Month: July 2019

Shofar Mission Cebu Update

July 24, 2019 Shofar Missions Cebu

Read about what God has been doing in the Philippines.

Over the past few weeks, we said goodbye to Team One and prepared for Team Two to arrive. We have also been prepping our ministry headquarters for the start of the school year. Street Level Ministries, a branch of Shofar Mission, has started holding weekly dinners and Bible studies for college students at the headquarters. God has blessed us in the transition, as many of the students have said it is an easier location for them to get to.

June 3 marked the start of the 2019-2020 school year for most public and private primary and secondary schools. Another branch of Shofar Mission is Exploring Creation Science. Laura took the opportunity to teach a three-part film series to students in Grade 6. It gave students an opportunity to learn why they believe what they believe plus take what they learned last year and share it with their school mates.

As we start this school year and ministry with Team Two, we have been thinking a lot about who God wants us to reach and where he wants us to meet them.

“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.”

-C.T. Studd

Children’s Ministry in Motion

July 22, 2019 The Children's Ministry

Transitions

Summer is here! For us in the Children’s Ministry, that means we are coming to the end of another year of classes. September 1 is the time when children entering 5^th grade “graduate” from the Foundations Room and the Children’s Ministry. It is also the time when children entering Kindergarten move from the Beginnings Room to the Foundations Room. This year we have both transitions happening. Kasidy, Madison, Greta, and Sophia are all graduating, while Seth and Eli are moving into the Foundations Room! If you think of it, pray for these kids as they transition into these new stages.

Curriculum Updates

Just before the girls graduate from the Foundations Room, we will finish our chronological trek through the Bible with the Answers Bible Curriculum. How exciting that they get to finish the material before moving out of the room! It is also wonderful that the boys coming in will get to start at the very beginning! God’s timing is good!

This summer in the Foundations Room we have also started Worldview lessons from a book called Get Wisdom! The goal of this new material is to help us to develop godly character and grow in wisdom. Our first lesson introduced wisdom as knowing and understanding the truth, and using that knowledge at the right place and time. We also learned about listening, and that when we listen well to someone it shows that we love them. We studied Proverbs 4:1 which urges us to listen to instruction from our parents so we can gain insight. Next up will be a lesson about obedience.

Schedule Changes

One big change for us that will start in August is that the Beginnings and Foundations Rooms will be open on Sundays only. On Wednesday nights, children will remain with their families for the church service and small group discussions.

We have always desired to be a ministry that is mainly staffed by parents. With our current staffing situation and the number of children involved in this ministry, we believe that this change will help make the best use of our resources. It will also provide a neat opportunity for families to learn and grow together. As we move into fall, we will continue to evaluate the needs of the church and make adjustments to the schedule accordingly. To those involved in this ministry, thank you for your flexibility and support as we make these changes!

With help and guidance, even very young children can learn to actively participate in the corporate worship service. In March we posted this sermon notes sheet to help young children take notes during the church service. For those with non-readers, these listening pages can be printed and used to help your children actively listen to the service and discussion on Wednesday evenings. You could also use them as a springboard to make your own listening pages! If you are looking for more tips on how to help your children participate in the corporate worship service, please talk to Sara Huhmann or Teresa Cline. We would be happy to share some other ideas with you!

July memory verse practice in the Beginnings Room – with actions!

River Falls News / July 2019

July 19, 2019 River Falls Ministry

Find the latest news from JFBelievers church plant and Street Level college ministry in River Falls, WI.

2nd Annual Rummage Sale

After a lot of preparation, we hosted our second Rummage Sale on June 30th. Thanks to plenty of donations from Menomonie and River Falls fellowships, we an even better sale than last year. Despite the ominous forecast, wonderful weather made it possible for a huge amount of the inventory to be put outside. A good crowd came this year, some mentioning they came last year. Once again the mobile coffeehouse joined us, giving people a chance to buy a cold coffee and chat. Thanks to Menomonie Street Level we had plenty of help on hand to staff the sale and engage the visitors. When it was all said and done, we were able to send three vehicles of goods back to Menomonie for Street Level’s next sale.

River Falls Days Coffee Giveaway

This year we stepped up to do our first event associated with River Falls Days. River Falls Days is the abnormally well attended and enjoyed “city days” of River Falls. It was decided our best avenue to connect with the community was to do a coffee and cold brew giveaway. We avertised with posters throughout town during the week leading up and handed out a couple of hundred flyers at the city parade. We opened up early on Saturday, which turned out to be another day of fantastic weather. About 40-50 people visited throughout the day, many hanging out with us to chat (the air conditioning helped) and ask questions about the ministry. In addition to giving away coffee, we had a drawing that people could enter for some coffee-related prizes.

The Ministry Ahead

We look forward to at least one more summer month to enjoy getting outside, grilling, and meeting new people. As God continues to lead the ministry and grow his church, our job is to keep pace with him along the journey. We believe there is plenty of new opportunity on the horizon, and we’d like to be there ready to experience every bit of it. Please pray that we are faithful in the next month of work, preparation, and ministry and that we see the fruitfulness that only God can bring about.

August Schedule

Sundays: 5pm / JFBelievers Bible Study, 6pm / meal

River Falls Ministry Online

Kindred Fellowship

July 16, 2019 Kindred Adults Ministry

Our Mission

The main goal of the Kindred Fellowship is to provide a spiritual family of brothers and sisters for single adults within the church. We do this by regularly praying for each other, enjoying one another’s company, and getting to know our community in some really fun ways…

Enjoying Each Other

We recently had our annual campout at Camp Damro. We were so blessed to have the Street Level Campus Ministry join us this year. God gave us the perfect weather. We started Friday night with testimonies from members from both Street Level and Kindred. We then capped the night off with some fireworks (which turned into a competition with a neighbor’s explosions… but I’m pretty sure we won that war). It was a blast! The next morning started with devotions around the fire with pastor Tim’s recent newsletter article on Finishing Well. We then took a swift tube ride down the fast-moving Red Cedar River. A few adventurous folks went for a second bonus ride around Camp Damro and found an old rope swing. Heather from Street Level was a clear champ (she has a nack at mid-air acrobatics). We have an awesome church family…

Meeting Our Community

Kindred also took a road trip to local towns to let people know about our Sunday Morning Broadcast on The CW TV station. We hung some posters and stopped in Osseo for some fantastic traditional Norwegian cuisine at Norske Nook… Any road trip in the church van equals a good time!

Road Trip to Promote JF Believers on The CW — Promoting JF Believers Broadcast on The CW

We were also given a perfect day to give away ice cream floats at two local parks. We handed out 75 floats, mostly to people we were meeting for the first time. Several people asked who we were, why we were giving away floats, and about our church. We handed out a few flyers with more information to those who wanted them. It was a great way to get to know our neighbors in Menomonie and let them know who we are.

Root Beer Float Anyone? — Root Beer Float, Anyone?

Prayer Requests

We would appreciate your prayers for the Kindred Fellowship as we move into late summer.

That we would grow closer as brothers and sisters, sharing spiritual needs, praying for each other, and speaking into each other’s lives.
That those who joined our group over the last couple of months would quickly feel at home within our fellowship.
That we would continue to find ways to meet our local community, get to know them, and show them who we are in Christ.

Footsloggers

July 13, 2019 Believers Church Duluth

Jesus walked a lot. The only record we have in the gospels where Christ made use of public transit was on His way to Bethlehem (in utero), and again at the end of His life when He rode into Jerusalem in similar equestratorial fashion*. Other than that, He walked. Everywhere. From Nazareth to Jerusalem, then to Capernaum, and back to Jerusalem, then again to Galilee, and back again to Jerusalem; back & forth and round & round He went. Some have calculated that Jesus walked over 3,000 miles in His short 3-year ministerial stint. That’s a lot of walking!

There are probably some valid reasons for His making such physical exertions. Maybe Jesus didn’t have access to a donkey strong enough to handle that kind of mileage. Perhaps He was a fitness junkie, and liked His exercise. Or maybe (just maybe) He walked everywhere because it was advantageous to the purposes of God. You and I might not assign any ministerial worth to the bothersome chore of getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’, but in God’s economy, “All things work for good”. And for Jesus, that included walking.

Simply put, maybe Jesus walked because He wanted to meet people on their level, walk alongside them, and invite folks to come with. Not sure if I’m right, but that’s exactly what ended up happening…“Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him (Mt.4:25)”; “Large crowds followed Him (Mt.8:1); many people followed Him (Mt.12:15); the crowds followed Him on foot (Mt.14:13); large crowds followed Him (Mt.19:12); a great crowd followed Him (Mt.20:29)”.

Why Walk At All?

Etymologists might call it “footslogging”. Footslogging means “to walk or march for a long distance, typically wearily or with effort”. It’s what happens in the space between destinations. It’s the boring part between two more exciting activities. It’s that aspect of ministry that seems to tire us out the most. People find it hard to see any spiritual value in footslogging. Yet Jesus did lots of it. No less than one thousand hours of it! Six full-time months of it! And He wasn’t at all wasting His time. If He wanted to save time He could’ve ridden a race-horse around Palestine, but He didn’t. He walked. Deliberately. Because that’s how Jesus met people. And that’s when ministry happened.

We might learn a thing or two by looking at the journeys of Christ as “outreach” instead of Him just trying to get somewhere else to do something more important. In truth, His walking made a huge contribution to the overall success of His ministry. After all, Jesus could only be followed insofar as He made Himself available to follow. And by walking all over the place, Jesus did exactly that. And, according to the gospels, it worked.

Where Have We Been?

The last 4 weeks have seen a lot of activity around the church. Outreach in particular. On Sunday June 9^th, we positioned ourselves at the bottom of the North & South bound I-35 exits to offer morning coffee and an invitation to church. The following Friday our Community Group was on the other side of town, partnering with the One Life ministry from Menomonie, for two full days of outreach at a local event. On Sunday, June 30^th and Monday, July 1^st, our same group was back in West Duluth for two evenings of work at a local coffeehouse, helping them paint & make renovations for their 20-year anniversary. On July 7^th we were back to the East end of Duluth giving away ice cream cones to everybody at the park. But really, is this nothing more than a waste of our time?

Where Are We Going?

In many ways, the outreach activities at our church can be as underestimated in ministerial value as Jesus’ walking. It feels like a lot of effort, with no tangible results to be seen. Has anyone gotten ‘saved’ with our ice cream? Nope. Has anyone even come to church because of our outreach? (Please, don’t ask). Sometimes it seems like we’re spending hours upon hours doing what seems to produce very little fruit. We have a hard time seeing the value in it because we aren’t experiencing great spiritual ‘breakthroughs’ or conversions. From West Duluth to Lester Park, then to a project on the West end, and back to Lester Park, then again to Park Point, and back again to Lester…back & forth and round & round we go. Why all the hassle if it doesn’t feel like we’re accomplishing any “real” ministry?

Keep On Slogging…

We certainly don’t give away ice cream because we’ve got nothing better to do. And we don’t hand out coffee because we like standing next to exit 252. We do it because it’s advantageous to the purposes of God and the mission of this church. We want to meet people where they’re at, and invite them to come along with us. It might seem like a waste of time, but we can only be followed insofar as we make ourselves available to follow. We are not wasting our time. Coffee & ice cream is how we meet people, and meeting people is when ministry happens.

Walking wasn’t the ‘real’ ministry of Jesus, but real ministry wouldn’t have happened without it. Let’s walk alongside Him, and find out where genuine Christian ministry takes us. Let’s be excited to see who we’ll meet along the way. This is the only road I know of that’ll get us where we’re going…so let’s keep walking.

-Pastor Justin

* “Equestratorial fashion” is not a real term, because ‘equestratorial’ is not even a real word. The use of a fake word was utilized in this case because the author needed a term suitable for helping the reader to remember that Jesus was riding a donkey in both instances. “Equestratorial” seemed to satisfactorily** encapsulate the thought, even though the word itself doesn’t mean anything.

** The author isn’t entirely sure if ‘satisfactorily’ is a word either.

Working at a local coffeehouse; June 30th.

Painting at a local coffeehouse; July 1st.

Set the Sail

July 10, 2019 Pastor Jesse Moss

I’ve always been intrigued by sailboats. I think that they are brilliant inventions. They directly take an energy source that can be attributed to nothing other than the power of God in order to move across the sea to reach desired destinations. The fastest sailboat ever recorded went as quick as 65.45 knots. (That’s over 75 mph for those of us who desire to stay on solid and dry ground.) It seems intuitive that sailboats can travel with the wind at their backs, but a skilled captain can harness wind blowing in any direction in order to get wherever they need to go. It is only when there is a lack of any wind that a sailboat will become unable to move.

One of the most impressive built with the most advanced engineering in the industry is the “Black Pearl” (not from the movie). It is 350 feet long and complete with three masts each over 200 feet tall. The ship has the ability to travel across the globe using energy solely harnessed by the wind. It is an impressive invention. Yet none of its advanced technology and no amount of skill found in its captain causes the sails to fill and propel the ship with no wind. There is little that we can do to cause the wind to blow, but we can set the sail. When winds do come, there must be a ship in the water, that can withstand the waves, a captain with enough skill to pilot the ship, and sails that are set and raised in order to catch the wind. Otherwise, winds will come and the opportunity for movement will be lost.

We Want to Move… Even when there is no wind

If you’re taking the time to read this article I assume that you want to see God do great work. I would assume that you want to see and experience God moving in big ways. That is a good thing. As Christians, we know that God has things that He is accomplishing. He is at work in us, causing our sanctification, growth, Christ-likeness. He is doing work all around us, accomplishing great things and bringing glory to His name. And yet if we are honest, sometimes we want to see God do more. We want to see him move and it may seem to us as if He isn’t. We desire faster growth, deeper maturity, we want to become more like Christ, and we want it now. There is a desire to move. And sometimes it seems like there is no movement, no progress, as though there is no wind moving us forward.

Pray for Wind

You can try as hard as you like, but you will never create real wind that leads to progressive movement on your own. Likewise, we cannot force ourselves to grow, we cannot force God to accomplish something according to our wishes. Maybe you have a coworker that you desperately desire to be saved. You cannot make that work happen. Maybe you’re looking for restoration in your family, again nothing you can do will fix the issue with finality. Of course, there are steps to take, and things to do that will be beneficial. Some things you do may even appear to fix problems temporarily, but in the end, we are entirely dependent upon the grace of God.

A passage from “The Sailors Prayer Book” 1852 reads, “Surely God Almighty, ever-present, is alone fit for a sailor’s refuge. We may by care and skill be able to trim our ship, to steer our course, or to keep our reckoning; but we cannot control the winds, or subdue deceitful currents, or prevent disasters.” God is going to do what He is going to do. We must realize that. Then pray earnestly that he would cause the wind to blow to accomplish His work that we desire.

Raise Your Sails

We cannot create wind, but we can and must be faithful to set our sails. Sometimes we will wait for a long time to see the movement and work of God that we desire. Although there is nothing we can do to force God to work in a way and time frame that matches our own plans we better do all that we can to be prepared.

Are you remaining humble? Do you stay where you know God wants you? Then when He sends the wind to push you forward you’re there to catch it? Are you learning what you can so that when it comes time to captain your life you have the skills and knowledge to know whether to turn to the right or to the left? Remember that coworker that you desire to come to faith in Jesus? You cannot force them to be interested in Christ. But it’d be a shame if the day comes where they have a question about God and you are ill-prepared.

2 Peter 1:10. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling, election, if you practice these qualities you’ll never fall.

A Word of Warning

Just to be clear doing these things doesn’t mean that the wind will blow. You must live the entirety of your life absolutely and desperately dependant for God to come through. Live needing God to show himself strong, because the fact is we just will not be able to do it on our own. Even if we could is that the journey we want? A journey full of self-determination and your own strength sounds empty and lonely to me. Striving for righteous living is not a way to trick God into getting you where you want to be, but if the wind blows and the sail is not up There is no doubt that effectiveness may be lost.

Reaching Our Destination

Years ago I got the chance to go sailing on Lake Superior. The large boat seemed to move effortlessly through the water, but eventually, we found ourselves drifting aimlessly. There was no wind to be found. No matter how high we raised the mast or which direction our experienced and skilled captain turned the sail we were getting nowhere. We could have brought the sail down and given up. If so we would have had to stay there until late December when we could trek back into Bayfield on the ice. But we didn’t instead we set the sail and waited for the wind to return bringing us where we needed to be.

Let’s be sure that we do our part, let’s “have our sail set’ so that when God does the work that He will do we are ready. If we fail to do so, the wind will still blow. He will get His ship where He desires, but what will our part be? Will we be holding on for dear life as the ship is tipped over and pushed by the waves. Will we find ourselves screaming as we bounce off every rock possible on the way? Or maybe find that the voyage took far longer than necessary because we didn’t follow a straight path and instead went from port to port wasting valuable time.

Or will we, having done our part, set our sails and our sight focused on the direction and destination God has for us. If we are prepared we will find joy in being able to participate in the work He does. God has his children on a grand adventure. Be diligent to set the sails and enjoy the trip.