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Nexus

Nexus is a conference which equips men and women to seek God and to live out their faith in a way that will make a difference.

Get a taste of what it was like to be at Nexus 2019: The Christian Union Conference on Faith in Action!


To learn more about Nexus 2019, click here
Matt Bennett is founder and CEO of Christian Union. A native of Houston, Texas, Matt earned BS and MBA degrees from Cornell University and holds a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He worked for Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) at Princeton University for 12 years, and developed that ministry into one of the largest in the history of the Ivy League. In 2002, he founded Christian Union. The ministry has been featured in The New York Times, PBS, NPR, Christianity Today, and World Magazine. Matt resides in New York City.

Matt Bennett kicked off Christian's Union Nexus 2019 conference by inviting students to consider the example set by one of the kings of the Old Testament: Jehoshaphat. As a leader, Jehoshaphat "set his heart to seek God", was obedient to walk in God's ways, and was took bold initiative to lead his people to the Lord.

Matt emphasized the grace that God offers and urged students to take time with God to search their hearts. He asked: Does anything prevent you from being courageous in the ways of the LORD? (32:53)

Jimmy Lin, MD, PhD, MHS Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Oncology at Natera Dr. Lin has devoted his life to beating cancer. His work in clinical research includes Johns Hopkins, Washington University in St. Louis, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In addition, he has leveraged the technological advances in cancer to fight rare diseases as the Founder and President of the Rare Genomics Institute.

Here, he addresses college students about his faith in Jesus Christ and what it means to be 'courageous in the ways of the Lord'. Dr. Lin has published over 100+ papers, abstracts, and book chapters, in top academic journals, such as Science, Nature, Cell, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Genome Research, and PNAS. He has presented at top scientific conferences and institutions including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, NCI/NIH, Vanderbilt, and Johns Hopkins. (41:58)

Eric Metaxas is the author of four New York Times Bestsellers, including the #1 Bestseller, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. He is host of the Eric Metaxas Show, a nationally-syndicated daily radio program in 120 cities. Metaxas was the keynote speaker at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC.

His Dec. 25th, 2014 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, titled "Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God," is unofficially the most popular and shared piece in the history of the Journal, garnering over 450,000 Facebook Likes and 8,000 comments. Metaxas is a Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Large for the King's College in New York City. (39:39)

Baroness (Caroline) Cox became a Life Peer in 1982 for her contributions to education and has served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords from 1985 to 2005. Lady Cox now sits in the Lords as a crossbencher and is a frequent contributor to Lords debates on Sudan, India, Nigeria, Uganda, and Burma.

In addition to the areas above, she has also visited North Korea helping to promote Parliamentary initiatives and medical programs. Baroness Cox’s humanitarian aid work has taken her on many missions to conflict zones, allowing her to obtain first-hand evidence of the human rights violations and humanitarian needs. (27:35)

The Nexus 2018 theme of "Turn the World Upside Down" comes from Acts 17, when Christians were accused of turning the world upside down with the message of Jesus Christ. What does it mean to turn the world upside down with the Good News? In God’s "upside down" economy, Christ died so that we might live, the weak are strong, the poor are rich. How can we be a part of what God is doing today? These questions were at the heart of Nexus.

For one weekend, students worshiped and prayed together, heard from high-caliber speakers, experienced engaging breakout sessions, connected with one another in small groups, and built cross-campus ties around shared challenges and opportunities.

The first plenary speaker of Nexus 2018 was Christian Union Founder and CEO Matt Bennett. Friday night, Bennett introduced nearly 300 students to the conference theme "Turn the World Upside Down," drawn from Acts 17. If those who promoted the Gospel of Jesus Christ were said to be turning the world upside down, how we will define being a "success" in this life? (34:38)


David Bryant discusses the conference topic “Turning the World Upside Down." He challenged students with his charge, "So, you want to change the world for Jesus Christ? First, your life, your own world, must be radically turned upside down by a vision of "the greatness and glory, the majesty and supremacy, and the wonders of the love and saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ"!

He continues to highlight the importance of preaching a message in proportion of the greatness and supremacy of Christ. Through his speech, he compels students to grasp the majesty of Jesus Christ as our resurrected King. When Christian lean into the person of Jesus Christ, our world is turned upside down and we are then, equiped to share the same Good News with others on campus. (37:46)


Roland Warren, CEO of Care Net, was named the 2018 Christian Leader of the Year Award at Nexus 2018, the Christian Union Conference on Faith and Action. After receiving the award, he addressed the topic of "Greatness — and How to be Great from a God Perspective." (28:51)


Nancy Ortberg, CEO of Transforming the Bay with Christ addressed nearly 300 students at the Christian Union conference. She highlights the difference between worldly success and spiritual success. She explains the powerful impact of giving practical items to people in need. A church choosing to give used cars to people in the community became a way to share the gospel through living the call to love our neighbors.

Through this type of giving, she provides a powerful testimony of how the reciepents feel the love of God through these provisions, and it is through this action that people are led to faith in God. Nancy also explains the leaders in our society should be able to own their personal growth, ensure no topic are off limits, solve problems at a systems level and to refuse to allow comparision to enter their thought-life. (33:20)