Giving Thanks: Guilford Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanks to all who participated in the Guilford Elementary’s 3rd Annual Thanksgiving Dinner last Monday, November. Whether you came and served, donated pies, or cooked turkeys, all of your efforts resulted in a fun family gathering as the Guilford families enjoyed a good ol’ American Thanksgiving dinner.
This was a real community gathering, with several organizations helping out. Teachers from the school, RBCers, and Little League volunteers all worked side by side to bless these families. For many of the families, this was their first taste of stuffing, which we learned has no Spanish word equivalent since it is not a food they eat in their countries. Maybe it’s a universal thing, but it appears that most kids don’t like stuffing. Also universal is the look of dislike and the shake of the head “no” – but all were polite and said “no thank you” if they didn’t care for any (although their faces were priceless!)
Hundreds of people came out for the dinner. The rain and long walk from where they parked on the ball field didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s spirits. Even though the line of people waiting for their turn for food wrapped around the building hallways, everyone was patient and excited for the feast to come. It reminded me of what the disciples must have felt like with the loaves and the fishes, for as many people as kept coming, there seemed to be more food as the evening progressed. And after all had been fed, the volunteers, at last, took a few minutes to sit down, rest and have some dinner as well.
Due to the abundance, the residents at the Embry Rucker Homeless Shelter in Reston also enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast.
Many thanks for all who helped to bless our neighbors.
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“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
– Matthew 35:34-40
Giving Thanks: Book Drive
When I came to work on Monday, in my mailbox I found a stack of thank-you notes from the children at Guilford. These notes were in response from our recent book drive, which provided over 2000 books to these kids, most of whom had no books of their own before the drive. When you give from your abundance, it is so humbling to be thanked. Some of the kids wrote that they wished they could come to our church (I wish that too!). One even wrote that we must have a good God and a great faith. This came from a first-grader, just because we gave him a couple of books.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:16
When you come to services this weekend, we will have on display some of the thank-you notes that we have received from the students of Guilford. It seems appropriate on Thanksgiving weekend to share these sentiments with the congregation. Thank you for enriching these children’s lives by putting books in their hands. In the words of one student “Thank you. Really, I’m not kidding.”
If you weren’t able to bring in your books this fall, we will be having another book drive in the Spring. Hold on to those books, and keep your eye out for an announcement in March 2012.
Giving Thanks: The Food Pantry
In the two months since we re-opened the food pantry, we have jumped up to serving more than 130 families a week. Almost 100% of our food pantry guests are Hispanic – and that has given us some challenges to overcome. While we have adapted what we are stocking on the shelves to better meet their needs, we are still learning. In my ignorance I did not realize how different corn meal is from corn flour – and corn flour is the number-one item in demand and that we cannot keep up with the demand! I am regularly wiping out the shelves in our local grocery stores as I buy every package of corn flour they have. Oil to cook the tortillas being made from the corn flour is also in high demand.
One of the culturally different things that we have had to adjust to is the need for larger sized diapers. The tendency in these cultures appears to be to potty-train their children much later than we do. Again, in my ignorance, I thought that if you are struggling financially that you would potty train your children as early as possible to cut down on the expense of diapers. But that is not the case, and we are now stocking larger diapers to meet the need.
My prayer as we move forward is that we would have more volunteers, and in particular more Spanish speakers to interact with our guests – not just getting their food for them, but sitting with them and getting to know them. The Lord has begun a good work, and now is the time to take it to the next level – sharing our hope with these people who need hope.
This past week we had a new challenge, one that I had not anticipated. Many of our first-time visitors to the food pantry were illiterate. We have been diligent to have our signs and forms be in both English and Spanish – but that is not very helpful to someone who cannot read either language. How does that person cope with the challenges of living in Northern Virginia if they can’t read? The Lord provided some very kind folks who helped them fill out the sign in sheet and their food order form, and all was well for the moment. But it broke my heart just a little more.
Please pray for our outreach to a diverse group of people with different backgrounds, cultures and challenges. Pray for the Lord to raise up more volunteers, and in particular to raise up someone who’s heart is to reach these people. We really need someone who has the time and heart to take this ministry to the next level. And as you visit with family and friends this Thanksgiving, and eat too much and laugh a lot, and enjoy all that the Lord has blessed you with – be thankful.
If you are willing to donate to the food pantry, consider going to a local Dollar Store, and purchasing several bottles of oil, packages of sugar, canisters of coffee, shampoos, deodorants. For the same amount of money you could bless multiple families in need. We have recurring needs for staple items like corn flour (not corn meal), white flour, oil, sugar, cereal, oatmeal, dried beans, rice, canned soup, canned chicken, tuna, ham and chili. Smaller size containers of items such as flour and sugar are helpful, so we can assist more people. The hygiene items most needed are: laundry detergent, soap, toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, sanitary pads, baby wipes, and formula (preferably Similac). Due to a generous donation from the Huggies “A Diaper for Every Bottom” campaign we will not need diapers for some time. You can also donate financially to this ministry by putting “food pantry” in the memo line of your check and dropping it in an offering box during weekend services.
Thank you for your ongoing generosity. Please contact me if you would like more information on getting involved with the RBC Food Pantry.
Giving Thanks: Trunk-or-Treat
Snow. On October 29th. During our Trunk-or-Treat Halloween outreach event. Is that even possible? Well, it’s not only possible – it happened! Many thanks to all who with very little notice jumped in and transformed their creative car trunk decorating ideas into inside, car-less decorating ideas.
We had 46 spots filled with decorations, games, and wonderful people in costumes giving out candy to the hundreds and hundreds of children who came out to trick or treat with us. I have to admit, I had my doubts about how many people would venture out on a cold and slushy night with their kids in costumes – but as usual, the Lord showed me what a waste of time worrying is. With a warm and bright place to trick or treat we had an overwhelming turn out, with kids and parents dress in costumes and ready to spend a safe, fun filled evening with their family. After playing games and trick or treating, the children were treated to a puppet show and snacks, or could stop by and do a Halloween craft. For me the best part was there wasn’t a single crying child getting scared of what might pop out in the dark. Many of our neighbors and friends from Guilford came to see what we are about.
Our “parking spots” were amazingly creative with the Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter Tea Party, pirates, campers, and Christmas, just to name a few. Our grand prize winner for creativity was our new Pastor of Young Adults, Wayne Johnson and his Shepherd Group who did the movie UP, complete with the house, balloons, Carl (now we know what Wayne will look like when he’s 80!), Russell, and the rare bird, Kevin.
A huge thanks to everyone that helped – set-up, clean-up, snacks, crafts, and of course the “parking spots”. It takes a lot of help to put on an event like this, and we couldn’t do it without our wonderful volunteers.
In the end – despite the snow and last-minute adjustments due to less-than-ideal weather – we were able to serve RBC families and bless many neighbors from our surrounding community (several of whom showed up for worship services the next morning!) We continue to pray for hearts to open to the Gospel as we show the love of Christ in fun and practical ways through events such as this.
Giving Thanks: International Connection
Picture the Clubhouse room in the RBC Children’s Ministry area with crowds of people all speaking different languages. Women wearing head scarves. Buddhist monks in their orange flowing robes. Children of all colors racing around. The smell of Thai noodles and Iranian pilaf. This was the scene of the annual International Connection Thanksgiving Dinner on Tues. Nov. 15th.
International Connection is the English as a second language program at RBC. We have classes on Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings. Last year’s enrollment of adult students was a little anemic as local internationals had a hard time finding our new church facility. This year is an entirely different story! Student registration has been extremely robust. We finally had to cut it off when class sizes started to outgrow their effectiveness due to their growing sizes.
Every November, we put on a Thanksgiving Dinner for the students and their families. This year, the Bereans adult fellowship group provided the traditional Thanksgiving food (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pies, etc.) and students brought dishes from their home countries. It was an outstanding buffet! Homemade spring rolls, pupusas, taquitos, rice pilaf and more! To make matters more complicated, we had the greatest number of participants ever – 160 bodies! The Clubhouse was set up for 150, but we stretched the limit and were forced to make a classroom the buffet room.
Before dinner, one of the teachers, Marca Fritzemeier, explained the 5 corn kernel story concerning the plight of the first Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock. Each place setting had a small cup of 5 candy corn kernels to illustrate the story.
After dinner, the children were dismissed to their childcare workers and we enjoyed a post-dinner program. A short video was shown on the history of the Thanksgiving holiday. This was followed by student speeches. A couple of representatives were selected from each class to tell what they were most thankful for. A surprising number of students mentioned their thanks to God and Jesus – totally unprompted by their teachers! Some expressed their thanks for our program, for their jobs, for their families and their health. One young man expressed his hope that someday soon his young daughter would be able to join him here from El Salvador. These were heartfelt words, and I was reminded of the
many everyday blessings that I take for granted.
Erik Palmer ended the evening with some well-chosen “Thanksgiving “songs that we all joined in on, thanks to the words on the screen. Appropriately, he also presented the gospel in a simple but thorough way and invited anyone who had questions to talk to him or I.C. staff later. It was a meaningful ending to a memorable evening. May God use our words, our relationships and our lives to reflect His goodness and love to these wonderful people.
How to Pray for Missionaries
An many of our missionaries point out each year during the missions conference, without faithful prayer support from their sending churches, much of their labor is in vain. Prayer fuels the fires of the Gospel as it goes forth into the nations.
Yet, you may ask, “How do I pray for missionaries? What are their needs? How do I pray for someone so far away whom I do not know and perhaps may never see?” Below are some helpful suggestions for how you can generally pray for our missionaries.
WAYS YOU CAN PRAY FOR OUR MISSIONARY FAMILY:
1. Pray for the missionaries’ personal relationship with God.
2. Pray for the missionaries’ physical and emotional needs. Pray against discouragement, depression, loneliness and homesickness.
3. Pray the missionaries can make the necessary adjustments to living on their fields of labor.
4. Pray that God will open doors of ministry, blessing partnerships and friendships and that those who serve will be led by the Holy Spirit and recognize open-door opportunities.
5. Pray for revival in each nation and region of the world.
6. Pray that the Spirit will provide them with words that commuicate effectively in other cultures and languages.
7. Pray that the missionaries would find favor in the eyes of those in high places that can help to further the kingdom.
8. Pray that the missionaries will have the boldness to overcome the fear of embarassment or failure.
9. Pray for the freedom to preach the gospel and that the people will be responsive
10. Pray for strength and stamina as missionaries encounter antagonistic spiritual forces.
11. Pray that God’s Word will indeed spread rapidly and be honored.
12. Pray that God will change the hearts of those who are resistant to His Word.
13. Pray that God will keep Christian workers safe from those who seek to hurt them.
14. Pray that the missionary’s ministry and attitude will be worthy of acceptance.
15. Pray for good relationships among co-workers and the national workers.
16. Pray that the Lord will help the missionaries develop good national leaders that will multiply their efforts.
17. Pray for clear guidance from God regarding travel decisions.
18. Pray for protection and provision during their travels and for necessary permissions to travel.
19. Pray that God will provide opportunities for missionaries in lonely areas to spend time with other believers.
20. Pray that God will provide times of peace and relaxation to refresh His workers.
EMAIL PRAYER CHAIN: If you are interested in receiving periodic e-mail prayer requests from missionaries and those within our local congregation, send an email to prayerchainatrbc@gmail.com and put the word “Join” in the subject line. You will then be added to our email distribution list to received regular updates of prayer requests.
MISSIONARY PRAYER GUIDE: You can also stop by the Welcome Desk during weekend services and pick up a Missionary Prayer Guide. The Missionary Prayer Guide is an excellent resource that has a comprehensive list of our missionaries, including photos and personal prayer requests.
VIDEO: Adoption Sunday
This is the story of the Cassada and Snyder families, who heeded God’s call to care for the orphan. Although not everyone is called to adopt, everyone is called to care.
You can learn more about orphan care and adoption through our Hope Ministry at Reston Bible Church: www.restonbible.org/hope
Resources for Killing Sin
Though sin no longer separates the believer from God in the ultimate sense, we know both from Scripture and an honest assessment of our daily lives that it is still a force very much active within us. When left unchecked, sin will kill the joy not only in our human relationships, but in our relationship with God. Thus, be killing sin – or sin will be killing you.
If you’d like to further equip the mind in regards to killing sin, I’d recommend the books below – all excellent reads on the subject. You can check at the RBC Bookstore between Sunday services for availability of any of these.
In The Mortification of Sin, Puritan pastor-theologian John Owen provides vital teaching in a neglected aspect of Christianity – killing sin. In this book, Owen effectively dismisses various excuses for not engaging in self-scrutiny and yet avoids the current trend of self-absorption. In so doing, he provides principles to help believers live lives of holiness before God. You can go for the original unabridged version, but for a quicker read, I’d recommend Richard Rushing’s abridged version.
In The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin, Kris Lundgaard draws on two works by the aforementioned Puritan in writing this modern-English distillation of two of Owen’s most renowned works – Indwelling Sin and The Mortification of Sin. Lundgaard offers insight, encouragement, and hope for overcoming the enemy within.
Cornelius Plantinga Jr.’s Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin revives in modern terms the ancient awareness of sin that has slipped in recent decades. Plantinga uses clear language and draws upon myriad books, films and other cultural resources to drive home our need to simultaneously hate sin and love the grace of Christ.
In Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate, Jerry Bridges asserts that we have become so preoccupied with the “major” sins of our society, Christians have ceased to heed the dangers of more subtle sins in our lives. We the Church must not act as though sin were only something out “in the world” and so tolerate jealousy, anger, pride and ungodliness within our own hearts. Bridges humbly points his readers again and again to the profound mercy of the grace of Jesus.
You can check out the audio/video of the weekend teaching here. Below are a few Scriptures (ESV) for study & reflection regarding sin, the mind as watchman to the soul, and others referenced during the teaching.
Romans 7:21-23 – So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
James 4:17 – So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Psalm 51:5 – Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Psalm 58:3 – Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.
Galatians 5:17 – For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Romans 8:12-13 – So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Colossians 3:5-6 – Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 – So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Paul Grows in His Knowledge of Sin
1 Corinthians 15:9 (written approximately AD 55) – For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Ephesians 3:8 (written approximately AD 60 ) – To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ…
1 Timothy 1:15 (written approximately AD 64) – The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
*Note that if you study the surrounding context of each reference above, you’ll see that as Paul grows in the knowledge of his own sin nature, he likewise expresses growth in his knowledge of grace, redemption, and forgiveness. He grows in his love and appreciation for Christ as he realizes more and more what he has been saved from.
For example:
1 Corinthians 15:10 – But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. (In this section, you’ll see Paul mainly reflecting on the work God did in/through him by grace, despite his sin as an individual.)
Ephesians 3:9-10 – ...and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (You’ll see Paul expanding upon the mystery of God’s eternal purposes “unsearchable riches of Christ” and the “manifold wisdom of God” being revealed beyond himself to the Gentiles through the church.)
1 Timothy 1: – To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (Paul reflects on being “the foremost of sinners” in light of also being one who is entrusted with “the gospel of the glory of the blessed God” through the great majesty, mercy, grace, patience and strength of Christ.)
On the Mind
1 Pet. 1:13 – Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Luke 24:45 – Then [Jesus] opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…
Romans 8:6 – For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 12:2 – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
James 1:8 – …he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
2 Corinthians 4:4 – In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 11:3 – But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
*Joseph is a great example of the mind being prepared. When he is tempted by Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39:6-10, he says, “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). I believe this indicates he was holding a two-fold truth at the forefront of his thinking – sin is evil and God is holy. Thus, “as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.”
Others
Hebrews 10:14 – For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Ephesians 6:17 – … take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…
Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Philippians 1:6 – And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Men’s Retreat 2011 Recap
Men, it has been a few weeks now since we were at the 2011 RBC Men’s Retreat. Three weeks is typically about the time it takes to instill a new habit in our lives. Hopefully, you were encouraged to begin to walk closer with the Lord, but maybe you couldn’t attend or maybe life is just back to normal. For any of those circumstances, the Men’s Ministry wanted to provide you with the following resources to equip and encourage you to continue strengthening your walk with the Lord.
As you may remember, our overriding theme was Strength in Numbers – that we are stronger in fellowship with other Christians than we are alone (a 3-cord of strands – Ecclesiastes 4:19-21). We experienced great teaching from Pastor Steve King and great fellowship with other RBC men, all at a great location with amazing scenery.
Steve gave us four challenging keynote messages. Below, we are providing a brief synopsis of each one, as well as links to the audio so you can re-listen as needed. We pray this will serve as a helpful post-retreat reminder of some of the things we learned and experienced there.
SESSION ONE: The Realities of Living by Faith – Pastor Steve taught on how properly setting expectations for our lives on the Lord and his promises will increase our joy. We should filter the world through God’s Word, not vice-versa. We are designed to live by faith and God tests our faith for our good and our growth. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
SESSION TWO: Living in the Community of Grace – We are loved by God, and we are to show hospitality (love) to others. Marriage is to be honored and our contentment is valued by God. This sounds simple, but why is it so hard? We drift and too often allow ourselves to be deceived, become dulled, then defiant – which results in being disciplined by God. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
SESSION THREE: “Whatever!” – We can experience the ‘whatever’ of relationships or we can experience Jesus in ‘whatever’ circumstances we are in. The most significant relationship other than with God is the one with our spouse. The Lord uses our marriage to refine us. As a husband/father we have the most significant role in the moral direction for our family. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
SESSION FOUR: How to get Honey from a Rock – We can experience contentment & joy in the midst of trials because God will never leave or forsake us. Life is a wilderness, and God is our greatest treasure and reward. This world won’t ultimately satisfy us. We must worship God even when we don’t feel like it. Listen to full session audio here. Session Slides are here.
You can view the retreat photos below! (Thanks to Dave Waldrup, Mike Emory and Kim Strickland for the images.)
Mark your calendars now for next year! On October 5 & 6, 2012 we will be hosting Alistair Begg as our speaker. You can listen to him daily (weekdays) on WAVA 105.1 at 8:00 am.
As always, you are welcome to contact me with any questions or comments regarding Men’s Ministry here at RBC.
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Brad Hummel, Men’s Ministry Director
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