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September/October 2017

Newsletter

What’s FEAR got to do with it? 

by Amy Schenkel
In the last month, God has been speaking to me about fear.  It is a topic that keeps confronting me in conversations, sermons, devotions, and in Ruth Padilla-DeBorst’s plenary speech at Inspire 2017.

Ruth told us there has never been a modern era with so much fear as there is today.  Studies have shown that the perception of fear is higher than it has ever been before.

This level of fear is creating problems in our churches and our ability to join God in his mission to bring spiritual and social transformation to the world.  Ruth reminded us that fear is a symptom of placing our trust in something other than God.  Fear also isolates, insulates, cripples our vision and dispels hope.  All things that inhibit mission!

In order for the church, and your congregation, to connect with its community, you’re going to have to address this fear.  As you enter into the fall season, here are a few things you may want to try:
  • Ask people to name what they are afraid of- individually and corporately.  What are you afraid will happen to you, both physically and emotionally? 
  • Remind each other of the numerous promises God has made to us that tell us to not be afraid.  Read these verses in worship; memorize them in small groups.
  • Pray that God will cast out the spirit of fear, and that the Spirit would fill us with faith.  What if we all prayed against fear for the next 30 days?
  • When considering ways to connect with your neighborhood, don’t avoid things that make you feel afraid because they are new to you.  Instead, begin with small practices and postures that move you slowly outside your comfort zone and cause you to rely on God’s leading.


College Students going away?

Are there students in your churches going away to college this week?  A key part of faith that flourishes in college is being connecting to a community of Christ followers on/near your campus.  Help your students continue to pursue Christ in college by connecting them to these Resonate Global Mission supported campus ministries in the region.

Local Mission Leader Spotlight: Sam Huizenga

Sam works for Resonate as a Local Mission Leader. She has been assigned to Classis Grand Rapids North where she has already been leading a Go Local Cohort. Go Local is a learning process for churches to explore and practice new ways to connect to their communities. 

Sam is also the Coffee Break program manager. Coffee Break is small group Bible discovery for evangelism and discipleship. Both roles focus on encouraging the church to engage and introduce Jesus to our neighbors. 

Resource Spotlight: Surprise the World

A number of churches are using the short book, Surprise the World: the 5 habits of highly missional people by Michael Frost in small groups and/or preaching series.  The book is a very easy read, but it is so hard to put it into practice.  Would you like to learn from other churches and how they are trying to live this out?  Join me on a video conference call on Wednesday, September 20 from 11am-noon.  RSVP to Amy aschenkel@crcna.org  to get the log on instructions.  Let’s learn from each other!
 

Resonate sponsors these Upcoming Events 

Leadership Training Event

September 12
This is a widely popular event that provides training, networking, and inspiration for all area church leaders.  The theme this year is “Be faithfully present” and it is our prayer that the wide variety of workshops, and the conversations that take place, will richly bless and equip ministry leaders for the upcoming ministry year. Read More

Beloved Women's Retreat

November 10-12
What does it mean to know ourselves as God's beloved? How do we practice abiding in love? Retreat speaker Sharon Garlough Brown weaves her own story of growing in confidence in God's love as she teaches spiritual disciplines that help us receive, remain in, and respond to the uncontainable love of God in Christ. Read More & Register
Copyright © 2017 Christian Reformed Church Resonate Global Mission, All rights reserved.


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