All is quiet here on Brown’s campus. Students are still away for winter break but will soon return to begin the spring semester. Given the absence of students on campus, we don’t have much in the way of stories or updates, but would love if you would join us in praying for the following:
Our students were gone for the past month over Christmas break, and classes have just reconvened. Some Bible courses started last week, but most are about to begin as we teach both the book of Acts and Seeking God to our students. As a staff we have begun meeting with students since they have come back from break and have been planning for our Bible courses this semester. Our large group meeting is going to begin next week. At the end of the first week of classes, we kicked off our semester with a dinner and game night. Many students came and showed a lot of enthusiasm for the events coming up within the next couple of months.
Greetings from Dartmouth!
January has kicked off to be a great month so far. We have launched our winter term Bible Courses and are underway with all of our scheduled winter events. We just got back from our annual winter conference, which tends to be the highlighted Christian Union event of the year for most students. It’s a great time to retreat away from campus to enjoy time with one another, worshipping the Lord with open bibles and open hearts. We had several great times of prayer and discussion on the conference’s theme of Friendship. The students thought about what genuine forgiveness looks like in friendships as well as how to think about the significance of Jesus calling us his friends and how we extend that love to others. The students were both challenged and encouraged by this weekend. It was moving to see several students pursue reconciliation with friends they have turned aside and hear of healing in relationships because of this weekend away. Please join us in prayer as the students return back to their normal routines. It is my prayer that the effects of this conference continue to be vibrant all term long.
I’m a Patriots fan. (Insert reaction here.)
All kidding aside. I love watching Patriots football, not only because of blind loyalty to the home team, but more so because I find it fascinating that when (and if) we win, the credit goes to the whole team, and not one player. My opinion is that the success of any organization is largely based upon the quality of the vision and the quality of the TEAM executing that vision.
It feels like the new year has sprung upon us all too quickly, with students already returning to campus over the past few days and continuing into this weekend. While it has been mostly quiet, God has certainly been at work. Over Winter break many of our students were reading ‘Making Sense of God’ by Tim Keller, which we gave out at the end of last semester at our book giveaway outreach event. A group of our students even met over video chat during the break to discuss the book. In addition, our Seeking God ministry team lead “SkyPrayer Calls” during the break, where students were gathered virtually for times of devotion and prayer. We praise God for the stirring of his Spirit in our midst and for the initiative in prayer seen in our students and our student leaders.
I am writing to you on a cold January day here in Princeton. The students here are just finishing their exams, which they have been completing, along with final papers, over the last three weeks. In this letter, I want to update you on the ministry that has been happening here, as well as alert you to several specific ways you can pray for us.
Praise God! Our students have returned safely to campus after Winter Break and our Bible Courses have had an excellent start. We currently have 13 Bible Courses meeting, with the possibility of adding an additional course for those who are serving in Penn’s Gospel choir. We are thankful that God’s Spirit is moving among the students, bringing a sense of unity and hunger for God’s Word. Please pray that our students would have an increasing affection for Jesus and would translate that passion for Christ’s glory to tangible action on Penn’s campus.
Dear Prayer Partners,
Blessings to you in the name of Jesus! Thanks for praying for us regularly. I’ll maintain that our primary strategy in ministry here is what Paul spells out as the “communications equipment” of God’s armor, saying in Ephesians 1:18 “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints”.
2019 brings a new year and a list of new resolutions. For CU New York it isn’t so much resolutions as our plans and initiatives for the year. We will, of course, continue our salons and forums that explore various aspects and implications of our faith in our vocations and the broader city. Additionally, there are other activities coming that will serve to build the kind of redemptive engagement we seek.
Greetings from Palo Alto!
“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them” (Hebrews 13:9).
Students in our Bible courses meditated on this verse recently as we concluded our Bible course on the book of Hebrews. The author’s teaching certainly includes the temple sacrifices which, after the sacrifice of Christ, had become obsolete.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
— Ephesians 3:20-21
In Finland, Camille Zimmerman, Columbia ’18, Continues to Lead in Prayer
Columbia University refers to her as its “Best-Ever Basketball Player.” Camille Zimmerman ’18 is “the highest scoring basketball player ever in Columbia Athletics history.” She was also, up until graduation last spring, considered a leader at Columbia in more ways than one.
Nick Nowalk
Christian Union Teaching Fellow
Columbia University
"If then you have been raised with Christ, then seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." - Colossians 3:1-4In Colossians 3, the apostle Paul reminds his audience of what God has already done for them in Christ. They have died with Christ to both the penalty and power of sin, and likewise they participate in Jesus' own resurrection life through the indwelling of the Spirit. The old has been done away with; the new creation has arrived!
Yet Paul does not stop there,
Student Spotlight: Jose Reyes '19
Jose Reyes is part of the Class of 2019 at Brown University. The biology major, on a neuroscience track, hails from El Paso, Texas. In addition to being a student leader with Christian Union at Brown, he tutors peers in organic chemistry and immunology, and he is also part of an Alzheimer's research lab. Recently, Jose shared his thoughts about the important qualities of a leader and mentor:Salon with Mark Reynolds
On Thursday January 17, Christian Union New York welcomed over thirty guests to hear Mark Reynolds (of Redeemer City to City) teach on church planting in global cities. Through a Salon entitled The New Frontier of Mission, Reynolds outlined effective ways for Church planters and Christian leaders to engage the city around them, along with advice on how to avoid common pitfalls.The central point of the discussion focused on what Reynolds described as the “Two-Cities” theory.
As outlined in a simple diagram Reynolds handed out at the start of his talk, the church can often be described as one smaller “second city” within the larger “first city.”
Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
— Psalm 85:6
Geoff Sackett
Christian Union Ministry Director
Cornell University
Temptation to sin (and actually sinning) is, unfortunately, an abiding aspect of the Christian life. How do we get better at resisting?
Genuine change comes about by the Lord’s doing. If we want to be people who relish (not perfectly, but genuinely) righteousness over sin, Christ over counterfeits, our wills need to be changed. How does God do that?
Sarah Camp
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you. - Isaiah 54:10
It was about 3:30 am, January 9, 2018. One year ago the rain unleashed over the coastal community, loosening boulders the size of firetrucks from the mountain range. These tore through mature trees, gathering them along on torrents that ripped through dry creek beds, channels now overwhelmed with the explosive force of earth racing the short miles from the craggy mountain range, through homes and businesses, to the beaches below.
Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!
— Psalm 31:23-24
Qwynn Gross
Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution and broken it? Have you ever set goals and then realized by the end of the year they remain incomplete? If you are anything like me, I’ve done this too many times. When I wrote my resolutions and goals in the past, like many of you, I had every intention to complete them, but life got in the way! Before I knew it, the year was drawing to a close and I had little if any progress.
I made a decision to find a better way to handle the personal life change and goals that I wanted to achieve. Noted leadership author Dr. John Maxwell introduced me to a solution called, The Rule of Five.
