Taking Attendance

(These kiddos remind me of His faithfulness each and every week in Adventure Kids)

Lamentations 3:21-22 – “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end…”

Amid dirty shoe-string tying and lunch packing, of getting stuck in the pick-up line traffic with a screaming baby, and trying to make it to work on time with “oh no, not again” spit up on your shirt, it’s easy to allow the very-real-but-far-less-tangible love and mercy of God to settle into the quiet backdrop of our too-busy lives.

…This I call to mind.

It sounds quite simple, but we must make time to call our attention to the previous faithfulness of the One we claim to follow. Let our daily morning activity be as ordinary as taking attendance and naming the ways He has been faithful both to us and to His own glory.

Just how spring always knows when to show her face and to grace us with her newness and expectancy, so also do His mercies always come in the midst of our brokenness, tiredness, busy-ness, and monotony.

We are each responsible for intentionally reminding ourselves and each other of His steadfast love and unrelenting mercy. 

Elements of Discipleship

For nearly 40 hours a week, school requires that our children sit and listen, with few breaks in between lecture-style learning. They come home to more worksheets and textbooks. In church, they sit in pews, receiving more information. Oh yes, they’re listening and watching. But at what point in the information-overload are they allowed to take an active role in their faith? At what point will we allow them that opportunity?

Discipleship falls short if it doesn’t activate our feet to move beyond the comfort of knowledge gain. Discipleship must involve serving.

On Wednesday nights, our hope is to catch the electricity and sense of adventure that our kids inherently possess, and show them how they have an active role in God’s epic plan for all of mankind.

During the month of January, we have encouraged the Adventure Kids to have a more active role in leading their peers. They have taken on roles of leadership in the areas of prayer, corporate praise and worship, in sharing their testimonies to their classmates, and in interacting with people during our outreach projects. There is an excited buzz whenever the announcement is made that we will be going outside the walls of the church building to serve our community. That fact reveals our kids’ desire to reach out to their friends, families, and community!

Continue to pray for our kids. Seek out ways to get involved, from mentoring a preteen to rocking a newborn. Contact Courtney today to see where you can connect and serve. 

"Hither by Thy Help I've Come"

The holidays come with a sigh. The end of this year marks the end of a heavy, full year for most of us. During this holiday season, peppered with Christmas parties, family get-togethers, and hoards of materialism and excess, we’re run ragged and left wondering if we can simply stop the ride and get off. We need peace more than ever.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, he spoke of the peace of God guarding their hearts and minds in Christ. Peace does not idly sit back, all meek and mild; instead, it plays a defensive role in our mental and spiritual well-being (we are, after all, called to “guard our hearts” [Proverbs 4:23] and called to a “sound mind” instead of fear [2 Timothy 1:7]).  It was this same peace that allowed Paul to require this suffering church to rejoice in their present trials. This peace, however, came from surrender and giving thanks: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Giving thanks grounds us. It grants us the perspective to see that we are not sufficient, but rather dependent. The act of thanks-giving is a form of surrender, saying, “I can’t, but You can. It opens our eyes to His consistent faithfulness and, figuratively speaking, allows us to raise our Ebenezer stone for others to view His faithfulness in our lives.

During this season of advent, my prayer is that we take on the mantle of prayer and take inventory of all that He has lavishly bestowed upon us. 

Last words are important. I remember the last words of some of my departed loved ones and how they are seared in my memory with punctuated importance. Jesus’ last words hold even greater weight. Before He ascended into Heaven, He made a lot of hullabaloo about reaching our friends, neighbors, communities, and the rest of the world for Him.

This month in our Wednesday night program, Adventure Kids, we’ve been exploring what it means to be a missionary and how we, as ordinary kids, can make a difference both locally and globally. We’ve been researching unreached people groups all over the world. We realized that there are thousands of people groups on this big bouncing ball who have never heard the saving news of Jesus Christ; that’s billions of people whom Christ loves who don’t yet know of this epic love, who don’t have churches on every street corner, who haven’t seen The Jesus Video, and who don’t have missionaries in their community or pastors who can lead them to Christ.

We’re just a bunch of kids. But the Spirit of the Living God resides in our hearts and through His power alone, we can be His hands and feet. 

Hey Mom, Look at All We Did This Summer!

A New Start

August is the month of fresh beginnings. For the past two months, we’ve been giving ‘er gas but the car’s been in park. As the summer schedule winds down to a close and the kids head back to school, the opportunity to plug in and grow is readily available. We’ll begin our Wednesday night activities on the fourth Wednesday night in August, the 22^nd.

Over 11 families, including 14 students and 13 children, were a part of our church-wide mission trip to West Virginia during the latter part of July. Talk about an encouraging sign for the health and future of the church! The kids had a blast playing with and serving one another in tangible ways. I cannot be more proud or encouraged by our kids as they worked side by side with our adults. Many of our students took leadership roles in teaching in backyard Bible clubs and in creating puppet shows and activities for the group at the assisted living home we visited. I watched with wonder as two of our kids shared the Gospel with a new friend they met at one of the sites.

PBC is so blessed to have kids and students who desire to serve God by serving others. Continue to pray diligently for our kids and students. It’s evident that God is moving among His children. I encourage you to actively seek areas where you can assist these ministries and witness God’s movement first hand.