Closing the Semester with Thanksgiving in BIBL 110
My classes always conclude with a class session devoted to expressing thankfulness to the Lord. It is an opportunity for our students to worship through testimony, reflection, and thanksgiving. It is an opportunity to speak openly about what the Lord has been doing throughout the semester, how He has used the study of the New Testament, and how He has been shaping lives through His Word, His presence, suffering, friendships, evangelism, and obedience.
Below are some of the main themes that emerged from our time together. I am so thankful to the Lord for these students.
1. Thanksgiving Is Worship
True biblical worship is a response to the attributes and works of God. We do not give thanks merely because a semester is ending. We give thanks because God has acted. He has taught. He has convicted. He has encouraged. He has drawn people to Himself.
This class session became a moment to say publicly: “Thank You, Lord.”
2. Christ Was Present in Every Class Session
Jesus promised:
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20).
Jesus is not absent from the Great Commission. He is not merely the one who sends His people out and watches from a distance. He is the risen Lord who goes with His people.
That means Christ was not merely the subject of study this semester. He was present with us as Lord, Teacher, Shepherd, and King.
This is why Matthew 23:8 matters:
“You have one teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.”
The human instructor is not the true center of the class. Christ is the Teacher. The professor, the class, the assignments, and the discussions are all secondary to Him. The goal is not that students leave impressed with a person, but that they leave more devoted to Christ.
3. God Is Still Saving and Reviving People
One of the beautiful testimonies shared in class was that the Lord is still saving people. Students spoke about friends coming to Christ. They spoke about the Lord stirring hearts, awakening desires, and reviving people on campus.
The gospel is not theoretical. The same Jesus we studied in the New Testament is still saving sinners, calling people to Himself, and awakening hearts.
The kingdom of God is not merely something to analyze. It is something to witness.
4. There Is Nothing Deeper Than God’s Word
One of the great lessons of the semester was the need to look carefully at the text: nothing more, nothing less.
We must not import our assumptions into Scripture. We must not read into the Bible what is not there. We must attend carefully, humbly, and obediently to what God has actually said.
There is no need to move beyond the Word of God to find something more spiritual. There is nothing deeper than what God has spoken.
The spiritual life is not strengthened by novelty. It is strengthened by careful, humble, obedient attention to Scripture.
5. Time with the Lord Is More Precious Than Anything Else
If one day in His courts is better than a thousand elsewhere, then even one hour in His Word is infinitely precious.
The study of Scripture must never become merely academic. It should become the overflow of a soul that longs for God:
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Ps 42:1).
“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere” (Ps 84:10).
My prayer is that students leave this class not merely knowing more about the New Testament, but wanting to open their Bibles, draw near to Christ, and walk with Him.
6. Time at Liberty Is a Stewardship
Time at Liberty is not accidental. It is a stewardship.
Many students are not majoring in biblical studies. They are studying business, education, counseling, psychology, art, science, and many other fields. Those callings matter. But it is a remarkable gift to study in a context where professional preparation can be joined to deeper formation in the Word of God.
Degrees matter. Vocations matter. But the Word of God matters more.
Faithfulness means doing the most we can with the time, energy, opportunities, and resources God has placed in our hands.
We should not waste the opportunity to study Scripture deeply while the Lord has placed that opportunity before us.
7. Every Christian Is a Missionary
One of the themes that came up repeatedly was the need to remove the idea that there are “missionaries” and then “everyone else.”
If we are in Christ, we are sent.
Some will serve Christ as teachers. Some as counselors. Some as business leaders. Some as artists. Some as caregivers. Some as parents. Some overseas. Some in Lynchburg. Some in their hometowns. Some in hospitals, classrooms, offices, churches, nursing homes, and coffee lines.
But every Christian belongs to the mission of God.
The Great Commission is not for a spiritual elite. It is for every disciple:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt 28:19).
“Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:20).
If people cannot encounter the gospel through our lives, our words, our kindness, our courage, and our obedience, then we are not living the life Jesus has called us to live.
The mission field is not only somewhere else. It is right here, right now.
8. Evangelism Is Urgent Because Eternity Is Real
Heaven and hell are real. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The people around us are not interruptions to our lives; they are people made in the image of God who need Christ.
Students reflected on the urgency of evangelism, not as an abstract assignment, but as a way of life. We do not need to wait until we feel like experts. We do not need to wait until we have titles. We do not need to wait until we are older. We need to be faithful now.
Evangelism may begin with a clear gospel conversation. It may begin with kindness. It may begin with courage. It may begin with noticing someone whom others ignore. It may begin with a willingness to speak when the Spirit prompts.
Small moments of obedience should not be despised. The Lord uses them.
9. Christian Friendship Is a Gift from the Lord
Some students gave thanks for friendships formed in this class—friendships marked by prayer, vulnerability, brotherhood, and sisterhood in Christ.
Those friendships should not be taken lightly.
Sometimes the Lord places people beside us in ways we do not immediately recognize. A seat in a classroom may become a divine appointment. A classmate may become a lifelong brother or sister in Christ.
Friendship in the Lord is not a small thing. It is a gift to be received, cultivated, and protected.
10. Suffering Can Be the Lord’s Tool of Formation
One student reflected powerfully on the way the hard moments may shape us even more than the good moments.
We should not assume suffering means God has abandoned us. We should not assume pain is wasted. The Lord may use hardship, disappointment, grief, and loss to shape His people into the image of Christ.
The New Testament does not present suffering as strange to the Christian life. Christ suffered. Paul suffered. Peter wrote to suffering believers.
The question is not whether suffering will come. The question is whether we will trust the Lord in it.
God is not wasting the hard moments.
11. The Word Is Alive and Meant to Be Entrusted to Others
The Word of God is alive. It is meant to stir hearts, renew minds, strengthen faith, and send believers out in obedience.
Sometimes we do not need something new. We need the truth we already know to be stirred up again.
Peter writes to “stir up” believers by way of reminder (2 Pet 3:1). Paul gives this charge:
“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men and women, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2).
What we have received from the Word is not meant to stop with us. It is meant to be entrusted to others.
12. Final Charge
There is no one more honorable, no one more valuable, no one more precious, and no one more worthy of our whole devotion than the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we close the semester with gratitude. Gratitude for His Word. Gratitude for His presence. Gratitude for His work in students’ lives. Gratitude for friendships formed, hearts stirred, faith strengthened, and gospel urgency renewed.
May we leave with reverence for His Word, confidence that He is with us, urgency for the lost, love for the church, courage in suffering, and a deeper desire to study Scripture faithfully.
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And go in His name.
