Keep up the Great Work - by Ben Barnes

Over the past year, I’ve been visiting other churches in our region for sound and technology training. In the dozen (or so) churches I’ve spent time in, I have seen some beautiful buildings, met some very nice people, and have consumed gallons of bad church coffee.

After looking back at all of the buildings and people (and coffee), I must say that I’m really proud of our Redeemer family. In visiting other churches, I have yet to experience the warm welcome and the incredibly hospitable people that I have found at Redeemer.

It’s great to know that our family is doing such a good job of welcoming our community in and making them feel at home. Keep up the great work!

10 years - by Suzie Unruh

This year, I will complete 10 years as a staff member at Redeemer Church. I sit back and think – WOW, 10 years!

I think about where I was physically, mentally, and emotionally. I was lost when I started. We had just moved here from the town, where I grew up, and from everything I had ever known. I left a job that I loved and had worked at for 7 years. I didn’t know anyone. My oldest was struggling with being in 5th grade - new friends, moving away from his biological father. We took a big financial hit selling our house for the move, and I was depressed. I would sit at home and watch our daughter, with nowhere to go, in fear that I might get lost (Meijer’s wasn’t even here yet). I had no one to visit and was missing my old job. It was tough! We didn’t go to church regularly back home and I wasn’t raised a Methodist. But, I responded to an ad in the newspaper not knowing which church was looking to hire, but knowing that I needed to get out of the hole I was in. The previous seven years, I had worked in the medical field at a highly professional level and I loved it. My only reasoning for looking for a job in DeWitt was the fact that I was fearful of Lansing, getting lost, and all these 496, 96, 69 highways. But, it was odd that I would apply at a church.

I remember the interview like it was yesterday, Pastor Rod calling and offering me the job. I remember the specific spot I was standing in our house when I got the call, and I remember his words. Most of all, I remember the feeling of hope, comfort, and thankfulness, knowing God was taking care of me and my family and that I was going to be okay. Even now, while I write this, I tear up remembering the struggle.

During the last 10 years at Redeemer Church I have found friends, family, tears, sorrow, love, support, and laughter. As a staff member, you experience more than the typical member of the congregation. I have seen loved ones die, the birth of babies, new marriages, kids growing up, and people’s lives being impacted daily.

I still miss my previous home terribly. I miss friends. I still miss my former job and co-workers. But, life in DeWitt is great. I never knew why I applied ONLY to this job after we moved here – but God knew. For that, I am thankful. I can’t imagine being anywhere else each day. I enjoy my job, what I do, the people I work with, and I am grateful for the congregation’s generosity that supports my staff position. I can’t say what the next 10 years holds for me. I can say the past 10 years have changed me … saved me.
  

The Best Advice You Never Heard - by Debby Kloosterman

Milton Erickson was a psychiatrist and therapist and an important innovator of psychotherapy techniques from the 1950’s through the 1970’s.  In the history of mental health treatment, he is not as famous as Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung, but Milton Erickson understood two key ideas that Jesus had used before him.

One of those ideas was the power of stories.  As people listen to a story, they can, “connect the dots” of the life lessons that they might not hear if they were conveyed as a series of “do’s and don’ts”.   Jesus used parables and metaphors to speak to people.  He knew that He needed to use what people understood to teach them about how to live and what God is like.

The second thing that Milton Erickson understood was the importance of serving others.  He once was asked to see a woman whose anxiety was so great that she couldn’t leave her house.  Upon entering her home, Erickson noticed a profusion of African violets.  Other clinicians had focused on discussing the woman’s fears, but Erickson chose to focus on an “action plan” that used the violets.  They were so beautiful that they needed to be shared with others outside of the woman’s home.  As the patient focused more and more on sharing the gift of her flowers, her anxiety became less and less.  She was able to leave her home and serve others. 

Serving others is a powerful tool.  It stretches our comfort zone.  It helps us to focus less on our own problems and become more selfless.  In short, it allows us to become more like Jesus.  If this sounds like an infomercial for outreach, it is!  Our church has many opportunities to serve both behind the scenes and in visible places.  Let us help you find a place to plug in!

 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  Matthew 25: 35-36, 40 NIV

Some Things Change; Others Stay the Same - by Ron Bekkering

Hold on to the truth! That’s Biblical.  Well, we’ve broken the seal on another year…2016 is in full effect. Bowl Games are in process and whether you are Go Green or Go Blue at least 2015/2016 has given us some games to play in.

Winter is coming, Right? It certainly has been a strange one, but it was like this once before in some of your life times. In the 1960’s (64), there was a green Christmas and temperatures were in the 60’s.  So 50 some years ago…things were different but still the same today. That made me think; as I saw a newsletter from the Manistee United Methodist Church, their Pastor John Scott caught me with something he wrote.  Check this out.

“40 years ago an apple was a piece of fruit found on a tree and a blackberry was something you picked out in the woods before the bears ate them.  Today Apple and Blackberry are entities that represent amazing technological changes that have connected us in ways we could not imagine 40 years ago.

40 years ago Amazon was the name of a river in South America.  Who could have imagined the dramatic impact that name has had on the retail sector of our global economy today? 

40 years ago if you wanted an automatic transmission, air-conditioning, power windows and door locks, you had to ask for a “fully-loaded” model.  Today our vehicles are incredible works of technology and a fully-loaded model is more comfortable, technologically advanced, and extravagant than our living rooms.

40 years ago every new home was wired for telephone service and most had TV antennas installed.  Today new homes are wired for high-speed or fiber-optic services that provide television, internet, and security services.  The phone is all but completely wireless and the TV antenna has been replaced with a satellite dish.

40 years ago there was this really cool thing called an 8-track tape player.  Thankfully is was soon replaced by the cassette tape player, which quickly gave way to the CD, which is currently on the way out giving way to new technology in the form of mp3 and mp4 formats stored on this nebulous thing called “The Cloud”.

40 years ago “digital”, “high-definition”, “internet”, “texting”, and a myriad of other terms had very different meanings (if they even existed) than they do today.”

Things change, words change…a cookie is not just the thing in the cupboard that I look for; for those that know computers; cookies need to be deleted. 

Time changes and with the rapid growth in technology who knows what 2016 will bring? 

One thing we know that will not mean something different is the Word of God. Pastor Rod is getting ready to take Redeemer Church through a great series of examining where we are, what we’re dealing with and making an “About Face”.  Hopefully this series will start a turnaround in all of us here in DeWitt!

Friends, as we go headlong into this New Year…my challenge for each of us is to get into the Word of God. The Bible is one thing that hasn’t changed over the last 50 years and smart money says it never will change! Open it, read it, feel it, share it. Make it a resolution that you keep!  I pray that you all have a safe 2016 and that the Lord blesses each of here at Redeemer and Christians around the world with a joy that passes all understanding. 

God Rocks and We Roll,

Ron 

Names - by Kim Metzer

This year I get the privilege of being Redeemer’s last blogger of 2015.  That’s a lot of pressure!  How do I wrap up a year?  Let’s wrap up the year by looking forward to the next!

Names, specifically baby names, have been on my mind a lot the last few weeks.  While Pastor Rod was talking to us about the names of Jesus on Christmas Eve, I had on my mind the name of our first grandchild, born just two days earlier.  A lot of consideration should be put into a baby’s name as they’ll likely have to live with it their entire lives.  Our son and his wife opted to continue the family tradition of giving their boy the first name of his father as his middle name.  Our hope is that Colin Joshua will become as wonderful a man as his father Joshua Stephen.

Jesus was also given the name of His father as detailed in Isaiah 9:6; “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”  I think we can all agree that Jesus grew up into the man His father wanted Him to be!

Being named after our father, either mortal or heavenly, is not necessary in order to aspire to be the person our earthly father hopes that we will be and our heavenly Father calls us to be. 

Becoming the kind of person God calls us to be requires discipline, spiritual discipline.  Some common spiritual disciplines are: reading and studying the Bible, prayer, worship, and learning.  If you are feeling called to become more disciplined in your relationship with God, Redeemer has several opportunities available to help you.

>    To assist you in reading the Bible in a year, there will be a weekly reading plan in each Worship Folder and on the Redeemer website.

>    To assist you in becoming a consistent “pray-er”, the movie War Room will be shown on February 6, a class on prayer will be held February 7 and Pastor Rod will have a message series focused on prayer during Lent.

>    Redeemer offers three worship times every Sunday morning (8:15, 9:30, & 11:00) as well as special worship services on Ash Wednesday (February 10) and Good Friday (March 25).  Monday evening services will resume June 6 at 7pm and will continue through August 29.

>    Opportunities to learn more about having a relationship with God are available for every age group (3 years old through adult) on Sunday mornings and for youth (5^th-12^th grades) through adult during the week.  Check the website (www.dewittredeemer.org) for more details.

My hope and prayer for each of you is that 2016 is a year of deepening your relationship with your Heavenly Father!

Happy New Year!!

Christmas Contentment - by Justin Bowman

As the Christmas season approaches, the usual items of stress and worry begin to creep into my brain.  I worry because Christmas is expensive, and I don’t have the financial resources to purchase all the items I would like to buy for the people in my life; I get a little stressed because amidst all the hustle and bustle of the holidays there are still bills to be paid and activities to attend.

A few weeks ago I had the thought: “why can’t people just be content during Christmas time?”  For me and my family, Christmas presents come down to what a person needs, or at least could feasibly use, more than it is about getting what they say they “want.”  Sure, we buy our kids an item or two they don’t know they’re getting, but mostly we get the items that can assist them as they go through their everyday lives.

Just like any parent out there, I would enjoy having the resources to be able to shower them with gifts, whether they needed them or not, because they are my children and I love seeing them happy.  However, I have learned that material items don’t always bring people happiness, regardless of their reaction to opening great unexpected Christmas gifts. 

The idea of contentment and showering people with presents simply do not go hand-in-hand.  So, I have decided this Christmas that I will choose to be content with the position in life that God currently has me in.  My corporate career may not be where I hoped I would be at this stage of my life, but nonetheless, it is God’s plan for me and I am thankful for His grace and blessings.

A Bible verse that has helped me understand the reality of contentment is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  A lot of people will use this verse to help them overcome very difficult times, or to accomplish monumental physical feats.  I recall seeing it printed on the back of a runner’s shirt during an ultra-marathon I ran years ago.  However, the proper context of this verse is to practice contentment.  Verses 11 and 12 set the stage as told by Paul during one of the times he was imprisoned.  He is reminding us that when the world has us down, we can find strength in Jesus to get us through the tough times by being content with the place we are in.  He was drawing strength from the Lord to get him through a time of great struggle in his life, not to go out and conquer the world with impressive feats and accomplishments. 

While I understand I am not in a state of imprisonment, the truth is I am not in the position in my corporate career I thought I would be 15 years ago.  As I get older I have learned to accept the reality of my life situations, whatever they may be.  I struggle with contentment more often than I should, and this verse has helped me in that struggle.  My hope and prayer is that during this Christmas season, as well as the rest of the year, you too can take solace and be content with the position in life that Lord has placed you.  After all…it is part of His plan. 

God Bless, and Merry Christmas!

The Gift of Giving - by Kelvin Fizzell

This coming January, I will celebrate 8 years of being a staff member at Redeemer Church. During that time, I have been privileged to share many different experiences with members of the congregation. As we move through the Christmas Holiday season, a time when we celebrate the greatest gift ever given to humankind…the birth of Jesus, I would like to reflect on the generous nature of the Redeemer congregation. Being a staff member affords me the opportunity to personally witness acts of giving and sacrifice of all kinds…giving that goes far beyond a financial contribution. Now don’t get me wrong, financial support is critical to many aspects of the ministry work that is accomplished through outreach activities at Redeemer Church. But, the very core of this support goes much deeper than a cash offering, a check, or an electronic funds transfer. It goes to the very heart and soul of a group of people who have a deep rooted desire to serve and give to others…to those who are in need on some level. Redeemer congregation members purposefully look for ways to serve…through simple acts, such as warmly greeting new people who come to Redeemer Church for the first time on a Sunday morning…preparing a meal for 100 people at Advent House…visiting the sick and shut-ins who are isolated from everyday life…skillfully using a sewing machine to create clothing or stuffed animals to bring a little joy to someone who is searching for a glimmer of hope…meeting weekly with others to offer prayer on behalf of individuals who are struggling with significant life issues…donating to provide a dresser full of baby need items to a young mom who doesn’t know where else to turn for help…helping to gather enough food to fill 100 Thanksgiving meal baskets for families that otherwise would not be able to share a traditional holiday meal together…to shopping for Christmas clothing and gifts so families can experience the true giving that Christmas represents…and many more ways too numerous to list them all. 

Do you have a desire to serve…to reach out and impact the life of another person…to give in a way that truly reflects God’s gift to all of us…the gift of Jesus? Then I invite you to come to Redeemer Church, get involved, and discover how your gift of giving can be nurtured and grown.

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”