The University of Mobile is not just a beautiful, special and sacred place — it is a place that will change you, said UM’s new president, Dr. Charles Smith, during President’s Commissioning on Aug. 16.
“For decades now, thousands of men and women have driven up the drive behind you and left changed,” Smith told nearly 300 incoming students and their families gathered for President’s Commissioning on the university’s Great Commission Lawn. The event is the first of a two-part Great Commission Tradition that bookends each student’s college journey.
At President’s Commissioning, new students touch the Great Commission Globe in the center of the Great Commission Lawn to symbolize the start of their college career. Years later at commencement, they touch the globe again as new graduates to signify the next step in their journey, entering a world-wide mission field to pursue their calling for the glory of God and the good of the world.
Your first missions field
Following a time of worship led by UM’s “Worship Collective” student ensemble, Smith called on new students to embrace the journey ahead and make the most of their time at college — to lean in, try hard, make friends, serve, learn and lead.
With Matthew 28:18–20 — the Great Commission — as his theme, Smith said the University of Mobile calls students to serve others and share the hope of the gospel with them — “but only if that is truly your hope.”
“Your first mission field may be your own heart. How might God be calling you to trust and follow Him? How might this season serve to strengthen your faith?” he asked.
God’s ambassadors
The University of Mobile prepares graduates, Smith noted, for meaningful careers while also challenging them to see the world as it really is, through a biblical worldview.
“It is a world that God created. A world filled with men and women who bear his image and are called to steward their God-given gifts. A world broken by our sin, filled with people who walk in darkness and need God’s truth, love and restoration.
“It is a world that God loves, where He sent His Son to us to live the life we couldn’t and die the death we deserve, so that in Him we might be reconciled to God and received into heaven and released into the world as His ambassadors.
“One of the most remarkable things about the Christian faith is that God not only saves us, He invites us into His family, and commissions us — the redeemed — to join him in the redeeming,” Smith said.
Classes started Monday (Aug. 19) for students enrolled in over 75 academic programs at the Baptist university leading to associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. For more information about the University of Mobile, visit umobile.edu or call Enrollment Services at 251–442–2222.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kathy Dean and originally published by the University of Mobile.
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