Chi Alpha exists to bring Christians and those seeking a faith closer to God. We are committed to the fulfillment of Christ's Great Commission on campus. We are a national organization of students in higher education who unite to express the person and claims of Jesus Christ to campus communities and to call others into relationship with Him. Chi Alpha takes its name from christou apostoloi, "Christ's sent ones." We find our identity and task in Paul's words, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors...we implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Our vision is reconciling students to Christ - transforming the university, the marketplace, and the world. As students graduate, Chi Alpha recognizes the mission that continues beyond the campus.
We are a community: a community of worship, a community of prayer, a community of fellowship, a community of discipleship, and a community of witness. We include the concept of "community" in all of these because of the high priority we put on coming together.
Table of contents
Worship
Prayer
Fellowship
Discipleship
Witness
Our Primary Strategy
The Bottom Line
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By "community of worship" we mean as a gathered people, Chi Alpha must establish ministry to God as the highest call. We recognize that we were created by and now are reconciled to God to bring glory to Him. As Christ's family gathered, we become the dwelling place of God for the very purposes of ministry to Him as His priests, and for proclamation of His greatness to the world. We believe the presence of God is made real among us when Christians are spiritually empowered in worship (Psalm 22:3; Isaiah 43:7; Ephesians 1: 10-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10; Acts 1:8).
By "community of prayer" we mean as a gathered people on campus, Chi Alpha must establish intimacy with God as the highest privilege of Christians. We recognize the importance of confession, affirming the lordship of Christ, the fatherhood of God, and the conviction by the Spirit (Philippians 2:9-11; John 16:8). We acknowledge to God sins which make us ineffective in our spiritual walk and pray for each other for forgiveness and restoration (Hebrews 12:1; James 5:13-16; Psalm 139:23-24).
In supplication we acknowledge God as our source and supplier (Philippians 4:6,7,19). We bring our requests to God, expecting Him to fully supply our needs. We look to God for daily guidance.
Through intercessory prayer, we profess that God is the powerful healer and worker of miracles. We pray in faith that the sick may be restored. We stand in the gap praying that His will may be accomplished on earth (1 Timothy 2:1;Ezekiel 22:30-31).
By "community of fellowship" we mean as a gathered people of God on campus, Chi Alpha must be in joint submission to Jesus' command, "As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34, NIV). The permanent motivation to pursue fellowship is the command of Jesus to love one another.
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" (1 John 3:16, NIV). By this we also know the believer cannot live in isolation, but as a member of the Body of the elect, joined together by the common life-source of he Holy Spirit. Because members of the Body are priests and servants, they follow Christ's example of self-sacrifice on behalf of one another. This entails assessing one another's needs and responding with intercessory prayer and deeds of caring - "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12:15, NIV).
This flow of love is enabled and sustained by the Holy Spirit and His gifts (1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12; Ephesians 4). It produces harmony among the members that reflects the relationships within the Trinity, testifies to the divinity of Jesus, and validates the community's claim to be disciples of Jesus.
By "community of discipleship" we mean as a gathered people of God on campus, Chi Alpha must be committed to fulfilling the Great Commission given by the Lord Jesus Christ, to "disciple" all nations (Matthew 28:20). Our discipleship finds its directive in the authority of God's revelation, the Holy Bible. We are people of the Book. "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV). It is our one authority for belief and behavior, the subject of our constant study.
We desire to follow the instructions of Paul to Timothy, "These things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2, NIV).
By "community of witness" we mean as a gathered people of God on campus, Chi Alpha must be Spirit-empowered to display to the campus, what it means to be the people of God, proclaiming the gospel and calling others into a relationship with God.
We owe every person a clear presentation of the good news, that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIV).
Our statement of the gospel is combined with the Christ-like lifestyle we exhibit. This is seen in our intense love and care for one another and our deeds of love and justice in the world. (John 13:35; 2 Corinthians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:8).
Our primary strategy is to work toward the building of a group or community of people who share these ideals. We believe the most fertile atmosphere for people to come to faith and maturity in Christ is warm exposure to a group of people fervently committed to the God of the Bible, to one another, and to the task of evangelizing the campus. As a worshipping, praying, Loving, discipling, witnessing community, we demonstrate the kingdom of God and bring others into it.
Deeply aware of he urgency of this moment in history, we commit ourselves unreservedly to the work of reconciling men and women to God by the power of the Spirit. We consider the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to be our personal and primary responsibility before God and dedicate ourselves to reaching and discipling students to impact the nations of the earth before Christ's return.