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November | December 2022

Newsletter

Let's Share Christ's Gifts This Advent

by Amy Schenkel

Advent candles represent the gifts that Jesus brings. For every candle we light this year, let's add a missional practice to share that gift with our neighbors.

 

Very soon we will set up Advent wreaths on our dining room tables and in front of our worship spaces.  On the wreath, four candles represent four gifts that Jesus brings to the church through his incarnation.  He came down that we might have love/joy/peace/hope, Hallelujah, forevermore!

These gifts are not just for the church.  The church, as God’s chosen people, is sent out with a purpose: to share these gifts with the world.  We are blessed so that we can share these blessings with others.  So this year, in addition to lighting a candle and reciting a liturgy, I encourage you to add a missional practice to your Advent week that corresponds to the gift Jesus brings.  These ideas could be done individually in your own neighborhood or as a congregation in the neighborhood around your church building.
 

Light one candle for love…

  • Who in your neighborhood especially needs to know they are loved? During this week of Advent, bring them a poinsettia along with a note that says you’re glad to have them as a neighbor.
  • Many missionaries spend the holidays far away from friends and family. Write an email to a missionary your congregation supports to let them know you’re thinking about them.
Read More

Resource Spotlight

Over a decade ago, Willow Creek, an iconic American church, sought to ‘engage’ its neighborhoods by inviting Randy Frazee to do what he called “the neighborhood initiative.” I don’t know the finer details, but the basic idea was to form groups within geographical zones that could get to know their neighborhoods.

These groups would do life together, engage their neighborhoods, and pray for neighbors. The goal was to relationally open new spaces among people that would never come to church. They would gather around mission first, all else would flow from there.  Read More

Celebrate with us!

New Emerging Leaders

Every year Resonate Global Mission offers grants to support students who have the desire to grow as leaders and learn more about ministry in a Reformed context.

This year Jonathon Bowers and Elijah Robbins have been approved for campus ministry grants. 
Jon Bowers is a gifted teacher and instructor with a heart for welcoming new students - which is one of the main goals of our ministry through our Pub Theology (PT) discussions. PT is one of our main outreach initiatives, and students of all faith backgrounds and non-faith backgrounds regularly attend it. Michigan State University even allows students to attend our gatherings for diversity and inclusion credits for their programs. Having Jon as our emerging leader this year will give him a chance to engage in growing his understanding of Reformed theology and Christian ethics while putting his faith into practice in tangible ways

Elijah Robbins was a leader and intern on the worship team with Campus Ministry at GVSU in  Allendale for a couple of years before joining our team as a worship resident downtown. His time in  Allendale gave him an opportunity to grow as a musician and leader, but this transition to downtown opens up the door for us to develop a new worship culture downtown and shape us as a worshipping community. This is an excellent opportunity for him to take the training and discipleship he has been given and learn to apply it to disciple and equip future worship leaders after him.

Upcoming Events

Grand Rapids Area Prayer Tour

 
prayer tour

An Event for Outreach Pastors and Leaders

 


The Resonate Great Lakes Region would like to invite you to a gathering of outreach leaders to share ideas about what you imagine for Christmas/winter outreach and to hear about what you have tried and learned from anything you did in the fall. 

Let's gather to be encouraged and inspired by one another.

Tuesday, November 15th at 2 pm at Love's Ice Cream in the GR Downtown Market 
Led by Amy Schenkel, Great Lakes Regional Mission Leader
Copyright © 2022 Christian Reformed Church Resonate Global Mission, All rights reserved.


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