Do Over - by Kim Metzer

It is fitting that it’s my turn to blog again.  My last blog post was just as 2015 was ending and the promise of a brand new year was on the horizon.  If you’re anything like me you made some resolutions for the New Year…and then failed to follow through with those resolutions.

So what makes this time of year so fitting for my next blog post? As I write this, it’s Monday, the day after Redeemer’s celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.  The day after the resurrection marks a new beginning.  As Rod noted in his Easter message, deciding to live life as a Christian doesn’t mean our sins have been whitewashed but that we’ve decided to live life in a new way – making a 180 degree turn. 

What in your life needs a “do over”? Is it a resolve to read the Bible every day? The annual reading plan that was provided in January can be started at any time.  Is it your desire to make new Christian friends that walk beside you on the Christian life path? A great place to find friends like these is on one of our Sunday morning teams assisting with greeting or ushering.  Do you have friends you’d like to invite to a casual fun event?  Invite them to play euchre with us on April 16! 

As for me, I’m continuing the Bible-In-A-Year plan that I started last spring.  I’m behind by a few days but today is a new day and I will get caught up!

If you’d like to join me in making “After Resurrection Resolutions” or “Do Overs”, more information on all of the options mentioned above (and more!) can be found on the website: www.dewittredeemer.org.

His Blessings Flow to Us - by Diane Lantzy

Redeemer recently held our annual 180 Turnaround Conference.  This conference is aimed at helping struggling churches learn how to reach more people for Christ.  We had 75 different churches that attended with nearly 200 people in attendance.  It is a fun and energizing day!  During this conference, I teach a workshop on hospitality that encourages churches to be more welcoming toward their guests. I share my belief that we are to be welcoming to our guests for the sole reason that God asks us to be.  However, when a church is obedient to God’s will, it opens the door for good things to happen such as a more vibrant atmosphere and church growth.  I believe this same principle is true in our individual lives – when we are obedient to God’s will for us, it allows His blessings to flow to us.

This principle has played itself out in my life in various ways not the least of which is in my financial obedience. God expects us to give back to the local church a portion of what He has generously given us.  Initially, this was difficult for me.  It seems like there was never enough money to cover all the bills, or as Dave Ramsey would say – there was too much month left at the end of the money!  Money, or a lack thereof, always seemed to be a stressful area of life.  But one day, as I was putting my tightly held money (and not nearly a tithe J) into the offering plate, a feeling of joy and peace filled me that this gift was pleasing to God, I was doing the right thing and good things could come of this gift in ways I might never know.  It was at that point, that giving a tithe, or 10% of my income, became my goal.  This wasn’t always an easy path, money often seemed tight and my husband and I weren’t always on the same page.  But we increased our giving every year - one step at a time - until we reached that tithe.  Denny and I have been tithing for many years now and there is peace surrounding our finances that wasn’t there before.

Is being obedient to God always easy?  No.  Does being obedient to God make my life better?  Absolutely!  Funny how God makes these things work out.  J

Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him.  Psalm 128:1

A Time of Birth and Renewal - by Kelvin Fizzell

Hands down, spring is my favorite of the 4 seasons. Every year, I generally tease my fellow staff members at Redeemer Church that on MY calendar, spring arrives on March 1st. They typically tell me that it can’t yet be spring in Michigan with piles of snow remaining all over the ground…to which I often reply…its just lousy spring weather!!!

This year, the official 1st day of spring is Sunday March 20th…the long winter will finally be over. Symbolically, winter is a season where fall activity gives way to dormancy…where life becomes silent and still. Winter allows us to quiet the mind, calm the soul, and anticipate what lies ahead. The transition into spring is a time of awesome change…when God’s phenomenal creation reawakens from its winter slumber and explodes with new life all around us. Spring is a time for us to become fully energized and prepared for what is to come…a time of rebirth and renewal.

This year, Sunday March 20th also happens to be Palm Sunday, the beginning of the traditional Christian Holy Week. When you consider the symbolic transition from winter to spring, there seems to be a very appropriate connection. During traditional Holy Week services, Christian churches commemorate the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross. In addition to remembering specific events of Jesus’ life during that week, there is a focus on a larger theme of His ministry…Jesus as the source of new life.

Participating in these observances enable us to move away from dormancy in our lives and recognize

…the hope and promise of a newness of life found in the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday

…that life comes from death

…that new beginnings come from endings

…there is an opportunity for a time of rebirth and renewal in our lives.

It provides all people the opportunity to experience the truth… just as in the awakening of springtime…the power of God is at work in our lives

…guiding us from an old life, dormant and unable to grow

…to a new life, filled with the hope and promise of what is to come

…the gift of eternal life.

Are you searching for an awakening…a newness in your life? Would you like to discover how God is ready to pour unlimited blessings into your life?  If so, I would like to invite you to join us for any of the Holy Week services at Redeemer Church. Visit our website at www.dewittredeemer.org for times and other information.

2nd Corinthians 5:17 ESV “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

 

A Season of Prayer - by Susan Jensen

Well, okay, that was just a catchy title. Here at Redeemer UMC in DeWitt, Michigan we are in the middle of a Lenten Series of messages titled “Praying – For a Change”; the series has some of us reevaluating our own prayer life. Prayer is really more than just a season. Prayer life for some may mean a nice phrase at the beginning of a meal, a memorized sentence or two repeated every day, and for others, prayer is almost a constant conversation they have with God throughout their day. Wherever you fall in that spectrum, at times, we all can feel a bit guilty that we don’t slow down to really pray the “right way”. Having a rolling conversation with God is great, but it isn’t really all God wants from us. This is not to say that prayer has to be all the “right words”, but there is a formula for prayer. It’s right in Luke 11:

"One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” ² He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come…” (NIV) The passage that follows it in the Bible is what we know as the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus was giving us a formula for prayer, a pattern to follow. If you break the Lord’s Prayer down into sections, it shows you a model for prayer.

Jesus begins His model prayer by acknowledging to whom He is praying. Name who God is to you.   Lord, Loving Father…

After acknowledging the character of God, we pray for His purposes. Be with me today and guide me to do Your will…

Next, we not only desire God's will on a grand scale, but also on the smaller scale of our lives. We look to Him for our daily needs—spiritual, practical, relational, emotional, and physical. Lord, today I ask that you give me peace when I am taking my exam and please be with Grandma this week as she recovers from her skiing accident…

We follow up with our biggest need, to be forgiven. Without God's forgiveness, we are dead in sin.  Forgive me for being impatient with the hostess at the restaurant; I should have been more understanding of her job…

This final request demonstrates a heart that is eager to please God. God will not lead us into temptation (James 1:13); He is not the author of evil. This prayer is an agreement with God that we do not want to sin against Him. We pray to be aware of the evil that tempts us and to readily see the escape He has provided.  Help me to see situations from the other person’s point of view…

And then we finish it all up with stating on whose authority we come to God in prayer.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

So there we have it, a prayer perfect for not just a season, but every season.

Why Pray? by Eric Snider

Some people believe that God never changes (“immutable”), that God knows everything (“omniscient”) even details about future events, and that nothing happens without God knowing in advance (“foreknowledge”) and in some way controlling (“sovereignty”) what happens.  For someone who believes that, you should be surprised if they offer petitionary prayers, prayers in which they are making requests of God. If God is immutable and has accurate foreknowledge, no prayer can change God to will something other than what God had willed in advance. And if God is sovereign and omniscient, God doesn’t need our prayer to determine and control what happens. So how do you account for Matthew 7.7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”?

One possible answer: it is not that the prayer will change God; it will change you. By asking, we acknowledge that we are needy, dependent. Ultimately we are needy of and dependent on God. By seeking we acknowledge that there are great goods beyond our imagination and beyond our means to obtain. There are things to seek that are beyond this world, goods compared to which the goods of this world are like a child’s mud pies. By knocking we acknowledge what is in our power to do: to persist, to stay connected and in communication with God, to be at God’s door so we can hear and listen to him.

Just this week I read a newspaper cartoon in which a young boy asked his grandfather if he said his bedtime prayers.  The grandfather responded yes, and that he believed there are two reasons to pray: to ask for something, or to say thanks for getting it.  The young boy said “how about just to say ‘hi’?”


 

 

Build His Kingdom, Not Yours - by Tammy Bowman

I’ve been reading the Old Testament and just finished the book of Deuteronomy. In the past, this has not been a favorite book of mine or one that I read through with much enthusiasm! However, this time God has opened my eyes to read some really awesome stuff that has been influencing me daily and I’d like to share a couple of my recent “discoveries.”

We are in the midst of preparing for our annual 180 Conference at Redeemer UMC in DeWitt which is filled with busyness, a little stress, and a lot of excitement. We are always amazed and humbled by this opportunity to connect with other churches and share ideas with them. It is our hope to offer practical advice, encouragement, and motivation to help pastors and church leaders face change with faith and unity.  Reading in Deuteronomy has helped to prepare me for the 180 Conference, but it has also shown me how to shift the focus of my life as a Christian to focus more on God and less on me.

“But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look, but you may not cross the Jordan River. Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.” Deuteronomy 3:27-28 NLT

I read this over and over and kept thinking “how could Moses do that?” How can he look at this awesome place, the place God had been leading him and the Israelites for so long, and know that he was never going there? He was never going to step foot on that land. He was never going to taste anything from the land that flows with milk and honey. He was not going to experience what it was like for the Israelites to receive that land God promised.  And Moses still had to commission Joshua. Moses had to encourage Joshua.  Moses had to strengthen Joshua.  God basically told Moses you can look but you can’t touch.  On top of that, He told him to teach another guy everything he knows so he can lead the people into the Promised Land.  How could Moses have brought himself to do that?

How can we do that? How can we as Christians do things that God has called us to do even when we might not get to experience the end result? How can churches continue to want to change and grow to reach people outside its walls when they might not be around to see it actually grow?  This is where I learned from Moses…it’s not about us at all, it’s all about God! It doesn’t matter what we think is right or fair or what we think we deserve or are entitled to. Moses had an amazing gift to lead and teach the Israelites. He could have kept that all to himself and had a pity party about not getting to enjoy the end of the journey, but he didn’t. He was full of all this wonderful knowledge and experience and he responded with humility to train the next leader. It shouldn’t ever be about getting people to depend on us for spiritual growth, but for us to help others become dependent upon God.   God’s plan is so much bigger than anything I can imagine, so for me to do things just based on the results I may or may not see in my lifetime is so ridiculous. We are called to build His Kingdom here on earth and to trust Him at all times, even knowing we won’t get to see or experience the end result.