Part 1: Welcome to College! Now Find a Church
Part 2: You Need Christian Fellowship in College
Part 3: Four Marks of a Faithful Campus Ministry
Part 4: Campus Ministries and the Priority of the Local Church
Part 5: College and Christian Fellowship: Now What? 

What are the implications of all we’ve examined in the last four posts? How do you apply these important truths to your life as you enter your first year of higher education? First, the most important thing you can do the moment you step on campus—or, better: before you step on campus—is find Christian fellowship in the place you will spend most of the next four years.

This means that you must find a Bible-teaching, Christ-exalting, disciple-making church that you can join and in which you can serve and find fellowship with other believers. Make that church your new church home. Become a member. Dive in, serve Christ and His people with all your heart, make regular attendance an immovable block in your weekly schedule, and embed yourself thoroughly into the life of the local church. The Holy Spirit will use the local church to stabilize, strengthen, and sweeten your walk with Jesus Christ. Don’t neglect it.

If a church has a ministry on your college campus, then all the better. But what’s most important is that you’ve found a good church; it’s not essential that you find an on-campus Christian ministry. But if you think having something on-campus would be helpful to you, seek a ministry that is characterized by the qualities we discussed in chapter three. Whatever you do, do not let your involvement in your campus ministry supersede your involvement in your new church home.

This is an exciting time in your life; I pray that you will steward it well. Most importantly, I pray that you will see your need for Christian fellowship and why the local church should be a matter of first importance during your time in college. Our God is good, and he has given us everything we need for life and godliness (1 Peter 1:3). Among His many good gifts, He has given us the local church to root us in Christ, establish us in His Word, and connect us with other believers so that they might edify us and we might edify them. In other words, the local church is God’s gift to help you keep the faith while you are in college. Use this gift well.