Moving on to the Next Role - by Kelvin Fizzell

It has been my privilege and personal blessing to have been a member of the Prayer Ministry Small Group at Redeemer Church since the summer of 2009. It has provided me, and the other members of the group, the opportunity to grow in the Spiritual Gift of Prayer and to witness first hand God’s faithfulness in answering prayer offered on behalf of others. As a group, we have shared all aspects of life together…marriage of children…birth of grandchildren…job changes/retirement…death of family members, and yes, even the death of group members. As individual group members, it was a role that God led each one of us to fill.

As time passes, God will often guide us from one role to another as He fulfills His perfect plan. Because it is now time for me to move on, I am stepping away from the prayer group. My next role will be that of a care giver…for an aging mother (she will be 92 in March) who requires more hands-on assistance…for a brother diagnosed with Parkinson’s…for grandchildren whose working parents need help with childcare. Honestly, at times it all seems daunting. And yet, I am filled with hope and confidence. I have learned during my 6 years on the prayer team that God is forever faithful to those who trust in Him. I witnessed time after time, as God provided what someone, who reached out to Him, needed to help them deal with a life situation. I know that if I continue to place my trust in Him, He will guide me through the joys and successes as well as the inevitable stress and frustration that will be a part of my new role.

DeWitt Redeemer Church has 2 small groups dedicated to intercessory prayer. If you feel God leading you to grow in your prayer life, one of these groups may be the place for you to fulfill your role.  If you have any questions, please contact Kim Metzer in the church office.

Luke 11:9 NLT “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

Donuts & Faith - by Suzie Unruh

My sister, Cathy, and her family live out of state in Springfield, Missouri. The other day she was telling me about this donut shop, which opened a little over a year ago, called Hurts Donuts. Since opening they have sold 52,523 of their Maple Bacon Bar donuts, (side note: this is just one of their donuts, I can’t even image what their total is for all donuts sold). During our phone conversation she went on to tell me about the wonderful fundraisers and community events they have contributed to, how much they have given back to the community in just a little over a year and all the fun things they do. Now, if you were to look them up on Facebook you would realize this just isn’t any donut shop – besides the 2 pound donut, fun flavors and cake like decorations they also have an ambulance that they have turned into a delivery truck. During Christmas break (or any day for that matter) you can text them and while they are out and about they will deliver donuts right to your house or business. All of this aside, the thing that amazed me the most was their back story on how they started the business. The couple that opened Hurts Donuts had no prior background experience in making donuts; they learned how to make donuts on youtube, and the first donut they EVER MADE was 13 hours before opening the doors for business. WOW!!! This just amazed me… the amount of trust, faith and passion they had and how they turned this business into a huge success in a little over a year. It reminded me of the mustard seed and how in Matthew 17:20 Jesus said”… “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” It makes me wonder if everyone had this much passion and this much faith in the Lord and put 100% trust in Him where the world would be today (even our little town of DeWitt, Michigan), how different things would look and what a huge success we would see. I know for me it’s a struggle to give 100% trust, to wait for the Lord’s timing. But I have faith and I know God has a plan for me, I can’t watch a youtube video like this couple did, but I know if I keep my trust and faith in the Lord my year will be a great success also!!

Commitment - by Jack Hanneman

As National Signing Day draws near, our DeWitt High School athletes prepare to make decisions that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Colleges and universities will make offers to these young athletes and try to persuade them to sign a Letter of Intent. These young men and women, most 18 years old or younger will need to, seek guidance from family, friends and coaches in the effort to make the wisest choices for their future.

Just like these young athletes, making their commitments and singing their Letters of Intent, I ask you as we enter this Lenten season have you signed your Letter of Intent by renewing your commitment and faith to our Heavenly Father?

By making these commitments, we prepare to examine our hearts, serve our Lord and connect people with the love and life of Jesus Christ.

 

Start Lent by attending Ash Wednesday Service on February 18^th  at 7:00pm here at Redeemer Church.  

A Challenge for the Season of Lent - by Susan Jensen

In less than two weeks… it’s Fat Tuesday!!! Paczki for everyone!

Food lovers pick this day to enjoy these round, sugar-coated, fruit-filled Polish pre-Lenten pastries, pronounced “poonch-kee,” available in bakeries nationwide. Paczki Day coincides with Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. It is the last day before the penitential season of Lent, during which many Christians “give up” something for the 40 observable days of Lent.

I pose a challenge for us here in DeWitt. What if we focus on gaining something rather than giving up something? Earlier this week, I ran across a free downloadable Kindle book “The Prayer Dare” by Ron Kincaid.  In the forward, the author talks about his personal prayer life and he refers to a prayer journal he has kept for over 30 years. In the Prayer Dare, Kinkaid leads us through 40 short prayer exercises, some from his personal journal, that are sure to enhance our prayer life and that in turn can only strengthen our personal relationship with God.

In another book I have also just begun, “The Jesus Model” by Joy Dawson, Joy says: “Multitudes of Christians have a huge boulder of unbelief in their hearts that needs to be removed through repentance. It is the boulder of unbelief that we can live like Jesus.” Jesus came to earth for several reasons and one reason was to live as a real-world model for us to follow, but we believe we can never be like Jesus…our unbelief boulder. Conversely, God would never ask us to do something He wasn’t willing to equip us for through the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived His earthly life in constant prayer, and that is the same kind of life God wants for us. God never wants to set us up for failure; all we have to do is ask Him to equip us to live in constant communication with Him, fully engaged and relying on Him for all of life.

How wonderful if Redeemer UMC became a more engaged community of pray-ers living more engaged and in tune to God. I invite you to join me in this 40 day “Prayer Dare” this Lenten season.