Milwaukee Lord's Day

Saturday night we did a Lord's Day Celebration. We didn't include a meal because Chris & Gina bought us pizza. We honored the Lord through readings, shared apple juice signifying the Lord's blessing. We passed around the bread of thankfulness. We prayed around the circle. And sang a couple of songs- The B-I-B-L-E and Lean on Me. We had about 5 neighbor boys from ages 3-17 join us. At this Lord's Day celebration we had Ages 1-32. We finished the evening with a game of Settlers.

Transformation City House

We worked alongside church members and neighborhood kids. Some church members brought us all lunch- chili, bagels, and ice cream! Lunch was served on a donated ping pong table.

Ken & Ben live in this house with the specific intention of building relationships with the neighbors. They are doing an amazing job! There were always kids around and neighbors stopping over to say hi or to join us for a bowl of chili.

Painting the Neighborhood House

Volunteering at Rescue Mission

Urban Exposure Weekend In Milwaukee

3 College Students + our family went to Milwaukee to experience what God is doing in the city.

Relational Team Member Description

Main Objective: To build authentic relationships with students during Free Lunch so that all who come may feel welcome and be encouraged in their faith journey.

Key Result Area #1: Personal Growth in Relational Skills
You know you’ve done a good job when:
1. You attend all required training sessions.
2. At least once during the semester you have an one-on-one evaluation/review with University Ministry staff.

Key Result Area #2: Meaningful Conversations
You know you’ve done a good job when:
1. You commit to setting aside at least 2 hours during the semester to have conversations with others at Free Lunch.
2. During the semester, you engage at least 12 students in meaningful conversation, which includes praying for them.

Key Result Area #3: Timely Follow Up
You know you’ve done a good job when:
1. You report all necessary information to the University Ministry Coordinator’s office.
2. You fill out reports as requested by the University Ministry Coordinator’s office in a timely manner (that usually means within a week.)

Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness by Caroline Wieman

Acts 2:1-8

“On the day of Pentecost all the Lord’s followers were together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions and a tongue came and settled on each person there. The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem. And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages.”

Acts 2:12

“Every one was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does this mean?”

While the Trinity is a most difficult concept for some Christians to understand, it is only one third that is particularly challenging. Certainly we understand God the Father and Jesus the Son somewhat; we know fathers and sons. Fathers and sons have been around a long time: since the beginning of human existence.

But the Holy Spirit is a relative newcomer appearing for everyone only after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, unlike the concept of father and Son, is outside of our typical physical experience and so leaves many Christians baffled and a bit anxious.

It is not just present day Christians who struggle with the concept and reality of the Holy Spirit. Paul, a Jew who had begun his contact with Jesus’ followers as a “hit man” for the Jewish religious establishment was trying to validate his Christian credentials with the church at Galatia. He tells the Galatians that his message comes directly from Jesus Christ who came to him on the Damascus Road. There are divisions among the Galatian Gentile and Jewish Christians about following the very complicated Jewish religious laws. Paul tells them that “once a person has learned to have faith, there in no more need to have the Law as a teacher” (Galatians 3:25). Christ’s death and the Holy Spirit of God have [fulfilled] the strict Jewish religious law. Paul continues, “God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled” (Galatians 5:22-23). These characteristics are the Fruit of the Spirit.

When one becomes a Christian, he or she receives the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in us and through the Church to strengthen our faith. The Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control is planted in the Holy Spirit that Christians receive. The Fruit of the Spirit is more like a raspberry with individual sections all in one raspberry rather than like grapes on the stem with each grape an individual fruit. The Fruit of the Spirit is a unity of nine characteristics rather than nine separate traits. Each of us has been given the Fruit of the Spirit, and we as Christians must display this fruit in our lives.

We know from our experience with plants that some plants like tomatoes produce fruit the first, year, while other plants like raspberries, take longer to bear fruit. Some trees take four or five years before they produce fruit. So it is with the Fruit of the Spirit. Some Christians immediately display faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Others struggle with gentleness and self-control for years but are witnesses to faithfulness, goodness and patience. While the Fruit of the Spirit is given by God to Christians, how and when Christians display the parts of that “spiritual raspberry” are very individual and represent various amounts of struggle.

One of the lobes of our “spiritual raspberry Fruit of the Spirit” is kindness which is contiguous with the love, goodness, and patience lobes. Unfortunately, kindness is not the default setting for humans. Fortunately God has sent Christ and the Holy Spirit to us. Thus the Fruit of the Spirit is emblazed in Christians, a gift from God. Kindness is the deliberate preference of choosing right from wrong. Kindness is an inner strength to resist all evil, an uprightness of the soul which chooses and follows all moral good. It embodies God’s kindness: benevolence, mercy, pity, compassion, patience and grace. While kindness is in us as Christians, we do have to work to help kindness flourish.

But that part of the Fruit of the Spirit which is kindness is not just personal inner purity. God creates through the Holy Spirit an expectation that Christians will not be satisfied with working only on their inner kindness. He expects that Believers will take their kindness in to the world. Wesleyan tradition holds that “inner holiness leads to outer holiness,” and this is certainly true of the Fruit of the Spirit. This external manifestation of the Fruit of the Spirit is to be kind even in hostile environments and to resist all moral evil.

Like an ordinary raspberry plant, the Fruit of the Sprit in us must be nurtured through prayer, worship, Bible reading and Christian fellowship. So with God through the Holy Spirit, we Christians are always growing the Fruit of the Spirit.

Questions for reflection:

-How do we as Christians led by the Spirit show benevolence, mercy, pity, compassion, and patience in our lives, our work and our world?

-Will my Spirit-driven compassion look like yours?

Fruit of the Spirit: Patience by Anne Gibson

“I want patience, and I want it right now!”

I love this old tongue-in-cheek adage—Probably because I’ve either said it or alluded to it with my thoughts and actions so many times that this desire has found a way to weave itself right into the fabric of who I am! I’m not proud of that fact…And, I suspect I’m not alone! Time to unravel that thread! (Immediately, of course!)

There are so many things in our lives that we wait for, aren’t there? Acceptance letters, test results, return phone calls or e-mails, situations we wish would change, healing, stop lights, our turn in line, birthdays, visits….The list is infinite!

Some things yield foreseeable results:
“I know that if I wait for 3-4 minutes, the popcorn in the microwave will be popped!”

Some things have approximate time-frames:
“I know that I will probably graduate from college in 4-5 years.”

Some things have no end in sight:
“I pray that my friend would be healed, but I have no idea when or if that might happen.”

It’s hard to wait in all cases; however it’s the last instance—The indefinite wait-- that seems to wreck the most havoc in our hearts. It’s been throughout a season of this kind of waiting that the Lord has decided to reveal some things about patience to me—Some things to help drown out the ticks of the clock of passing time and, instead, rescue the beautiful hum of blessings the Lord has to give.

Did you know that the Bible is filled to overflowing with people that had to exude patience as they waited upon the Lord?

Let’s take a look at some of these people—And their season of waiting!

Leader Calling Waiting Scripture Reference
Abraham Father of a nation 25 yrs Genesis Ch. 11-25
Joseph Leader of a nation 13 yrs, + 10 more Genesis Ch. 37-50
Moses Deliverer of a nation 40 yrs. + 40 more Ex., Lev., Nu., Dt.
David King of a nation 17 yrs + 7.5 more 1 Sam. 16-1 Kgs Ch. 2
Joshua and Zerubbabel Rebuilders of a nation 20 yrs Ezra Ch. 2:2-5:2
John the Baptist 4runner of Messiah 1-2 yrs. Lk Ch. 1,3, 9(Mt, Mk, Jn, too)
Mary Mother of Messiah 33 yrs Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
Paul Witness to Messiah 33 yrs Acts 7:58-28:31; NT Letters
Noah Salvation from Flood 2-5 yrs Genesis Ch. 5:28-10:32
Jacob Return to homeland 20 yrs Genesis Ch. 25-50
Joshua and Caleb Conquering of Canaan 45 yrs. + 2-5 more Numbers Ch. 13-14; Joshua
Hannah Have a child 5-15 yrs 1 Samuel Ch. 1,2
Esther Salvation for a nation About 5 yrs Esther

(table is a compilation from When God Waits: Making Sense of Divine Delays by Jerome Daley, and the Life Application Bible)

All of the people listed above were told by God that they would be used for certain things or that certain events would happen, but none of these things came true right away! “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). -- But why does it take so long to see that good sometimes?

Jerome Daley, in When God Waits: Making Sense of Divine Delays reminds us that waiting periods are actually blessings. He says that we should “unwrap the gift of waiting and discover its unique purpose in your journey.” The gift of waiting? What?!

You see, for every one of the people listed above, and in our own lives, we can either choose to fight the time of waiting or use it to learn and grow closer to the One who gifted us with the time in the first place! It’s the latter choice that oozes with the juice of the patience fruit.

During college, I worked at Kinko’s. When the store was full of eager customers, the day would fly by faster than I could have imagined. Those days when nobody seemed to come in, on the other hand…Wow! The clock’s second hand seemed to be glued in place; one day seemed to last forever!

Perhaps that is the secret to the fruit of patience. When we are in a waiting period (as we all are or will be soon!), what do we do with it? Will we fold into ourselves and get frustrated and angry with God over it? Or, will we remember the words of Romans 8:28, acknowledging that out of His love for us, God works all things together for the good of those who love him?

There is a song by John Waller—It’s called “While I’m Waiting”. He tells us how to develop patience honestly and clearly. Take a look at the words:

I'm waitingI'm waiting on You, LordAnd I am hopefulI'm waiting on You, LordThough it is painfulBut patiently, I will waitI will move ahead, bold and confidentTaking every step in obedienceWhile I'm waitingI will serve YouWhile I'm waitingI will worshipWhile I'm waitingI will not faintI'll be running the raceEven while I waitI'm waitingI'm waiting on You, LordAnd I am peacefulI'm waiting on You, LordThough it's not easyBut faithfully, I will waitYes, I will wait

(if you want to hear the song, it’s on YouTube along with some scenes from the movie Fireproof)
Did you see the keys to being patient?

Here’s what I found:
-Serving the Lord
-Worshipping the Lord
-Walking (running!) with the Lord daily
-Faith
-Hope and trust that God’s Plans are best
-A bold commitment to wait

Just like the other fruits of the Spirit, patience is really an action verb! It’s the action of surrendering.
John 3:30 says, “He [Jesus] must become greater; I must become less.”

Psalm 18:30-32 says, “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock besides the Lord? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”

I referred to a season of waiting that I was in at the beginning of the study—That season continues. But somehow it seems shorter, even though the calendar wouldn’t agree. Oh, I still need reminders to surrender my wants and to let God be in charge. My journal still feels the wrath of my pen some nights, and my prayers are not always cheery and hopeful. But, my attitude is changing—I’ve been excited to see what God has already done in this waiting period, and I’m curious to see what’s ahead! I hope and pray the same for you, as you journey through waiting periods and cultivate the soil of patience.

Reflection

Take a look at the list of Biblical heroes that had seasons of waiting above. Think about one of them. Perhaps you want to read some of their story.
-What did they do during their time of waiting?
-What did God do?
-How was God able to use them because of their faithfulness?

The Bible is also full of encouragement we can grasp onto in times of waiting. Take a look at one or two of these Scriptures:
-Isaiah 40:29-31
-Hebrews 6:10-12
-Hebrews 10:23
-Psalm 27:14

1. What does the verse say about the Lord?
2. What does the verse say about our perseverance?
3. What words of hope can you cling to in times of waiting?

Take a look at your own life:

-What is something you are waiting on/for?
-How could this waiting time be a gift?
-Lift up this time of waiting to the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to guide you in seeing how you can wait with and for Him. Lift up others around you that you know are also going through times of waiting.
-In what ways can you continue to serve and worship the Lord while you wait?

Look at Psalm 18:30-32 and Romans 8:28 again. Choose one to write down in a place where you can see it. When you do see it, take a moment to give God thanks and praise for Who He is and His perfect plans.

“Patience to the soul is as bread to the body…we eat bread with all our meats, both for health and relish; bread with flesh, bread with fish, bread with broths and fruits. Such is patience to every virtue; we must hope with patience, and pray in patience, and love with patience, and whatsoever good thing we do, let it be done in patience.” –Puritan Thomas Adams

All In by Owen Cooper

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44 (New International Version) The Widow's Offering
41Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________from When you play poker, the betting starts low and depending on how good your hand is, you’re willing to raise the stakes, slowly putting in more and more of your money. At some point, you get pushed to the limit, and you must declare “all in.” This means that you’re putting everything you have on that one hand. If you lose, you go home. Jesus is asking us to go “all in.” Commitment demands action. It extends beyond our relationship to the heavenly Father to every area of life.

Below is a pattern, for the “all in” convert to God (from Matthew Henry's commentary).

1. We must take the Lord for our God.

2. We must take his people for our people in all conditions, though they be a poor despised
people and not always fun to be around.

3. We must be willing to submit to God’s yoke and to go where God will have us to go.

4. We must continue and persevere. Not even death can end our commitment to Christ. It is an everlasting covenant because the Apostle Paul tells us that to join in Christ’s death means we also get to join in with His life and resurrection.

5. We must bind our souls with a bond never to break these resolutions. There is no turning back.

The Land of My Sojourn by Owen Cooper

I really enjoy being outdoors- running, hiking, camping, and backpacking. I spend a lot of time on the Ice Age Trail. It’s close and yet it’s like stepping into another world.

When I go hiking or backpacking, I travel with no home. On the trail, I pass through a lot of places. Some views are so spectacular I wish I could build a house there. Some swamps are so mosquito infested I wish they would put the trail somewhere else. Some woods are so quiet and still I have to stop in peaceful reverence. Yet no matter how beautiful or how painful, I am still just passing through.

There’s a concept in the backpacking world called “light” hiking. That is the thought that most backpackers take more than they need therefore making their packs heavier. Consequently, they move slower with more pain and less enjoyment. The “light” hikers carry only what they need to be safe, travel more ground per day, feel less sore the next day, and overall have a more enjoyable experience.

Now I’ve read the books on this, but the problem is when I’m packing for a trip, I start thinking about how hungry I’ll be and how cold I’ll be and what if it rains and what if it’s hot. I can know in theory that I should leave some of this stuff behind, but in reality, it is harder to execute.

Don’t be afraid to leave things behind. The truth is we will enjoy the journey of life far more with less baggage. Jesus is our living bread and promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He WILL take care of us. We can read that truth in the Bible, but then we head out into the real world, and we get scared. I might need this. Or I might need that. Don’t be afraid to leave things behind. We can’t just read books about the Christian journey, we need to go out and experience it.

There’s so much to see and go through- pleasant green valleys and dark valleys of the shadow of death. They’ll be places we’ll want to stop and stay and places we wish we never had to go through. They’ll be places where worship will come easy and places where it’s all we can do to keep walking forward without bitterness and anger. Yet no matter what our sojourn brings us, remember, we are just passing through. As enjoyable and painful as the journey is, some day we will be done. And then we will be home.