Other News

Here's some additional news of upcoming things:

1. While Jim's in Africa: while I'm in Ethiopia, I've entrusted general management of church affairs to Paul Williams. If you have any questions, concerns, needs, etc., give Paul a call at 248.544.2238. Also, my wife Megan will have the church phone and will be monitoring it. She'll be available with any pastoral concerns for women. I will also have some intermittent access to email.
2. Sermon CD's: Just a reminder that we're making copies of the Sunday sermons available on CD. You can pick them up, with a suggested donation of $1 (to cover costs), at the literature table. Children's ministry workers get CD's of the sermons they've missed for FREE. If you don't see the one you're looking for, let me know.
3. CPR Training: Kristi Soave will be conducting some CPR training, for anyone who's interested, after the Sunday gatherings on February 10th and February 24th. Sign up with her if you'd like to learn this valuable life-saving skill.

Grocery Giveaway Schedule

Grocery Giveaway is a great way to serve the community. We hand out free bags of groceries to our friends in Red Run Park and offer to pray for any needs they may have. We'd love to have you join us.

Here's the schedule for the next few months:

February - Saturday the 23rd, 11:30AM-2PM
March - Saturday the 15th, 11:30-2PM
April - Sunday the 27th, in connection with ServeFest: Royal Oak

Worship Ministry News

We have some news that I'd like to share regarding the worship ministry. After 6.5 years of faithful and fruitful service, Nate Kimball will be stepping down from leading the worship ministry. I can't emphasize enough how he's done an awesome job and we are so thankful for his years of dedicated and thoughtful service.

After a period of reflection, Nate and I have asked Tom Quinlan to take over leadership of the ministry. Tom has years of tested experience in both life and ministry. He is committed to our church, its vision, values and leadership. Most recently, Tom spent a year leading worship and the worship ministry up at the Almont Vineyard, successfully bringing together a worship team to replace him. Tom is hungry to learn and grow and has a real sense for the global aspects of the worship ministry (team dynamics, integration of set and sermon, integration of music and AV, etc.). Plus, Tom's strength's will both reinforce and take into new directions the foundations Nate has laid. Tom is a great encourager and has a passion to raise up and release new leaders into ministry. We're excited and privileged that Tom has agreed.

So take a moment to say thank you to Nate, and to encourage Tom as he steps into this new role.

Ethiopia Prayer Points

Well, it is just a couple of days until Rebecca and I head off to Ethiopia to represent the church in this emerging mission partnership. We're excited. For those of you who are inclined, I thought I'd provide a few relevant prayer points. We sure would appreciate your prayers! Here they are:

1. Safety in travel and that all visas and all that kind of stuff are a non-issue.
2. For unity among the US and Norwegian team members. This will be the first time all of us are together and we'll be forging the foundations of the partnership's working parameters. I'd love for us to be on the same page, etc.
3. Pray for great relationships with our Ethiopian friends and partners. Developing relationships is one of the two main priorities, so we'd like God to oversee this process.
4. The other main priority is a conference we're putting on the weekend of Feb 9-10. The conference will be about healing, empowering leaders/disciples and hearing God. As many as 90 leaders from the 7 churches around the country will be there. I'll be leading the ministry times. Please pray for God's power to be tangibly present to effect lasting change in the lives of these leaders.

Thank you.

Jason vs. The Tornado

In my sermon this past Sunday, I mentioned a video about "Jason vs. The Tornado."  Due to some unanticipated technical difficulties, we were unable to watch it then.  Well, now, here it is.  Enjoy!

Finding and Following Jesus from 18 to early 30's

They call it emerging adulthood. They meaning the experts. Sociologists mostly, and others who study such things. They say it is a time of transition. A time of longing for hope, connection, purpose, exploration, discovery. I think they're right. So as a church we're trying to figure out how to find and follow Jesus in this transitional stage of life. Here's a book review article that spawned it all. I'm enjoying the series and am having a fruitful time thinking through how we can help others follow Jesus. Of course, it isn't just for young adults; we can all help each other. Plus, as the year unfolds, we'll have series on following Jesus through other stages of life, too.

Why Ethiopia?

Our church staff is taking a mission trip to Ethiopia in February. Some people may be wondering, "Why Ethiopia?" To read more about this and some of the story from Jim's perspective, click here.

CD's of the two sermons in the "Resolutions" series are now available. We learned about how we can personally grow in being more intentional in life and in our apprenticeship to Jesus. We also explored our communal resolutions that we're making together for the new year: to be a church that takes God more seriously, that takes others outside the church more seriously, and that takes one another more seriously. We're monks/mystics, missionaries and members of the body, if you prefer that way of thinking about it. To learn more, contact Jim.