Dear Friends,
I am so excited to be sending out this, our very first e-letter of the year. Thanks to those who made our Master Plan and First Week activities a huge success. To those who are new to campus—Welcome! To those who are returning—Welcome! To those who simply have a heart for campus ministry and like to know what we are doing on the hill—Welcome!
Here is a rundown of this week’s activities:
Soul Feast
Tonight we are having worship on campus at DUC (Downing University Center) room 340 at 6pm. We will be joined tonight by the praise team from Broadway United Methodist Church who will be leading our worship. Our message will talk about what it means to experience God’s love in a truly personal way. We will explore the first of our core values at the Wesley Foundation, what it means to “Put a Human Face on God’s Love.” These next for weeks are a great opportunity to come and learn exactly what we at the Wesley Foundation stand for.
Solid Rock Café
Thursday night we will have our free meal and Bible Study/Program at the Wesley Foundation at 6pm. Call 842-2880 for a ride if you need one. We will be looking at what it means to live your passion in a Christ-like way, lifting up the themes raised by the movie “School or Rock.” Afterwards we will be going down to DUC South Lawn to watch “School of Rock,” projecting it onto the outside wall of Academic Complex. We’ll begin the movie about 8:30pm. Which reminds me….
Movies on the Lawn
Every Thursday night for the next few weeks we will be showing a different movie on DUC South Lawn. This is a great time to invite a friend, pull up lawn chair (or blanket), and experience one of the finer past-times of American Culture: Cinema. You will notice that before each movie we will meet at the Foundation for free food and a program that looks at how to live the themes raised by the movie in a faith-filled way. Youth groups, church groups, whatever groups are also invited. Here is a line-up:
September 7—“School of Rock”
September 14—“Napoleon Dynomite”
September 21—“Walk the Line”
September 28—“RV”
October 12—“Glory Road”
Now For Sami’s Ramblings About Jesus:
I don’t know about you, but these last two weeks have been on the absolutely crazy side. I am just thanking Jesus I survived them. Don’t get me wrong; they were good weeks. But they were also full of physically demanding tasks, needful of organizational genius, and spur of the moment creativity. I know that getting through had more to do with God’s grace (and willing hearts who were there to help out) than my own strength. So I am sending up a big woo-hoo to Jesus. Thank you so much Lord.
Beginnings are always hard. It could be because we often don’t know what to expect and the shock of what is happening catches us off-guard. It could be because we’ve been there, done that before (as in all you returning students and professors) and we know how difficult things can be. As a result we go through physically and mentally prepared for world melt-down and waste tons of mental and physical energy when it doesn’t happen. Or maybe it does happen and we go into the rest of what follows filled with fear.
The temptation is to believe that the beginning of something determines the rest of an endeavor’s history. NOT TRUE! The Bible says God’s mercy is new every morning, that His faithfulness is great (Lamentations 3:23). And this morning in my devotionals I read these words: “The Lord is on my side to help me” (Psalm 118:7). The temptation is to believe that we should give up because we believe we know what the outcome will be. The truth says that we have no idea what will happen, that we are upheld by a God who loves us, is there to help us, and who does new things with great mercy and faithfulness every morning. WE might give up on our circumstances, but God never does. We might give up on ourselves, but God never does. God is always working to bring forth good from simple human lives.
So be encouraged. God is with you today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Be encouraged. Tomorrow is not bigger than God is, and God will give us every strength we need to face the challenges it holds. Be encouraged. You have someone bigger than you on your side to help you, to hold you up, and to handle the things that make you want to give up.
Need more encouragement? In person even? E-mail me back and we’ll go to lunch. My treat.
Blessings,
Sami
Campus Minister/Director
WKU Wesley Foundation
842-2880
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