Author: Co/Mission Couples Ministry

One Life – Making it count!

December 21, 2018 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

OneLife 2018 Christmas decor — Whip it good!

Who we are…

OneLife is a ministry for young couples and young families. Our mission is to minister to each other in the everyday things of life, minister to our neighbors in ways that express Jesus love and gospel kindness, and deepen fellowship within the church.

Our monthly events offer a mix of things including planning meetings, outreach events, and fellowships. But at least once a month, we open up our meeting time to non-members in the church to meet over coffee to discuss the current Sunday message which inspires some good discussion and prayer. You will find us gathering at coffee shops, the co-op, and local restaurants for these events.

October

2018 Oct football fellowship — “Green-18! Green-18 -GO!”

October always has us looking to suck up on any remaining warm days we can get. We held our second flag football, fire and chili gig. The day was reasonably warm and sunny. Once again, no one got hurt (except egos) and we all headed home warn out from laughing, yelling, running, and eating some delicious chili. Some of our people get competitive while others are about as “who cares if we follow the rules” as they come. It makes for a really fun adventure.

November

2018 decoration party — Erik opted for a red bow for his head-wear.

November brought our members together to decorate for the Christmas season. This year we added some new ideas to upscale the feel. Our sanctuary is looking better and better all the time (new carpet, subtle decor, and lighting). This particular hangout included some holiday treats and cocoa. We also want to say thank you to Justin and Courtney for jumping in with us that day.

December

2018 OneLife party — What age does a younger person begin to love stuff like this?

December was especially fellowship-y. We saw a need for our group to come together more often just to be together and enjoy each other’s company. The leaders will be doing this and the members did. We gathered at the Huhmann’s house and fired up the pizza oven. So, did you know there were so many types of olives? I didn’t. We had fresh pizzas, sodas, and a smattering of other snacks. It was a nice relaxing evening.

Likewise, we also joined fellowship with Street Level. We brought an “IN-YOUR-FACE! -WINTER!” Summer picnic to the Street Level House. It was complete with virgin pina coladas, grilled chicken, burgers, BBQ beans, coleslaw, and orange fruity jello in molds. 50 plus attendees made for a very “rowdy” (Ben’s word) afternoon. Team Pete dominated Team Jenae in the event’s final activity, full-group Pictionary. The crazy thing is 95% of OneLife are the ghost of Street Level past. So, it was just a really fun way to connect, talk, encourage, and fellowship together before the students all started finals week. Thanks to Street Level for a great time!

Next on the Docket

January begins our winter neighborhood gatherings. Once each month, two families will be hosting an event to connect to neighbors. Who knows what fun things will come about. Its clear we all have neighbors who like to come together for food and fun. We just need to make it happen.

We will be taking a road trip to the Twin Cities in January with our friends from Gnosko. Their members and ours will be splitting up, cruising to the big city, and enjoying a game, food, and fellowship at none other than Ikea. Wondering how that works? The truth will be revealed.

February also presents a members fellowship with our friends in the Kindred ministry. It involves shenanigans with bowling balls, themed teams, and more! We are excited to make it happen.

Get Involved!

Covenant member of JFB, if you would like to get involved, reach out to pastor Tom for how to make that happen.

Church guest, you are welcome to attend an event if you like. Details of what we are doing and when is found on the JFB calendar page or you can email us at onelife@jfbelievers.com

Winter Already?

October 16, 2018 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

Recently

The Gnosko Families headed out this past Sunday to enjoy the fall colors and ended up driving around in a Winter Wonderland and enjoyed ice cream at the Nelson Creamery in Alma, WI

Over the Summer

This Summer we’ve had our fair share of outdoor and indoor fellowship and fun bowling first on Father’s Day and then in July at Jeremiah’s Bullfrog Fish Farm.

It was a gorgeous day full of steamy hot weather that Summer dished out and to complement it the most mosquitoes in one place I think many of us have ever encountered. They offered free music and as always the staff would cook you up your fish catch or just cook a plate up for you either way fishing or no fishing. We got to mingle with the Kindred folks there as well! We enjoyed the food, fishing, fellowship, and music so it was a great opportunity to be out in the community.

A return trip to Riverside Park in Eau Claire was another memorable time of fellowship in July where we enjoyed swimming and soaking in a wonderful Summer day here in WI. We teamed up with One Life and Kindred in August for a work day at the campground. We got to clean up the campground of leaves, sticks and cut wood for the campground.

Full group studies have continued throughout the Summer. It’s a great time connecting on the small group level which is really important as the church grows and in fellowship together. We recently got to do one outside with the full group at the Bowlin’s during Biking for Tacos event to cheer on the riders.

As Summer was coming to an end we got to work on the rocket stove at the campground. The goal is to have some heat out there when we all are utilizing the pavilion area when it’s cool outside. A barrel, straw, sandstone and clay were involved in the creation of a rocket stove.

What’s Coming

Fall has come to Wisconsin and Winter’s around the corner, we look forward to God’s plans for Gnosko in the coming seasons and covet your prayers for this ministry and all that are a part of it.

OneLife Ministry Delightfully Digresses

August 16, 2018 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

OneLife ministry fellowship 2018 — Grillin’ and Chillin’

OneLIfe Ministry has enjoyed an eventful summer so far. Since the last report (there was snow on the ground), we gathered for fellowship and fire with group members and group visitors, hosted four decently attended neighborhood cookouts, a group of us went to Kentucky on mission, and we have formulated some plans for the rest of summer and fall.

What Was

We started out the summer with neighborhood cookouts in July at Pederstuen’s and Samens’. The day was quite warm but meat was roasting and conversations were cooking. We met some new people and said hello to some familiar neighbors. Later, O’Gara’s and Dyer’s (via Cline’s) hosted a second set of cookouts. A number of the people invited from our hoods were people that the host home was already connecting with outside of OneLife. This has shown to be a more natural way to hang out. We will be looking for more opportunities like that.

Additionally, we held a fire fellowship at Tom and Becky’s house. Originally it was our intention to go camping this summer, but with Kentucky on the calendar for a good number of us, it wasn’t likely to happen. We have opted for at least this year to make time to fellowship with all members and visitors at least twice this year, giving opportunity for good conversation. Perhaps camping is in the cards for next year?

What Is

Currently, OneLife ministry members have been scheming up some games for the church campout this year. This Sunday we will be bringing into focus some solid options. You want a glimpse? …“In the Water”-beach volleyball! We’re planning to get the net out into the water to go head to head with anyone who wants in. I sense some dampness coming on. Be on the lookout for other fun games on the list (to watch or participate in). Events will be listed on the activity board by the mobile coffeehouse.

Before August is out, OneLife members will be heading out to the Drive-In Theater again. This has proven to be a fun time in the past (no matter what potentially yucky movie was playing). We always have fun just hanging out and meeting people.

What Next

As OneLife ministry heads into fall, we have bikes and tacos on the brain. You guessed it! Biking for Tacos is coming in September and we’re partnering with the Menomonie Public Library. We’ll be riding the loop around the lake and so start/finish will be at the library… where the tacos are! Students will be back and community (church and city) are all invited. Date and time is coming soon… Stay tuned.

We also are gearing up for fall retreat time for us. We’re set for heading to the JFB campground on September 21-22. Pray for good weather and an enriching time with the Master. For those wondering, stew is back on the menu.

Also, as I rub my temples with my index fingers in circular motions, I sense an October chili and flag football game in the air. We did this once a couple of years ago and, other than the Heinous-Brunner-Domination happening left and right, it was a really, really nice time. Our members really get on that. It’s a great time of exercising (and not the demon-removal type)!

Once winter makes its ugly return, we will be looking indoors for new adventures. We hope to translate the “neighborhood cookout” idea into something in homes some way. We have a creative bunch, something will pop.

Who We Is

OneLife Ministry is for young couples / families to be together both missionally and in fellowship. Usually we meet at 2pm on Sunday afternoons. If you would like to take part or even join as a member, get in touch with us. We would love to connect. onelife@jfbelievers.com

Food and Fellowship

June 16, 2018 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

What’s been

The last couple months has found Gnosko as a whole group continuing to go over notes in small groups and usually out and about in the community whether it’s enjoying the outdoors at the park, or ice cream at Culver’s. This is always a neat time to be one on one with different people each time and gaining new perspective as to what we gleaned from the service and how we are applying it to our lives.

This past week the whole group met out at the campground for some time out fellowshipping with another church, the E-Free church from Boyceville. It was great to meet new people and connect around the campfire.

While the missions team was in the Philippines Gnosko got to be a part of the carpet ripping out day with other fellowship groups within our church. In a matter of just over two hours the sanctuary was completely stripped bare of the carpet.

Another recent venture was helping out Street Level with the annual thrift sale. We paired up with a couple others each day of the event in morning and afternoon shifts to help out at the sale. We also took part in the setting up process beforehand and taking down after. A great part of the whole thing was getting to spend time and come alongside and help with another ministry’s projects. Many hands make light work and it was fun to see the very quick transformation from church house living areas into indoor thrift sale! It’s also a unique opportunity to be able to interact with the community.

The Gnosko Members enjoyed a van trip to the Cities in March to be part of a monthly fix it clinic going on in the Cities, this time we were in Osseo, they are held at different locations each month. It was to not only participate but glean information on how this runs and what it looks like in a big city and perhaps give us future direction for planning and doing similar again in our own small community here in Menomonie.

Coming Soon

Our Gnosko Leadership has been getting together a couple of times a month to share a meal and to discuss and grow in our relationship with each other and with God.

As Summer approaches we look forward to being out and about in the community as much as possible. Our Member’s group is looking forward to a Father’s Day fellowship with our kids at a local park.

Thank God It’s Spring! OneLife is ready…

April 16, 2018 Co/Mission Couples Ministry

What we have been up to

OneLife has been focusing in on two aspects of our ministry. First the continued development of our own spiritual lives, and second, the planning and preparing for reaching out to the people of our city. On a twice a month basis, we have been splitting up into small groups to gather at local hot spots for coffee and lively discussions about the Bible and Sunday sermons at JFB. This has been really enjoyable and insightful. One great benefit is that it puts us out there in the public. We sit in the middle of things and speak openly. We want people to see that it’s cool to talk about church and Jesus in a public setting. These are real discussions (what I learned was… what did you learn…). We laugh, we talk serious, we fellowship together. I’ve been enjoying them. Members of our group rotate leading the discussions so it keeps us all sharp.

Along side these coffee talks, the members group has been getting together for planning and learning. Once a month we read and discuss the book Discipling by Mark Dever. This book has been really nice to read together. It speaks to our personal growth as well as our interpersonal relationships. And once a month we plan the schedule and calendar event. For instance, we plan to go camping together this summer and to bring a few unique features to the Church camp out this year. Stay tuned…

What’s next?

For this summer we have been planning ways to be in our neighborhoods for the good of the community and the Kingdom of God. We all have neighbors who are in need spiritually, physically and emotionally. As we have been learning in the Saturate series, there very natural avenues we can use to connect with the people who live around us. We hope to see God work in the everyday stuff of life. As we develop friendships with our neighbors, we hope to provide grander neighborhood cookouts and gatherings to deepen those connections. We pray to see what God will do in us and through us as we seek to get into the mess of life around us. All I can think about right now is t-shirts, bbq’s, lawn chairs, conversations and sun. Pray God works his wonders out before us as we move ahead in this.

Who are we?

We are a group of young couples (some with small kids) who are seeking strong marriages, strong relationships, and missional avenues to serve God through serving each other and serving our neighbors. Are you a young couple and looking to get deeper fellowship? Email us at onelife@jfbelievers.com for more information.