Merry Christmas!

Dear Church Family,

We would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We like the holidays because it is a time to focus on the gift of Jesus.  It is also a time to look back over the last year and consider God’s faithfulness, while also looking with expectancy to what’s ahead.

 

One of our biggest praise reports of this year was meeting our goal of $200,000 toward the land purchase!  Our banner for this year read, “Let’s See What We Can Do Together in 2014”. That was one great accomplishment!  We are currently in communications with the landowner of the property that we are interested in, and are also praying about the right timing for the purchase.  We commit to keeping you updated with our progress. 

Another thing we praise God for are all of you who have started coming to our church this past year.  You are an answer to prayer and we look forward to seeing you continue to grow in your relationship with the Lord!

This last year was full of many blessings and also a few challenges.  Thank God that He is faithful when everything is going great AND when we experience difficulties on this journey we call life.  We thank you for standing by us when we go through challenging times, and we are glad we can be there for you as well.  It’s nice when strength and encouragement can be reciprocated during the seasons in which we need it.  That is what church family is all about. It is also awesome to know that through the challenges we face, God is still working to bring increase in us as a church.  There is a bigger picture than each of us and it is called the Kingdom of God.

   

We know that many of you were challenged this year as well and that the devil is always working hard to get people to become discouraged or to give up.  We are glad that you didn’t!  There are many promises in the Bible to the overcomer.  Jesus could return any day.  We want to be found on fire and busy about the Father’s business when He comes back.

   

We believe that in 2015 it is time to soar!  I (Pastor Jeff) am personally making a commitment to pray more and to press into God more in this year.  If you will join me in doing so, I believe that it will result in a greater corporate anointing and greater blessing for you individually.  Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not be distracted by the wind and the waves.  Thank you for being an awesome church family.  It is a privilege to serve the Lord alongside such a great body of believers.  We love and appreciate each of you!

Sincerely,

Pastors Jeff and Rebecca

Wednesday Night Fever

Greetings Church Family!

    

You may have heard of Friday Night Fever.  At Abundant Life Church we have been experiencing Wednesday Night Fever.  One definition of fever is:  a condition of heightened activity or excitement.  We have been having close to 40 teenagers in attendance each week, 40 to 50 adults, and around 40 to 50 children sixth grade and younger.  This amounts to well over 100 people on average (probably 120 to 140) that we have had attending each Wednesday evening.  That is a great statistic when you figure we average around 200 people in attendance on Sunday mornings.

After attending a meeting with some other pastors earlier this year and discussing midweek services, I realized we have a great Wednesday night attendance, relatively speaking.  We praise God that momentum is building for this important service.

I believe we are seeing this increase for a number of reasons.  We have always had strong prayer on many of our Wednesday evenings which brings a strong stirring and moving of the Spirit in our lives.  People have been coming hungry and God is really moving in the services.  Last week in our Holy Spirit service God showed up in a tangible way.  We have had great fellowship, activities, and teaching for each age group.

Most recently, we opened our new game room for the 4 to 12 year olds so they have their own activity area before and after service.  Pastor Rebecca has been teaching about purity, dating, and relationships in Velocity.  We had a powerful prayer service last night with another teaching series for the adults called “Jesus, the One and Only” getting ready to begin soon.  There has also been some great fellowship around our Wednesday evening meal.

I am saying all this to encourage you that if you have stopped coming on Wednesday evenings for whatever reason or maybe never have come to the midweek service, you should consider making the effort to attend this service as well.  It will give you a boost in the middle of the week, help you to get to know your church family better, and help you to become a stronger Christian all around.  I know some of you have to work and others can’t come for various reasons, so I am not trying to condemn anyone that can’t make it.  But if you can come, this might be the thing you have been missing to help put you over spiritually and to take you to another level in your walk with God!  God bless you richly!

 

Pastor Jeff 

 

 

 

Reaching Higher

Dear Church Family,

As we begin a new year I want to encourage each of you to evaluate various areas of your life and set goals for the new year.  There is something within each of us as Christians that causes us to want to become better and do more for the glory of God.  It is part of our nature as children of God.  Philippians 1:6 says, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”.  God desires to perfect us more and more until the day of His glorious return.

 

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  God created us to fellowship with Him and to bring glory to His name.  John Wesley famously said, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”  What can you do in this year that will bring more glory to God and that will help accomplish His plan and purpose on the earth?

 

We serve a God who is perfect in every way.  He meets us where we are and begins to work in our lives by His love and grace.  He wants to touch every area of our lives and relationships if we will allow Him to do so.  One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 4:18.  It says, “The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”  What areas of your life do you want God to touch this year so His light can shine ever brighter in your life?

 

I thank God for each of you.  I look forward to seeing all that God does in our lives individually and corporately this year.  Remember, you are a champion and you serve an awesome God!  There is no limit to what He will do in our lives as we trust in Him and allow Him to work in us and through us!  God bless.

 

Pastor Jeff

 

Out of Control

Dear Church Family,

Greetings in Jesus’ Name! It is hard to believe that the year is drawing to a close and that the holidays are already almost upon us. The past year has been a busy one for our family, and a year of growth in several areas for me personally. I could write at length about the many lessons the Lord has taught me in 2013, but I have chosen to devote this newsletter to one particular topic: letting go and letting God be in control.

I must admit, I have perfectionistic tendencies, and without Jesus, I would be a control freak. I like things done in an excellent manner and an orderly way. I like results...quick results! (My spiritual fruit of patience needs more cultivation than some of the others!) When I start a project, whether it be spiritual or natural, I want it completed well and in a timely manner. I don’t like things left undone for long, and it makes me happy to see a project that I have envisioned finished and all the loose ends tied up. I am very task (and results) oriented! “Let’s take the bull by the horns and make some positive changes!” is my mentality. This is the way the Lord wired me. I thrive on devising plans and then achieving them, by either faith or hard work.

I bring this mentality into my parenting. Our children are gifts that the Lord has blessed us with and we feel very responsible to train them up properly so that they can be the next generation of strong believers. Pastor Jeff and I are very pro-active parents. This is one of the reasons we have chosen to home-school. We know our years to train our kids are limited, so we put large amounts of time and energy into teaching them every day in both spiritual and natural things. Generally this has gone pretty well in our home. While they have been little, their day is scheduled with learning and productivity, with mom and dad as their managers and life-coaches. I feel productive and accomplished at the end of each day as I see my kids making progress.

AND THEN WE HAVE A TEENAGER!!! Suddenly, I find that this child whose life I have managed (and yes, probably micro-managed) for all of these years suddenly wants to make her own decisions. She wants to set her own schedule, decide when to go to bed, do activities apart from the family (gasp!), and overall, begin to manage her own life. She wants more independence and freedom. (Those of you who have already raised teenagers have obviously already learned this lesson, but for me it was very new.) So one of the main areas God has been instructing me in is showing me that as my children grow, I must slowly begin to release the reigns of parental control, and allow the Lord (rather than me) to become their Boss. For someone who is very used to running a tight ship and being in charge, this has been a challenging lesson to learn at times.

Every parent wants their children to make right decisions and avoid mistakes, but we must come to a point where we realize that we cannot be the Holy Spirit to our kids. That’s what God is for! He is more than able to get through to them and make their lives into something beautiful...even if that beautiful picture looks a little different than what we had envisioned. The results might not come as quickly as we would like, but they WILL come if we continue to stand on His promises. God frequently reminds me of Scriptures such as Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God...” and Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.” I am seeing that as my children grow into adults and I gradually release the natural control of their lives in a healthy way, my work transitions from hands-on training to more of a behind-the-scenes job, as I continually surround them with much prayer and words of faith. This new role, although a bit scary for me at times, is very freeing. As I trust Him, I am opening up the door for God to be able to work in them in a mighty way.

For me, I am having to learn to release control in my parenting. What is it for you? What are you trying so hard to control that you need to let go of? Take the burden off of yourself today, give it to God, and watch Him work! He is ever-faithful!

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you,

Pastor Rebecca

The Love of My Life

Dear Church Family,

 

Tomorrow will mark fifteen years of marriage to my wonderful bride.  It is hard to believe that it has been that long already.  I want to write this newsletter/blog as a tribute to the love of my life.

 

Proverbs 18:22 says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.”  I have been really blessed by the woman that God has brought into my life.  She is beautiful, talented, smart, and is a devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Our fifteen years of marriage have not always been easy.  We have overcome some things along the way, as every marriage that lasts does.  Our love and commitment to God and each other have carried us through any differences that we have had.  We have seen that the more you mature in your Christian walk the more your marriage also benefits.  There is nothing that God’s love and wisdom cannot overcome!

 

We are thankful that our marriage is sizzling now more than ever.  We not only love each other out of commitment and the choice to do so, but we both feel more in love with each other than we ever have before.  God has truly helped us get to this point.  We have always loved each other and worked well together in ministry and parenting, etc, but it is awesome when you can have passion for one another while doing all these other things!

 

I want to encourage you to open your heart to the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God through her.  She has really stepped up to a higher level in the last year or so.  The series she is preaching about staying free from offense is vital for us a church and for you individually.  Don’t let real or perceived wrongs keep you from receiving what God has for you!

 

We love you and look forward to seeing you Sunday!

 

Pastor Jeff

 

 

 

Missions

Dear Church Family,

I want to take this opportunity to encourage all of us along the line of missions work. I was very blessed to hear from our team that went to the Philippines on Sunday. Maybe you weren’t able to go, but your prayers and support helped make a difference. There are hundreds of people that were affected by this trip.

I am also very thankful for the other missionaries who we are able to support as a church. Brad and Amy Beebe are two missionaries who we began to support recently. They just moved to Ireland. We are planning a mission trip next year to Ireland to assist them in a children’s crusade. They need numerous people helping throughout the week to reach out to and disciple all of the children. The Beebes will then try to get their families plugged into a good church.

The Beebes, along with Amy’s parents, have been doing this annually and it has been a huge blessing in their city. If you would like to go or are at least considering going, please talk to Bill McDaniel and he will help you begin to take the first steps to be a part of this trip. Part of the funds from our RAGBRAI fundraiser will help toward the expense of that trip.

Mark 16:15 says to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”  Everyone deserves to hear the Gospel at least once. The next few verses (verses 16-20) talk about all of the signs that follow the preaching of the Word. We should expect these kinds of results wherever the Word of God is being preached.

As some of our team members said when they got back, we have a huge mission field right here in our own back yard. There are many around here who still don’t know the Lord. Don’t wait until a mission trip to preach the Gospel. Start with those around you and watch God begin to work through you!

I would like to encourage you to consider a mission trip at some point as well, because there is something about going on a trip that will ignite a passion for souls in your heart, which will last for many years after you get return. In the mean time, let’s keep reaching people around here, praying for laborers, and sending others to go out into the harvest!

 God bless,

Pastor Jeff

Never Stop Growing

Dear Church Family,

This time of year many people are thinking about planting.  Crops and gardens are being planted.  Flowers and shrubs are being planted.  All kinds of seeds and plants are going in the ground.  Not one of us would expect those plants or seeds to reach maturity without being watered.

Mark 4:14 tells us that God’s Word is seed.  In First Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”  Apollos came behind Paul and strengthened the beliefs the Church already had.  The Word of God will both form beliefs and strengthen beliefs. 

It is just as important to be watered as it is to be planted.  Most Christian’s beliefs aren’t strong enough to support action.  They must be watered or strengthened for there to be proper action on a regular basis. 

Paul had two purposes for his missionary journeys.  He went to evangelize the sinner and to strengthen the saint.  In Acts 14:21-22 the Bible says that Paul returned to certain cities, “strengthening the souls of the disciples.”  At the start of his second missionary journey in Acts 15:41-42 Paul “went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”  At the beginning of his third missionary journey in Acts 18:23, it says that Paul went back to areas he had been “strengthening all the disciples.” 

No matter how long you have been a Christian, your beliefs need to continually be watered and strengthened by the Word of God.  Your beliefs are the most important thing that you have.  They will determine the course of your life.  So stay in the Word and stay in church so you can continue to form beliefs based on God’s Word and strengthen beliefs that you already have.  This combination will put you in a place of victory and produce great fruit in your life!

One final thought: God does not want us to wither up during the summer months.  Commit right now to stay faithful all year long.  There is never a good time to backslide or let up in our walk with God! 

God bless,

Pastor Jeff