Ethiopia Update from the June 2008 trip

Friends, as promised, here's the meat of what I had to say on Sunday in follow-up to my recent trip. Not everyone was able to stay after the gathering to hear this, so I wanted to make the substance of what I had to say available to you all. I did share briefly some stories from my trip, which you can read about in brief on my blog. I shared some additional stories of the ministry we saw among the poor, the handicapped and those far from Jesus. Now for the rest ...

With all that said, the needs we have here and the needs they have there are the same, though theirs sound more exotic. We both need Jesus. We both need the transforming power of his grace and truth. We both need to see the Kingdom of God break into our churches, into our communities, into our lives. We both need the healing and deliverance and hope and change this Kingdom brings.

And we share similar opportunities. Jesus loves us all. He’s made his Spirit available to us all. We have the Bible, and we have one another.

I felt a real burden of the Lord for this while I was there. That this is a real thing, a serious thing, a Kingdom thing. The Ethiopian Vineyard leaders, especially, are sacrificing to see God’s Kingdom come. One new Vineyard pastor we met is supporting a network of at least 18 churches out of his own personal resources. Woody, the coordinator of the Vineyard’s efforts there, lost his job over this, and he nearly lost his life. Other pastors and evangelists are risking their lives weekly. We want to honor their sacrifice with our commitment.

We are committed to our friends in Ethiopia. We’re committed to helping them in their needs and we’re committed to helping them build on their opportunities, even as they are committed to us. We’re committed with other churches around the US and in Norway to encouraging, empowering, training and resourcing them to go for it.

And I’m humbly excited to do that with you and these others.

If you’d like to make a special offering to missions, above and beyond your tithe, then know that your gift to our mission partnership will be used to support this work.

And, also, so you know, we’re beginning to lay plans for a 2009 trip and we’ll have more information about this and travel opportunities, coming up.

"Anyone can be great ...

because anyone can serve." --- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you'd like to be great in God's Kingdom, we've got plenty of opportunities at the Royal Oak Vineyard Church. From reaching out to our community to assisting in the nursery/preschool. From helping work the sound board to helping stuff bags for the homeless. From keeping our literature table stocked to cleaning up after the Sunday gathering. From driving people to our gathering to leading home groups. If you'd like to take a step towards being great in God's Kingdom, then contact the church office and we'll get you started.

A Joy Practice

Psalm 90:14 says, "Satisfy us in the morning with your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."

This morning we're taking time in our Sunday sermons to learn a little more about joy, through Paul's letter to the Philippians. The psalmist, here in this passage, gives us a little tip for growing in joy.

It is pretty simple really. Take time each morning (or evening, or midday, or whenever you need it or can take it) to be quiet and reflect on the faithful love of God (his lovingkindness). Meditate on it. Turn it over in your head. Chew on it. Let it satisfy you. Like a cup of cold water on a hot summer day, let it wash down into your belly and give you the chills all over. And, the psalmist says, if we make this a regular practice - reconnecting with, each day, God's faithful love, and letting this love bring us satisfaction - then we will be the kind of people who sing for joy and are consistently glad. Our joy will overflow from hearts filled with love.

Try it.