Why Join a Growth Group?

This Sunday (April 15th) Refuge is hosting our first CommunityLINK.  The goal of this event is to connect people to growth groups.  We’ll be having a special set-up in the Fellowship Hall right after our worship experience.

As I push groups, I often wonder why people would actually join one.  We live in a fairly lonely world where people seem content to be individuals. Why get involved in a community?

There are alot of ways to answer that, but the #1 reason that comes to mind is INTENTIONALITY.  Left to ourselves, we tend to drift.  If we want to be intentional in life, we need teaching, training and community.

A church that does this best (better than any I’ve heard of) is Soma Community down in Tacoma, WA.  The following shows the power of some people intentionally doing life in community and trying to live out the Gospel …

 

Missional Communities at Soma in Tacoma

Refuge 101 – When Will Renewal Take Place?

It’s hard to say “When” Renewal will happen.  Ultimately we are trusting God for His provision.  We are leaning into faith and waiting on God’s time.

But we are also making the best plans we can, knowing that God often chooses to work through our broken human processes.

So our plan is to launch the new name on January 8, 2012.  Some of these changes will happen in phases throughout 2012.  These phases will be determined by the cost of facility-based projects, our ability to recruit and train leaders, and our mission-driven priorities.

Phase One:

• New logo, sign and marketing materials for “Refuge Church” and “FindRefuge.com”
• Update the front of the Sanctuary
• Improvements to the Lobby
• Improved systems and procedures around the Sunday Morning Experience (including ushers, greeters & coffee), Child Care and Discipleship.
• Introduce “Christianity Explored”

Phase Two:

• Finalize Sanctuary Expansion
• Introduced “Discipleship Explored”
• Improve systems and procedures for training growth groups and other ministry leaders.

Phase Three:

• Update the exterior of the church, including walkways and storage.
• Begin looking for opportunities to plant churches and begin other ministries.

Refuge 101 – Where and How?

We are still plowing through our intermittent series where we go through the basic journalism questions of Who, What, When, Where and How in regards to The Renewal Project.  Today I’m going to tackle two of them: Where and How.

Where will renewal place?
Renewal needs to take place all over our lives.  This is not a project that will only impact the facility located at 2609 Larch Way.  It is a project that needs to take root in every home, every school, every place of work, and every coffee shop.  Wherever you go, take renewal with you.

How will renewal happen?
This project began with months of prayer, study and discussion by the Elders and Consistory of the church.  The name “Refuge Church” was put on Pastor Tim’s heart and after much prayer and consideration was offered to the leadership.  Other elements of the Project have been suggested by the Consistory, outside coaches and the Natural Church Development Assessment.

The project will only be accomplished by this church standing together in prayer, giving sacrificially of our time, talents and treasure as we seek to follow Jesus in this world.

Refuge 101 – Improving Our Serve

This is a guest post by Trish Hallmark.  Trish helps put together the weekly CGS Newsletter, and is passionate about helping people step up so that they can serve God.  She writes:

Serve.  Service.  Servitude. 

All of these are renditions of the basic principle:  To work for.  Be it to work for God, giving homage and obedience; or to act toward another in a specified way.    Here’s the thing.  As we work together to improve our Serve, enhancing our processes, developing training and feedback, we want to be mindful of the balance between improving our Serve with measurable and positive results without taking away the joy of serving our God regardless how one chooses to do it.  What the goal is in improving our Serve is do the Lord’s best in our day-to-day activities like ushering, greeting, making coffee and checking in the children.

Sometimes just serving is joy enough and sometimes the joy is overshadowed by the function and the process; this can be an obstacle that prevents one from serving in these structured roles.  There are times that I have walked out of a church feeling very lonely.  Longing for someone to nudge me, notice me, or talk to me.  We all want to be mindful that as we move through the Renewal Project, the element of Improving our Serve is not accomplished in a bubble without you.  We all have a role to play in serving God and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re an usher, though the usher can be hugely impactful for a newcomer.  Can we agree that whether you are in a structured role or simply smiling and shaking hands with a new face, we all Serve.

Improving our Serve may not include you becoming an usher or making the coffee, but can we ask that it include the basic goal of giving homage and being obedient to God?

REFUGE 101 – Who Is It About?

The Renewal Project is about God, our neighbors and you … in that order.

We exist to Glorify God in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the only way to salvation; He is the eternal joy of heaven and our only reason for hope.  Renewal is mostly about re-focusing on Jesus.  Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the One who builds the church; He does all things so that in everything he might be preeminent.  (See Colossians 1)

Renewal is also about our neighbors.  Jesus said “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”- John 20:21.  Jesus was sent to the lost, to the hurting, to sinners, to people on the fringes of society.  Many people in our community are far from Jesus.  Renewal is about opening the doors of the church to people who have never met Jesus before.

Renewal, finally, is about you.  As a part of this church’s community, our hope for you is to see you established more deeply in God.   As Paul prayed for the church in Ephesians 1, our prayer during this renewal process is that you would have the eyes of your heart enlightened, so that you might know the hope to which He has called you, how rich in grace you already are, and the great power that is working through you because of the Spirit.  We want you to take risks in sharing your faith and in serving your community … because in risk you’ll find God’s provision.

Renew your focus on God … His Son is the center of life, hope and salvation.

Renew your commitment to the spiritual wanderers around you … we exist as God’s sent people to share good news with them.

Renew your own growth … because the God who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

REFUGE 101

I used to write for my school newspaper.  Journalism 101 was an introduction to interviewing, writing, selling ads and doing layout on big sheets with glue and tape.  I was actually on the school paper when the first “desktop publishing” computers were rolled out, making life so much easier for everyone.  Journalism 101 was also an introduction to the “Five W’s” of writing: Who, What, Where, When, Why & How.

For the next few weeks, both here in the blog and on my church’s weekly newsletter, I’d like to dust off my journalism skills and answer these regarding “THE RENEWAL PROJECT”  and the ways CGS will transform into Refuge Church.  My goal is to look at the facts of this project, so we can begin working together.

• Who is it about?
• What is happening?
• What is happening part 2 – Improving Our Serve
• Where did it take place?
• When did it take place?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

The Fear of the Lord is a Refuge for the Next Generation

In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,
and his children will have a refuge.
The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.  Proverbs 14:26-27

“Godliness protects the soul by its solidity (26) and its vitality (27).  Both aspects are necessary, since evil not only attacks but attracts us; therefore the man of God must know (and show his family, 26b) something stronger and better.”

Derek Kidner, Proverbs (Downers Grove, 1964), page 110.

Taking Refuge in Anything But God is Idolatry

Many a one thinks that he has God and everything in abundance when he has money and possessions; he trusts in them and boasts of them with such firmness and assurance as to care for no one. Lo, such a man also has a god, Mammon by name, i.e., money and possessions, on which he sets all his heart, and which is also the most common idol on earth. … So, too, whoever trusts and boasts that he possesses great skill, prudence, power, favor, friendship, and honor has also a god, but not this true and only God…Therefore I repeat that the chief explanation of this point is that to have a god is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts. … Thus it is with all idolatry; for it consists not merely in erecting an image and worshiping it, but rather in the heart. … Ask and examine your heart diligently, and you will find whether it cleaves to God alone or not. If you have a heart that can expect of Him nothing but what is good, especially in want and distress, and that, moreover, renounces and forsakes everything that is not God, then you have the only true God. If, on the contrary, it cleaves to anything else, of which it expects more good and help than of God, and does not take refuge in Him, but in adversity flees from Him, then you have an idol, another god. – Luther

God is Our Refuge

Isaiah 32:2 — “Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm.”

Blessings from God by men

God’s best blessings to men have usually come by men. When our Lord ascended on high, he received gifts for men, and these gifts were men (Psalm 68:18; Ephesians 4:8, 11).

Immense blessings have come to nations by kings like David, prophets like Samuel, deliverers like Gideon, lawgivers like Moses.

But what are all good men put together compared with The Man Christ Jesus?

We are now to view him as our shield against ten thousand evils: the hiding place and cover of his people.

Let us consider:

This life is liable to storms

1. Mysterious hurricanes within, which cause the most dreadful confusion of mind. Winds, whose direction is uncertain, shaking everything, creating unrest and distraction. Frequently no definite cause can be assigned for them; the cause may be constitutional, or physical, or circumstantial.
2. Overwhelming tempests of spiritual distress on account of sin, wrong desire, conscious declension, unbelief, etc.
3. Fierce blasts of temptation, insinuation, suggestion, denunciation, etc., from Satan.
4. Wild attacks from human enemies, who taunt, slander, threaten, etc. David often used this refuge. He says, “I have fled to you for refuge!” (Psalm 143:9).
5. Trying gales of temporal losses, bereavements, and other afflictions.
6. Above all, the storm of divine anger when we have grieved the Holy Spirit, and lost communion with God.

None of these winds and tempests are we able to bear: our only safety lies in getting out of them by finding a shelter where God has provided it (Isaiah 25:4; 26:20; Psalm 32:7).

From these storms, the man Christ Jesus is our hiding place

1.  As truly man.
• Sympathizing with us, and
• Bringing God near to us.
2. As more than man, ruling every tempest, covering every feeble traveler, as within the cleft of a rock.
3. As Substitutionary Man, interposing, breasting the storm for us, hiding us by being weather-beaten himself.
4. As Representative Man, more than conqueror, and glorified.
• In him we are delivered from divine wrath.
• In him we are covered from Satan’s blasts.
• In him we dwell above trial by happy fellowship with him.
• In him we are victors over death.
5. As Ever-living Man: we live because he lives, and thus we defy the tempest of death (John 14:19).
6. As Interceding Man. He says, “I have prayed for you,” when Satan is seeking to destroy any one of us (Luke 22:32).
7. As the Coming Man. We dread no political catastrophes, or social disruptions, for “he must reign.” The end is secured, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds” (Rev. 1:7).

Let us see to it we take shelter in The Man

1. Let him stand before us, interposing between us and the punishment of sin. Hide behind him by faith.
2. Let him daily cover us from all evil, as our Shield and Protector (Psalm 119:114).
3. Let us enter into him more and more fully, that we may be more hidden, that he may be more known to us, and that we may have a fuller sense of security.

He is an open refuge, available now, for you.

• O you that are out of Christ, the tempest is lowering! Come to this refuge; hasten to this hiding place!
• He is an trustworthy shelter, tried and proved.
• He is an open refuge, available now, for you.
• He is a spacious hiding place: “Yet there is room.” As in Adullam all David’s army could hide, so is Jesus able to receive hosts of sinners.
• He is an eternal refuge: our dwelling place throughout all generations.
• He is an inviting shelter, because he is Man, and therefore has compassion towards men, and a joy in their salvation.

Instances and instructions

Well do I remember being caught in a tempest in France, when it blew with unusual fury; it not only drove clouds of dust with terrible force, but limbs of trees, and all sorts of light material were propelled with tremendous force. One wondered that a tree remained upright, or a fence in its place.

What a joy it was to hide behind a solid wall, and under its shelter to run along till we were safe within doors! Then we knew in some measure the value of a hiding place from the wind. But what is that to a cyclone, which tears down houses, and lifts ships upon the dry land? Friends who have lived abroad have startled us with their descriptions of what wind can be, and they have made us cease to wonder that a hiding place should be greatly prized by dwellers in eastern lands.

The tempest’s awful voice was heard;

O Christ, it broke on thee!
Thy open bosom was my ward,

It braved the storm for me.
Thy form was scarred, thy visage marred;

Now cloudless peace for me.

— Sacred Songs and Solos

Our safety lies in getting behind Christ, and letting him stand in the wind’s eye.

I creep under my Lord’s wings in the great shower, and the waters cannot reach me. Let fools laugh the fools’ laughter, and scorn Christ, and bid the weeping captives in Babylon to sing them one of the songs of Zion. We may sing, even in our winter’s storm, in the expectation of a summer’s sun at the turn of the year. No created powers in hell, or out of hell, can mar our Lord’s work, or spoil our song of joy. Let us then, be glad and rejoice in the salvation of our Lord, for faith had never yet cause to have tearful eyes, or a saddened brow, or to droop or die.

—Samuel Rutherford

You must stay hidden to be sheltered by Christ

A shelter is nothing if we stand in front of it. The main thought with many a would-be Christian is his own works, feelings, and attainments: this is to stand on the windy side of the wall by putting yourself before Jesus. Our safety lies in getting behind Christ, and letting him stand in the wind’s eye. We must be altogether hidden, or Christ cannot be our hiding place.

Foolish religious people hear about the hiding place, but never get into it. How great is the folly of such conduct! It makes Jesus to be of no value or effect. What is a roof to a man who lies in the open, or a boat to one who sinks in the sea? Even the Man Christ Jesus, though ordained by God to be a shelter from the tempest, can cover none but those who are in him. Come then, poor sinner, enter where you may; hide in him who was evidently meant to hide you, for he was ordained to be a hiding place, and must be used as such, or the very aim of his life and death would be missed.

Adapted from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon notes. (HT The Resurgence)

 

Is this a “GOD” Thing?

My church is going through some major changes.  Over the next few months we plan to expand our sanctuary, renew our ministry systems and rename our church.  By January 8, 2012 we will be Refuge Church.  To accomplish this we’ll need to raise somewhere near $20,000, mobilize about a hundred volunteers and do a ton of behind-the-scenes work.

Sometimes I look at my “to do” list around this plan and wonder if it’s possible.  Is God in this?  Does He want it?

This morning I stumbled across an article that helped.  It began with a few scripture quotes and then gave 7 indications that a project is a “God-Thing”.

And without faith it is impossible to please God…Hebrews 11:6

We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. 2 Chronicles 20:12

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:27

God calls people to seemingly impossible tasks. It gives Him glory when I can’t do something, but He can. I can do “all things through Christ who strengthen me,” but often what He calls me to do can seem foolish to attempt (at least to others…and sometimes me) at the time. Imagine what the friends of Abraham, Moses, and Noah must have thought when God called them to what appeared to be impossible assignments. God calls people to walk by faith into the unknown.

If you know God has called you to something, don’t be dismayed if others can’t quickly identify with your calling. In my experience, God is often raising up others with the same heartbeat, but you can’t always see them at the time, so there may be periods when you have to stand alone on God’s calling. That may be for a season, but at times it could be for years. (Consider the case of Noah.)

With that in mind…

Here are 7 ways to tell it may be a God thing:

1. Everyone says it can’t be done…

2. You feel you aren’t qualified…

3. There aren’t enough resources available…

4. It makes no rational sense…

5. People call it (or you) stupid…

6. It would give God all the glory…

7. It honors God and is true to His Word…

I’m not saying this post confirms what you are attempting is from God. What I am saying is that you should not dismiss the call you believe God has placed on your life because it doesn’t make sense to others around you…or to yourself at times.

Are you in the midst of a God-calling?

Has God called you to things which made no sense at the time?