Christmas is a time which may be difficult for members of the CU who's family are not Christian, and don't understand the great thing that we have to celebrate!

However please pray that for these people (and for the rest of us) it would be an exciting time; that God would strengthen them to share this great Joy with their freinds and family.

For many, if not most, of us it has been a very busy term, and its not totally over yet with exams lurking round the corner in January.

Please pray that over the holidays we would have good times of rest and that we would be drawing close to God, being built up and strengthened in our faith and relationship with him so we can return to nottingham refreshed and ready to serve him with greater urgency!

Its that time of year again, when the university and the lives of most of its students become oriented around exams and acheiving good grades (or simply trying to pass!).

We believe that God has given the opportunity to study at university so that we may use our intellect for his glory. However, we know that that the only person who's perception of us really matters is God; and what he thinks of us is entirely tied up in Christ's perfect life - he sees us as he sees his Son!

Therefore, please be praying that this exam time we would be studying hard, not to gain acceptance in the world's eyes but to glorify God because we already have acceptance in his eyes!

Pray also that we would remain fixed on the ultimate goal of our faith, the salvation our souls, not shaken by the momentary goals of this life.

Praise God that so many (about 150!) international students came and enjoyed the free food and heard a short explanation of the Christian faith and what the CU is.

Christianity Explored

This was a 5 week course examining the person of Jesus, his claims and the impact these claims have on us today. It was attended by around 8-10 non-christians each week, many of whom were really getting to grips with the Gospel, coming to understand who Jesus was and that there is a decision to be made about him, which has great consequences.

Please pray for those that came that the end of the course would not be the end of their investigation into christianity and that those who have been convicted of the need for a decision would be given faith to decide to trust in Christ.

Please pray for Christian friends of those that came that they would have boldness in following up and challenging them.

Carol Service

On Sunday 10th Dec we held our annual Christmas Carol Service, which always proves to be a great evangelistic event with so many of our freinds willing to come along and get festive! We saw about 600 people come and amongst the other festivities heard a talk from Will Stileman, who presented the Gospel faithfully and clearly.

Please pray that God would use what was said, whether in readings, in Will's talk or amongst friends afterwards, to impact people's lives.

Praise God that so many came and pray that the non-christians who came would be challenged to reconsider Jesus this Christmas!

Lunchbar

Lunchbars have been taking place most weeks this term on all sorts of different subjects such as "God Hates Religion!" and "What evidence is there for Christianity?", and have been blessed with a prominent room in the centre of the SU building, seeing a good number coming each week. It is also very encourageing to see many of the same faces coming back each week!

Praise God for all the speakers that he has equipped and provided, as well as the provision of such a central venue and people to serve by making food, moving tables, flyering etc...

Pray for those came that they would be challenged to think more about things and would keep coming back to hear more.

Pray particularly for the few that keep coming back, that we would see them come to truly understand the Gospel and make a decision.

Our Hall Groups, know as nine20 groups, have two leaders who will, in most cases be moving into halls for a second week year, amidst a new intake of party-hopping, seemingly care-free first-years.

They will have many great opportunities to share their faith with others and having leaders living in the hall is a great help to many students, christian or otherwise, looking for a place to investigate Jesus.

However it can feel strange moving back into halls and it can be a lonely experience at times as a 2nd year as well as a great challenge to set-up and run the Hall-Group for the year.

Please pray for the leaders at this time, that they would know christ's peace and joy in all they do even through difficult periods.

Pray that they would have many great opportunities to share their faith and would have the boldness to take them!

Pray that God would fill the leaders with his wisdom to know how best to run the groups.