In an earlier post, we reported on the ChurchNext training conducted in July in Asheville, North Carolina, by GCI Church Multiplication Ministries. Videos have been produced with excerpts from the training segments at that conference. You will find those videos in the YouTube playlist embedded below. These videos are helpful tools for equipping your congregation’s leaders and workers in key aspects of our participation with Jesus in his disciple-making mission. The videos address various aspects of that mission in and through newly planted churches and established churches.
We were saddened to learn that GCI elder John Connors died of pancreatic cancel on September 10th. John served as an assistant pastor in the Boston, Massachusetts congregation.
John is survived by his wife Robin and their children Jennifer, Jackie and John.
Cards may be sent to:
Robin Connors 232 Pearl Street Newton, MA 02458-1345
Here are helpful resources related to the topic of evangelism (involving ministries of cultivating, planting and reaping) in and through the local church. To celebrate the fruit of this work in one of our congregations, click here.
Identifying evangelistic gifts
In a post on the Exponential website, church planter Beau Crosetto writes this:
If we are going to activate evangelistic people in our ministry, then we have to know what they look like! Sometimes this can be pretty easy if they are highly gifted and are more developed. But if they are a young person, it may not be as clear from the surface. What do you look for to identify those people with the Ephesians 4 gift of evangelism (part of the five-fold gifts) in your church? Here are six indicators I often consider…
To read Beau’s article, click here. Though it is written from the perspective of a church plant, it applies directly to established churches as well.
Tools that help
In a post on The Exchange Blog, entitled “Strategic Evangelism,” Ed Stetzer lists several tools that are useful in helping members share in the Holy Spirit’s work of evangelism. To read Ed’s post, click here. For related resources produced by GCI, click on these links:
CrossRoads Christian Fellowship, the GCI church that meets and ministers in Tipp City, Ohio, is pastored by a team of elders led by senior pastor Jim Valekis. The team includes associate pastor Becky Valekis (Jim’s wife), who coordinates discipleship programs. For over 10 years, CrossRoads has emphasized evangelism as the win segment of its win-build-equip-multiplydisciple-making pathway. Their evangelistic efforts have been of two types: person-to-person connection, and community outreach and engagement events.
CrossRoads’ faithful, persistent and creative efforts to share in what Jesus is doing in the community have born significant fruit, seen in a “Down to the River to Pray” baptism service held on August 24 at which 17 people of various ages were baptized—15 are residents from the surrounding community who are new to GCI, and 2 are children of long-time GCI members. The service was packed with family and guests, with one deciding at the event to come forward for baptism. Another person who was moved by the service has been baptized since.
Reflecting on the day, pastor Jim commented:
We have a lot of work ahead to help these new converts learn to live out their new transformed lives in Christ. Many are from badly broken situations, so it will be a challenge to help them learn to follow the Spirit into the true freedom that is theirs in Christ. This weekend is the culmination of years of hard work in which “sweet inspiration” often was followed by “sweet exhaustion.” But it’s been worth it—we’ve been shown that even though Jesus does it all for us, he wants us to do it with him. His grace “works!” And what a joy it has been to see so many lives transformed by Christ! It’s such a blessing to be enabled by the Spirit to enter with our Lord into the joy of his harvest.
Here are comments from others concerning the baptism service:
It was more than amazing! Being led by God and by every person at CrossRoads has made my life so fulfilled! I hope we all touched someone at the service so that they may let God lead them too!
I shed more than a few tears at the service. I have been so, so blessed to be part of an amazing movement at CrossRoads of bringing people to Jesus Christ. I had no idea that when my wife and I walked through the church doors that Halloween night several years ago, just how much our lives would change. Yesterday, almost my entire family was there. My wife, my mother, father, sister, all four of my children and all four grandchildren. A grandson and two of my children, who have struggled to resist God and have struggled through so many things in their lives, accepted Christ as their Savior and were baptized. Now they will begin to see what wonderful changes are about to occur in their lives.
I want to thank each of you for your prayer and, of course, your service that made for a wonderful Celebration Sunday! I thank God for you all! It was truly a wonderful, joyous and humbling day! Glory to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
The thought that struck me at the service was that even though God sends the message, the message doesn’t always get received, or if the message is received, the feet are sometimes too timid to move. What I saw on display this weekend, however, was something far different. The message WAS received and the feet took off running. You can lead followers and help them grow, however you can develop leaders and grow explosively. What I am seeing at CrossRoads Church are leaders developing leaders through Christ and the results speak for themselves!
Big things are upon us—I pray that we stay close to God and to each other so we can take this movement where God wants it to go!
Below is a short video that recaps pastor Jim’s sermon of introduction to the baptism service (given at church) followed by scenes from the baptism service itself, held at a nearby river. We welcome these new believers into the body of Christ and celebrate with CrossRoads this fruit of their faithful labor in the Lord.
Please pray for Thérèse Cayer, wife of GCI-Canada elder Denis Cayer. The couple serves the Trois Rivieres and Quebec City congregations.
Thérèse saw her doctor recently and she was diagnosed with cancer in the membrane covering her left lung and adjoining structures. The cancer is inoperable and incurable. The only thing that can be done to extend her life is to undergo chemotherapy. She will be having further tests to see if the cancer has spread and she’ll have a drain tube installed to empty liquid from her lung. She is not having any pain, though she understands that she is facing a mighty battle. She has chosen to let God lead, and desires to continue for now on the preaching teams in both congregations.
As a child, there were many things I wanted to be “when I grew up”—but a trapeze flyer was not one of them! I recall watching these artists at work and being both fascinated and frightened. I’d hold my breath as they’d let go of the trapeze bar, soar through the air and be caught (hopefully) by a fellow artist. I wasn’t sure I would be able to trust anyone enough to take that leap of faith!
Miguel and Juan Vazquez were among the best trapeze flyers in the business. In 1982 they made history in Tucson, Arizona, when 17-year-old Miguel landed the first quadruple somersault on the flying trapeze (watch him do it on another occasion at http://youtu.be/qFEB7yFGgYE). This was a stunning accomplishment, not only because no one else had done it before, but because most experts thought it impossible. Miguel got a lot of praise, but the true hero was the catcher, Miguel’s brother, Juan.
Used with permission from The Last Great Circus Flyer website.Juan Vazquez on the catch bar in 2009. Used with permission from The Last Great Circus Flyer website.
Here is how Juan described the event in the book, The Greatest Trick:
Hanging upside down, I am swinging toward [Miguel] as he is hurtling toward me at 75 miles per hour. Now I’m reaching for him; my hands are straining toward his, his hands are straining toward mine. I have him! Our hands are locked and holding!
Even the most expert trapeze flyer is unable to pull out of a quadruple spin and grab the bar on their own. The catcher must grab the arms of the spinning acrobat, pull them in and then not drop them. Who would you trust to do that for you?
Fortunately, most of us will never be called upon to fly from a trapeze bar hoping that our partner will catch us. But we all will face situations in life where we must reach out in trust—and such trust doesn’t develop overnight. Miguel learned to completely trust Juan over years of working together.
Trust seems to develop in two ways: 1) Directly, through a relationship that involves trusting a person over a period of time. 2) Indirectly, through watching another person trust someone, and then, through that example, learning to trust that someone yourself. Both methods apply in learning to trust God.
Here are people of faith in the Bible who we can learn from:
Noah believed God’s plan for him to build an ark.
Abraham believed God’s covenantal promise to bless everyone through him.
Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about the final resting place of his bones.
Moses’ parents hid him for three months.
Moses encountered God in the burning bush and led his people out of captivity.
Joshua followed God’s plan to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
The disciples left their respective jobs and followed Jesus.
Paul went on his various missionary journeys.
And, as the author of Hebrews writes:
I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground (Hebrews 11:32-38).
The Spirit enables us to learn to have faith in God through these examples of amazing trust. As we read the stories of faith in the Bible, we learn that God was, is and always will be faithful to us. No matter what Israel did, God remained faithful to his people and to the covenant he made with them. The Lord was also faithful in his mercy and love and faithful to his plan to send his Son to be the Redeemer, Reconciler and Savior not only of Israel, but of all people, everywhere and in all times. Reflecting on these examples, we learn to trust God as we grow in our own relationship of faith with him.
In Jesus, God has given us the perfect brother to work alongside: “Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters” (Hebrews 2:11). We trust Jesus because he is always with us and for us. Whether stumbling through the routine of daily challenges, or facing unexpected crises that feel like flying through the air doing quadruple somersaults, we know that Jesus is there to catch us—every time. Hear his words of reassurance:
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand (John 10:27-29).
We are secure in Jesus! We can trust him completely to always catch us, no matter how many “somersaults” life brings our way.
Trusting Jesus with you, Joseph Tkach
P.S. We recently posted at www.gci.org/media/conference2014 video and audio recordings of the plenary presentations given at the 2014 U.S. regional conferences. I encourage you to watch them if you were not able to attend one of the conferences and to share them with others. They unpack our conference theme of GCnext: sharing Jesus’ faith, love & hope.
As we pray for persecuted Christians around the world, our prayers can be informed by a letter sent recently by Evangelical Christian leaders (including NAE President Leith Anderson) to U.S. President Barak Obama, encouraging him to strengthen actions to protect religious minorities in the region (particularly Northern Iraq) that is being severely impacted by the terror inflicted by radical Islamists seeking, by force, to establish an Islamic State. To read the letter, click here.
This update on John Halford’s request for prayer is from his daughter Becki Halford Brown.
John in better times–we pray he will return to full health soon.
I wish I could give you all a little more of an uplifting update regarding my dad. He is still very weak, hardly eating at all and sleeps a lot of the day.
We (and he) were hoping for a little more progress by now. However, we have been told that his condition is normal—the chemo and radiation he has gone through really takes a toll on the body. Still, it is heartbreaking to see him in a lot of pain and tired all of the time.
Though Dad has been given permission to eat anything he wants now, he says everything tastes like dry cardboard and is hard to get down. His body aches all the time, especially around his shoulders. Although he stays positive and tries to smile, he really is miserable. He so badly wants his life back and to be visiting with his friends. One short visit wipes him out for the rest of the day.
We would greatly appreciate your continued prayers for my dad’s healing and recovery and for some rest for my mom. She is dad’s full time nurse and is very tired too. Cancer is a truly horrible disease that affects the entire family.
Cards may be sent to:
John & Pat Halford 5836 South State Road 129 Versailles, IN 47042
