Student Ministries Pastoral Letter | November 2026
It’s been a fun few months in Student Ministries. A series of wins have us feeling pretty good about how things are going. But perhaps the best part is what I’m hearing from our students, parents, volunteer leaders, and staff. In a word, gratefulness.
Yes, we’ve prayed, strategized, worked hard, and given our all. But I don’t hear anyone taking credit for it. In fact, I don’t even hear anyone giving someone else the credit. Instead, in conversation after conversation, what I hear are brothers and sisters deeply thankful for the grace of God working in and through us to accomplish His good works. There is an unmistakable sense of His nearness, His blessing, the Holy Spirit drawing us in and giving us a new excitement about God’s heart and His plans.
By His grace, we are learning to hold both our successes and failures loosely. Though each of us has a role to play, none of us carry the burden of producing fruit, results, progress, growth, flourishing. That is God’s work, by His good will in His good timing. And, with apologies to 38 Special, this is a truth that goes way back. In Paul’s words to the church in Corinth, roughly two decades after Jesus’ ascension:
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Cor 3:6-9 ESV)
Are you holding too tightly to your failures or successes? A failed relationship, a thriving business, a missed opportunity, a hard-earned achievement? I encourage you to lay it down at the cross of Christ. Ask Him to help you see your failures and successes through the lens of His grace. Trust Him to redeem what has gone wrong and use what has gone right for His glory. Thank Him for His faithfulness in both, and His grace that carries you through every season.
That’s my prayer for you and your family – that you would know His peace whether you’re standing tall on top of the mountain or trudging through the valley. You are God’s field, His building. Only He gives the growth. Let’s rest in that and model it to our families this Thanksgiving.
For the kingdom,
Ryan Carson
Pastor of Student Ministries
