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Student Spotlight: Caroline Parente, '24, Brown University
By Erin Conner
Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness… she eateth not the bread of idleness… favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.- Proverbs 31: 25-30
December 1, 2023
Get Involved
To learn more about how you can get involved, please send an email to Christian Union's VP of Alumni Engagement Christine Foster: christine.foster@christianunion.org
A Devotional to Prepare Our Hearts for a New Year
By Dr. Marcus Buckley, Ministry Director at Christian Union Vita at Cornell
"And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him." -Esther 4:12-17
Join Our 21-Day Fast
By chuck hetzler, PhD, vice president of biblical theology
Is Israel’s current war a sign of the end times? How should we, as Christians, think about the war? What can and should we do?
Christian Union is calling all American Christians to start the year with a 21-day fast, Tuesday, January 2, through Monday, January 22, 2024, to humble ourselves and seek God in light of the current events in the Middle East.
The upcoming CU National Fast is titled "Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace for All Nations." Christian Union faculty and staff will write devotionals based on Scripture, which will be sent to all signed-up participants by email each day of the fast.
Seeking the Lord in Our Busyness
By Fuji Kim, edited by Erin Conner
As we prepare our hearts to celebrate the Lord's blessings at Thanksgiving, Christian Union presents this special devotional, originally published in 2021, "Three Daily Prayers for the Holidays."
A Closer Look at Jesus' Call to Repentance
By Erin Conner
Repentance is a beautiful word. It is the name of the road that leads out of darkness. It is the name of the road that leads to life. It is a Biblical concept that, depending on the type of church we grew up in or currently attend, may seem harsh, foreign, or antiquated. As a true follower of God, deep and ongoing repentance, the act of turning away from sin to wholeheartedly following the Lord, is a life-giving spiritual discipline.
From a deep immersion into Scripture, we find that God never intended for repentance to be a spiritual discipline of the past. God never intended for his people to ignore His commands. In fact, Christ said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) He never intended His people to be “of the world,” obeying the world’s “commands” while neglecting His. (Romans 12:2) We find God never intended self-worship (or any other form of idolatry) to co-exist with the worship of God. From a deep immersion into Scripture, we also find that God never intended for people to go through the motions of repentance without a contrite heart.
God is using your prayers to help grow the ministry at CU Lumine and develop future Christian leaders to transform culture for God’s glory! Since the last update we have seen an increase in student participation in our CU Bible Courses and Thursday night Lumine meetings. We have also seen an increase of students coming in the Ministry Center during midterms who were invited by our current student leaders.
With the ongoing conflict in Israel, we have been engaging our Jewish and Palestinian students on campus to let them know that we are concerned about all those who are being impacted. We know that any loss of human life and acts of hate grieves the heart of God because we are all created in His image. Please continue to pray for our students as they navigate through these difficult times.
It is hard to believe that we are over halfway through the semester here at Cornell! Time seems to go by faster with each passing day, even more so when we are busy—and things have certainly been bustling at CU Vita!
There has been a steady stream of new faces coming to the Mott Center for our prayer meetings and social events. The students who are already engaged in ministry and fellowship with other believers at CU Vita have been so faithful to invite their friends, some of whom have little to no exposure to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Continue to pray that the Holy Spirit equips us all for the work and empowers us for the opportunities!
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn – Isaiah 61:1-2
As always, I thank you for your prayers for us! We’ve reached the middle of the term, which at Dartmouth, with just 10 weeks each, means we’re already near the end. But God has been moving! Vine, our weekly Leadership Lecture Series, is well-established, with consistent live worship, regular guest speakers, student testimonies, and more. Our student leaders' vision is beginning to broaden as well now that our immediate needs of the beginning of the term are solved, dreaming of how we can impact the campus for the Kingdom of God.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” - Colossians 1:15-17
May this email find you well and rejoicing in Jesus as we are during this beautiful fall season here in New England. Thank you for your support of CU Gloria at Harvard. It makes a huge difference for our team and leaders knowing we have a team of friends like you praying for us and for the good work and fruitful ministry taking place through CU Gloria at Harvard.
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