Ministries

In a world fixated on the immediate and material we don’t often find ourselves part of conversations about transcendence. “Transcendent” is not a theological term, yet it certainly has theological relevance in its meaning of “supernatural”, “surpassing”, and “overarching”. In the just concluded Easter season the idea of transcendence is highlighted as we celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection. The resurrection in particular highlights God’s redemption of both our souls and, indeed, all things to the hope of glory and completeness in the new heavens and new earth.

Dear friends,

Please join our Christian Union at Brown community in praying for the following:

“He is the Rock, His works are perfect,
and all His ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

Greetings,

We continue to give God praise for his work on Columbia’s campus through Christian Union. By His grace, we continue to minister faithfully in every way that He has called us. This semester,our major outreach initiative has been the book giveaway and discussions around Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale’s Jesus Among Secular Gods. The outreach culminates in Vince Vitale coming to speak at our Illumina. These book discussions have been aimed primarily at skeptics of the Christian faith. We held our first discussion a few weeks ago on the topic of Scientism. Non-Christians were in attendance, including a Buddhist student. Pray that these discussions would lead ultimately to conversions, and that Christians who attend may be strengthened in their faith.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Though it is hard to believe, we have hit the halfway point in the Spring semester. Bible courses have been full and fruitful, and God has continued to work in and through both students and our leadership to grow His kingdom on campus at Cornell. We have also continued in our outreach activities as well as in prayer and fasting.

As we approach Spring break, there are some important things to keep in prayer regarding our ministry at Cornell.

This semester, we have been doing a Mocha Mondays coffee giveaway. At this point, we have established a regular presence on campus giving away coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. Pray that this would lead to relationships and a chance to present the gospel.
We had a showing of the documentary Liberated: A New Sexual Revolution, with a panel following that including students and staff discussing the dangers of the hook-up culture. Pray that the fruit of this would continue to show itself as students think through these important topics.
The new Bible course with men in Greek life has been consistently going well and has led to some very fruitful discussions. Pray for the continued growth of students in their spiritual lives as we continue to disciple them.
There are a number of events that need to come together for the end of the semester. Pray for student volunteers, especially as they try to navigate their busy schedules.

We appreciate all of your prayers for the students here at Cornell!

Geoff Sacket
Ministry Director
Christian Union at Cornell

Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Cornell, please email prayer@christianunion.org.

“O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man...Now I was the cupbearer to the king.” Nehemiah 1:11

Maybe, you’ve read some of the great leadership books by Jim Collins (Good to Great, Great by Choice) or books by Simon Sinek (Start with Why) or Joseph Grenny (Crucial Conversations)? I highly recommend another book about leadership, written way before any others - Nehemiah.

“Indignation and compassion form a powerful combination. They are indispensable to vision, and therefore to leadership. The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power but love, not force but example, not coercion but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve.” -John R. Stott

Greetings from Cambridge,

For nearly eleven-years students have led HCFA with a prevailing desire to glorify God. For this we are profoundly thankful. Their measured determination to humble themselves (a truly foreign concept amongst us humans!) has resulted in effectual leadership that has steadied the ship whatever the conditions.

Dear Friends and Partners of Christian Union at Penn,

Spring is dangerously close in the deep South of the Ivy League. Philadelphia enjoyed 2 days near 70 degrees this past week, and with that warmth came a reminder that the Gospel brings new life (as compared to the existentialist eternal Winter). Praise God for his gracious gift of hope!

At a recent event on the church in today’s cultural context, the speaker mentioned culture having “surface” structures and “deep” structures. Passing trends and changes in laws happen at the surface level while shifts in values and ways of understanding identity take place in the deep structures of culture. These latter changes happen over decades and are of a type that truly changeculture.

Nathaniel Encounters God’s Diversity

Nathaniel tells his personal story, coming from a largely like-minded culture to the opposite in New York. He recognizes how adaptable and diverse Christianity can be through his CU at Columbia Bible Course.

Columbia

Friends,

The spring semester is underway here at Brown University. Students have already made it through their first round of midterms as they work hard to prepare for the ones to come. I wanted to take a moment to highlight one story that has encouraged me during these beginning weeks of the semester.