Your Weekly Challenge:

Coming up here in November we are going to take a break from our regular messages through the book of 1 John. Around this time each year we have our annual elections where our Elders and Deacons are put into service for the next year. Over the next few weeks we are going to be looking at the importance of Elders, Deacons and what membership means to us at 6th and Gibbs church. I hope you are challenged and enlightened by the roles each leader has and how this is God's plan for the structure of our church.

You may be noticing the pictures being taken and our new picture board on the wall. We are hoping to display all of our families in the church on this board to give everyone an idea of who is who. If you or your family has not been pictured yet, you can have those done, before, after, or between services. We are also hoping to add another element to our gathering, name tags. As we try to figure out how that will work best please keep that in the back of your mind. Not everyone likes a name tag but I believe it will help our visitors and regular attenders all the same.

Your Challenge:
This week, read Acts 20:13-38; Timothy 3; and 1 Peter 5:1-4 to prepare for our discussion of Elders on Sunday.

Church

It's Sunday and I am at home this morning, not feeling well at all. Loopy from medicine and I just don't feel like eating (which is highly unusual) but I miss church. My prayers are with my church, my thoughts are there too. I miss you all!

Message Challenge
How is your faith?

Cory Lemke gave us some great words yesterday to help drive us toward fully trusting in a trust worthy God. He encouraged us to consider our level of commitment to God; he challenged us to step out of our comfort zones for God; and he reminded us that it is only by trusting and obeying God that we even have any hope for the future.

It seems that the economy and the looming elections have provided for us lots of things to be worried about. But the truth is, politics cannot change this world; money and the economy will not bring true life change to this world; A new president cannot hardly bring the changes promised. True life change can only happen through Jesus and trusting in His word.

How trusting of God are you? What is your hope in? A strong message I see God laying on my heart this past month is this: Whomever gets elected, whatever strings are pulled to save us from this financial mess will not bring peace. This world doesn't need more oil, more govt., more money, you name it. What this world needs is Jesus! That this world needs is you and I to step up, and be the believers God wants us to be.

Thoughts on Missions

Yesterday we had a great blessing, Cory and Janice Lemke shared with us their lives and their passions as we heard about mission life and the life in the Ukraine. I am always amazed at how others throughout the world do church. All this week we heard about missionaries from Latin America, India, Africa, and Arizona and each and every mission had a new way of reaching out, a different way of sharing God's word.

With that thought in mind I got to thinking about how truly diverse God is. He doesn't do the same thing twice and their is never a list of "how to's" when it comes to structuring church or reaching out. Sure, we have principles from which we do things, like Acts 2:42 gives an example of how the believers had communion, prayed and listened to the apostle's teachings. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians we are to be all things to all people, to win some to Jesus. How that happens is fully up to you and me.

In the Ukraine there are no paid preachers. Messages are given by those who have been reading a ready in God's word. In Africa music is their heart beat and stories and verses are sang as worshippers jump around. No seats, no pews and people sit outside to worship. Is that kind of ministry better? Are we more holy? Are they?

I read about communion in the New Testament and it sounds like the early church didn't have a wafer, and a little cup. It sounds like their communion was a lot like a meal. So, are we doing it wrong? Of couse not. The purpose of communion is to remember what Jesus has done for us. The emblems matter not. The gathering of the church is to encourage believers to live out their faith. It's not about who speaks, who sings and how long it lasts. The question we must ask ourselves is: Are we being a church that is glorifying God?

You can visit my family blog to hear about Alex and my exciting hunt: www.earlywinefamily.blogspot.com.