During Lent this year…Don’t give up something…Add something!!! - by Kelvin Fizzell

Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. In Western Christianity, it begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes 40 days later on Easter Sunday. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus…His life and ministry, His suffering and sacrifice on the cross, His death and burial, and most importantly His resurrection from the grave. What should be a time of eager anticipation…an opportunity to personally connect with the life and love of Jesus Christ…many Christians look upon the season of Lent with dread because they feel obligated to “give up” something as a sign of personal sacrifice. I can relate. As a child growing up in a very traditional Catholic home, it was expected (aka demanded) that I give up candy during Lent. Rather than focusing during those 40 days on the sacrifice that Jesus made for me on the cross, all I would really think about was how marvelous that chocolate bunny was going to taste on Easter morning. For me, doing without something temporarily as a way to redirect my focus from earthly things to the teachings of Jesus simply did not work. If anything, I was more focused on what I was giving up.

If you truly want to grow in your personal relationship with Jesus, the Lenten season should not be about “giving up” something in your everyday life. Rather, it should be more about “adding” something. I would like to suggest several possibilities for significant “additions” that will enhance your spiritual growth during Lent:

·         Add prayer: Spend a few minutes at the beginning of each day asking for God’s guidance and direction throughout the day and then rely on Him to help you with every action you take and every decision you make. Take a few moments as the family gathers around the evening meal (yes, you can do this at the drive-thru) and thank God for His many blessings. Spend a few more minutes at bedtime, reflecting on the positive impact He had on your day.

·         Add Bible reading: Read one verse or paragraph from the Bible each day. There’s insight, encouragement, and peace of mind you will experience first-hand…an experience you will not find in any other book or publication. To help you, take advantage of the Redeemer monthly Bible Scripture readings. You can find these readings on the Redeemer web site or look for the printed copy in the worship folder at the beginning of each month.

·         Add good works: Members of the congregation who took part in “Take-Five” last spring discovered the powerful and multiplying effects of intentional “small acts of kindness”. God uses the small acts of individuals to accomplish mighty aspects of His Divine Plan. If you want others to see the “life and love of Jesus”, let them see it through the small acts of kindness you do for them or the acts they see you do for others.

·         Add worship: As a family, join other members of the congregation in weekly worship. Worshiping together with others strengthens our faith, fills us with hope and encouragement, and shows us how to give love to others. There is nothing more important on Sunday morning than worshiping God.

To help you this Lenten season, we will provide an important resource that incorporates many of these ideas. On Sunday March 2, members of the congregation will be given a devotional that includes a daily prayer, daily scripture reading, and ideas on how to bless others. Use this resource to “add” things to your Lenten season this year and you will have a clearer vision of Jesus the Risen Savior come Easter Sunday morning.

To-Do List - by Ben Barnes

I’ve been looking over my calendar this week.  Did you know there are only fifty-two Sundays in a year?  It’s true.  We have fifty-two times together as a church family every year.  In those services, we spend roughly seven hours praying together.  There are somewhere between fifteen and twenty hours of singing (and roughly five solid days of band practice).  Believe it or not, there are probably close to five hours of silence.  The usher passes by your row no less than a hundred times.  We stand up and sit down no less than 250 times.

Part of my job here at Redeemer is to try to turn all of the things we do into something a lot less like a list and something much more like corporate worship, or our body, worshipping together.  My goal on Sunday mornings is to help create a worshipful environment and plan services that draw us in to the throne of God.  And my hope is that each week, as we scatter from our services, we have been able to worship and not just check off items on a list.  

The bottom line would be this… coming to services to check off an item on your list of things to do on Sunday probably isn’t going to help you worship.  Preparing your heart and your mind for worship are much better ways to make sure you’re ready to worship.  Praying for the service, spending time in the word, bringing others with you to share the service… all things that can certainly help make your Sunday morning a worship experience more than a to-do list.

Faithbook - by Tammy Bowman

If you have been on Facebook over the past two weeks, you have surely seen the Facebook Movies popping up all over. People seem to have very different opinions on the movies ranging from loving them to hating them. I started off being very annoyed with all the videos then something changed when I saw my own Facebook movie. Facebook did a wonderful job summing up my Facebook life and it was emotional seeing some of my statuses and my photos. That changed my attitude from being annoyed to really enjoying my friends’ movies. I realized that my friends probably felt the same way and that is why they chose to share it.

Now, I fully realize that my FB movie doesn’t sum up my actually life over the past 7 years but it did capture the things that I love….my husband, my kids, my family,  my job, running & my faith. It captured these things so well because that is what I like to share on FB. It also made me aware of what my ‘friends’ see when they view my posts and how what they see will make them form an opinion of me.

So what is that opinion that people form about me based on my Facebook posts? It’s kinda scary to think about! My hope is that my “Facebook Movie” matches up quite well with my “Faithbook Movie.” What I mean by my “Faithbook Movie” is that if somehow I were able to view my faith over the past 7 years in a 1 minute movie – preferably with a Jamie Grace song playing in the background- what would it look like?

Over the past 7 years (and I’m saying 7 years because that’s when I joined the FB world) have I really followed Jesus and the Great Commandment?

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”                           Matthew 23:34-40

I’m far from perfect in keeping these two commandments, but I do believe that I’ve come a long way in keeping these at the forefront in my life. I love it when God uses something like FB to turn my eyes towards Him.

Half Million Meals - by Suzie Unruh

In Wikipedia the definition of Generosity is “the habit of giving without expecting anything in return. It can involve offering time, assets or talents to aid someone in need.”

But I believe it should also read “the Redeemer church family in DeWitt Michigan”! I mean WOW it amazes me that in 2013 the food pantry hit the half million mark for serving meals to families in Clinton County. This church family is a genuine example of generosity and I feel blessed to be part of it! From the time volunteers put in each week, the donations we receive of non-perishable items, the financial support from the church family and the prayers -- all fit the definition Generosity.

I am so fortunate to have my job at Redeemer and to be able to see the smiles (and sometimes tears) of relief from the families that visit; it is touching to hear their stories and to know that we have made a difference. With the support of Redeemer and the surrounding community we have been able to help the elderly couple that doesn’t have enough for food and medicine, the young mom who was living out of her car with her 3 year old and the families that live in the subdivision at the end of Schavey that have lost their jobs or stricken with serious illness and just can’t make the mortgage and provide food for their kids. The generosity that flows from this church is uplifting and makes me proud to be part of it! Thank You – for being a prime example of what John Wesley wrote in one of his letters; he encourages us:

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”