At UCCF we long to see students following Jesus in every area of life. We call it 3D mission: making disciples who delight in Jesus deeply together, that they might declare Him more boldly and display Him more fully.
Delighting in Jesus more deeply
When Paul remembers the impact of the gospel in Thessalonica, he rejoices. The gospel of Christ had transformed hearts and lives in the city, and Paul rejoices in Spirit-given delight: ‘You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit’ (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
Delight is the root and foundation of our 3D mission at UCCF. Making disciples of Jesus Christ in the student world means inviting every student in Great Britain to follow Jesus.
What drives us to invite others in? Deep delight in the Lord we follow.
What will fuel them to follow Him in turn? That same delight.
Delight is a golden thread throughout the Bible. It is captured in the worship of God’s people, expressed in countless Psalms of joy-filled praise, embodied in the Gospels in encounters with Jesus, and flows from the pen of every New Testament writer.
Both Paul and Peter express it: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!’ (1 Peter 1:3 and Ephesians 1:3). It is Paul’s secret of contentment in any situation (Philippians 4:11). Little wonder that the Westminster theologians summed up the chief purpose of humanity as ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever’.
We are designed for delight in our Lord. The invitation CUs issue to students, to come to Jesus and to follow Him, is an invitation into this delight.
Delight that transforms
The current student generation is the most anxious and lonely on record. Student years are often shaped by pressure, performance, and the pursuit of identity. Yet, the delight Jesus invites us into takes a radically different path, marked by joy not earned but received. The deepest privilege we have in UCCF is seeing students transformed as they encounter the Lord Jesus. Joy and delight in Him redirect desires, ambitions, and friendships.
Knowing and delighting in Jesus is transformative, which means that delight is not private. The Thessalonians’ delight in Jesus shaped their community. Similarly, equipping students to invite their friends to join them in following Jesus means cultivating corporate delight. CUs are joyful celebrations of Jesus to which the university is invited.
Imitable delight
Delight is both taught and caught. The Thessalonians recognised joy in Paul’s message and in Paul and his companions themselves. So, they became ‘imitators’.
How can UCCF staff and supporters help to raise up a generation of students who follow Jesus with a soul-deep delight? By deeply delighting in Jesus ourselves as we declare Him. As we encourage and equip students, we want to model delight. We need to take time to delight in Jesus together, and to revel in His delight in us. A CU which delights in Jesus will be marked by prayer and proclamation not as duties but as wonderful privileges.
To declare and display Jesus, we must first delight in Him more deeply. Delight is the root of our mission.
Displaying Jesus more fully
What happens when the hope of Christ reaches our depths and draws deep joy? Our delight displays the glory of Jesus. Paul puts it this way: ‘And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia’ (1 Thessalonians 1:7).
Paul doesn’t just commend the Thessalonians’ faith. He celebrates their example. As they delight in Jesus, they become a model for others. This is the second dimension of UCCF’s 3D mission: helping students display Jesus more fully as they live and speak for Him.
From the Bible’s first pages, the plan is ‘God on display’. All creation sings God’s praise. Humans are made as image-bearers, reflecting and representing God in the world He made. Our failure to display God perfectly doesn’t negate the ‘God on display’ project. Through salvation, God has put Himself on display to an even greater extent than in creation.
First, in his people Israel, ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Exodus 19:6) God showed the nations what He is like. Their salvation came that the nations might ‘know that I am the LORD’ (Exodus 7:5). Ultimately, salvation in Christ puts God on display. As we delight in Him, we are conformed to His likeness, displaying Him more fully. Through His people, the Church, ‘the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Ephesians 3:10-11).
The Thessalonians didn’t just receive Paul’s message of Jesus with joy; they embodied it. So, they put God on display. Their faith became visible and compelling.
Displaying our delight
The freedom of knowing Jesus and His grace cultivates a confidence which flows into life. As Jesus becomes more delightful to us, we begin to reflect his character as He works in us by His Spirit. For students, following Jesus will mean integrity in the lecture theatre, diligence in studies, kindness in halls, courage in conversations, humility in leadership. Students who delight in Jesus will become signposts to a better story.
According to Paul, the Thessalonians became ‘a model to all the believers.’ Facing real opposition, they lived such gospel-marked lives that others looked to them. We long that UCCF staff and supporters might become models to students, equipping and encouraging them to display the truth of the gospel they declare, as they invite others to join them in following Jesus.
Gospel communities of display
Displaying Jesus is more than an individual project. Christians who delight in Jesus together grow to love one another and others around them like He does, putting Him on display. This is why UCCF invests in training, equipping, and supporting student leaders to declare Christ and live out the gospel together. We long for CUs to be joyful celebrations of Jesus, where the gospel is displayed even in the way it is declared.
Displaying the truth we declare
In a generation hungry for authenticity and hope, lives displaying Jesus are powerful. May our universities be full of those whose delight in the hope of Christ displays the glory of Christ.
Declaring Jesus more boldly
The Thessalonians didn’t stop at displaying Jesus; they declared Him. Paul’s joy is also stoked by the way they declared Him – loud, clear, and far: ‘The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere’ (1 Thessalonians 1:8).
This is the third dimension of UCCF's 3D mission: helping students declare Jesus more boldly.
The gospel is good news to be shared, the kind of news to prompt dancing in the streets, like the news of peace at the end of a drawn-out war. C.S. Lewis pointed out that the world rings with praise, ‘lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favourite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favourite game.’ So much of that praise is a verbal overflow of the heart’s delight. The joy we express aloud is the fullest extent of our joy.
When students are gripped by delight in Jesus their lives will display Him more fully, and their mouths will declare Him more boldly.
Delight prompts boldness
The order of events in 1 Thessalonians is important. First, the Thessalonians received the message with joy (verse 6), then became models (verse 7), and then the message rang out from them (verse 8). Bold declaration flows from wells of deep delight and visible display.
UCCF’s – and a CU’s – mission is never complete until Jesus has been declared. Delight in Jesus is the root, displaying Jesus is the tone of CU life, and declaring Jesus is always the goal.
The invitation to delight
A multitude of reports in 2025 have suggested that the current student generation are more spiritually open than for many years. Every year, thousands of these seeking young people arrive at university. As ever they bring big questions and deep longings. Increasingly, they are bringing spiritual openness.
This is not (yet) a movement of students turning to Jesus. But it is a vast body of students searching widely for spiritual identity. It is not (yet) a great revival of faith in Christ, but it is a huge gospel opportunity. Students who know Jesus are surrounded by others searching for Jesus without even knowing it. In personal conversation, deep friendships, public proclamation, and prayer, the opportunities for Christian students are perhaps greater than they have been for years. Like the Thessalonians, the faith of Christian students in CUs can become known ‘everywhere’ in their universities. Being joyful celebrations of Jesus means issuing invitations that ring out across campuses and cities.
Declaring with delight
For many of us, evangelism can become a burden. For the Thessalonians, though, it was an overflow. They didn’t share the gospel because they had to, but because they couldn’t keep it in. Our mission ‘in 3D’ is about helping students rediscover the joy of declaring Jesus. Not as a program, but as a lifestyle. Not a solo effort, but a shared mission.
Declaring Jesus more boldly is not just the final step in 3D mission. It’s the fruit of lives rooted in Him. As students delight in Jesus more deeply and display Him more fully, so they will declare Him to others more boldly.
May the message of the Lord ring out from our universities yet again. And may this generation of students rise up to declare Jesus more boldly than ever before.
3D mission was written by Matt Lillicrap, CEO of UCCF, for the 2024-25 Annual Report. To see the full report, please click here.