Every Student
Why are teenagers so important to us? Because each one has been created by God with immeasurable value and eternal purpose. Those are some big ideas... but we really believe them. Each student has such incredible potential – with practically their entire lives ahead of them. They are making some of the most important decisions of their lives...college, career, family...the consequences of which can have life-long implications. By investing our lives into theirs, we help them meet these challenges, overcome temptations, and most importantly, see how God has a place in their lives.
You see, Student Venture believes that God desires to have a relationship with everyone ... even teenagers. We believe that He made a way for that to happen through His Son, Jesus. That is really, really good news! And we want to share it with every student at every school.
How do we reach out to teenagers? There are really two parts to it, and they can be summed up with the phrase, "Each and Every Student".
First, we want to spend personal time with each student -- "life to life". That means going where they are, hanging out with them and their friends, finding out what issues they are dealing with, and answering their questions one by one. Nothing means more to teenagers/students than simply spending time with them.
But we also want to meet every student. That means we also sponsor events on a larger scale. These can range from basic motivational and instructional talks given to classrooms, teams, and clubs ... to school-wide assemblies ... to weekend and week-long conferences where we go deep into what it means to know God.
Our goal is to clearly and compassionately communicate the truth and love of Jesus to every middle and high school student in the Chattanooga area. As students are won to Christ, we invest IN them to build them up in their faith and train them to share this incredible message with others. Then, when they invest their lives into the lives of those that are lost around them, these same students can change their campuses—and the world—for Jesus.
Statement of Faith
The sole basis of our beliefs is the Bible, God's infallible written Word, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. We believe that it was uniquely, verbally and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit and that it was written without error (inerrant) in the original manuscripts. It is the supreme and final authority in all matters on which it speaks.
We accept those areas of doctrinal teaching on which, historically, there has been general agreement among all true Christians. Because of the specialized calling of our movement, we desire to allow for freedom of conviction on other doctrinal matters, provided that any interpretation is based upon the Bible alone, and that no such interpretation shall become an issue which hinders the ministry to which God has called us.
There is one true God, eternally existing in three persons -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- each of whom possesses equally all the attributes of Deity and the characteristics of personality.Jesus Christ is God, the living Word, who became flesh through His miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit and His virgin birth. Hence, He is perfect Deity and true humanity united in one person forever.He lived a sinless life and voluntarily atoned for the sins of men by dying on the cross as their substitute, thus satisfying divine justice and accomplishing salvation for all who trust in Him alone.He rose from the dead in the same body, though glorified, in which He lived and died.He ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, where He, the only mediator between God and man, continually makes intercession for His own.Man was originally created in the image of God. He sinned by disobeying God; thus, he was alienated from his Creator. That historic fall brought all mankind under divine condemnation.Man's nature is corrupted, and he is thus totally unable to please God. Every man is in need of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.The salvation of man is wholly a work of God's free grace and is not the work, in whole or in part, of human works or goodness or religious ceremony. God imputes His righteousness to those who put their faith in Christ alone for their salvation, and thereby justified them in His sight.It is the privilege of all who are born again of the Spirit to be assured of their salvation from the very moment in which they trust Christ as their Savior. This assurance is not based upon any kind of human merit, but is produced by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who confirms in the believer the testimony of God in His written word.The Holy Spirit has come into the world to reveal and glorify Christ and to apply the saving work of Christ to men. He convicts and draws sinners to Christ, imparts new life to them, continually indwells them from the moment of spiritual birth and seals them until the day of redemption. His fullness, power and control are appropriated in the believer's life by faith.Every believer is called to live so in the power of the indwelling Spirit that he will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but will bear fruit to the glory of God.Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, which is composed of all men, living and dead, who have been joined to Him through saving faith.God admonishes His people to assemble together regularly for worship, for participation in ordinances, for edification through the Scriptures and for mutual encouragement.At physical death the believer enters immediately into eternal, conscious fellowship with the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting glory and blessing.At physical death the unbeliever enters immediately into eternal, conscious separation from the Lord and awaits the resurrection of his body to everlasting judgment and condemnation.Jesus Christ will come again to the earth -- personally, visibly and bodily -- to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.The Lord Jesus Christ commanded all believers to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world and to disciple men of every nation. The fulfillment of that Great Commission requires that all worldly and personal ambitions be subordinated to a total commitment to "Him who loved us and gave Himself for us."
