The Great Outdoors 

For us living on an iceberg…I mean Duluth, the joy of summer is not only a sentiment greatly shared by many, but has been a great opportunity this year. Recently, we’ve had some gorgeous days to enjoy outside in fellowship and outreach. With magazines and flyers in hand, we’ve been at the beaches and parks giving away soda and water.

In terms of fellowship, there is something so simple, yet special, about standing outside the church after service just to spend time with one another. So you can imagine that it was quite the treat to hook up the coffee trailer and have dinner together at the park towards the end of July (hot dogs, chips, and soda anyone?). The parks have been a great place for us to meet. Currently, we have been eagerly moving forward to utilize the rest of our summer. 

Study

Around mid-July, we resumed in-person gatherings and church activities. We’ve been continuing our study in Revelations on Sundays and just finished 2 kings. Next Wednesday we will be starting the book of Jeremiah. 

Gearing up

Street level has had the privilege of taking the time this summer to focus on building up its leaders in weekly studies and preparing for the year ahead. We’ve recently got to move from our virtual meeting to talking around a campfire weekly. Currently, we are still in the planning stages for this coming semester at UWS and UMD; as we are slowly gathering new information on new rules and guidelines set by each university. As for WOTs, it’s headed towards its final stages and will soon be ready for print. We look forward to distributing it to local businesses and campuses.

Prayer

It goes without saying that we’re excited to get back out there. However, after time off at the beginning of July, our greatest concern was to be not just a church with a lot of zeal, but one of the right hearts. Please pray that we continue to steward the growth of a healthy church that is pleasing and useable to God. Also, please continue to pray for Street Level for direction and opportunity. 

Bible Study

JFB Duluth had the privilege of meeting back in person during June and early July, which was wonderful after time apart physically. With masked faces and sanitized hands, we gathered for Sunday and Wednesday services. We are continuing to cover the book of Revelation and completed the first three chapters, specifically looking at the letters to the seven churches. Wednesday services have included member meetings, continuing in our study of 2 Kings and we took one Wednesday service to split apart for a men’s and women’s study. However, during the past week, we have moved back to online service only; hopefully for a short period, as we individually learn to take the necessary precautions to ensure safety for our brothers and sisters. Thankfully, our technology upgrades from springtime quarantine remain in place and allow us to stream services via YouTube.

College Ministry

Despite the restrictions due to the covid19 pandemic, we are seeking to be faithful to what opportunities God does allow. Our Street Level leaders have continued to meet virtually as they plan for the next semester. Please pray for the Mosses and the Street Level leaders as they seek to plan for the upcoming semester considering the new challenges at hand in light of covid19 and college campuses.

Moreover, WOTS has continued to work on compiling the next edition to be released online. It has certainly been a challenge for writers to consider articles in light of covid19 and what the fall might look like for student readers. There has also been some landscaping work done on the shrubs around the building, which included putting some rocks and bordering around the shrubbery.

Please pray for our JFB Duluth pastors regarding wisdom as they lead and navigate our church through this pandemic. Additionally, please pray that all of us members would seek to love one another and treasure the church God has and is building here in Duluth.

-Matt

The last couple of weeks have been a reunion of sorts. After more than two months of not being able to gather as a church, we are able to have services again. Church looks different than it ever has, but even with the changes, it is good to be back together. With social distancing requirements, face masks, no group singing, and no fellowship in the coffeehouse after service, it is clear that things have not returned to the regular routine. But that is okay.

It is nice to be back together and somewhat have church as usual. But there is a danger of the church getting into too much of a routine. This current situation may just be helping to prevent that. It is easy to allow your Christianity and church involvement to slip into autopilot which requires little thought, little seeking good for direction, and little reliance on the Holy Spirit. If nothing else the last few months have served to prevent us from following our regularly scheduled program.

A Message to the Church

Sundays we have been continuing through the book of Revelation. It’s the last book of the New Testament that we have to go through verse by verse as a church. We are currently going through the letters written to the seven different churches in chapters two and three. These are letters written to churches with a message directly from Jesus. Each church is different, some with strengths they are commended for and some with sins that they are called to repent from. There is much to learn from the examples in scripture. No doubt there is a message that Jesus is “sending” to us as well. Please pray that we would hear what He is saying. That we wound be encouraged where he is encouraging, and repent where he points out our sins and weaknesses.

Sheep Among Wolves

At this week’s Wednesday gathering, we watched “Sheep Among Wolves” a video about the persecuted church in the Middle East. It was an inspiring night where we were left checking our own lives and commitment. Christians over there are spending their lives for the sake of God’s kingdom. Realizing that provides a wake-up call to ensure that we are not wasting ours. It’s incredible to see the hardships and persecution that are likely beyond our full comprehension and yet see the commitment and love that these believers have for Christ. One of the men in the video was at a near loss of words trying to explain that Jesus is worth any cost. Intentionally this video leaves us questioning what we are doing with our lives. Christ is worthy of no lesser commitment. He deserves no lesser love and sacrifice sacrifice here in the relative comfort of the west.

We continue to work on things around the church. Regulations are making it easier for people to get to church so we decided we would to. We completely redid the stairs going down into the coffeehouse and also repaired the steps leading to the sanctuary. We also are continuing to upgrade our technology to more effectively get our Bible teaching into the community. There seems to be no end to the amount of wires we need to pull from one end of the church to the other.

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Things aren’t normal. But is normal really the goal or expectancy for a Christian filled with the Holy Spirit and under the direction of an almighty God? Please pray that as a church we would be directed by God, learning the lessons that He has for us, and going out applying them in our lives.

Since the last JFB Duluth update one month ago we have not physically gathered together for a church service. We have had no real church events, and the service positions and schedules that we have become accustomed to having been interrupted. However, that doesn’t mean we have been at a standstill. God’s overall mission for us remains the same. As a church, we remain committed to doing what we can to advance the purposes of God and His kingdom.

Proclaiming the Truth

The truth of scripture and the proclamation of it has, is, and always will be a priority for us. In fact, it is one aspect of our church that has continued on week after week even during this pandemic. Romans 10 reminds us of the importance of the preaching of God’s word. Paul asks the question, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14 ESV)

Our sermons have temporarily moved entirely online which has provided a unique opportunity to present the truth anywhere with an internet connection. A couple of weeks ago after 12 years of Pastor Justin teaching verse by verse through the New Testament on Sunday mornings, we begin our last book which is Revelation. Wanting to reach out to the community we mailed out thousands of fliers inviting people to tune in to our live stream services.

Continuing Campus Ministry

Street Level has begun digitally meeting with current students every week. We are taking this time to discuss what it means to be a follower of Jesus with the desire of being trained and equipped to make a difference in the campuses and lives around us. In the last couple of weeks, we have realized the call to be a disciple is a steep one. We discussed Luke 14 which reminds us of the high expectations that Jesus has for anyone who would follow Him. It seemed that He did not make any apologies or excuses for asking us to give up all and put Him first in our lives.

Our conversation led us to think about the costs of following Jesus and the things that we cling to not wanting to let go. We realize that the costs of following Jesus are great and that it won’t be easy. But this we talked about how although the cost to follow Jesus may be high, the cost we will pay if we choose not to follow Him is far greater. In the end, we will choose what cost we want to pay. We can either miss out on our pursuits and dreams or His. It shouldn’t be a hard decision. We know that the cost of following Jesus is well worth paying. Please pray that the truths that we have spent time discussing would be made real to our lives and change how we think and the way that we live.

Upgrades

We are doing what we can to keep the church moving forward to be better fit for ministry than before. One way we have done this is to improve our system for live streaming our services. This has meant installing new cameras, downloading new software, and running even more cables. In this digital age, we want to improve our online ministry to be as effective as possible. We have also made some kitchen and coffee house upgrades, as well as an improvement to our heating system.

I’m not sure when we will be able to gather together again. I’m not sure what it is going to look like when we do. It would be easy for us to view this time as a waiting period, that we are waiting to get back together, that we are waiting for everything to be “normal” again. I think that would be a waste of time. It would be a misuse of the season that God has us in. I think God would have us keep moving forward both in our character development and sanctification and also in fulfilling the mission the God has us on. We are seeking to do that corporately as a church, but we all need to be doing that individually.

Church may look different now, but the mission remains the same. We still seek to spread the truth of Jesus into our community. We still desire to disciple and be disciples. The church’s job still remains to equip believers to make a difference in the community that they are in. Although recent happenings in the world and regulations change some of the ways we minister as a church, they do not change why we are here.

Weekly Services

We continue to have Sunday and Wednesday services by live streaming our current sermons on our YouTube channel. You can catch our most recent sermons here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaKDmfLCRACaIa06KPJhLDA. Sermons start at 10:30 am every Sunday and at 7 pm on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month. We are in the middle of a series through the epistles of John on Sunday mornings and nearing the end of 2 Kings on Wednesday evenings. It is amazing to see the sovereignty of God in our passage week after week. He seems to perfectly align our verses to the needs of our church and the circumstances of this world. It is clear God knows what we need and provides exactly that, and we thank Him for it.

Staying Connected

Being united has always been an important thing for us. It might be a little harder than before, but we’re finding ways to stay connected as a church. We seek to continue to encourage one another, to not neglect meeting together, to have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, to pray for one another. Although our circumstances may be different, God’s expectation of the unity, fellowship, and love that we are to have for each other hasn’t changed.

Getting together for a night of games seems to have always been a part of our church. We decided that we would do it over a video call. One night a group sharpened our drawing skills, and played Pictionary over a video call. It was a great time, although sharing snacks was made much more difficult.

Community Involvement

We still want to reach out and be there for our community even when our doors are closed to our typical weekly services. To do this we made a commercial to be put on social media and aired on local TV stations. The goal was to let the community know that we are here for them, that God loves them, and that we would be happy to pray for any of their needs during this time. The commercial was a combined effort of several members of the church which proved to be an interesting challenge while also being under a shelter in place order. Through technology we were able to all work on this project together. If you are interested in seeing the final video, you can find it on our website at jfbduluth.com.

Without a doubt the church calendar looks different than normal. God still has plans for us as a church and as individual believers. We intend to continue seeking Him and figure out what it is that He is accomplishing through us and perhaps more importantly inside of us. Please pray that we would cooperate with God. Ask that we would let Him to change us into the disciples of Jesus that He would have us be 

Covenant Membership

JFBelievers Duluth celebrated the first official covenant membership retreat. Over the past year, we’ve been studying, praying and seeking what God would have for us in regards to membership and the final weekend in February our new covenant members escaped to northern MN and made it official. We blissfully enjoyed games, each other’s company and nature. We continue to have covenant member only gatherings on the first Wednesday of each month and started a new series thru a book called Life in Community by Dustin Willis with great discussion on how significant community has been in our own lives but also on our desire to go deeper with each other; being careful not to rest on our laurels.

Campus Ministry

UW Superior has persisted with weekly Bible studies and recently had the opportunity to host Erin Bottomlee from Kentucky as a guest speaker. UMD Street Level has benefited from becoming an official on-campus organization this semester. This official status has opened up opportunities for greater promotion and an on-campus meeting space. UMD weekly studies have extended on from last semester going through parables and we’ve seen some new faces this semester for our weekly gatherings. UMD is gearing up for next month when guest speaker Annemieke from Amsterdam will come to discuss her ministry in the red-light district. This event will be promoted widely across campus to students as well as other Christian organizations.

Remodeling

JFB Duluth’s coffeehouse, RavenFed, recently underwent some remodeling work. The kitchen countertop space has been largely expanded as well as new seating arrangements for the coffeehouse itself. We were even able to incorporate some crown molding from prior sections of the building into the new countertop which fit in well with the ambience. RavenFed continues to be a staple for our weekly fellowship time and this remodeling project serves to enhance that mission.

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Missions

In our efforts to reach both locally, domestically and internationally we are sending 4 people from Duluth in a joint venture with Menomonie to Louisiana in mid-March. Moreover, an additional group of 5 Duluthians are training to prepare for Philippines trips this summer. This past month we started a new series called Saturate by Jeff Vanderstelt which we will cover each month on the third Wednesday evening. This series will consist of video and small group discussions on how to become disciples in our everyday lives here in the Twin Ports helping us to better fulfill the mission in our backyard.

-Matt