RUF Michigan

Although we're made for relationships, to be deeply known and loved, we often don't feel that way. What's wrong with our relationships? Why is there "bad blood" between us? Before you're tempted to answer "sin" or "it is what it is," join campus minister Robert Knuth as we look at Gen 3:1-21.

We're calling our new series for Winter 2022 "Relationships Re-imagined" because we believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to fundamentally change how you relate to yourself, to other people, to the world, and most importantly, God Himself. Join campus minister Robert Knuth as we start in Gen 1:1-3, 26-31, Gen 2:18-25 to see just how much every single one of us is made for relationships.  

What defines you? What is it that makes you who you are? It took Peter a lifetime to answer these questions for himself. Join campus minister Robert Knuth as he opens up 1 Peter 1:3-9, 13-21; specifically what conclusions Peter came to at the end of his life about his identity and how following and believing in the risen Jesus Christ changed everything.

Do you feel like following Jesus is a spiritual treadmill of sorts? When it's going well, all is good, but when you fall off, it's somehow hard to get back on? One of the best passages in all of Scripture, John 21:1-19 is a picture of the resurrected Jesus making breakfast for the disciples on a beach. It is Jesus' restoration of a shamed Peter who lives out of the narrative that he is nothing but a failure (and always will be a failure). And as campus minister Robert Knuth highlights, it is Jesus' presence and words that ultimately get Peter back in the game to love and shepherd God's people. 

How do you respond to the gut punch of despair? You do 1 of 3 things: condemn it away, prop yourself up above it, or put your head in the sand to forget about it. As campus minister Robert Knuth shows us in Mark 14:66-72, Peter's denial of the events that just took place as Jesus was arrested and lead away by the Jewish leaders highlights something about our humanity. And it's Jesus' response to Peter's denial that ultimately has the power to pierce our souls and embrace redemptive reality.  

Jesus is dropping blood in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prays to the Father just hours before He is betrayed. The anguish His body feels as He prepares for the cross is on full display. And yet, His best friends are...sleeping? Why? What is so important about this scene that all four Gospel writers include this story within their accounts? Join campus minister Robert Knuth as he opens up Mark 14:27-50 to reveal a Jesus who ceaselessly prays for you "that your faith may not fail" (Luke 22:32). 

Jesus washes the disciples' feet. For many, it's a familiar story of Jesus' humility and selflessness. We're drawn in by it. But is that really what John 13:1-10 is all about? Join campus minister Robert Knuth as he describes the scene, unpacks the posture of Peter's heart, and unveils a Jesus brimming with scandalous grace for those of us who would rather reject it.

No doubt, Jesus being transfigured before his eyes on top of a mountain was most spectacular event of Peter's life. He beheld the glory of the second person of the Trinity with his own eyes! Nothing was veiled from him. And as campus minister Robert Knuth makes clear in Mark 9:1-10, nobody leaves an encounter like this the same. Not Peter. And not us. We are changed as we behold glory.   

Who is your best friend? As campus minister Robert Knuth shows from our text in Matthew 16:13-23, we need our friends to define us. We need our friends to tell us what is true about us. Peter certainly did. And when Peter confesses the truth about Jesus as the Christ, Jesus reveals something spectacular about Peter and the Church that Jesus intends to build upon him.

The famous philosopher Tina Fey once said, "my ability to turn good news into anxiety is only rivaled by my ability to turn anxiety into chin acne." Does that sound familiar? We all get anxious at good news---it's quite literally "too good to be true." And Peter's the same way. He starts walking on water and then sinks. It's our human experience. Nothing is as good as it seems. But as campus minister Robert Knuth highlights in Matthew 14:22-33, this is how Jesus meets us and calls us deeper into relationship with him.