Christian Union Universities
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.” - Philippians 1:21-26 - Psalms 85:4-7 (ESV)
Dear CU Gloria Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Thank you for staying connected by praying for the ministry through the summer. We have enjoyed a very fruitful summer season at Harvard, marked by the weekly Exodus Bible study, as well as the nightly student-led Prayer Corps. We are very excited for the fall semester, which will begin shortly in a few weeks. As we start to turn our attention to the fall semester, when the entire ministry will be studying together the Epistle to the Philippians, we ask you to join us in thanking God and in praying for the following:
Dear CU Gloria Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Thank you for staying connected by praying for the ministry through the summer. We have enjoyed a very fruitful summer season at Harvard, marked by the weekly Exodus Bible study, as well as the nightly student-led Prayer Corps. We are very excited for the fall semester, which will begin shortly in a few weeks. As we start to turn our attention to the fall semester, when the entire ministry will be studying together the Epistle to the Philippians, we ask you to join us in thanking God and in praying for the following:
Dear CU Nova Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Thank you so much for your commitment to Christian Union Nova!
Though the Princeton campus is tranquil, these summer months have energized much thought amongst our CU Nova students in preparation for the 2021-22 academic school year.
Thank you so much for your commitment to Christian Union Nova!
Though the Princeton campus is tranquil, these summer months have energized much thought amongst our CU Nova students in preparation for the 2021-22 academic school year.
Hello CU Caritas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
We’ve been reading Exodus this summer and just finished the ten plagues, God’s deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea, and the beginnings of Israel’s journey to Mt Sinai. The students on our most recent Zoom call were dumbstruck at both the Egyptians and the Israelites. Which makes less sense: that Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who had ten times experienced firsthand the awesome power of the Lord, were foolish enough to follow the Israelites into the Red Sea? Or that the Israelites, who had seen the same and had been delivered from Egypt by the hand of the Lord, time and time again doubted the Lord's goodness and power and thought he was leading them to their death in the wilderness?
We’ve been reading Exodus this summer and just finished the ten plagues, God’s deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea, and the beginnings of Israel’s journey to Mt Sinai. The students on our most recent Zoom call were dumbstruck at both the Egyptians and the Israelites. Which makes less sense: that Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who had ten times experienced firsthand the awesome power of the Lord, were foolish enough to follow the Israelites into the Red Sea? Or that the Israelites, who had seen the same and had been delivered from Egypt by the hand of the Lord, time and time again doubted the Lord's goodness and power and thought he was leading them to their death in the wilderness?
Dear CU Martus Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
This feels like a season of anticipation. Even in normal times, when you work in a college ministry, as July turns to August you begin to get excited about waiting for the return of the students. There is something amazing about the promise of new lives that God can begin to change. And this year the promise feels even greater. For some of these students, it has been more than a year since they were on campus. At Stanford, for example, the class of 2022 left as sophomores in March 2020 and will return as seniors next month after a full 18 months away. That is a lot of time to dream about what God can do in the midst of faithful people gathered together in person!
This makes me think about the most powerful story of anticipation — the promised coming of the Messiah. The people of Israel had to wait a much longer time than we do — generations passed from the promise in Isaiah until the birth of Jesus. Imagine gathering your children around a campfire and repeating that familiar promise year after year while you waited: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."
This feels like a season of anticipation. Even in normal times, when you work in a college ministry, as July turns to August you begin to get excited about waiting for the return of the students. There is something amazing about the promise of new lives that God can begin to change. And this year the promise feels even greater. For some of these students, it has been more than a year since they were on campus. At Stanford, for example, the class of 2022 left as sophomores in March 2020 and will return as seniors next month after a full 18 months away. That is a lot of time to dream about what God can do in the midst of faithful people gathered together in person!
This makes me think about the most powerful story of anticipation — the promised coming of the Messiah. The people of Israel had to wait a much longer time than we do — generations passed from the promise in Isaiah until the birth of Jesus. Imagine gathering your children around a campfire and repeating that familiar promise year after year while you waited: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."
Dear Cornerstone Partners and friends of CU Lux,
We are blessed by the opportunity to update you on our ministry at Yale. God has been blessing and continues to bless our faith community through a new initiative started a few weeks ago. While diving deep into our summer Bible study of John’s Gospel, we encountered the glorious signs that Jesus performed to manifest God’s glory before and in the lives of his contemporaries. We were in awe of Jesus, amazed at how he embodied the truth and grace of God and inspired us to “do the works” that he did (John 14:12).
With Jesus as a foundation and guide, each member of our community committed to prayerfully memorize one passage of Scripture per week, internalize it every evening, use the morning devotional time to find practical ways to externalize it, and be a living testimony of that passage in every human interaction throughout the day.
We are blessed by the opportunity to update you on our ministry at Yale. God has been blessing and continues to bless our faith community through a new initiative started a few weeks ago. While diving deep into our summer Bible study of John’s Gospel, we encountered the glorious signs that Jesus performed to manifest God’s glory before and in the lives of his contemporaries. We were in awe of Jesus, amazed at how he embodied the truth and grace of God and inspired us to “do the works” that he did (John 14:12).
With Jesus as a foundation and guide, each member of our community committed to prayerfully memorize one passage of Scripture per week, internalize it every evening, use the morning devotional time to find practical ways to externalize it, and be a living testimony of that passage in every human interaction throughout the day.
Dear CU Libertas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
It’s summer here in Rhode Island, which means late afternoons at the local beaches and eating far too many lobster rolls! Normally, campus is far too quiet this time of year as most students return home or spend their days as interns or working in labs. This year is a bit different, as we’re excited to have freshmen on campus for their second semester. We continue preparations for the fall and eagerly await transitioning to normal programming in the fall. Thankfully, it appears that Brown will be fully vaccinated and campus activities can resume with few, if any, restrictions!
It’s summer here in Rhode Island, which means late afternoons at the local beaches and eating far too many lobster rolls! Normally, campus is far too quiet this time of year as most students return home or spend their days as interns or working in labs. This year is a bit different, as we’re excited to have freshmen on campus for their second semester. We continue preparations for the fall and eagerly await transitioning to normal programming in the fall. Thankfully, it appears that Brown will be fully vaccinated and campus activities can resume with few, if any, restrictions!
Dear Cornerstone Partners and friends of CU Lux,
His resurrection power is alive in our CU Lux community as our students are using the summer months to strengthen their relationship to God and each other. God is to be praised. Our summer Bible study on the gospel of John has been well attended, the students’ new initiative to memorize Scripture is catching on, and our student executive team is faithfully invested in planning for the 2021-2022 academic year.
His resurrection power is alive in our CU Lux community as our students are using the summer months to strengthen their relationship to God and each other. God is to be praised. Our summer Bible study on the gospel of John has been well attended, the students’ new initiative to memorize Scripture is catching on, and our student executive team is faithfully invested in planning for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Dear CU Lumine Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
And when they had eaten their fill, he [Jesus] told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. (John 6:12-13)
We’ve been studying the Gospel of John for Bible course during the Summer A session. A few weeks ago we touched on Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000. We examined how the gospel combats a scarcity mentality — “I’m not smart enough. Not good looking enough. Not wealthy enough. I just don’t have enough!” Jesus used a little boy's lunch to not just feed thousands, but after they all loosened their belts from eating more than they should have, there were 12 baskets leftover. Jesus lovingly shows us how God has come to do more than we possibly could ever dream or imagine. Only Christ can make slaves into sons/daughters, sinners into saints, debtors into heirs.
And when they had eaten their fill, he [Jesus] told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. (John 6:12-13)
We’ve been studying the Gospel of John for Bible course during the Summer A session. A few weeks ago we touched on Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000. We examined how the gospel combats a scarcity mentality — “I’m not smart enough. Not good looking enough. Not wealthy enough. I just don’t have enough!” Jesus used a little boy's lunch to not just feed thousands, but after they all loosened their belts from eating more than they should have, there were 12 baskets leftover. Jesus lovingly shows us how God has come to do more than we possibly could ever dream or imagine. Only Christ can make slaves into sons/daughters, sinners into saints, debtors into heirs.
Dear CU Vita Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
As we look forward to next year, we are praying that God will continue his good work at Cornell. We are so happy to report that we have already connected with many incoming freshmen, and we would love to meet more. Please pray that our efforts would be fruitful and that many incoming students would find Christian community at Cornell. Our leaders are eager to introduce new students to our community and many of the new freshmen are spreading the word about CU Vita with their class as well. It is such a big life transition for these new Cornell students and we long to be used by God to extend his love and grace and friendship to them during this challenging time. Pray that we would have wisdom and that God would open many doors for the gospel with this incoming group.
As we look forward to next year, we are praying that God will continue his good work at Cornell. We are so happy to report that we have already connected with many incoming freshmen, and we would love to meet more. Please pray that our efforts would be fruitful and that many incoming students would find Christian community at Cornell. Our leaders are eager to introduce new students to our community and many of the new freshmen are spreading the word about CU Vita with their class as well. It is such a big life transition for these new Cornell students and we long to be used by God to extend his love and grace and friendship to them during this challenging time. Pray that we would have wisdom and that God would open many doors for the gospel with this incoming group.
Dear CU Vox Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Summer in Hanover, the payoff for nine months of winter! Classes for the summer term begin on June 24th and this year the junior class will join the sophomore class on campus. Normality is swiftly returning to campus and it’s wonderful to see students gathering on the Green again. Summer is very much a time of transition and preparation. The class of 2025 will be here in two months and I am excited to meet them and graft them into the ministry. This summer will provide opportunities to reconnect with students who chose remote learning as well as forge new relationships.
Summer in Hanover, the payoff for nine months of winter! Classes for the summer term begin on June 24th and this year the junior class will join the sophomore class on campus. Normality is swiftly returning to campus and it’s wonderful to see students gathering on the Green again. Summer is very much a time of transition and preparation. The class of 2025 will be here in two months and I am excited to meet them and graft them into the ministry. This summer will provide opportunities to reconnect with students who chose remote learning as well as forge new relationships.
