Preparing for Urbana 18
Once the days get closer to Urbana 18, InterVarsity will have reading plans and discussion questions for students’ use in preparing for the conference.
(Photo courtesy of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship via Facebook)
But for now, Hubbard suggests those planning on attending Urbana 18 start reading the Gospels. If you’re looking for one specifically, read the book of John, who also authored Revelation.
Finally, there are multiple ways for those interested to get involved with Urbana 18. For one, plan to attend! And if you know a student who is thinking of attending, then maybe offer to help cover some of the costs for the student to attend the conference.
“I would love to see more students in particular arrive at Urbana, and to know there are some adults who were a part of the process of taking them there and are, in fact, walking with them in prayer,” Hubbard shares.
And actually, the biggest way to get involved is through prayer. So please, pray for the students who will be attending Urbana 18. Pray also for those who are in leadership and responsible for the culmination of Urbana 18. And finally, pray for the speakers and the seminar leaders who will be sharing and teaching at the conference.
For more ways to pray, stay updated here!
To learn more about Urbana 18, click here!
Amen and Amen.