2026 Baccalaureate Service - Michael Knapstad

This was recorded live from our annual Baccalaureate Service at Upper House on May 8, 2026. 

Michael Knapstad is the Pastor of College Ministry & Internships at Blackhawk Church, where he has faithfully served for nearly eight years. A graduate of Fuller Seminary, Michael previously served in ministry in San Francisco. He's known for his creative and thoughtful approach to inviting students into meaningful community and encounters with the gospel. You'll often find him in the space with students on Tuesday nights and Sundays.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right. Well, welcome everyone. Welcome to Baccalaureate. Uh, it's so great to be here. Um, like uh was mentioned, I have been in this space um for almost eight years and I haven't spoken, I don't think, on behalf of like Upper House. So thanks for the invitation. I love it. So if you are a student who has been a part of the college ministry, you're familiar with coming to Tuesday nights. That's the uh ministry that I help lead. And um it's on Tuesday nights, so go figure. So we were we it was really hard for us to find a name there for a while. But um, man, I just want to say I love this service. Like I love, I love baccalaureate. Um, I love what it stands for. I love what this service means. And I love this unique place that each and every one of you, graduating seniors, and so I'm I'm not gonna be talking for a long time, but I want to talk mainly to you, graduating seniors. I love where you guys are standing right now. It's a it's an important place that you're standing. Like you're standing on new ground. Do you know that? Like you're standing on new ground. I stood on similar ground uh almost 20 years ago now for my undergraduate baccalaureate. And a lot of different parents and grandparents and family members that uh maybe some similar uh siblings, you've stood on similar ground as well. But graduating seniors right now, you are standing on new ground. If you've been to Tuesday Nights, you might have heard me uh speak a couple times from a particular passage. And I actually want to speak on that passage uh for this time because I think that it could be like a powerful way to commission you into what lies ahead of you, to commission you as you step into this new future. It's a passage found in Exodus. And if you go to Blackhawk Church or if you've been for a bit this semester, almost for this entire semester, we've actually been walking through the book of Exodus. And I want to take all of you to a moment in Exodus where the Israelites were also standing on new ground. Okay, so leading up to this with the Israelites, man, they worked hard. When you open Exodus and you start to reading, uh reading it, you realize, man, they suffered. The Israelites, they endured. So many Israelites, they trusted also. They actually like deeply trusted God. They trusted that, God, in my suffering, you see me. God, in the things that I'm going through, I know that you want to deliver me. And then something happened that they had been praying and trusting God for. God delivered them. Like the Israelites were able to enter into a like a new season, a freer season. They were able to enter in a season where they can actually finally flourish. And God did it. He had that, made that available to them in this incredible and powerful way. The Israelites were freed. So, what did they do? I mean, they packed their bags, they loaded up their carts, and they left the familiar behind them. And then they found themselves somewhere very, very new. The Israelites found themselves facing this sea. The Israelites, they were standing on new ground. Okay, so I don't want to compare captivity in uh Egypt to graduating from UW Madison, even though I think some students are like, amen, it's not the same. But but here's the deal. I know, I know that all of you graduating uh seniors, this past semester, this past year, I know these past four years, whether you've been here the whole time or you transferred, you've worked really hard. Like all of you, I know that you've had sleepless nights. Like all of you, I know that you've wrestled with different bouts of anxiety. You've wrestled with loneliness. I know that you've wrestled with pressure. You've all been pushed and you've really pushed yourself in different ways that, man, were hard.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

You've pushed. You've trusted.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Many of you have, through all of the difficulties, you've trusted that God wasn't finished with you. You've trusted that he was doing something in you because God had something ahead of you. And now here all of you are. I'm sure a lot of your bags are also packed. If not, you got to get on that probably if you're if you're leaving after this weekend. Your future's in front of you. Right now, seniors, you are standing on new ground. Here's what happened next for the Israelites. So after all their work, after all their trust, after all that expectation, the sea was in front of them. They actually found something out. They're like, oh no, I'm stuck. You see, what happened was behind the Israelites, in the passage I'm about to read, the Pharaoh's army, they changed their mind and they came up to attack them. And they were stuck because the sea was in front of them. So how do you think they responded? Well, Exodus 14, 10, it shows us how they responded. They said they were terrified and they cried out to the Lord. Like, here's the deal. Like, I think we'd be terrified too. I mean, they spent their time trusting God, God delivered them, and then they found themselves stuck. They thought most of their challenges were behind them, but here they were, they were facing new ones. And I think in a different way, in your own context, graduating seniors, I think that you guys can relate in different ways. Because as much as I want to say that everything that has been challenging is behind you, and some of you might be thinking that right now, you're like, man, I'm finally almost graduating. Like, tomorrow's the big day. Like, I think life's gonna be easy now. I think that like all the hard work is behind me. Like, I think it's just kind of be gonna be clean sailing right now. Parents are like, okay, we know that that's not true. And graduating seniors, I know that you know that that's not really how how life works because it isn't. You are gonna have moments where, and maybe sooner than you expect, you're gonna feel pressure. You're gonna have moments where you face uncertainty. You're gonna have moments in what you are stepping into where you feel just plain stuck. And it's gonna be in moments like that where you think, oh man, I thought I was stepping into something new. Why does this feel hard all over again? And it's in that exact moment, you see, where you're facing a future that you can't fully control, that God actually speaks. He actually speaks in those moments. Through Moses, God says this, scripture says this. He says, the Lord in that moment where you feel stuck, but the Lord will fight for you.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

You need only to be still. Interesting. Okay, let's read that again. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

As you are standing on this new ground, no matter what you face, seniors, the Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. Now I want to talk about that phrase, be still, because it can be kind of confusing. When you think of be still, you can probably often think, okay, is that like a passive thing? Does that mean like, okay, I just gotta check out? I just gotta wait around and do nothing and just let God move. I don't think that that's what that phrase means. I actually think that phrase is packed with action. Be still. It means a couple things. It means don't. It means don't panic. Be still, knowing the Lord is gonna fight for you. It means don't try to control everything because there's so many things that you're gonna find that you actually can't control. Be still doesn't just mean, okay, I'm gonna try to carry this overwhelming burden of a weight that I was never meant to carry. No, it means be active. Trust. Be still when you are gonna face uncertainties ahead of you. If you feel sucked, seniors, be still means believing that God is with you. Be still means believing that God, as he's with you, he's also going before you. It means that believing that God is working even when you can't see it. Because here's what's true: you can try to control your future. You can try to try to force your outcomes, you can try to make sure that everything works out exactly the way that you want it to work. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to God and Him fighting for you. I can't believe I almost graduated 20 years ago, but here's a truth that you might not be fully aware of. And as one of your pastors, I want to say, say this, and I mean it. God is the one who brings things together. In this world, wherever you go, God is the one that leads you. God is the one that opens doors. He is the one. God is the one that protects. And in this passage, Moses is saying that if you want to step into the life that God has for you, you don't need to trust a faithful plan, you need to trust a faithful God that he's gonna fight for you.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

So, what happens next? The passage goes on.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

It says, Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through on the sea, uh through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left. Now, here's something, seniors, that I don't want you to miss. So the reality is God fought for the Israelites, God fights for you, and in this context, he fought by moving, but they still had to walk through it. You see, it's one thing to trust God to fight for you. It's one thing to come across experiences in your future, maybe your near future, where you're like, God fight, God move. And when he does, it's another thing to then trust him by taking a step into faith for what he's moved for you. You see, he moves, but then he encourages you, step through. Right now, you're standing on new ground. And in your circumstance, into the things that you're facing, because life's going to be really, really new, you're being invited to trust God. You're being invited to take a step of faith into what He has fought and what He has moved for you. Now, here's what happens with the end of the Israelites. This is kind of after they stepped through the dry sea, something happened. After they trusted God, you see, they they did step through to the dry ground, uh, on the dry ground, and they went over 40 years. A lot of them couldn't, but they finally went to the place that was promised them. They found something out. It wasn't just about getting to that right place because over time the Israelites struggled. You see, they went to the place that they hoped for and they prayed for that God prepared for them, and when they entered into that, they found that they were wrestling. They found that they were doubting, they found that they were slowly drifting. The Israelites were in the right place, but they weren't becoming the right people. And this is where it can become personal for you. And this is the thing that I want to invite you to carry with you, this truth. Where you go matters, but who you become, it matters more.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

I want to say that again.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Where you go matters. You've spent so many years to be on this ground right now. You want to go somewhere, you're going somewhere. Where you go, seniors, that matters. But who you become, that matters so much more. You see, you can end up in the right place, but not become the right person. You can get that job you've always been hoping for, but your integrity can slowly slip away. Like you can get into the right grad school that you've been hoping for, but you can slowly start turning your life away from God. You can go to that city that you're like, man, one day I just want to be in this city and when I'm there, everything's gonna click, but you're not clicking with Jesus. That can happen. But when we read scripture, we begin to notice something that throughout scripture, God consistently cares more about who you're becoming than where you're going. Colossians 3 talks about this. Colossians 3 says this therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. And in other words, when you step into what's next, the invitation here is that you step into being the type of person that reflects Christ, into being the type of person that puts on the style of Jesus in your new city, in your new job, in your new internship, wherever you go, the invitation is to become, become. Not just be there, become. So, with all that, as we look at the life of the Israelites and their journey and see how that can compare and inspire your journey as you graduate, seniors, tomorrow, which is wild, as you are standing on new ground. I want to end by commissioning. We'll do different commissions, but for me, as a college pastor, I want to commission you.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

With all of that, I want to say go. Go to your jobs, go to your cities, go to your new campuses, go with excitement, go with courage, go with faith, but know as you go, where you go matters, but who you become that matters more.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

So continue to become the person that trusts God, continue to become the person that walks with God, continue to become the person who reflects God, who wears his style wherever you go. And seniors, as you stand on this new ground in this moment, right now, as you take these new steps tomorrow, in the day after, and the day after, know this. You don't have to have your future figured out. You just have to trust the one who does.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

So go. Go. Go.