Dear Church Family,
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful Wednesday. I wanted to remind everyone that tonight we have Bible study at 7pm in person and on Zoom. The Zoom link will be listed below.
Furthermore, on Sunday I mentioned that we are all being discipled whether we like it or not. The question is not "Are you a disciple?" The question is "Of who are you a disciple?" What habits and practices shape you? What books, social media, magazines, shows, music, etc do you ingest? What is the goal?
Essentially, who do you want to be and what are you doing about it?
I think we should be like Jesus.
Earlier this summer I suggested groups of ten. I got 8 responses. Most of them already attend the Wednesday Night study. So we have not launched those groups. but I wanted to remind everyone that they are still a possibility. The four study options are listed below. Perhaps none of them strike your fancy. Maybe you want to become better at prayer. Maybe you would like to become a better student of scripture.Perhaps you want to be better at evangelism. So where do you want to grow? We can create different groups to tackle different aspects of being like Jesus. The key, however, is that we are engaged.
If you are interested, please reply and let me know how you would like to grow. The world might be insane, but Jesus is LORD. Jesus still calls us to make disciples. What are you going to do about it?
I think that if we are all striving to work together to be like Christ we will see our world changed for the better. I look forward to hearing back from you!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Ryan
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85007346649?pwd=MW5PVEhVcXFmNlZLaEo0dW5QZUI3UT09
Meeting ID: 850 0734 6649
Passcode: 021040
The Four Suggested Topics for the Groups of 10
Our Church Your Home is our membership class. We were in the process of beginning membership before we ended up cancelling church gatherings. We are looking to resume them. The rest of these are the book descriptions from facebook. Be the Bridge-
ECPA Best Seller Winner of the Christianity Today Book Award
A leading advocate for racial reconciliation offers a clarion call for Christians to move toward relationship and deeper understanding in the midst of a divisive culture.
With racial tensions as high within the church as outside the church, it is time for Christians to become the leaders in the conversation on racial reconciliation. This power-packed guide helps listeners deepen their understanding of historical factors and present realities, equipping them to participate in the ongoing dialogue and to serve as catalysts for righteousness, justice, healing, transformation, and reconciliation. Ruthless Elimination of Hurry- “Who am I becoming?” That was the question nagging pastor and author John Mark Comer. Outwardly, he appeared successful. But inwardly, things weren’t pretty. So he turned to a trusted mentor for guidance and heard these words: “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life.” It wasn’t the response he expected, but it was—and continues to be—the answer he needs. Too often we treat the symptoms of toxicity in our modern world instead of trying to pinpoint the cause. A growing number of voices are pointing at hurry, or busyness, as a root of much evil. Within the pages of this book, you’ll find a fascinating roadmap to staying emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world. A Year of Small Things When Sarah and Tom Arthur were appointed to a suburban church after three years in an urban Christian community, they faced a unique challenge: how to translate the practices of "radical" faith into their new context. Together with their friends and fellow church members Erin and Dave Wasinger, the Arthurs embarked on a yearlong experiment to implement twelve small practices of radical faith--not waiting until they were out of debt or the kids were out of diapers or God sent them elsewhere, but right now. This book is Sarah and Erin's story, told with humor, theological reflection, and practical insight, exploring such practices as simplicity, hospitality, accountability, sustainability, and social justice--but, most of all, discernment. Along the way readers will consider how God might be calling them to embark on their own year of small but radical changes, right where God has planted them. Each chapter includes discussion questions and suggested readings.