Finding God's Great Adventure - by Kim Metzer

“So how can they call on someone they don’t have faith in? And how can they have faith in someone they haven’t heard of? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the good news (Isaiah 52:7).”  Romans 10:14-15

For those of us that followed along with the study of Unfinished: Believing Is Only The Beginning by Richard Stearns this fall, these verses were our call to action.  We are, each and every one of us, called to live out our faith by teaching as Jesus taught.  “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21

Having just joined the Redeemer staff as the Director of Small Groups and Discipleship on April 1 (no foolin’!) this was my first time picking a church-wide study.  I would say that it was a success based on the discussions that resulted.  Working through the study has caused many of us to take a hard look at how we’re living our lives.  Are we all called to sell everything we own and move into the mission field?  Certainly not!  But we are all called to teach where we’re at because “your head thinks where your feet stand.”  (Richard Stearns in the Unfinished video) In the Great Commission Jesus said, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.” Matthew 28:19-20

As we learned in session 5, we are all dominos and when we’re placed together in a project or a mission it takes every single one of us for the project or mission to succeed.  In a chain reaction, ALL dominos are important.  It only takes one domino to cause a failed reaction.  We are all important to the mission.  Jesus doesn’t ask us to do the impossible, just to play our part.

One example of a successful chain reaction is the Food Pantry here at Redeemer.  The Pantry started with the idea of one person and has blossomed into an outreach ministry that feeds THOUSANDS of people every year.  Similar to how God used some bread and a couple of fish to feed 5,000, He has used one idea and several dedicated volunteers to feed the hungry in our county.

The study series concluded with six steps to follow in order to find God’s Great Adventure For Your Life:

       1.       Commit: Replace your agenda with God’s agenda

2.       Pray: In order to “acquire the satellite” for our internal GPS we need to connect with God in prayer

3.       Prepare: Study God’s word, the Bible

4.       Be Obedient: Talk the talk and walk the walk

5.       Act: Take action.  Do SOMEthing, even if it’s a small thing.

6.       Trust:  Trust that God wants only the very best for you – because He does!

I will leave you with these words from Mother Theresa: We can do no great things – only small things with great love.

-Kim

Looking UP and Bowing DOWN… - by Sue Campbell

Recently, I was reading and reflecting on the Matthew and Luke (NIV) accounts of Jesus’ birth, and kept coming across the idea of “UP” – Joseph woke UP from a dream and did what the angel commanded him…the shepherds had to look UP from tending their flocks to see the angel who appeared to them…then they looked UP to see a “heavenly host (of angels) praising God”…Joseph and Mary went UP from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Mary treasured UP all these things…the magi looked UP to follow the star to find and worship Jesus…

It’s so easy at this time of year to do the opposite – to look DOWN at lists of things to buy or do, at smartphones that keep drawing our attention, at driveways and floors that need to be cleaned…or to get DOWN on ourselves about habits we didn’t change, conversations we didn’t have, goals we didn’t achieve…

 Instead, what if we ---

·        Look UP to see the majesty of God’s creation

·        Get UP out of our normal routines to do something unexpected

·        Make UP with someone we’ve wronged

·        Build UP someone who needs encouragement

·        Join UP with an opportunity to serve others

·        Love UP family members

 Maybe then, we’d see a very different perspective and we’d understand better about the only DOWN I did read – “On coming to the house, they (the magi) bowed down and worshiped him.”  (Matthew 2:11)

 

Sue Campbell

Dir. of Children’s Ministry 

Worshiping God without Fear - by Diane Lantzy

One of my roles at Redeemer is managing Pages & Prayers bookstore.  Not only is working at a bookstore a dream come true but it has also impacted my spiritual journey in countless ways.

I am attracted to memoirs of all sorts because they allow me to learn not only about someone’s personal journey but also about cultural, historical or political circumstances in a way that is much more meaningful to me.   Two memoirs I have read are Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza, and Captive in Iran by Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh.  Both of these are memoirs by Christians in extraordinary circumstances. 

Left to Tell relates the story of Immaculee Ilibagiza.   In 1994, her world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide.  Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter – her family did not. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in a bathroom.  Her story is a story of God’s love and with God’s strength – the ability to forgive even the worst atrocities.

Maryam and Marziyeh – in Captive in Iran - recount their 259 days in Iran’s infamous Evin prison. These two women were arrested and held in prison for believing in Christ. It’s an amazing story of their unyielding faith—when denying their belief in Christ as the resurrected Son of God would have meant freedom.

From these memoirs I learned about the Rwanda genocide and repression of all sorts in modern-day Iran.  More importantly, I was able to witness deeply felt lives of faith where declaring your faith can mean imprisonment, torture or even death.  I sometimes hear people refer to the ebbing of the Christian faith and ideals from our American culture, as persecution.  While it deeply saddens and worries me when restrictions are put in to place that won’t allow Christian public displays or the political correctness that has stores and corporations saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas – this is not the persecution that so many of our fellow Christians are facing throughout the world.

At this time of year when, as a nation, we take time to thank God for the blessings He has given us, I am grateful to live in a country that provides me the freedom to worship God  without fear of imprisonment or torture. We are truly blessed with the freedoms this country provides us.  The memoirs I have read of Iran and Rwanda have profoundly deepened my spiritual journey.  I encourage everyone to read Christian books - and I believe that you will find that they enhance your spiritual journey as well.

- Diane Lantzy