Month: December 2022

December 28, 2022 The Homeschool Ministry

Thanks to the support of Believers Church the Believers Homeschool Group has had a busy few months with one field trip, our regular Thursday meetings and preparation for the Christmas program.

Fire Station Visit

They didn’t start the fire, but they learned about how to stop them!  In November, we visited the fire station.  Thank you to the fire fighters who took the time to teach us about fire safety and show us around the station. 

Christmas Program

Over the past few months, the kids have been hard at work practicing for the Christmas program.  Lots of lines were memorized and costumes sewn, but they had a fun time doing so.  Thank you to our audience and the church for the opportunity to put on a show! 

Thursday Meetings

In addition to the fire station visit and the program practice, the homeschool group continued with our regular homeschool group schedule of reading out loud together, drawing lessons and fitness activities.  This winter we are hoping to get outside for ice skating and sledding, as well as a field trip or two.

Please pray for continuing diligence on the parents to not just give the kids an education, but to model for them what it means to follow Jesus. Also pray for new families that have been attending the group that they would continue to participate and feel they have a home within the Believers Homeschool group.

For more on our group, find us on Facebook (only local Homeschool families please) or email homeschool@jfbelievers.com

December 25, 2022 Shofar Missions Cebu

“Merry Christmas” from Cebu! We hope you are all staying warm and enjoying the white Christmas! We received your Christmas cards in the mail… thanks for sending them 🙂 Keep reading to see what we’ve been up to this month.

Working with Local Churches

At the end of November, we joined the Inayawan Church of the Nazarene for their 44th Church Anniversary and holiday celebration. There was worship, a guest speaker, dinner, and games… it felt a lot like the JFB 30th Anniversary Celebration. We were thankful to be a part of it and continue building relationships with teachers, youth, and other church members. 

Last week, we went to Bohol to do some advance work for the team to come in January. While we were there, we visited Miracle Church of the Nazarene, which is now pastored by the former assistant pastor of Inayawan. He and his wife have been there for about 4 months. It’s a small church in a small town, but they’re seeing new families come through simple things like community Bible studies. While we were there, we talked about future ministry opportunities and had a discipleship discussion with some of the young people.

Exploring Creation Science

This semester classes began in-person half days only and by November 1 we were back to in-person classes all day every day! We were thankful for the opportunity to be in person. Many of the schools we minister in are connected to local churches. As many of you know we minister heavily with the Inayawan Nazarene church & school. This relationship began in 2017 when Pastor Tim & Sharon were at a stop light next to Pastor Allan driving the Inayawan Nazarene vehicle with the Nazarene logo. Sharon passed Pastor Tim’s business card to Pastor Allan and the rest is history. While in Bohol we had an opportunity to meet Teacher Gay again while visiting Miracle Church of the Nazarene. We first met her when an invitation was extended to visit and teach an Exploring Creation Science lesson at the Nazarene Bible College for students in grades 4- 6 & 7-12 as she was a high school teacher then and remembered Shofar. She now teaches in Baclayon, Bohol.

When classes start back up in January we plan to reconnect with the basic education department at the Nazarene Bible College and start planning summer school. Classes do not end until June 30 but schools are putting information for summer out now. We will also continue teaching at four to five schools throughout metro Cebu. Laura also hopes to reconnect with someone that teaches art from a Biblical Creation perspective here in Cebu City. Please pray for staff and students as they are away on holiday break. Many of their families are not Christians so pray they would be a light for their families and also that everyone would take time to slow down and spend time with God.

Street Level Ministries

We had a couple of meetings in December before students dispersed for the holiday break. This semester, we saw a lot of faces come and go. Some students came once or twice, so we’re hoping and praying that they’ll return next semester. Before the break, we had a small Christmas gathering with the current members. We woke up early for a hike to see the city, then grilled out for lunch. It was a refreshing and unifying time for the group!

Next semester, we hope to have daytime devotionals and monthly members-only meetings. We’re also looking forward to a Summit in February while the team is here! Please pray that the students would use Christmas break to draw near to God and rest well before another busy semester begins.

December 20, 2022 River Falls Ministry

As you read this, the students at UWRF are finishing up fall finals, and we are finishing up our last few meetings before we welcome in 2023. Keep reading and find out what the River Falls ministry did over the month of December.

Believers Campus Church

Earlier in the month, we had the pleasure of having Pastor Tim come visit us and teach the book of 3 John. Last week we met for our last on-campus Believers Campus Church for 2022. We added a few holiday decorations to the room and went through the book of Jude together. This week we plan to join the Menomonie church for the children’s Christmas play. Over winter break we will change things up a bit and will meet at The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse at 6:30 pm to join in the weekly “Rewinds” of the Sunday messages from Menomonie.

Street Level Ministries

We also just finished up our last Street Level for the year. We spent the evening watching a movie, eating pizza, and enjoying snowmen in a hot tub (aka hot chocolate with ice cream). It is finals week, so it was fun to end the year with fellowship. We will be spending the break still meeting, but working on projects around the coffeehouse.

Prayer Requests for 2023

  • For direction for direction from God for the ministry as a whole as we go into a new year
  • Reaching out and connecting with college age individuals in the community
  • For the students during break that they contiue forward in their walk with God
December 13, 2022 Believers Church Duluth

As we conclude another year in Duluth, I am once again amazed at how fast the year has gone by! We were fortunate as a church to be able to participate in domestic and foreign missions trips, retreats, service opportunities, and many fellowship events with our church as well as fellowship groups from Menomonie. 

This past month Pastor Jesse and our campus ministry group has continued to meet at UW-Superior on Mondays for a “micro” Bible study.  They are continuing their studies on the “crazy things Jesus said”.  They also recently had a movie night in one of the dorm halls there too.  On Tuesday nights our Campus Church service is held at UMD.  They just finished up a series going through John’s letters talking about what real Christianity looks like. They concluded the semester by braving the cold and walking through Bentlyville (a huge Christmas lights display in Canal Park).  During the campus’s winter break, the church will be having an evangelism class.  For three weeks on Tuesday nights, we will continue part two of our study of the book, Evangelism as Exiles.

This month we will be starting our Bible studies in the Douglas County jail once again.  We were very excited to be asked to return to this ministry now that Covid restrictions are lifting.  A small group of women and men will participate in this ministry on Sunday afternoons. 

On Sundays we are continuing to go verse by verse through the book of Matthew.  On Wednesdays we rotate our services with rewind groups, verse by verse studies through Psalms, and Men’s and Women’s book studies.  As always, we try to gather together for times of fellowship whether scheduled or impromptu.  This past month a group gathered together for a meal on Thanksgiving and for an impromptu game night at the Moss’s house on a Sunday night.

Thank you for your prayers.  We are looking forward to the coming year and all that God has for us up here. 

– Sara

December 11, 2022 Pastor Jesse Moss

The cruise ship industry is an estimated 8 billion dollar a year business. Last year alone, millions of individuals made their way on board ships averaging over 1,000 feet long and several stories tall. It’s not surprising that the experience of a cruise is highly coveted. Passengers are greeted warmly by a small crew of dedicated workers set on meeting the desires of each and every passenger. People choose to go on cruises so that they can enjoy a limitless amount of luxury and comfort. Cruise ships are dedicated to meeting not only the needs but the wants of each of their customers. Take a stroll across the deck of a typical cruise ship and you see people swimming in pools, going down waterslides, sunbathing, eating obscene amounts of food, and drinking until they can no longer walk straight.

A Better Way

Battleships, on the other hand, are full of people who are gathered together for a single mission. Every person onboard the vessel is there to participate. Instead of a small minority working to provide extensive comfort for the majority, all on board work for the sake of the fulfillment of the assignment. Instead of chasing comfort, the sailors deliberately embrace discomfort for the good of their nation.

All too often the Christian church seems to possess the mentality of a modern-day cruise ship. A small group of people working hard to provide entrainment, comfort, and service for any that would find themselves “onboard.” Christians seem content to stroll through their lives demanding amenities rather than submitting themselves to service.

The Example of Jesus

Jesus makes no such allowances for those who would call themselves His followers. Instead, He said in Matthew 8:20 “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He makes it clear that if you are hoping for a life of comfort and ease it won’t be found following Him. He came not to be served, but to serve. He traded the comforts of heaven for the difficulties of earth. He didn’t let a desire for a life of comfort and ease keep him from His assignment.

Caught in Comfort Unaware

Satan would love for you to be comfortable. He wants you so comfortable you forget about the war you are supposed to be enlisted in. He wants your comfort to send you drifting off to a sleepy sort of apathy that keeps you from ever doing anything consequential. He wants you so comfortable that you never actually need God to come through for you.

I’m afraid that the reality is many of us are more comfortable than we even realize. The problem is we can be so accustomed to this comfort that we don’t even recognize it. We fail to understand that we have allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep by a lullaby leaving us in a state of spiritual lethargy and indifference. If you are going to do anything worthwhile it will require that you leave the clutches of your metaphorical couch.

Embracing the Difficulty 

If Jesus was as concerned for His own comfort as you and I are tempted to be, we would be left with no hope of salvation. But instead, He not only allowed discomfort into His life but in submission to His Father He intentionally sought out discomfort. The same must be true of you and me if we want to be used by God. As Jesus told His disciples in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” We need to go beyond allowing discomfort into our lives, and instead, throw ourselves into it.

Jesus did it for us. Will you do it for Him?