Sean Denniston

How did you get involved with Campus Outreach?

I got involved with CO because going into college I had a desire to lean into this whole faith thing that I didn’t fully believe yet. Soon after coming to college, I started attending Bethlehem and that’s how I heard about CO. Through CO I started to have conversations with real depth. It was my first time experiencing discipleship, and being involved with Discipleship Groups was very powerful even though I wasn’t sold on Christianity yet. CO offered me a Christ-centered community, opportunities to share the Gospel, and forced me to think about hard questions that I couldn’t really answer. In college I started to understand a little bit of Christianity, and CO started planting seeds towards what I know now. My second half of college I actually stopped engaging with CO and church and started diverting my attention away from faith, but God was gracious in bringing me back to himself.

What is it like to walk with Jesus now years after graduation?

There is absolutely nothing greater and more beautiful than being in relationship with God, and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. I truly believe that and am so thankful that God has revealed that to me, but it took me a while to understand the truth and depth of that statement.

Leaving college I was struggling with depression, anxiety, relationships, and identity. There was a butting of heats between what the Lord was calling me to be and the feelings that I had. I was talking the Christian talk, but I wasn’t walking the Christian walk. While I was attending church, I was still living a worldly lifestyle that included sexual sin. Thankfully the Lord showed this to others and worked in me to confess it to them even more. I was able to get involved in various churches and ministries that helped me to see and overcome my sin and find hope in Jesus. The Lord spoke to me through clear words from himself, others, and the Bible. As I shared, people around me did not kick me out, but invited me in and gave me a community of other guys to bear my burdens with me. All of these things worked together for God to save me and strip away all the false things in my life and to put Christ at the center.

Tell us about how you choose to actively “believe” and how that play out in your life

Because I know that God has saved me - that he has transformed my life and will continue to transform it - I have the joy of obedience. Sometimes this joy takes time, and I don’t have to know why, but I desire to be obedient to what the Lord is telling me to do. God being faithful took time but it produced intense joy in the long run.

This plays out for me by sharing my story with others. I want others to know that the hope of the Lord has given me peace and joy. This also plays out by being involved in a church - not just attending, but being involved. I am a part of a small group that walks with me, and I serve on the prayer team.

What encouragement would you give to current college students?

Seek first the kingdom of God.
Be in community. Christianity isn’t a solo sport.
Find safe people to confess sin to. It is super freeing.
- “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” (James 5:16)
Work out your identity with the Lord in community. Your identity is not found in your major, friends, future job, or sexual feelings. Your identity is found in Christ and Christ alone.
Practice the Spiritual Disciples. Pray, read the Bible, memorize his Word…
Practice Silence and Solitude. Make time to listen to the Lord’s voice and get to know the Lord's voice instead of talking at him or praying to him. Hearing and discerning his voice produces deeper intimacy.
There is absolutely nothing greater and more beautiful than being in relationship with God.

What encouragement would you give to other alumni to continue to labor?

Seek active ways to put your pride to death. Don’t kid yourself that you can do anything on your own - John 15 reminds us that apart from God you’ve got nothing and can do nothing.
Open up your homes.
Don’t hold onto money. Be willing to give money away.
Be willing to do whatever the Lord would ask you to do for his sake.
Be willing to pour out your whole life and all that you have for the sake of others coming to know Jesus.

I have tasted and seen the goodness of God and there is nothing else that I have experienced that compares to that. There is literally nothing else that compares to this.

Alumni Connection