The Piano Gals - by Tina Klan & Bev Christensen

Bev Christensen and Tina Klan – Piano Duets

November 15, 2015 @ 1:30pm

A ‘Note’ from Bev & Tina . . .

Every so often, we get together to practice a duet to play at the 8:15am service at Redeemer.  Each time we rehearse, we have a ton of fun, and when we perform, people tell us they wish we would play more often.  Over the last year, an idea emerged to put together a concert of popular and sacred music for everyone to enjoy.

Popular music, because there are so many wonderful songs that are good, but not appropriate during a worship service: songs like “All That Jazz”, “The Blues Concerto”, and “My Heart Will Go On”.

Sacred, because these are the songs that tell our story.  Music is our worship language and the hymns we have chosen speak to our hearts: “Joyful, Joyful” & “Be Thou My Vision” say it all.

We can’t wait to share our love of music and the joy it brings us – with YOU!

Please consider this your personal invitation to join “The Piano Gals” in the Worship Center here at Redeemer.

An hour of exciting and beautiful music played on two pianos.

Sunday, November 15, 2015 @ 1:30pm  (childcare is not provided)

See You Soon!!!

Bev & Tina

Walking in His Will - by Susan Jensen

What a little phrase, but what a big phrase…“Walking in His Will”. It sounds so simple, but people spend literally millions of dollars every year buying books that can lead us to God’s will for our life. Now I’m not saying those are bad books to read, if they bring to a closer relationship with God, that is a good thing.

We humans love our shortcuts, we love getting there 5 minutes faster, we love a recipe that makes cookies that taste the same in half the time, we love our GPS units that get us there with no delays along the way. We’ve all heard that message…“There is a route that will get you there 7 minutes faster, would you like to take that route now?” So it seems natural that we would approach walking in God’s will for our life the same. Give it to me in plain English, preferably in 99 pages or less and I can do this! Again, I’m not saying these books on seeking God’s will are bad, I am personally for any good wording or phrase that makes me focus on God more throughout my day. But there is a book that lays it all out for us, with perfect authority. The Holy Bible. There it is - it’s that simple, yet, we like it in easy to understand common language. Well, that’s even available, “The Message Version” has been available for literally decades, and it rephrases the Bible in easier to understand English, there is even “The Story” that puts the Bible in somewhat chronicle order story format. There are tons of Study Bibles available in different “wording” versions with great study notes explaining what the sometimes strange wording or customs from biblical days meant to them and how that are applicable to us today. (Shameless plug, these are all available at Pages & Prayers Bookstore inside Redeemer Church right here in DeWitt and Bibles are always 20% off the suggested retail price.)

Not sure where to start, try one of the first four books of the New Testament. You can’t go wrong reading the life of Jesus and the example He came to earth to set for us.

Want God’s will for you in a nutshell, look at Matthew 22:37-40 as Jesus was being pressed to prioritize the commandments:

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

It’s amazing, even thousands of years ago, as the Bible was first being penned through God’s inspiration; God knew…we would be looking for a shortcut.

Open God’s Word today and let it speak to your life.

The Great Pumpkin - by Jack Hanneman

Last weekend my wife and I enjoyed a tradition that we started when our 2 girls were first born. We had made our annual pilgrimage to Uncle John’s Cider Mill in St Johns, as we have for over 21 years. It’s a wonderful experience for the entire family. We started at the pumpkin patch, covering the entire 40 acres to ensure we had found nothing less than the perfect pumpkins. Thank God we found the last four.

As the girls walked together, eagerly searching, I was taken back to their earlier years as they walked hand in hand stopping every few seconds dancing back to make sure mom and dad hadn’t fallen to far behind. Their faces beaming from ear to ear, laughing and giggling as they scoured the field - never leaving each other’s side.  Oh the fun they had, always seeming to locate the largest pumpkins in the patch and not quite strong enough to hoist them into the wagon. As I drifted back to the present, I had been witnessing what I had experienced over the last 15 years. Two sisters with an inseparable bond enjoying a family tradition started so long ago. God is good and I am blessed.

A Higher Price - by Debby Kloosterman

In the book of Nehemiah, the prophet is extremely distraught when he learns that the remnant of Jews who have returned to the land of Judah from their captivity in Babylon are not doing well.  In fact, the city of Jerusalem is a mess!  The wall surrounding the city has been damaged.  Entry gates are burnt and the Temple is destroyed. 

I have never visited the Holy Land, but I imagine this scene being like the film footage from a tornado or hurricane where one needs to look hard to identify where anything even used to be!  Nehemiah’s reaction to being told of the destruction was sadness and grief.  He wept, then fasted and prayed for days.  The Bible then records his beautiful prayer for God to restore His people.

“Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

¹⁰ “They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. ¹¹ Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. 

Nehemiah 1:5b-7; 10-11 NIV

When I read verse 10, I was struck by the notion of the Israelites being redeemed, rescued and saved by God’s strength and power.  The Old Testament is filled with references of God’s righteous right hand and his mighty arm.  This brought me to consider my own salvation and redemption.

God chose the Jews as His people.  He saved them.  He protected them.  He rescued them repeatedly by his might and his power.  But God saved me through the body and blood of His Son.  He paid the highest price for me!  It boggles my mind that Christ died for people who hadn’t been born! He gave His life so that anyone, Jew or Gentile, could approach the throne of a great and might God.