Good News

What would be good news to you right now?  Maybe a piece of mail stating an anonymous donor had paid off your mortgage?  Your good news could be from a certain someone calling to say how much they love you and are sorry they ever hurt you in the past.  Even something as simple as an invitation to coffee can be good news to a lonely newcomer. Good news comes in all shapes and sizes depending on the needs of receiver. 

Jesus has this amazing superpower to know our exact needs and He knows they can all be thrown into the pot and boiled down into one foundational, life-changing need.  Here it is…

Mark 1:15- "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Jesus had just spent 40 days being tempted by Satan in the desert.  He knew firsthand that the good news He was offering was the only soul-satisfying remedy to the sins of this world.  He had experienced temptation and saw through the empty lies we’re fed as truth and cut to the chase, not mincing words on what “good news” is to a dying world.

“The kingdom of God is near.”  Think about that for a moment.  God’s eternal, death-defying, merciful, heart-seeing, purposeful, forgiving, all powerful kingdom is at hand, near, close to you through Jesus. Then Jesus goes on to list 236 ways to follow Him and live up to his standards, right?  Nope, not even close.  Jesus says, “Repent and believe the good news.”  I don’t know about you, but just the simplicity of Jesus’ invitation is good news to me.   

We’re going to be looking at Repentance this week.  It’s going to be challenging because we all hide and run from sin, but I pray you’ll hear Jesus’ clear, simple words in the midst of the challenge and know He is the Good News you’ve been searching for.

Click here for the handout for Frann's teaching on Repentance.
Jena M.

Families that Dine Together

What defines family?  Or better yet, what defines your family?

As a family, we have experienced a gamut of stages.  Yes, your typical small children stage and the such, but also the “kids involved in 2 sports, 2 clubs,  scouts, and youth group” stage as well as the “yes, I can help with everything” stage.  So, throughout the years our family could be defined as: busy, preoccupied, rushed, involved, spread thin, and (my favorite, which still occasionally applies) divide and conquer.  Repeatedly, my husband and I engaged in the discussion of our pace and over committing.  I’m certain we aren’t alone in this.

Eating dinner together as a family has always been on the priority list for us.  Granted, seasons existed (and still do) when it hasn’t happened as often as we would have liked.  Currently, we’re blessed to be in a season where this happens at least 5 times a week.  As much of a gift as it may be for all of us to be around the table, sometimes there’s not a lot of presence.  Sometimes I wonder why I even bother when it seems I spend the entire time coaxing my 8 year old to eat, attempting to ask my teenager questions that cannot be answered with just a grunt, and giving my husband “the look” to put his phone away.  

Yes, I want one of the things that defines my family to be that we eat together, but I want it to be much more than that also.  Recently the youth ministry taught a series of Sundays on family.  The topics for these Sundays included pray, play, serve, and finally eat.  Each one a great stand alone activity, but realizing the family dinners in my mind included all of them caused a paradigm shift.  Every meal won’t be mission realized, but once a week or two we have a meal that’s “set apart” from the rest.  I purposely fix favorite foods to eat, the table is set with fancy china and candles, we take the time to not only shoot up a prayer of thanks for our food, but thanks for one another, and we go around the table sharing our roses (successes, highlights, moments of joy), our thorns (struggles - not complaints or attacks), and our buds (things we’re looking forward to).  Life slows and our true riches return to glitter and shine.  

My three “boys” fully engage.  Because this meal is set apart from the rest, it’s easy for them to see how I am serving them.  They feel special and honored.  The bonus is how this meal sets the tone for our everyday meals in between.  Opportunities for them to serve, a time set apart, a time for engagement and presence, and a time for prayer creates an environment where play naturally happens.  

Do I still end up coaxing the 8 year old to eat, attempting to get the teenager to do more than grunt, and encouraging the cell phone be put away? Yes!  Does it happen less often and with a greater understanding of the family culture we’re trying to create?  Yes!  We want to be a family who plays together, prays together, serves together, and eating together helps us do that.  We’re starting around our table and reaching out from there.

- Nanette H.

Holey Punkins!

In the spirit of the season, head on over to Eat Your Peas Please!, the blog of our very own Amanda W., to read about her awesome pumpkin carving project and a yummy recipe for pumpkin seeds.  Such a creative take on the carved pumpkin - and who wouldn't want to use power tools!

Believing Like David

On page 87 in our Chase study Jennie Allen writes,
"The enormous promise of an eternal kingdom that God makes to David is a beautiful promise and we get to be a part of it through Christ.  We are blessed to be on this side of the cross, looking back on the redeeming work of Christ rather than waiting in expectation of it. The hope of the world has always been and always will be Jesus Christ."

God made a covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7: 1-17 that his kingdom would be eternal.  As I try to put myself in David's shoes, I just cannot imagine how I'd respond to that news...

"And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever" (verse 16)

Starting in verse 18 we get to see into the heart of a humble, servant-king as David responds to God and shows his belief in the promises unseen. Take a few minutes to read through 2 Samuel 7 to see how God points to a coming Christ, an eternal kingdom, and how David's belief shines through his response to God. 

This week in Mothers Together we're going to be looking at several Bible verses that reinforce this mighty act of belief.  Here is this week's handout on our Belief teaching by Frann Wohlers.  I am praying God brings about a stronger faith in you to truly believe His promises are for you, His daughter.  

Jena M.

Tend Your Garden

A few weeks ago I spent a while pulling weeds along the stone walkway leading to my backyard.  We frequently invite people over to enjoy our back patio, roasting marshmallows over the fire, listening to sporting events via the speakers, watching kids playing in the yard, or sharing a meal.  Many times we encourage our guests to come right on back, using the stone path.

Sadly, I had neglected the weed-pulling for a while.  The neglect, along with the recent rains meant that I had a jungle to work through. It took what seemed like forever to make the walkway navigable for anyone walking around to our yard. So long as I ignored the weeds, the path became more and more impassible.  If I left them alone long enough they would completely overwhelm the path, it would become unusable and we would miss out on fruitful visits from friends and neighbors.

My weed-choked pathway brought to mind the Parable of the Sower.  Jesus often used parables to teach people about the Kingdom of God.  In Matthew 13 we read of a farmer who went out to sow his seed.  One of the places the seeds fell was "among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants." (NIV Matthew 13:7)  He went on to say, "Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." (Mat. 13:8)  Our hearts are the fertile soil.  The things in our lives that distract from our walk with God and make us less fruitful are our weeds or thorns.

As I pulled weeds from between the stones on the path, marveling at the sheer volume of my waste pile, I felt God speaking into me about the weeds and thorns in my life.  I didn't have to do anything in particular to make these weeds grow on the path.  I hadn't intentionally placed weeds on the path.  I had merely left the path alone, without tending, and the weeds had invaded and started to overtake the path, choking out its purpose.

Our lives are the same.  We may feel like we lead pretty good lives, not exposing ourselves to bad influences, or pursuing paths that would lead us in the direction of things that go against the Kingdom.  However, it doesn't take any action on our part for weeds and thorns to begin to grow.  We live in a fallen world, which means that potentially corrupting influences are always present.  Weeds begin to grow whether we want them to or not.  It takes vigilance on our part to seek out the weeds and thorns and remove them.  In short, we must tend our garden.

We need to keep an eye out for the weeds in our lives.  Whether it is the little things throughout the day that add up to prevent us from spending time with God or bigger things that have a more recognizable negative influence on us or our relationship with God - we need to be watchful and diligent about tending our garden.  We need to be purposeful in removing the weeds or thorns that, if left untended, could diminish the crop yield God intends from our lives.

What can you do to ensure your heart is good soil that produces an abundant harvest for God's Kingdom?
- Katrina

How Should We Pray?

Image by rockpuppet from stock.xchng

When Jesus’s disciples asked him how to pray, Jesus gave them what is called, “The Lord’s prayer.”  We find it in the book of Matthew, chapter 6, right in the middle of "The Sermon on the Mount.”  

“Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
¹³ And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:9-13)

So many times in my life, I do not find myself thinking this way.  It is something that I need to intentionally remember to come back to.  If I really want to get to know the Father, do I need to pray this way?  I can’t answer that…(I just figured that out).  However, I do know that after 9 years of my life REALLY laying before him, following him, and allowing him to love me, allowing him to change me, forming me into his image…allowing him into those ugly places that I can’t change (you know - the one only our kids and husband see and hear with a very quick apology, “I am sorry, mommy shouldn’t have yelled”), I know it is more than a word.  It is a relationship.  

If we base our conversation with him on this prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, we are stopping everything, and going to the Father.  Our Father, in heaven, you are holy.  Your kingdom come…seeking out what his kingdom is.  Your will be done...searching, what is his will?  On earth as it is in heaven...let heaven come to earth.  Let heaven come, where is heaven, and how can it come?  These are things that we cannot wrap our brains around, yet this is the guideline for how to pray.  For yours is the kingdom, yours is the power, and yours is the glory forever, amen.  To me, this prayer is going to God - my father, your father - and giving him praise.  Letting go of my will, my way, and asking him what to pray.  Humbling myself and seeking his kingdom first before my own.  

I implore you to go on a journey to re-direct your prayer life.  Start small, simple, and sweet - take a deep breath, and open your bible or laptop to Matthew chapter 6.  Let everything within you go there to the Sermon on the Mount.  If you have just 3 minutes in your bathroom as “quiet time,” he will take it. I used to utilize my daughter’s naptime for this.  Was it hard giving him that entire two hours?  Not after I began to know him.  Getting to know him, and his love, is life.  So many times, I will hear someone say, “live life to the fullest” - my life is Jesus.  If I am to live, I need to breathe - he is my breath, he is my everything.  Now, my children are in school and I have many more than 2 hours.  Those napping moments shaped me - formed me into the woman I am today.  

If you hung out with me, you would see flaws really quick.  I fail.  We all fall short. But, I get to choose what I do during alone time hours, and spending time with him is and has always been the best choice. 

- Jenn G.

On the Edge

I have this image of my oldest daughter forever seared in my mind.  There she was, four years old, standing on the edge of the swimming pool with goggles secure, arm floaties in place, and me three feet away waiting for her to join me in the pool.  To her, the ‘deep’ three feet of water was reason enough to question my authority as her mom to know what she was capable of accomplishing.  As I watched her teeter between courage and fear I knew it had to be her decision.  Could I force her to jump in?  Sure.  Could I scold her for being unnecessarily fearful?  Probably.  As her mom, though, I wanted the best for her in that moment because I knew little moments like these add up to big ones.  I wanted her to trust me; trust that I wouldn’t let her fall too far from my reach, trust that I could see a bigger picture of what might be best for her, and trust that I truly believed in her ability to accomplish what I was asking her to do.

I can imagine God standing in the deepest, murkiest, unknown waters of life just waiting for us to have the courage to jump in.  In His perfect love for his children he waits patiently while we teeter on the edge of fear and courage.  He already knows whether we’ll go back to our beach towels to analyze the situation a little longer, stand on the edge for what feels like forever fearing failure, or whether we’ll back up a few steps only get a good running start into the all-out, no turning back jump of a lifetime. 

So where are you?  Is that hard ground under your towel feeling less comfortable these days?  Have you taken a walk to the water’s edge to look out and get a glimpse of what God may have for you?  Every single step away from your comfort zone takes courage, you know.  Or are you running full speed gearing up for the biggest splash of your life? Sometimes I want to be both on the towel as far from the edge as possible and in the water, but I can’t be in two places at once.  God not only sees me where I am, but He is calling me out into the water with Him ever so patiently because He knows what’s best for me and living life out of the water gets less and less appealing the more I get to know Him.  I truly desire to obey the call to join Him in my unknown waters because obeying feels much more like a privilege and joy than a rule.  It takes courage and a hefty dose of faith that I’ll never be out of my Heavenly Father’s reach, but He promised and I trust Him.

Who else is with me?  Want to hold hands and all jump in together?  3…2…1…

Jena M.