July 2015 Newsletter

Love Fulfills
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” –Galatians 5:22-23

We fulfill the Law through love; this is the sum and substance of the whole Law. And love is the very thing the Spirit creates in the life of the believer and in the believing community. Love is the chief of the Spirit’s fruits. We see love mentioned first in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. That’s not only to give love pride of place as the most important fruit but also to suggest that love itself is the summation of all the other fruit. Love contains the whole of all that God desires and require of us.

This is why Paul can say so confidently about the fruit of the Spirit, “Against such things there is no law.” The Law is not against the fruit of the Spirit; indeed, the fruit of the Spirit - love - is the very thing for which the Law itself calls. Thus the leading of the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit, which is the fulfillment of the Law and thus avoids its curses.

Love, then, ought to mark our lives as Christians. Indeed, love ought to be the hallmark of the Christian. We ought to be known by how we love one another – and the world. In fact, our love for one another is an indication of whether we are walking by the Spirit.

Love ought to mark the church as well. The church ought to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. We ought to be like a garden, the garden of God, embodying the presence of the Spirit, recapturing the love that was present originally in the garden of Eden. And this garden-church ought to be filled with fruit, new creation fruit born of the Spirit of God within the lives of his people. Thus the church ought to be an oasis in the midst of a barren wasteland, a place of nourishment and rest and healing and life smack dab in the middle of this present evil age.

-Todd Wilson, Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living

Meet the Students

Meet Zak Wool, a senior bioengineering major from Newark, Delaware. Zak had been in the ministry from his very first weeks at Pitt, and has been quite an asset ever since. One thing you need to know about Zak is that he is a great cook. Read more about him…

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? This question is hard to answer. Top movies would have to include the Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight, and Sunshine. Books would also include the Lord of the Rings along with The Things They Carried, and the Hyperion Cantos. Most folk and classic rock appeals to my tastes.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I got involved in Cornerstone the first month of my freshmen year when an awkward conversation with Andy at Bellefield brought me to the orientation week cookout. After attending freshmen bible study, I continued on to help lead it the following year. The past year and a half I've been co-leading Cornerstone's planning team which oversees the administrative aspects of Cornerstone's meetings and events.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? Cornerstone was originally, like most freshmen, a place for me to meet others who shared my beliefs. Those initial relationships have been allowed to flourish and become some of the best friendships I’ve made. Such a community has allowed to me to grow into who I am compared to who I was out of high school. Learning to love myself and identify who I was in Christ has helped me mature not so much into a different person but into who I really was beneath the high walls I had put up.

Financial Update

Raising support for a pay raise has been slow but steady. We have taken a slight dip from the previous months support, however. You may have seen from the chart that our monthly is at $3096, 79% of where we need to be. Though there has been a dip, I am not discouraged, because I know that God provides. I am very thankful for that provision. I am also very thankful for all of you! It is because of all of you, I have been raising this support so I can minister to students like Zak, and see how God has worked in his life during his years at Pitt. It has been amazing watching Zak grow since our first “awkward conversation.” A large part of being able to do what I do has been through gracious supporters. If you would like to help this ministry, we are always looking for new supporters. This is what makes ministry possible. Now that I have gotten a raise, this is more important than ever! If God leads you to do so, we would love for you to be a part of this ministry through gift and/or prayer. I am asking that my current supporters give an extra 10% on top of their usual giving. This will help to make up the difference from what I currently make and from my goal. We trust for you and for us that God will provide. He always has, and He always will. Remember that any gift is a good gift. Please be in prayer that God will continue to build our support team and that we would be faithful in doing our part.

Moore News

Summer is quickly winding down. What was once a relaxing filled few months is becoming increasingly busy. This past month Benjamin and Joshua (Asher still isn’t old enough) got their first taste of camp when they visited Beulah Beach, a Christian and Missionary Alliance Camp in Vermilion, Ohio. Ben and Josh did the Explore Camp part of Beulah Beach, designed specifically for younger kids to have their first overnight camp experience. The camp provides activities, games, music and also provided an opportunity for Ben and Josh to explore the active, relational, and spiritual value of being at a Christian camp away from parents. They had an absolute blast. In fact, the first thing Benjamin said to me when we went to pick him up was, “Can we stay?”

Those three days of camp where not their only days of camp, however. A week later, the whole family (including my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and four nephews) went back to Beulah Beach for family camp. We had time, both as a family and in specific age groups, to learn more about God and enjoy the area around Lake Erie. It was a wonderful (and tiring) five days that our whole family not only enjoyed, but bonded over. It looks like this might become our new family vacation.

A week after family camp, we celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday in Pittsburgh. We had an absolute blast celebrating with our entire family. She’s a very special lady whom I am extremely proud of and thankful for.

I pray that this letter find you well, and that God is doing amazing things through you!

In Christ,
Andy Moore