Month: November 2019

Shofar Mission Cebu Update

November 25, 2019 Shofar Missions Cebu

Read the latest update about what God is doing through Shofar Mission in the Philippines.

Campus Outreach

Since our last update, we attended the student organization recognition and officer induction ceremony at the University of the Visayas. Street Level Ministries is now one of three recognized religious organizations on campus. We continue to be amazed at all that God has allowed us to do this year! He could do it all without us but He lets us be part of it all!

University of the Visayas Student Organization Recognition

Street Level Radio DJs Ed & John go live during a live broadcast

It has been neat to see the students volunteering for Street Level Ministries’ avenues of outreach. Students volunteering for Street Level Radio recently held a live radio broadcast and those writing for Word on the Street Magazine are currently working on their first articles.

Exploring Creation Science

Exploring Creation Science Lessons have ended for the semester. Since June, lessons have been taught at 5 schools, 3 different lesson sets have been used, and we have met with 2 schools and given information out to 5 different schools.

Back for Thanksgiving

As we return for a short break we enjoy being able to fellowship with everyone. Brittany will join Street Level’s weekly meetings and a road trip to Minneapolis, and play the piano on the Sunday morning praise team. Laura plans to join a Kindred event in Minneapolis and help out in the coffeehouse. As always, we appreciate being able to join Sunday and Wednesday worship services and other opportunities for fellowship. We will also be joining a Sunday service at the Believers church plant in River Falls. Both of us plan to visit our families for Thanksgiving and enjoy the Wisconsin weather!

Sunday Service at Believers Church plant

Our time in Wisconsin also gives us a chance to reflect on the last few months. We take time to prep for the next few months – including scheming, dreaming and prepping materials we want to bring back to use.

Prayer Requests

Christmas break for the SLM Students begins at the beginning of December, so we will have one last meeting before they leave. Pray for the students heading home to visit family over the holidays.
We have been approved to teach Exploring Creation Science at the Visayan Nazarene Bible College (Basic Education Department) in January so we will try and schedule lessons before Christmas Break.
Pray for Team 3 as they prepare to leave just after Christmas. We ask that you would pray specifically for people to register for the Ministry Training Classes and team preparations.

Children’s Ministry Update: Fall 2019

November 22, 2019 The Children's Ministry

Current Happenings

It seems each year goes by faster and faster, it’s hard to believe that it’s almost December! In September we welcomed Seth and Eli in the Foundations Room family at just the right time as we started our Answers Bible Curriculum back at the beginning. It’s so neat to see how God’s timing works out so perfectly. We are learning about how we can trust the Bible completely. Even as young children we can study God’s Word by asking questions, interpreting, and applying what we learn to our life. Ask one of the Foundations Room kids to explain hermeneutics to you sometime!

The children in the Beginnings Room continue to have a memory verse each month along with their lessons. The verse for November is “The LORD always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does” from Psalm 145:13b. This is a great verse for us all to remember. If you ask them, I am sure that they would be happy to tell you the verse that they are currently memorizing.

Wednesday evenings continue to be “family night,” with children staying in the sanctuary with their parents for the church service. It is neat to see them singing during worship and being able to hear the teachings.

We are very excited to have an updated webpage that provides more complete information about the Children’s Ministry. We would like to say a big “thank you” to all those who have helped make this possible!

Our Philosophy

We believe it is of utmost importance that every parent is involved in their child’s education here, and we have been making some changes to help ensure this can happen. Ultimately as parents, it is our responsibility, not the church’s responsibility, to teach our children the Bible (Deuteronomy 6:5-7). Parental involvement is important so we know what our child is being taught. Additionally, parental involvement provides an opportunity for us to see how our child behaves and interacts in the classroom environment.

Traditions

As parents, one of the ways we can teach our children to love God is through our traditions. Do you have family traditions that help you to treasure Christ during this holiday season while most of the world is in a flurry buying presents and hanging up Christmas lights? One of our traditions has been reading (and then re-reading!) the book Jesus is Most Special by Sally Michael. The book is the story of Christ’s birth, simply but beautifully told with alternating scripture references and portions of biblical Christmas songs. It begins with Old Testament prophecies of the promised Savior and ends with a call to go and tell others about Jesus, who is the most special of all. We like to read it while placing characters into a nativity scene as suggested in the book. If you have young children and are looking for ways to keep Jesus the focus during this holiday season, I would recommend this resource!

Prayer Requests

Please pray for us as we seek direction for this ministry for the coming year, and for all the children. Pray that they would grow and desire to have a relationship with Christ.

River Falls News / November 2019

November 18, 2019 River Falls Ministry

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

Street Level College Ministry

Street Level recently sent out magazine sent out about 1000 Word on the Street magazines to freshmen students. It was a lot of work, but everyone stepped up to the task. We hope and trust that God is using our efforts and that some students out there are discovering who we are through the magazine. We also just began printing our most recent issue, which will be distributed throughout River Falls over the next week or so.

A few students from Street Level are going to join with the Menomonie group for an outing in the Cities. The plan is to hang out at a coffeehouse called Mug Shots, which is a ministry of a local college. It’s always good to connect with the other Street Level groups and get out of the norms of River Falls.

Only a few weeks remain for the semester. It always seems to go fast, with limited time to do the privileged work of doing our best to disciple the people God brings us. Every time the semester ends, it reminds us that time is limited to do the work.

Believers Church Plant

We are in 2 Corinthians on Sundays at the Believers church plant. In the studies, we’ve discussed a lot of extreme highs and lows of following Jesus: joys and successes, as well as great trials and difficulties. We’ll be pausing soon for a night of discussing the international mission endeavors of Believers church.

Some people from the Menomonie Creative Team recently came to shoot some video of our Sunday gathering. Creative Team is putting together a new video ad showing a little of who we are and what we are about. Soon it will be pushed out via online channels to continue getting the word out.

Blind Munchies

The Blind Munchies coffeehouse in River Falls has continued to stay open three days a week this semester. Part of the goal of the coffeehouse arm of the River Falls ministry is, of course, to get to know the community. Many of the volunteers who serve have been able to get to know some “regular” customers. We pray that some of these relationships will parlay into further connection with the larger ministry.

We like to keep elements of the coffeehouse changing from season to season. We’ll soon offer a pistachio mocha for a limited time. Additionally, we will soon be reworking our merchandise area to house some new things that the recent missions trip brought back.

Prayer

As finals and holidays approach, pray that there would be continued engagement, this is often a time when people become needlessly distracted.
We inquiring about new locations for Word on the Street Magazines, pray for open doors.
Pray for the advertising in all forms – that we are effectively getting the word out about the ministry.

River Falls Links

Blind Munchies Coffeehouse Hours

Sundays: 3pm – 5pm
Thursdays: 9am – 9pm
Saturdays: 9am – 1pm

River Falls Ministry Online

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

Kindred Singles Fellowship

November 15, 2019 Kindred Adults Ministry

Fellowship

The Kindred Singles Fellowship has been enjoying some fall activities and hitting the streets as the weather quickly turns colder.

In October we took a road trip to Furgeson’s Orchard in Eau Claire. Nothing says welcome to fall in Wisconsin like a corn maze, adult pedal tractors, apple cinnamon donuts, and a giant spinning red apple…

Then to kick off November, we headed east of Eau Claire and to Big Falls County Park in Eau Claire. While there, we discovered two waterfalls, several trails, and some crazy cool rock formations.

Community Outreach

We also hit the area of Fall Creek with posters advertising our Sunday Services broadcasted on The CW at 10 AM weekly.

Upcoming Events

Toward the end of November, we plan to take a road trip to the cities where we will meet up with the Christian Singles Fellowship for some volleyball and hang out time. This will be our first attempt meeting up with another Christian Singles Fellowship, so we are excited and looking forward to it.

Then we will kick off December with a retreat at Camp Wapo near Amery, WI. This year we will be covering the small book “The Practice of the Presence of God” by Brother Lawrence. In years past, going through a book together has been quite personal and highly impactful. We are praying for another great weekend together this year. Download the flyer below for more info…

Kindred Retreat – The Practice of the Presence of God Download

As always, please keep the Kindred Singles Fellowship in prayer. Navigating Christianity as a single adult has its own unique challenges… just as every circumstance does. May we all look together to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…

Prayer Requests:

Meeting up with the Christian Singles Fellowship for volleyball and games on Friday night, November 22nd. We hope we would be a blessing to them, and that we would be strengthened as we get to know more people who are navigating Christianity as single adults.
The upcoming Kindred Retreat on “The Practice of the Presence of God”. We desire an impactful weekend getting to know our great God.

Duluth Update: Fall 2019

November 13, 2019 Believers Church Duluth

For those of us who have been around JFB for any length of time, we have become acquainted with fall as ‘go time’. It’s the time of year when retreats and campus ministry are in full swing on top of the usual weekly ministries. Each year seems to fly by faster and faster such that it can become easy to forget what we’ve been privileged to take part in.

In the realm of college ministry, Street Level kicked off the semester at UW-Superior with various promotional events, a canoe trip, and weekly meetings on Mondays. After years of consideration, we proceeded to reach out to Duluth campuses including St Scholastica, UMD and LSC by offering a weekly Bible discussion at a local coffee shop. Efforts have been made on those respective campuses to promote Street Level Duluth through coffee giveaways, attending student events and distributing flyers. Students from all Street Level campuses had the opportunity to attend a retreat hosted by Duluth this past month. Besides weekly meetings, WOTS publications continue to be distributed into the hands of college students. Duluth WOTS writers have been participating in a writers workshop at St Scholastica these past few weeks to help develop their writing skills and rub shoulders with the community.

The JFB Duluth Community Group has also been active these past few months. We’ve given away ice cream multiple times at Lester Park, once at Enger Park, and most recently a stew giveaway at Chester Park. We’ve fellowshipped by sharing meals and even making delicious homemade apple pies.

Of course, this is not a comprehensive list of events or activities but it shows we’ve been active. If you’re anything like me, it can become so easy to focus on the project or next assignment and forget the effects of what we’re doing as well as lose the joy of it while in the midst of it. So, what good has come of all these calendar occupying things?

Effects

Inwardly and personally, the extensive variety of ministry opportunities has kept me from becoming lackadaisical. It’s one thing to go from handing an ice cream cone to a child at the park to tying down a tent so it doesn’t blow away in frigid temps to rolling pie dough to discussing parables. Sometimes we’re tired and sometimes we’re cold and other times we’re belly laughing, but we’re kept from becoming too comfortable. These ministry venues keep us on our toes reminding us that this world is not our home; they cause me to beg God to come through and accomplish meaningful service. Yet, on the same token, I’ve seen how quickly apathy can take hold in my heart when I forget that service to God isn’t just when the church comes together but is meant to be happening at work and home. I’m reminded of pastor Jesse’s exhortation that the doing and busyness isn’t the main point but rather seeking to be in the presence of God.

Beyond the inward effects, these past few months have helped promote JFB Duluth and Street Level in the Twin Ports. We are achieving greater notoriety in the area: Street Level and WOTS are being branded locally on campuses along with the distribution of church business cards. Collectively we are being forged into deeper relationships with each other as we serve alongside each other and experience the ups and downs of ministry. Outside the Twin Ports, we’ve been able to send our senior pastor and wife overseas to visit a church that was built in part by our finances. Thanks be to God that despite our small size, we here at JFB Duluth have been given much to steward and accomplish.

Let’s continue faithfully serving each other and our community trusting God is at work in both the flashy and mundane. Sometimes that work is exposing issues in our hearts, other times it’s conveying the truth to the community and other times it’s forging deeper relationships with each other but whatever it is it’s always aimed at our goodness and kingdom advancement. May we not forget 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain”

-Matt

Getting at the Root

November 11, 2019 Pastor Jesse Moss

On August 20, 2019 a man was found on the side of the road frantically stuffing medical gauze into a baseball sized hole in his tire. After filling the hole with gauze, the man then proceeded to put bandaid after bandaid over that same baseball sized hole intending to keep air inside of the tire…I’m sure you will be surprised to read that it didn’t work. If only the complicated problems in our life could be fixed by bandaids, duct tape, and tie wire.

We Are in Need of Repair

The path God has you on will undoubtedly be filled with countless obstacles and struggles to overcome. We are a broken people and that brokenness is far more severe than a flat tire. Our broken state is one that is in desperate need of repair. The temptation is always there to attempt to fix this problem with a half hearted lazy approach. We’d like to just patch up our lives, put a bandaid on it and call it good enough. The problem is our brokenness will never be bound up in that way. Despite what we have heard and would desire to believe, some things require more attention and strength than a little duct tape.

Demolition

The human state is a gross thing. Our hearts are full of all kinds of rot and decay, and oftentimes in some state of disrepair. I have done a lot of remodeling where homes are also suffering from rot and decay. They have compromised integrity and are in desperate need of repair. Now, many homeowners would like it if those issues could simply be covered up, painted over and ignored. They desire beautiful, new, and improved homes, with fresh paint and all of the blemishes hidden but they desire it to be done while ignoring some of the most serious of problems. Or if they do decide to not ignore the problem, they are often not totally eliminated but are simply mitigated.

We know that the Christian life is one of continued sanctification, pursuit of greater holiness and Godliness day by day. We’re quick to say that we want spiritual growth and maturity, we just want it to be easy. We want the new and abundant life that Christ offers and we want it cost free. Many of us would say that our lives are in need of remodeling and repair spiritually speaking, but what we really mean is that we want it remodeled without disturbing or changing anything. That would be great. Do it without any demolition. Fix it up and make it better just don’t tear out any weak or rotten areas. We like those areas. They are important to us.

No Easy Way Out

God does not work that way. He requires that things are dealt with completely. The weak areas and sins in our lives do not get to be ignored or covered up, they are to be removed altogether, once and for all. We don’t like this. It will necessitate the pain and discomfort of God ripping away some of what we hold most dear. I don’t really like pain. Nor do I enjoy discomfort. I don’t like distress, hardships or unease. If given the chance I would avoid those things. If given the opportunity I would rather allow those weaknesses to remain. I would rather just put a bandaid on, cover it up and pretend it is okay, even when I know that the attempt of patching myself up will never suffice.

The Bible talks about taking care of the heart. It also discuss dealing things at the root level. The Bible speaks of a spiritual root that bears bitterness. (Deuteronomy 19:18) Jeremiah was told to “root out” sin (Jeremiah 1:10, and the prophet Malachi shows God dealing with the root of transgressions in the lives of His people. (Malachi 4:1) As people we would prefer to deal with the symptoms of our problems, but the problem with that is, like the stubborn weed in your garden, if we do not dig to the root it will return.

It’s a Problem with the Heart

There is a reason that God is so greatly concerned with people’s hearts. It is from the overflow of the heart that we speak and act. What is inside of us dictates how we live, what decisions we make. Dealing with a problem by throwing a bandaid on it may make things appear to look better on the outside, but on the inside things remain as broken and twisted as ever before.

For example, you may find that you are bitter towards someone in the church. This leads to disunity, anger, and awkwardness when around that person. An attempt to patch things up may be to simply distance yourself from that person. This may temporarily relieve some of the symptoms on the outside. It may appear as though you are: getting along, being of one mind, on mission together, and caring for each other. But it will be a short lived sham. The heart of the problem has not been addressed.

God is greatly concerned with the heart. He cares about what is really going on beneath the surface. He has no desire for us to simply try to cover up the problem areas in our lives in order to look as if we are whole and complete.

Matthew 23:27-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Not the Easy Path

Dealing with things God’s way is harder. It means not always going for the simple fix. Although it will without question be more difficult, it is the only thing that is ultimately going to work. Don’t try to hide your brokenness. Let God expose all of it. Then let him rip it from your life and replace it with new strengthened materials. Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Your old dead heart cannot be fixed by some duct tape. It must be fully removed. It is only when it is fully removed that God can replace it with a new heart leading to life.