20 Acres of Land

Every once in a while someone new comes to Rejoice! and asks, "So why do you have that picture of the sunset up front?"

Answer this is a picture of the 20 acres of land for the future campus of Rejoice! Lutheran Church.

I just received word from Harvey Olson (the big cheese of land purchasing at our national headquarters in Chicago) that the land purchase should be finalized come June 15, 2007. Yeah!

For all those who have been praying, thank you. For all those for whom this is news, we would invite you to pray with us. Pray that God would inspire Rejoice! to see this land as a mission center launching pad for blessing our community and not a plot of land to build a big cathedral to our own achievements.

As Jesus would say it is all about the "haverst" bringing seekers into the family of God. "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field." Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)

Peace Out,

P.T.

What Does "Grace" Mean to You?

What is Grace?

It really is a simple question. But sometimes simple questions can be so difficult to answer.

A couple weeks ago, my friend Jason Andera and I did another “man/woman on the street” video in downtown Sioux Falls. We asked one question…”What is Grace?” The answers we got were amazing and fascinating. You can check out the video online @ http://rejoiceforlife.homestead.com/videograce.html.

During this next month Rejoice! will be exploring the topic of "Grace" in our new sermon series "Grace Anatomy." (yup…that is shameless rip-off word play of the TV show “Grey’s Anatomy.” Come and join us...then afterward blog-in and give comment. We would love to hear from you.

If you cannot be there with us in person, feel free to listen or watch the messages online via our streamed audio, video and podcasts @ http://rejoiceforlife.homestead.com/podcast.html

Come on People...Chime in...let's hear your comments. What does Grace mean to you?

Give 'em Heaven!

T-Rob

Grateful!

Wow! Double Wow! Double Wow with a Cherry on Top!

I am so grateful for all God has done in and through Rejoice! Lives are changing. Faith is growing. Hearts are expanding...and...God's kingdom is advancing. Amidst it all, I am grateful! So very grateful! Let me name a few, but in no way all, the reasons why...

1. Our Prayer Team has just been assembled and trained. The first group will be upfront for Communion during worship for Easter and beyond. They will also wait in the back after worship for any wanting a little more private/quiet prayer time. They will be ready and available for any and all who would like prayer. They also will pray before worship for those who come...for lives to change...for hearts to come alive...and...for God's kingdom to expand. They will pray for any and all of the prayer requests that are sent in via our website. Rest assured, Job 1 for the team is confidential...if you have a prayer request, it will remain private unless you wish it to be shared. This Prayer Team is a result of about year of prayer for me. As soon as I took the call to be Mission Developer, I have been praying for God to lead a grow a prayer team for Rejoice! I am so grateful!

2. Our men's and women's groups are truly taking off. The women's group started with over a dozen and the men's group has nearly doubled in this last month. Grateful!

3. Today nearly a dozen of us handed out nearly 1000 "Come and Grow with Us" carrot seed packets. We do this as a part of one of our central themes..."Small Things Done with Great Love can Change the World!" Hopefully all who received a gift today will feel blessed. My small prayer as I placed the brochure and seed packet on each door was, "Loving God, bless this home and bless the people who live here...and...if they don't have a worship home, may you lead them to give Rejoice! a try."

4. Lastly I am grateful for our upcoming sermon series, "Grace Anatomy." (All apologies to the TV show "Grey's Anatomy." For the next few weeks, we will be looking at what God's grace is...after doing our last "Man on the Street" interview...it is obvious that a lot of Sioux Fallsians do not know what Grace is...Come and learn with us...invite a friend. Share you thoughts on this bog....and...may God's grace reign on us all!!!

So grateful...and...I pray that you would experience God's grace in a powerful way in this coming week so that you too would feel grateful.

Give 'em Heaven,

Pastor Tim