Coming soon to a theater near you...(or your computer)...

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The Connections Team has not had team trainings for a long while. If you’re a long-time veteran of this ministry, you may realize this. If you’re newer, you may not. Either way, a better way to get consistent guidelines out to everyone on each team is needed.

We think we have found that way. Your Team Leaders are working to create training videos that each of you will be able to watch from your own computer. They will contain the basic info for serving on the Connections Team (good review!) and the guidelines for each separate team (you will only be assigned the video for the team you’re on which you serve).

The goal is to have these complete and ready for viewing by the end of January. Keep an eye on your email inbox for an invitation from
GoodToG o.Group.com. You will get a link / invitation to respond; from there you will be able to see videos assigned to you.

Each one of you plays a very important role in the welcoming and caring that our church provides, and you do it naturally, as part of your gifts. Thank you! I am eager to see how we will grow as a ministry, given more tools (like online training videos) to inform and encourage one another to good works for His glory.

God bless each and every one of you. Thank you for reminding me of the joy of serving each weekend.

Carol Jorgensen
Connections Manager

New Year, New Me

One of my least favorite things about the new year is the actual date. It takes me at least three months to get into the habit of writing the correct year. This has caused many bills and checks to be returned, as the checks appear to be outdated by a year! This always makes me laugh because it happens during this time every single year.

I often hear many people say, “New Year, New Me” along with a list of many resolutions. For instance, the gym always seem to be busiest this time of year. As the year progresses it seems that many of the “New Year New Me” resolutions tend to dissolve. This has been my experience at least. I always tell myself I’m going to stick with that certain thing this year. “This year will be the year!” turns into, "Next year will be the year!" and so on. What would it take for this year to be different? 

I have found that it comes down to our attitudes and how we approach life. I have served with a middle school mission organization called the The Jeremiah Project every year for the last seven years. We lead middle schoolers in repairing and rebuilding homes whose owners can’t afford the repairs. One “training” tip we always give the students is to say, “There is lots of potential here” when walking into a home that might look or smell different from what the students are used to. It’s this attitude of seeing the potential to help and to make the home better that helps our students overcome the initial shock of the situation. It also helps to show respect to the homeowner. I have seen this attitude change the lives and thoughts of many students and leaders.

I’m starting this new year by seeing all that I want to do and change simply as “a lot of potential." This attitude helps me joyfully journey through every endeavor. I challenge you to do the same: during this new year, try seeing every opportunity or situation as one with “lots of potential." I pray this change in attitude and approach blesses you this year! God is always faithful and able! 

In Christ,
Justin Talk
Associate Director of Youth Ministry

Five Oaks Missionaries

Did you know that Five Oaks supports 14 Missionary Families? 
Come and pray for them with us on January 22.  They work with:

  • The Roma people (“Gypsies”) all across Europe 
  • Church planting in the global crossroads city of Berlin, Germany.
  • Camp ministries that reach children, youth, young adults, and families in two of the largest secularized countries in Europe: France and Spain. Both countries also have large Muslim populations.
  • Marginalized urban populations in Louisville and Los Angeles.
  • International Students: Future world leaders on our doorstep!
  • Community outreach and Leadership Development in the most populous country in the world: China 
  • Relief, education, discipleship, and leadership developmentin Haiti
  • Unreached people groups in Peru and residents of the slums in Rio.
  • Strategic global direction for Reach Global, our missions organization, including crisis response, child sponsorship, and internships.

Messy is beautiful

In our home we tend to cherish traditions during the Christmas season. There are the holiday movies that we hope will end with happy snuggles on the couch and will be free of distractions. The impromptu times of hopping in the car to drive around, oohing and awing at the beautifully decorated homes with twinkling lights in hope that the wonder in the kids eyes will match the effort made on our part as parents. Or, the baking sessions that will produce fun family memories and Pinterest worthy Christmas treats. Then reality happens, and movie time is filled with shush's and "get off your phone" quarrels. The awe and wonder of twinkling lights turns in to heated words of who is touching who and statements of boredom that grate on the very last nerve you had left for the evening. And the Pinterest worthy treats are only as good as the incredible mess left in their wake.

When the wise men came to visit Jesus, they didn't find a perfectly manicured scene like we tend to have been taught growing up. There wasn't a shepherd boy standing nearby, or a fluffy white lamb keeping this heavenly baby warm as he lay in a perfectly situated manager. Mary and Joseph were not lovingly looking down at a baby that apparently glows with light. In Matthew 2 we read that the wise men entered the house where the child was. This gives us a few clues that they were no longer in the stable and Jesus was no longer a baby but a toddler. It also tells us that, according to the timeline of when the star appeared, Herod asked not just for all of the babies to be killed, but all male children under the age of 2. That doesn't leave very Pinterest worthy pictures in our mind does it? Because of this, Mary and Joseph must flee to Egypt.

These key clues are very important for us to know in understanding the fulfillment of the prophecies given by the prophets in the old testament. It was foretold that "out of Egypt I called my son". They fled to Egypt and then God called them out of Egypt and they moved from there to Nazareth, where this young man would be known as Jesus of Nazareth. 

Just as our family traditions don't ever seem to go as picture perfect as planned, the Christmas story, a bit of messy story, is not perfectly put together, but beautifully orchestrated to share the greatest gift to all! Spend time this season remembering that, through the mess, His story is truly full of beauty!

Blessings~

Rhiannon

Next week: Moses was born and called

Why a baby?

Like a 3 year old child, staring at the wonders of the world, I tend to find myself asking "why" many times through out the story of Christmas. One particular question that is asked often in my mind is, "why did he come as a baby?" Why didn't God send his only Son as a grown man? Wouldn't that have felt more miraculous? Wouldn't it have been more impactful at the time to all of the sudden have this man appear, descending from Heaven, on billowing white clouds? Wouldn't it have made it more believable that He was indeed the son of God?

The answer to these questions, and more is that, a real human debt had to be paid for a real human sin.

In order for God to complete His promise to provide us with a savior, Jesus, the sacrifice for our sins, needed to be fully human. He needed to be fashioned within the womb of a mother. To develop and grow through childhood, adolescent and young adult years. He needed to understand our humanity in a real and relevant way, to become the real human sacrifice that would save us from our sins and offer us a hope for eternal life in Heaven with Him. 

Like a wrapped present under the Christmas tree, we are filled with anticipation to catch a glimpse of what is inside. Through the miracle of God becoming man, the box under the Christmas tree is unwrapped and we can stand in awe of the gift inside. The story of a real God, becoming a real human to become the sacrifice paid for our real sin. 

The story of Christmas is only complete with the understanding that it is finished at the cross! 

As we approach this Christmas with our kids, let's point them past the details of the story, {the manager, the wise men, the shepherds} and share the why of such an amazing gift that came to us as a baby! 

Merry Christmas!

Blessings~

Rhiannon

Weekend of December 17+18

Finishing Strong -- Can you imagine being the tie-breaking vote for your candidate in a local or national election? The reality is that every vote turns out to be a tie-breaker when you win by one. Every vote counts.  So as we end our fiscal year, we need all hands on deck to begin next year with a firm financial foundation. Every dollar will count. 

Chosen

When I was in school, I used to dread when it came time to pick teams in gym class. It wasn't that I was bad at sports or even that it was a fear of being picked last. It was simply just the anxiety of when, and which team captain would choose me. There were the other classes that the teacher would start calling on students to answer questions. I avoided eye contact and tried to look distracted so that the teacher would not call on me. (I never figured out that behavior actually made them call on me!) The last thing I wanted in either of those times was to be chosen.

In the beginning of Luke we learn of an angel named Gabriel, who was to deliver a message to a young woman by the name of Mary. The message was one of great importance. One that would change her life forever. It was a message that would fulfill Old Testament prophecies. It, however, was also a message that would bring suffering and heartache. The message? "Rejoice! Mary, you are chosen!" 

God chose Mary, and Joseph, to be the earthly parents of Jesus. By grace, He chose them! With amazement in her heart, she quietly expresses her humble obedience. What an amazing responsibility and privilege.

In submitting to God's plan for her life, Mary chose to magnify God. Likewise, Jesus magnifies His Father through His obedient life. The prophets told of His coming hundreds of years before His birth. God was working out His plan to bring His people back to Himself. The good news that Jesus was coming to the world was good because of WHY He was coming."He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) 

The announcement of Jesus birth is not the beginning of the gospel; God has been planning this moment since before the beginning of time!

Talk with you kids this week about why Jesus was born and what it must have felt like to be chosen, like Mary. Share with them has God has chosen them to magnify the Lord also. 

I may have "suffered" through when and who would choose me in gym class, but we never need doubt that the Lord our Father, has chosen us! 

Blessings~

Rhiannon

 

*Next week: Jesus is born!