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From the Rector's Desk Birthdays 12/2 Sallie Vroom MINISTRY NEEDS Set-up Team: 2-3 people to help with set-ups on Sundays and for special events. Contact Julia at the church office, (847) 681-2872. SUNDAY READINGS |
November 30, 2007 This week we embark upon a whole new journey—all over again. It’s the nature of the Christian life as we walk with the Lord that we encounter ground that is familiar, and yet in many ways that are new and fresh. We continually need to re-learn important things because we change as we grow, and we tend to forget. Our worship helps us to remember in powerful ways that go deep beyond our conscious minds ('This do in remembrance of me'). During the next few weeks we will be collecting items for area food banks and those organizations that support social needs for those in northern Cook and Lake counties. Local food banks are facing significant shortages, and the Northern Illinois Food Depository in Highland Park said they are facing a desperate need for toiletries (soap, shampoo, deodorant, etc). You can begin to bring items starting this Sunday morning. Following up on Christ the King Sunday, here's a powerful prayer from the Celtic Psalter of the 9th Century You may have noticed a change in the communion bread in the last few weeks. We are now baking our own, or at least we have begun to enter in to this thanks to Rick Bayley. And its been a great transition. However, he would like others to lend their talents and get involved with providing this important part of our worship each week. If you would like to bake some of this from time to time, please contact Rick on email at rikbay@aol.com. We are pleased to once again offer our 'Discover Redeemer' course for those who want to know more about our church. This was last taught in the Spring, and if you missed all or a part of it, or have joined us since then, plan on attending. In this class we'll cover issues surrounding our own history as a congregation, our relationship with Rwanda, our worship and sacraments, our identity and mission as a church and ways you can serve at Redeemer, among other interesting topics. It was well received in the Spring, so come and discover.
If you’ve been reading this email each week that you’re very aware of our appeal for prayer and support as we draw near to the end of the year. It’s an important need we face, but not an unusual one, as a large part of financial support of Redeemer’s ministry comes in the final quarter. I’m convinced that this is an area where God blesses in unexpected ways, and also that it is an area of discipline where most of us can grow. Thanks be to God for the positive responses that we have received in these final days of 2007. You're Invited! Next Saturday, December 8, our Jr. High students will be participating in a Progressive Dinner. We will get dressed up and visit a couple of different homes in a progression of meals and ending with fun and games.
 Jason, Danielle and Brennan Miller recently spent a couple of weeks in England and Wales with a church-focused mission group. Read about it in the following article, submitted by Jason, a member of our vestry. UK Report: mission outposts in a post-Christian culture Our trip involved a whirlwind of meetings with pastors, church leaders and para-church leaders. We wanted to understand how teams could be created to encourage and build church partnerships to strengthen local and global mission among UK churches.
One of the more encouraging pieces of that picture came from a pastor in Cardiff. He told us that his church is in "chaos" because he is unable to keep up with the increasing ministries being birthed to reach their community for Christ. He rejoiced in this "chaos," though, because it was evident to him that the Spirit was leading---bringing people to Christ, birthing new ministries and growing or revitalizing old ministries. One of their biggest challenges is finding ways to coordinate resources and connect ministries with one another for even greater impact and unity within the community---not a bad problem to have. Although this church is one of the Free Churches in the UK, they took a risk years ago and invited Michael Green, the Anglican evangelist, to lead an evangelistic mission in the capital city of Wales. It was the turning point for their church and for many others in Cardiff. Although they lost some of their members who did not want to associate with Anglicans, others experienced the life-changing power of the Gospel for the first time. The church has grown exponentially in terms of converts and new ministries since then and has vibrant ministries among international students. We were invited to the UK by International Teams. We were greatly encouraged by our meeting with the board of International Teams UK. It was evident to us that everyone on the board cares deeply for the churches in the UK and that they are convinced that their organization has an important role to play in encouraging missional transformation among UK churches. They welcomed us warmly and sincerely. In fact, everyone we met at International Teams UK was extremely helpful and hospitable to us and were especially considerate about Brennen. We met with too many church leaders to share each story here, but we were both struck by the testimony of Dave, an intern in youth ministry who walked away from faith as a teenager when his father became very ill. Over a meal in a Guildford pub, he told us how his faith was shaken to its foundations. Dave's youth pastor in Northern Ireland pursued a relationship with him and persevered through years of rejection. It was the love of Christ flowing through that youth pastor that finally brought Dave back to Jesus. Those we met seemed to agree unanimously that evangelical churches in the UK would be strengthened by establishing partnerships with churches like Redeemer and organizations like International Teams UK. Our shared hope is that as a result of such partnerships more people would encounter the risen Christ in the UK, and that as they grow in Christ, more of God's love would be shared among the nations. We continue to ask God how we can be a part of the work He is doing in the UK. The fruit from our trip continues to mature as we process what we experienced. God's vision for His Kingdom is far bigger than any of us individually. It involves people from every nation, tribe, and language through all time. Each of us at Redeemer is a part of that unfolding reality, and that is often an exciting and fearful proposition. As we were reminded this past Sunday, letting God lead means allowing Christ to reign in our hearts as King. We risk our desires, comfort and plans to obey what Christ asks us to do---because as we grow in our relationship with Christ, our desires, our comfort and our plans come from Him, not from this world. In Christ, God adopts us as sons and daughters, as co-heirs of the Kingdom, and our relationship to Christ our King becomes our foundational reality. It involves taking seriously the gifts God has given us and seeking how He would have us use them to express His love in this world. As our family seeks to follow Christ and to grow in Him, we hope you will also be encouraged to experience the resurrection power and the leading of the Holy Spirit in your lives. If anyone would like to talk with us in more detail about our trip, we would be more than happy to do so. Contact us at jmiller@stablegroup.com or dmiller@stablegroup.com. We have been greatly encouraged by your prayers and love. May the unity of the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus Christ increase among us to the glory of God the Father. The Millers
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My dear King, my own King,
UK churches find themselves ministering to an increasingly diverse post-Christian culture that is even more fully developed than in the US. The Christians we met were wonderful, faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, and were a great encouragement to us. Still, many of these brothers and sisters have children and friends who walked away from the faith. As we listened to these leaders talk about the church and the culture of the UK, we began to see the evangelical churches we visited as outposts in a darkening cultural landscape. We continually prayed, "Lord, show us what you want us to see." It is a complex picture, and we only scratched the surface on this trip.
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