LSU Wesley Foundation

Welcome Back Students!

The 2008-2009 LSU School Year is about to start. We at Wesley Foundation are excited to start a new year with our returning students and arriving freshman!

This brand new start gives us all an opportunity to make new friends and find new ways to help out in our community, all the while having fun together. For you freshman, it’s a chance to come experience your first Wednesday Night Chapel. Starting at 7 p.m. we’ll have dinner prepared for only $2 if you’d like a change from LSU Dining, and at 8 p.m. we move to our chapel for worship. That first chapel of the year is August 27th. And don’t worry, EVERYONE will have a chance to sign up for small groups and other service opportunities then.

LSU’s Wesley Foundation is connected with University United Methodist Church right off campus on Dalrymple Drive. This church enjoys having college students around and can’t wait for the semester to begin. Every year right before school starts, they host LSU Sunday. This year LSU Sunday is August 24th. Feel free to wear jeans and your favorite LSU t-shirt to church on LSU Sunday. Not only is dress more casual, but there is a FREE LUNCH right after just for the students! It’s a great opportunity to meet Don Meeks, the campus minister, and yours truly, Peter Gaughan, the Wesley Foundation Intern.  There we’ll have more information about the groups you can join and the things you can do. Plus, we’ll take you over to the Wesley Foundation Building if you’ve never been. I can’t wait.

If you have any questions or ideas for the year, why wait until LSU Sunday?

You can contact Don by emailing him at lsuwesley@bellsouth.net or Peter at justpeter@lsuwesley.org.

Week of April 21, 2008 … Summer is Almost Here!

Summer is almost here. It is hard to believe. Summer can be a strange time especially if you plan on going home for the summer. Not getting to see your Baton Rouge friends as much, adjusting to living with your parents again, maybe getting a summer job. It can also be a great time to read that book you have been wanting to read or to take up a hobby. Just remember to be open, open to change, open to letting yourself be changed by God, or open to a brand new journey. You maybe be going somewhere new, all by yourself, but you are not alone. New friends are already there waiting to meet you. And old friends are just a phone call or facebook message away. For those of you who will still be around Baton Rouge this summer, hoping to see some familiar faces, I have an opportunity for you…..

Summer Wesley Foundation!

Summer Wesley will begin on Wednesday June 11. We will meet weekly, every Wednesday at 7. We will not have the usual dinner, but there will be some sort of refreshment. Since there are less people around in the summer it will be a small group style. (Have some ideas on things to discuss or read? Feel free to give us your input. We are here for you!) This is also a great way to see who is around and plan some get togethers throughout the summer. Hope to see you there!

Before that starts there will be an…

End of the Year Pool Party!!

What better way would there be to close out the best year ever (so far) at the Wesley Foundation than with a POOL PARTY!  Saturday, May 3rd at 4:30 Wesley will have their end of year pool party at Christine “Steen” Griffith’s house:

2924 Bakin Ave. 70820

This is in Riverbend neighborhood, off of Brightside.

This is a great time to take a study break, relax, and socialize with your friends before we all get bogged down with finals and go our separate ways for the summer. Burgers and Hot Dogs will be provided, but you are encouraged to bring something to the party.  There will be a sign up sheet at chapel.

Whats going on at Wesley Foundation this week…….

Weekly Schedule
Monday
6:00 Freshmen group

7:00 Jen’s Gal Group
9:00 Senior group

Tuesday

5:00 Irresistible Revolution Group (continued from our Lenten Group)

7:00 Bible Study

Wednesday

7:00 $2 Dinner

8:00 Chapel~ Brad Davis gives the word

9:00 Fellowship and Dessert

Thursday

4:00 Organic Gardening

7:30 Prayer and Praise

Sunday
10:00 College Bible Study @ UUMC Fellowship Hall

11:00 UUMC service

12:00 LAST Free College Lunch at the Wesley Foundation

Week of March 24, 2008 … Normal Life Returns

Hope you had a wonderful Spring break-whether you were tanning at the beach, planting trees in Seattle, or chillin at home! Welcome back to normal life–Here is whats going on this week:

Whats going on at Wesley Foundation this week…….

Weekly Schedule
Monday
6:00 Freshmen group

7:00 Jen’s Gal Group
9:00 Senior group

Tuesday

5:00 Irresistible Revolution Group (continued from our Lenten Group)

7:00 Bible Study

Wednesday

7:00 $2 Dinner

8:00 Chapel - Prime will speak!

9:00 Fellowship and Dessert

Thursday

1:45 Irresistible Revolution Group (continued from our Lenten Group)

4:00 Organic Gardening

5:30 Inreach/Outreach Meeting (Discuss Crawfish Boil and End-of-year Party)

7:30 Prayer and Praise

Sunday
9:45 College Bible Study @ UUMC Fellowship Hall

11:00 UUMC service

12:00 Free College Lunch

<3 4 eva,

SarPrime

Don’t Mind the Stress, the Salmon Are Eagerly Awaiting You

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been very stressed lately.  While you all have been busy with school, Sarah and I have been busy with finishing all the last minute details for mission trip.  And while everyone else talks about how excited they are about mission trip or their own spring break plans, I feel stressed about mission trip and imagine all sorts of outlandish scenarios of how things could go wrong.  I try to take comfort in this verse:

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  Romans 8:18-19

Usually when we read this verse, we think of it applying to some distant future, but what if in some small way it comes to pass, at least partially, over spring break?  At some point, I’ll let the stress, the weight, the responsibility I feel go and let God take care of things.  All the minor frustrations will be forgotten in the pure joy of serving God and neighbor in Seattle as God reveals Himself through us.  I also take solace in the fact that there are untold numbers of salmon eagerly awaiting our arrival to plan trees and shrubs to protect their habitats and provide them shade as they migrate.  Soon we will be celebrating Easter, when we declare that Jesus is risen and, through our actions in mission, we will declare with our actions that Christ is still present in the world today.

So if you’re reading this and you’re getting a little bummed because you’re not going on mission trip, don’t be!  There are opportunities all around you, not just in Seattle.  Be open to how God might want use you on that beach in Florida or ski slope in Colorado.  All people need the gospel, the homeless poor and salmon of Seattle as well as the financially secure college kids and jellyfish on the beach.

Week of March 10, 2008

Hello good people!

Spring break is almost here! All the midterms and tests and projects and papers are almost over with, so take hope. Also, Easter is almost here! You can eat candy or whatever soon. A few quick notes. No college lunch this Sunday (Palm Sunday) or next (Easter Sunday). No chapel over Spring Break either.

***IF YOU ARE GOING ON MISSION TRIP, COME TO CHAPEL ON WEDNESDAY AND STAY FOR A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING!***

Weekly Schedule

Tuesday

5:00 Lenten Group: reading Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne

7:00 Bible Study: Romans

Wednesday

7:00 $2 Dinner

8:00 Chapel

9:00 Fellowship and Dessert

***IMPORTANT MEETING ON MISSION TRIP TO FOLLOW!

Thursday

1:45 Lenten Group: reading Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne

4:00 Organic Gardening

5:30 Leadership Meeting (spring testing and other stuff)

7:30 Prayer and Praise

Friday
Last day before spring break!

Saturday

12:30pm - Meet at New Orleans airport to leave for Seattle!

Sunday
11:00 UUMC service - Palm Sunday (no lunch, sorry!)

Spring Break!

Rest, relax, enjoy it, pray for us on mission trip. No college lunch on Easter.

We are humbled

“Whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting” Matthew 6:16
This is about humility. When we fast, or deprive ourselves from something for the sake of Lent, we remember how weak we can be. How hard it is to give up one tiny thing, to try to spend a few extra minutes a day in prayer, and only for 40 days. It isn’t always as easy as it seemed it would be in the beginning. We are humbled. We are human. We remember One who was also human, just like us. We remember the great work he did, the outcasts that he dined with, the sick that he healed–not just so they could be better, but so that they could rejoin society. We remember the love that he had and the passion in his death. We are humbled. We remember his loyalest companions and how in the end they all fled and Peter who denied him. It can be ! so easy to run away, can’t it? We are still so humbled.
Lenten sacrifices are not always easy. If you stumble, take ease, forgive yourself and persevere. This is why Lent last 40 days–so you have time to prepare, to reflect, to transform.
Peace.

Whats going on at Wesley Foundation this week…….

Hello Good People,
Spring Break=2weeks away
Me=excited!

Weekly Schedule
Monday
6:15AM -10AM Wesley chapel will be open for prayer and meditation time

6:00 Freshmen group

7:00 Jen’s Gal Group
9:00 Senior group

Tuesday

5:00 Lenten Group: reading Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne

7:00 Bible Study: Romans

Wednesday

7:00 $2 Dinner

8:00 Chapel

9:00&nb! sp;Fellowship and Dessert

 < /div>Thursday

1:45 Lenten Group: reading Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne

4:00 Organic Gardening

5:30 Leadership Meeting (spring testing and other stuff)

7:30 Prayer and Praise

Friday
7:00 Movie Night
Saturday

Help Claire K. sort through clothes to send to an orphanage in Democratic Republic of the Congo! This will only take and hour or two. Time: TBA. Place: Wesley Foundation.

Sunday
10:00 College Bible Study @ UUMC Fellowship Hall (a study of the Lord’s Prayer)
11:00 UUMC service

12:00 Free College Lunch

Testing

Dead Week–Feel dead yet?

Merry Christmas tired college students!

We are entering dead week–a cruel joke that deceives college students into thinking that the work load will be lighter. It’s never true is it? Try to find time this week to rest, to find peace. The weather temperature has been unpredictable but it has been beautiful. Enjoy nature this week. Find a quiet place to clear your mind between study sessions, paper writing, exam cramming, and project working. Don gave a wonderful sermon yesterday about our spiritual shape. We worry so much this time of year about getting ourselves in shape, eating right, exercising. But what of our spiritual shape? How often do we consider exercising it through study, prayer, meditation. This week will be crammed for time but allow yourself 5 minutes here or there to exercise your spirit, say a small prayer, meditate on a verse, or just be still and listen….

Psalm 107

28 “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
²⁹ He calmed the storm to a whisper
and stilled the waves.
³⁰ What a blessing was that stillness
as he brought them safely into harbor!
³¹ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

Christmas Crazies

I hope you all had a wonderful time of feasting and family over the break. Now that you are back to the daily grind this becomes a time of great perseverance. Only two more weeks of school then exams and finally you can relax…or stress out again about buying all those presents at the last minute because you didnt have time to shop with all the studying that you had to do. It’s the season of the “Christmas Crazies.” Our culture jam packs this holiday with commercialism and materialism, which is ironic when you consider the environment of Jesus’ birth. We are so consumed with trying to find the perfect gift, throwing the best party, spending, spending, spending. Why are we worried about the things that aren’t important.

Matthew brings us words of comfort:

Matthew 6:25-34 (NRSV)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you–you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed ! your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

So take things one at a time and try to enjoy the Christmas season. Find Peace in the chaos.