Our core values are based on three different questions of which students grapple. 

1.       How can I know what is true? - Scripture

We live in a world where uncertainty often appears to be the only certainty.  However, human beings are not simply left with subjectivity, relativism, and chaos, for God has spoken into his fallen world through his Word.  The Bible, therefore, is central to everything that we do in the Student Ministry of First Presbyterian Church. 

2.       How can I be made right with God? - Justification

While the church may give lip-service to the idea that ‘Jesus paid for my sins’, there still remains a great misunderstanding among youth (and adults as well) as to what this means.  To remedy this, our student ministry emphasizes ‘justification’, defined as a one-time act where God declares sinners innocent despite their sin.  This forgiveness is not simply God ignoring our sin, but is based instead on ‘the great exchange’; consisting of Christ dying as our substitute, while sinners are given credit for Christ’s perfect life.  Through Christ, God both maintains his justice and demonstrates his love.  This justification is received by faith alone, and sinners can trust completely in it alone for the assurance of their salvation.      

3.       How can I change personally? – Sanctification

Students in the contemporary context, Christian and non-Christian alike, are struggling with the guilt, rejection, hurt, loss, and loneliness of a fallen world.  Though Christianity speaks into the brokenness of our lives, unfortunately, this message has often been explained as: ‘Through Jesus, we have been forgiven, but now it is our job to do more and try harder.’  This presentation of the Christian life not only diminishes the value of the cross by promoting our perceived abilities to do ‘what Jesus would do’, but also does not effectively deal with the sin remaining among the forgiven.  In the same way God is responsible for our justification, God is also responsible for our sanctification; a term that describes a process where God, through his Holy Spirit, indwells the heart of believers, leading them to look more like Jesus.  Student Ministry at First Presbyterian exists for more than behavior modification among students, but to promote the only real means possible for true change, Jesus Christ and his gospel.