Being one

During our standard after-CU-pub visit last night we were given a great reminder of something we must be wary of as we start our year in CU - a need for unity. Sunderland manger Steve Bruce's transfer dealings in the summer didn't go unnoticed - he bought an entire team of new players, and yet this season they have been poor, something which was clear to see in the pub as they televised their loss to Norwich.

A strange thing to learn from? As a CU we could easily be Sunderland. Having just inherited a whole host of new Christian Union bods, it would be easy for us to dive into our work of spreading Jesus without first bonding together and getting to know one another well.

Our mission of making Jesus more well known around our uni can only happen most effectively when it's the common goal of all of us, and for that to begin we must first build real, working relationships which reflect the nature of the God we serve. John 17 struck me this summer - Jesus prays that all Christians "may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." Quite a challenge, eh?

Last night at CU we played a number of cheesy games (with varying levels of success), and retired slightly earlier to the pub - all aimed at getting us all more comfortable with one another. This way we can start to build those relationships Jesus called us to build, and we can make the most of the different individuals involved in Wolves CU this year.

Jesus says later in his prayer that this Trinity-modelled unity will also be beneficial in terms of how we appear to outsiders - he says that our unity shows the world that he was sent by God. For us to be able to show to the campus here that Jesus really is God's son is brilliant, with an understanding of who Jesus is being key to to people coming into relationship with God.

It is our hope and prayer that the unity and togetherness we are currently building will have two positives: firstly in how we support one another in personal faith, but more vitally in how we support one another in personal and group evangelism.

Relax, God's in charge

Some situations serve brilliantly to remind you of how God is in control - none more so than our first CU meeting of the new year last night.

With around two hours until we kicked off the new year we were hit by the news that we had no room booking at the university, and that it was too late to do so - they couldn't sort any security out for us (apparently my offer of being security enough was knocked back). The university chaplaincy was being used by members of a different faith society, Costa wouldn't be open late enough, and we facing the possibility of meeting either outside somewhere, or in a rowdy local pub.

But... God provides! As various member of the planning team made their ways to Subway for a hasty planning meeting, we were made aware of the offer of using a local church's coffee shop. As it turns out, only 24 hours earlier the leader of  the church which meets in said coffee shop had told one of our CU to let him know if we ever needed to use it for meetings.

God certainly plans ahead for our failures (and the SU's!). Arun's kindness in letting us use St. Peter's house was in God's plan for our first meeting - I feel as though last night was a great lesson in trusting him, even in our disorganisation.


The meeting itself was a success too - we introduced what a CU is, and what they do. We were all excited to see so many new faces; many more friends, encouragers, and partners to work with as we live and speak for Jesus in our uni. Our staff worker Ben spoke brilliantly from Mark 1:1 ("This is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God"), and several CU members introduced different practical aspects of our meetings. The first central of the year brought together a vibrant mix of people, all of whom we hope to see more this year.


In short, we have a God who delights to use failures (such as us) in his rescue plan for the world - even in small details such as last night. We certainly weren't great when it came to planning last night - but God stepped in, and the stress of 5 o'clock became optimism at 7, and happiness and thankfulness by the time we retired to the pub at 10.