“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” - Philippians 1:21

Our theme for Fall 2007 is “To Live is Christ.” It really is no different from the direction we’ve started to head in last semester, when our theme was “Made to Worship.” It arises from the same Biblical conviction that the glory of God is the singular, ultimate, defining reason we exist, and our joy in God is the singular, ultimate, definition reason we exist (See Our Beliefs for clarification). We aim this semester to dig deeper into the Word of God to learn more about who Jesus truly is, while praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us by the Truth (John 17:17), to help us sow accurate teaching about Christ into a reality of a life lived for Christ.

“To live is Christ” is not a Christian catchphrase. It is not simply saying, “you need to have Christ be a real part of your life”. It’s not just only saying, “a relationship with Christ should be the most important thing in your life”. It is much, much more. Paul puts it this way:

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” - Philippians 3:7-8

Aiming to follow the example of Paul, we want to dive into what it means to count everything loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ, both individually, and as a fellowship of believers.

There are many blessings of being a part of a Christian fellowship, and we are thankful for them. We do affirm the friendships and memories and fun times, but those are not ultimate. Jesus Christ is. It is our longing to become the kind of believers where it would be clear to each other and to the world that Jesus is our greatest treasure. We care about the praise and sharing and teaching and FFAT, that in all that we do, it would be clear that the best good of Real Life would be undeniably Jesus Christ. Our small groups aim to be smaller communities full of grace and truth, Bible-saturated, in such a way so that it would be clear that the best good of small group is Jesus Christ. We serve together through practical acts of mercy and sharing the gospel in such a way that makes Jesus Christ look great. We pray together, and encourage one another daily, with the Word of God, in love, with the aim of spurring one another closer to Jesus Christ. We aim to become a family of believers where it would be clear and unmistakable that Christ is our treasure, our foundation, our hope and our joy - that He is the ultimate reason we meet together - that His glory and renown satisfying us beyond all satisfaction this world to offer is why we exist.

Join us as we dive into God’s Word and ask Him to teach and transform us so that we might know, in a real, daily sense what it means that “To live is Christ.”

Remember that drawing game we played towards the end of Spring Break? Here’s the scans (finally)…

Here’s how it works….

1. Write a sentence; pass to your right
2. Draw the sentence; fold the sentence under; pass to your right
3. Describe the picture; fold the picture under; pass to your right
4. Repeat 2 and 3

Recipe Here: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhgt9k4f_32fhvr97

Seniors - your gifts included a data CD with this is .mp4 format, as well as a folder full of source pictures (including many more than were actually in the slideshow). If you have any questions about it (can’t get it to play, etc.), talk to Ben…

Until this school semester at Cornell University, I have never acknowledged that I was not truly living my life for God. Instead, I was living for the expectations I set upon myself to achieve the career, salary, and future life that I assumed to be an automatic given for any graduate from an Ivy League University. Broken by my weakness and the guilt from my sins, I realized that God would not be pleased by any offering I made because I was not seeking Him first. In studying Romans with the small group that I lead in Campus Crusade for Christ, I have been learning what it means to be set free from sin, to not be condemned by guilt, and to love Him. I no longer desire to be satisfied by anything in this world except His will for my life and my desire to give Him my everything has been a process of freeing me from the burdens that I once carried. Not only this, but God has also filled my heart with His joy so that I cannot help but want to share with others the ways He has opened my eyes. For this reason, I pray for myself Paul’s prayer in Philemon 6: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.”

This summer, I will be going on a six-week trip from June 25^th to August 6^th through OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship) to serve in NE China at Yanbian University of Science & Technology (YUST). As a short-term volunteer, I will be reaching out to students through teaching English and assisting the long-term workers with a partnership team of five other members from the local church I attend in Ithaca.

During the time before and during the trip, I would appreciate prayer support in these areas:

• That I would not rely on my own strength but on God’s provision (for my spiritual, emotional, physical, and financial needs)
• That my heart would learn to care for the people that I will be serving
• That I would draw close to God and seek Him daily
• For God to unify our team and to challenge us to grow in faith

-Jeanne Lee