Happy New Year from Palo Alto!
Greetings from Palo Alto! We’ve reached the halfway point of the academic year and winter quarter, which means we wrapped up our study of Philippians last week and are embarking on a mammoth study of Romans in the weeks ahead. According to Martin Luther, in his preface to Romans, all the most important truths in the universe will be laid out before us:
This Epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel, and is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes…We find in this letter, then, the richest possible teaching about what a Christian should know: the meaning of law, Gospel, sin, punishment, grace, faith, righteousness, Christ, God, good works, love, hope and the cross. We learn how we are to act toward everyone, toward the virtuous and sinful, toward the strong and the weak, friend and foe, and toward ourselves.Some of the men are already working on memorizing Romans 1:1-17, where Paul introduces so many of the themes of his exposition—most notably, God’s "Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:3-4). Praise God!
Would you pray for us as we study these truths, write them on our hearts, and put them into practice, with God’s help?
Similarly exciting, we are gearing up for a three-night winter trip to Yosemite over Presidents’ Day weekend. Students are eager for the refreshment in the Lord’s presence and with each other in nature and at the house we’ve rented in Groveland, CA.
Would you pray for us as we prepare and go on this trip, that we would encounter God in a profound way during our time away from campus to seek him together? May He also bless the time together as we align ourselves afresh to his call on us to participate in bringing the glorious gospel of Christ to those in the Stanford community.
We thank God for you and for your partnership through prayer!
Warmly in Christ,
Justin Woyak
Senior Ministry Fellow
Christian Union Caritas
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
