June 2014 Newsletter

Finding Your Identity
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” –John 1:12

Who am I? This is the question that freshmen college students often ask themselves. Everything they once identified themselves with (friends, family, town, etc.) are now gone, and they are no longer sure who they are and what they believe. Their identity has been shattered.

After this shocking realization, students go on a path of self-discovery to decipher who they are. They look to others to identify them. They look toward their schooling to identify them. They look toward anything that would make them feel worth. Whatever gives me value, that’s where I identify: friends, family, school, work, alcohol, sex…the list goes on. Where does my value lie? Who am I?

Friends, family, school, those are not identifiers. Those are characteristics that help make you who you are, but they do not define you. Christ defines you. Who am I? You are one who is made in the image of God and is deeply loved. You are a child of God, and no one can take that from you. When Christ looks at you, he says, “Mine.” Christ defines you. He is your identifier. You are his.

Summertime
Summer break is here, and the church seems much more quiet…much more empty. My work load, has become much lighter and I can feel myself relaxing a bit more. But, there is still quite a bit to do.

During the summer, as you may remember, we have our weekly meeting called Common Ground. Common Ground is a large group fellowship where various students from Pittsburgh campuses merge for a summer ministry sponsored by the CCO. Like every year we meet at the park, eat, and play various games. Last year we did a video series by Tim Keller, and this year we are doing a bible study through the book of Philippians. It should be a great time.

Elsewhere, In Ocean City, New Jersey, we have five students involved in the Ocean City Beach Project (OCBP). OCBP is a summer-long community living opportunity for Christian college students to develop further as campus leaders. The Project provides the opportunity for students to grow personally in faith and to develop a deeper vision for life. The students going are Danny Churchill, Shelby Scott, Katie Smith, Kayla Bloodgood, and Lindsey Ericson. Please be in prayer for them.

Meet the Students

Meet Keito Hoshitsuki, a first year Pharmacy Student at Pitt. I met Keito at the first freshmen bible study of his freshmen year, and have had the honor of discipling him. He is a great man of God. Listen to what he has to say…

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? Favorite movie: Top Gun; Favorite book: The Giver; Favorite band/music: I don't really have one. I listen to everything from classical to pop.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? I came to cornerstone fall of my freshman year and I've been involved since then. I did leadership for a year on Freshmen Ministry Team, went to Jubilee, and got baptized with 4 other Cornerstone students during my sophomore year. I also became a member of Bellefield Presbyterian Church.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your years at Pitt? The biggest thing Cornerstone has done for me is give me a new purpose for my education and daily actions. Through the weekly messages, individual mentorship from staff, and fellowship with other students, my faith life has grown and developed, and I now see how my vocation and my faith are not separate things. I have matured so much in the last 3 years and want Christ to be the focus in everything I do. This change happened in me because of Cornerstone.

Financial Update

We received full donations for the month! Praise God for these gifts and for the givers! We know that God is faithful, and always will be. We are very thankful for the support given to us as well as our wonderful supporters! This past month’s giving has been a real blessing, and we are asking for something BIG from everyone for this month: we are asking that you tithe (give 10%) of one of your paychecks this month to help support our ministry. Don’t worry, we won’t be asking this every month. If you are interested in supporting this ministry, I would love to meet with you. Remember that any gift is a good gift. Please contact me using the information on the front of this newsletter or email me at amoore@ccojubilee.org.

Moore News

Well, baseball season is officially over. I enjoyed every single second of being a coach, but I am a bit relieved that it is done. Benjamin had an outstanding first year. His team, the Mariners, unfortunately lost in the semi-finals in a real heart breaker. His final batting average was .770, and he was especially good defensively. Joshua also had a great season on the Grasshoppers, learning all the ends and outs of baseball in his league. He is a natural hitter, and is starting to get the defensive parts down. Both he and Ben will be in the same league next year, which will make things easier on us. I have started to teach Asher how to play baseball, and he seems to really enjoy it as well.

Emily is probably more relieved than anyone that baseball season is over. Coordinating schedules, including mine, is quite a tough job to handle. I’m sure this will open up quite a bit of free time for both of us. I know she could use a bit of a break. Now, we are preparing for our annual visit to Colorado. Out with one task, and in with another.

I hope that this letter finds you well, and that you are enjoying your summer. May God bless you all.

In Christ,
Andy Moore

February 2014 Newsletter

Finding God in Failure
“And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.” -Isaiah 33:24

We all fail, and sometimes it is completely out of our hands. Sometimes students will study as hard as they can for a test, and will still do poorly. Sometimes they don’t study for a test, and fail. Failure is a learning experience. As the movie Batman Begins says, “Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up again.”

What about those times, though, where you try to take matters in your own hands and fail? Those times where you feel like God is specifically telling you to do something and you ignore it, deciding you will do what you want. “I can do it better,” you subconsciously say to yourself. “I need to be in control.” So you do it yourself, without God’s help, and you fail. We have all been here. We have all done this. We have failed because we did not rely on God.

You see, from the very beginning we have failed. God created a good world that was perfect for us. But somewhere we were lied to. Satan came to Adam and Eve telling them, “Eating this fruit will make you better. You don’t need God.” And they believed this lie and failed miserably, causing a domino effect for the rest of mankind. The world became broken and riddled with failure. No matter how hard we worked, or how hard we tried, we could never reestablish that good world that was perfect for us. Now we have new fruits that are being dangled before us: ones of greed, and lust, and power. And we believe the same lie that Adam and Eve heard from the serpent, “Eating this fruit will make you better. You don’t need God.” And so we gluttonously gorge on the feast of fruit that is set before us, and in doing so fail miserably. We are unjust before a just God.

In our failure, God had a plan. He sent his son Jesus Christ to die for us taking our very failures upon our back and to forgive us of the very things we fall short on. But death could not defeat him, and he rose again on the third day. He did this so that one day, if we believed in his son, the savior Jesus Christ, we could stand before that Just God and instead of failure he would say, “You have passed. You are righteous. You are mine.” With Christ, we are not failures.

Are you still denying your failures and thereby clinging to them and reinforcing their power over you? Two thousand years ago, on a cross outside Jerusalem, there was a man who bore our guilt. God says that if we trust in Christ to bear our failure, our guilt is never coming back. That’s when nothing can hold us back from newness of life, not even our own failure.

Cornerstone and Bellefield Update
As many of you may know, this past weekend (February 14-16) was the Jubilee Conference. The Jubilee Conference is a conference put on by the CCO about faithful living in every area of life and is designed to help students wrestle deeply with the challenges of being a student of Jesus and of this world. It articulates that a whole-life devoted to Christ and the common good is possible.

This year, we had about 60 students from Cornerstone go and listen to such speakers as Andy Crouch, Dan Allender, Eric Mason, and York Moore. It was, honestly, one of the better Jubilees I have attended (I have gone to nine Jubilees thus far), and the majority of main speakers were excellent. Students, I felt, were really engaged with the messages and the Jubilee theme. It raised awareness of God’s grasp and sovereignty over every area of life, raised awareness of a fallen world saturated with injustice and corruption, and articulated how we are God’s agents set to make a difference in this world for the kingdom of Christ. It was truly an excellent and uplifting time filled with growth for students and staff.

Meet the Students

Meet Katie Smith, a freshmen psychology major from Potomac, Maryland. I met Katie during freshmen orientation week, and she has been a constant at Cornerstone ever since. Read more about her...

1. What is your favorite movie, book, and band/music? Movie: I’m not a huge fan of watching movies, which my movie-loving friends kind of hate sometimes. Usually, two hours is way too long to dedicate your attention to and I either fall asleep or want to go do something else 30 minutes in. But, growing up I did always love the first two Santa Clause movies (the 3rd just isn’t the same). And I recently started to love horror films, especially The Conjuring, because they make my heart beat fast and keep me engaged for the whole 2 hours. Book: In 10th grade English I read Catcher and the Rye and it’s been my favorite ever since because Holden Caulfield just gets it. Music: My favorite song ever is “All Star” by Smash Mouth. I also have a thing for songs sung by other people and acoustic Music. My favorite bands include Mumford and Sons, Switchfoot, and David Crowder Band.

2. What has been your involvement in Cornerstone? My third day here in Pittsburgh I had lunch with some students and staff from Cornerstone and I guess I thought they were pretty cool because I’ve been involved ever since. I went to Wednesday night fellowship and Freshmen Bible Study throughout my first semester. This semester I’m excited to be on the other side of that on the Freshman Ministry Team and look forward to leading bible study for next year’s freshmen. I will be traveling to Nome, Alaska on a mission trip in a few weeks for spring break with a 14 others to serve the Native people there.

3. How has Cornerstone helped you during your year at Pitt? The biggest thing Cornerstone has done for me is challenge my beliefs and help me grow deeper in my relationship with Jesus. In high school, I had a comfortable faith and now I’m constantly challenged because I’m learning from people that come from different backgrounds than me. Cornerstone is where I have met my best friends that are encouraging and supporting me in all areas of life. I have discovered a desire to know the true nature of God and everyday I’m excited to see the things he is doing in my life and those around this campus.

Financial Update

This past month was another low month for us, but we stand on the promise that God provides: He always has and always will, and has taught us that many times over. We are very thankful for the support given to us as well as our wonderful supporters! If you are interested in supporting this ministry, I would love to meet with you. Please contact me using the information on navigation bar or email me at amoore@ccojubilee.org.

Moore News

The past two weeks we have had the privilege of having Emily’s dad, LeRoy (or as he is more commonly called in our house, “Grandpa”), for a visit. It is always a treat when he gets to come, since he is a busy farmer out in Colorado. The boys love having their quality “grandpa” time and enjoy his rough housing and playful banter. It is a shame we don’t get to see him more, and we always look forward for the times that we do get to spend with him.

We are preparing to leave for Disney World soon on vacation. This trip was given as a gift to us, and we are very grateful to be able to go with my loving family. I assume it will be a bit chaotic, but good chaotic…if that makes sense. Plus, I am really looking forward to spending time with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews as well as Em and the boys. It will be a blast.

Again, we thank you for your love and support and pray that God blesses you as you glorify him in all circumstances.

In Christ,
Andy Moore