So UnDisappointed

Wow! God and God's People are so awesome!

This past week's Sunday, I was so setup for disappointment. Over a half dozen of our most faithful families told me that they would be out of town Sunday. I was thinking...hmm...I hope someone shows up...hopefully we might have half (30 people) of our average (65 or so people) come for worship.

Well...God and God's people surprised me again! Worship was starting and people were still coming. I stopped counting at 75 people!

I allowed my mind to daydream for a moment...if the regulars and this crowd showed up on the same Sunday...wow...now that would that be something!

I think my point is summed up best with a quote from my former bishop, "We make plans and God laughs." This Sunday, the joke was on me and my expectations...thanks be to God.

Way to go God! Way to go God's people!

Give 'em Heaven,

P.T.

The Best Made Plans of Mice & Mission Developers

Pastor Erwin McManus once prayed, "Lord if my public humiliation is necessary to advance your kingdom, make it happen."

This past Sunday, hopefully God used our technical difficulties to advance his kingdom. Hopefully all who came could see we are a human church, fallible and in need of God's redemption.

Just in case you were curious what Sunday's sermon was supposed to look like...with some digital editing you can check it out online.

http://rejoiceforlife.homestead.com/podcast.html

Thanks for struggling with us as we grow through our growing pains.

In His Humble Service,

Pastor Tim

Lenten Sermon Series

Blessings,

Lent is coming upon us very soon. It is an ancient tradition within the Christian church. Lent is a 40 day time for renewal and repentance. It parallels Jesus 40 days in the desert when he prepared for his public ministry. It is our time to spend to focus on repentance and renewal during the 40 days before Easter and Holy Week. Below is the schedule for each week:

In Philippians, Paul uses the words “joy” or “rejoice” 15 times in only 4 chapters. Considering Paul is suffering in prison and possibly near death, it is an amazing/perplexing topic for a man in his circumstances.

Sermon Series Title: How to Find Joy amidst Life’s Struggles?

Feb 25 Week 1 Joy in Suffering? (Philippians 1:20-30)
Mar 4 Week 2 Joy in Serving (Philippians 2:1-20)
Mar 11 Week 3 Joy in Shining Christ’s Light (Philippians 2:21-28)
Mar 18 Week 4 Joy in Believing (Philippians 3:12-16)
Mar 25 Week 5 Joy Everyday Life (Philippians 4:1-7)
Apr 1 Week 6 Joy in Thanksgiving (Philippians 4:10-20)

Start reading Philipians and praying about what God might teach us through this powerful book of the Bible.

Give 'em Heaven!

Tim

Super Sunday!

So what did you think of the not-so-Super Bowl? Well, unless of course you are a Colts fan, it wasn't much of a game. What a sloppy game! I haven't seen so many turnovers since the last time I watched a Vikings game and that was months ago.

But...if you were at Rejoice's Super Bowl party at Lori L's you had a great time. Great people! (there were between 20-30 of us) Great food! Great conversations. What a great blessing!

I am so excited about Rejoice's near future!
About a dozen people have shown interest in our 2nd Come and Grow/Charter Member class. We just commissioned Dave O for his mission trip to Haiti. In the middle of the month, we will have another outreach to the Family Wellness Center (Movie night)

Personaly, I feel so blessed to be a part of what what God is doing through our men's group. For the dozen plus of us, I see men truly coming alive. It is great hearing the stories and seeing God knit us together into a Band of Brothers!

Plus the new Rejoice! t-shirts look awesome! Contact Lori L if you would like one. It is so wonderful to see her so excited! It was doubly wonderful to see such an interest within the community. Heck, even people who have only been to Rejoice twice, believe in our mission so strongly that they chose to buy some t-shirts. We must be doing something right!

A future thought...
One growth area that I have been praying about...and...would invite you to join me is that I feel Rejoice! could really grow in is the area of Prayer. It would be wonderful to have people who would pray for others before, during and after worship. It would be great to have a team of people who would pray for our worship each Sunday to be blessed.

Ask yourself and God if you could/would be willing to be a part of a Rejoice! Prayer Team. Pray about it. If something in you has been stirred, but you feel unqualified email me...we can do training. All who are apprensive must consider that the most important part of any prayer is not the one praying, but the God to whom the prayers are directed. To quote Pastor Rick Warren, "It is not about you."

Give 'em Heaven!

T-Rob (a.k.a. Tim Robertson)