A Big Weekend for our Next Gen Ministries, a quote from Eugene Peterson, and November
It was an exciting weekend for our Next Gen Ministries!
Friday night kicked off with an exciting night of glow-in-the-dark dodgeball with our elementary students. Sunday morning it was exciting to have them leading the way on gathering donations for the backpack program! Sunday night was an awesome night for our Middle and High School students at the Holy Ghost Weenie Roast! The Brackens were great hosts and that place was buzzing with fun and friendship!
What's more, we're excited to relaunch our preschool ministry this coming weekend with the new nursery/cry room space and additional classes for toddlers.
Exciting times! I'm so thankful not just for Kenny and Krysta, but for the many, many leaders who work hard in discipling the younger generation!
After yesterday's passage in 1 Corinthians 1, this quote from Eugene Peterson resonated.
Eugene Peterson has long challenged me on how to approach pastoral ministry. He was a competitive guy who God called to work against church growth strategies by working hard to care for and be present with the people in his church. His phrase, "a long obedience in the same direction" has shaped many Christian walks! Check out this quote that has me continuing to think about how to lead with the city that is to come in mind..
“I learned early that the methods of my work must correspond to the realities of the Kingdom. The methods that make the kingdom of America strong – economic, military, technological, informational – are not suited to making the Kingdom of God strong. I have had to learn a new methodology: truth-telling and love-making, prayer and parable. These are not methods very well adapted to raising the standard of living in suburbia or massaging the ego into fashionable shape. But America and suburbia and the ego compose my parish. Most of the individuals in this amalgam suppose that the goals they have for themselves and the goals God has for them are the same. It is the oldest religious mistake: refusing to countenance any real difference between God and us, imagining God to be a vague extrapolation of our own desires, and then hiring a priest to manage the affairs between self and the extrapolation. And I, one of the priests they hired, am having none of it. I am being subversive. I am undermining the kingdom of self and establishing the Kingdom of God.”
HONOR. A word for November..
Ray Ortlund was the first one I'd heard who talked about Romans 12:10 being the only "competitive" command in Scripture. It tells us to outdo one another in showing honor. As we move into the month of November and the days in 2025 wind down, let's take that challenge as a church family! Let's outdo one another in showing honor as we learn to love one another well.
Annual Dinner Meeting, November 23
Sunday evening, November 23, at 5:30 pm, our church family will get together to eat and meet. We'll talk through some of the items our leadership teams have been working on as well as vote on our budget for 2026.
If you're a covenant member at Christ Community, you'll soon be receiving a copy of our proposed budget and other important details as we move towards the meeting.
If you're not a covenant member and you've been hanging out with us, let me encourage you to consider becoming one by taking our online membership class, Be the Church, at tentdwellers.online/classes. Either way, you're welcome to come eat dinner with us and learn more about our church family.
