God’s Continued Work This Semester

In the midst of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak and the implications for Purdue’s campus, we reflect on the semester and praise God for His work in and through our community in various and exciting ways. During Sunday’s Living Room Sessions, we are reading through the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5-7 very directly apply to our lives here and now. Each week we post questions on social media related to the teaching to encourage our community to keep the conversation going, exploring together how the Word is practically applied to their lives and how God might be calling them into deeper obedience.

Community Groups began studying Ecclesiastes this semester. The author of this Old Testament book records the wisdom he has received from the Teacher, who set out to know and experience all he could about life “under the sun” (Ecc. 1:12-14). This life is described as one that is lived apart from God, and the Teacher often refers to it as “meaningless.” He is not saying it is devoid of meaning or that it amounts to nothing, but that life on earth without God can be quite confusing, frustrating, temporary, and elusive. Although life “under the sun” can be challenging, we have hope because our Lord Jesus Christ lives in us and brings significance, satisfaction, and never-ending joy.

Our students engaged in two powerful events the last full weekend in February. Our female staff hosted a Women’s Retreat at Camp Tecumseh for 65 women focused on our identity in Christ. Rick, Logan and I took 15 students to Pittsburgh for the Jubilee Conference. We were encouraged and challenged by powerful times of worship and gifted speakers who walked us through the four-part Gospel (creation, fall, redemption, and restoration).

The National Collegiate Day of Prayer was February 26th, and Dave helped host a prayer night in our building with other campus ministries. It was an amazing picture of the Body of Christ at Purdue, as multiple faith communities came together to pray for God’s Kingdom to come more fully on this campus. That same night we began 40 Days of Prayer.  In the days leading up to Easter, we are asking our community to commit to intentionally praying each day, joining Christians around the world to focus our hearts and attention more on Christ in this season prior to our celebration of His resurrection (read more about this at boilerroomprayer.com).

In the midst of all God is doing in our community, we also moved out of our building into our temporary home at 320 North St. before the Governor’s stay-in-place order took effect. Ministry will continue, just in a different location. The time without a permanent home will definitely be challenging, but we are looking forward to ways God might draw new people into our community through our temporary location. We are trusting God to continue doing what He’s been doing this semester and beyond as He leads our staff and community in this unique time of transition. We ask that you join us in praying for the Lord to keep our students open and ready to hear His voice and respond to His movement in their lives.