Weekly Email: December 15, 2025
This past Friday we got to celebrate our graduates, and it was a gift to meet many of you in person who have been doing this online for years and finally crossed the finish line. Congratulations. The work you’ve put in over time really has paid off.
A few of you asked if you can keep receiving these emails after you graduate. If you’d like to stay on the list, just reply with your personal email and I’ll add you to a manual list so you keep getting them.
If you'd like to watch Dr. Mohler's graduation sermon, you can do that here.
In this week's email:
Student Tip: Looking to Christ during your studies
Program News: Feedback for our new New Student Orientation
Student Tip: You are not enough…and that’s okay
As you move through your studies this week, especially as Christmas approaches, many of us are trying to slow down while still feeling busy and tired. Advent reminds us to pause. To remember that unto us a child has been born. And because Christ drew near, we are invited to draw near to God as well.
This season is often described as a time of peace, joy, and rest. But if we are honest, many of us feel anything but rested. We feel busy, stretched thin, and quietly anxious. Not just because life is hard, though it is. But often because we are trying to be enough. Enough in our coursework. Enough at work. Enough for our families. Sometimes, if we are honest, enough for God.
Over time, that pressure can start to feel normal. Performative Christianity becomes our default. We hear the voice asking, “Am I enough?” far more often than the voice that says, “You are my beloved child.”
Advent interrupts that story.
The message of Christmas is not that we achieve our way to God, but that God came to us. The kingdom of God belongs to the ones who come to him empty-handed, not the impressive. Empty-handed does not mean pretending we have nothing. It means we stop trying to justify ourselves before God.
So this week, as you sit down to study, I want to invite you to begin each study session in a posture of humility. Let prayer come before productivity.
Say to the the one who humbly came to this earth, “You are my sustainer. I do not have what it takes, and I do not need to have what it takes. I am dependent on you.”
When we look upward instead of constantly measuring ourselves horizontally, we are reminded that all of life is a gift. What do we have that we have not received?
If you feel tired, overwhelmed, or even ashamed, you are not disqualified. You may be closer to the heart of the gospel than you realize. Just do not stop at shame that you haven’t performed the way you wished. Look to Christ. Come empty-handed.
The Savior who came humbly as a child now holds you securely. His grip on you is stronger than your grip on Him, and that’s a good thing. Let that truth shape how you study this week, and remind you why you are doing this work at all.
Program News: Feedback for New Student Orientation
We’re building a new New Student Orientation for online students, and we’re close to the point where we need real student feedback.
We’re looking for 15 to 20 current students to go through the orientation and tell us what’s clear, what’s missing, and what you wish you would have known when you started. If you’re brand new or you’ve been in the program for a while, your perspective helps.
If you want to participate, just reply to this email and say you’re willing.
We’ll pull a group from the replies, and if you’re selected and provide feedback, we’ll send you a book from Dr. Mohler as a thank you.
We don’t want to guess at what you need. We want the on-ramp to Southern to feel simple, steady, and supportive, and we can only get there with your help.
Quick Reference of Upcoming Term Dates:
Current Week: Winter, Week 3 (December 15-22)
Spring 1 Term Begins: February 2, 2026
Spring 2 Term Begins: April 6, 2026
Register for Courses →
Spring Experiential Modular courses filled up quickly, so be on the lookout for the fall schedule if you would like a spot.
