GCI Media – Page 29

Devotional – Our Rags to His Riches

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)

My granddaughters love the story of Cinderella, and I love reading it to them. The rags-to-riches story of the young servant girl has inspired many movie plots and fired the imagination of children around the world.

The Bible discusses the sacrifice of Jesus in terms of a rag-to-riches story: our rags to his riches. “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags”, it says in Isaiah 64:6. In this, Isaiah is explaining our need for grace. There is nothing we can do to gain or maintain salvation. All the rules we follow to that end, all the good things we do in order to try to qualify for salvation, are as filthy rags.

The problem is that, as hard as we may try to change and clean ourselves up, we remain stained with sin. It is only God who can remove those stains. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God says to us, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you” (Zechariah 3:4). It is in Jesus that “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Cling to this promise today! Because of the cross, we go from our rags to his riches.

Prayer: Loving Father, thank you for Jesus, who died for me and rose for me, and has clothed me with the riches of his righteousness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

By James Henderson
National Director
Edinburgh, Scotland

Vibrancy

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

Throughout my letters and articles, you’ll notice I continually circle back around to the vision of Healthy Church. With Jesus as our chief cornerstone, Healthy Church is the clear path that the Holy Spirit is taking GCI. I am pleased there is enthusiastic support for this journey forward.

As I travel the globe building relationships and sharing a vision with pastors and churches in the 78 countries where GCI has a presence, I have my eyes open to Healthy Church sightings. I recently had multiple sightings on my trip to Accra, Ghana.

Under the leadership of African Superintendent Kalengule Kaoma and Regional Director of West Africa Emmanuel Okai, we held a wonderful three-day conference over the Easter weekend. During our leadership meetings, while sharing a story of one of the healthier churches in his region, Pastor Okai used the alluring word “vibrant.”

Vibrant means: energetic, bright and full of life. Energetic in the sense that there is passion and determination; bright refers to being brilliant, attractive and striking; full of life implies a life that is stimulating, dynamic, and life-giving. Vibrant is a powerful adjective to describe healthy church.

I quizzed Emmanuel on what factors fed into the vibrancy of the church he was praising, and he didn’t hesitate. He spoke freely about the following attributes:

This church is not only multi-generational, but they also have active families with youth. Did you get that? Families where parents and children are actively participating and serving in the life of the church.
There is outstanding worship with lively worship music. Not just a few songs that serve as an introduction for the sermon to come, but music where people are singing loudly, passionately and from their hearts. In Africa, the worship includes all ages dancing up the aisles to the front, waving their handkerchiefs, and worshipping with their entire being.
Vibrancy hinges on the value of including all members in places where they best fit, with an eye on the younger emerging leaders. Emmanuel is keen about seeing the existence of “farm systems” where younger leaders are being groomed to take on significant roles in the church. This is more than a value or system; this is a culture that is formed over time.

I loved how Emmanuel shared these signs of health and vibrancy. He was passionate in wanting the other leaders to move in this direction, and I am fully on board with this goal. A great reminder he shared with the group is that many of our younger ones hold responsible positions in their workplace, and yet we tend to hold them back from greater responsibilities in the church. He asked the group “How old were you when you were ordained or asked to pastor your first church?” It gave me pause to think. I was 26 when I was ordained an elder, and I pastored my first church at age 30. I am grateful I was given the opportunity to participate in ministry at an early stage in my life.

I encourage you to thoughtfully consider these attributes of vibrancy. I invite you to join me in the quest to identify even more signs of good health as we live out a Christian life in this community called church.

Praying for a vibrant GCI,

Greg Williams

Regional Celebration Registration

Harvest Your Blessings! Don’t miss out on registration for the North Central or East Celebration.

In 2019, GCI will host Regional Celebrations in the USA:

June 21 – 23: Southeast – Charlotte, NC (registration closed)
September 27 – 29: North Central – Noblesville, IN
October 25 – 27: East – Ocean City, MD

Click the image below to for more information and registration options.

Crossing Borders Summer 2019 Registration

Registration Open for Crossing Borders Summer 2019

Crossing Borders provides twice-a-year mission trips into Mexico. Here are some important reminders and requests:

We have openings for anyone age 15-99 to come along on our summer mission trip to Mexico. Our 27th trip will be June 22-30. Please consider for yourself and let others know about this opportunity. Details at: www.cbmission.org

We need a camp host(s) for the summer trip — one or two people to stay at camp on the U.S. side of the border and cook meals and do some laundry. Very important support for the mission trip! Let us know of anyone interested and we can discuss in more detail.

For our winter trip Dec. 6-9, we need additional shoebox gifts for children in Mexico. We thank God for people in various churches, clubs, school groups, neighborhoods who send/bring us shoebox gifts every year. But our number of boxes has decreased lately, and we could use an additional 400-500 boxes. Could you organize a group to pack and send gift boxes that we hand-deliver to needy children in Mexico? For more info, click on Shoebox tab at: www.cbmission.org.

Contact Lee Berger for details at Lee.Berger1@gmail.com or 903-746-4463.

Death of Paul Kurts Sr.

It is with sorrow that we share the passing of Paul Kurts, father of former Southeast Regional Director Paul David “PD” Kurts. Please pray for PD, his family and all those who knew and loved Paul. Many of you have known Paul through the years because of his visits and preaching in GCI. We are deeply grateful for his service as a minister of the gospel and his passionate desire for people to know Jesus Christ and the love of the Father. The following announcement was written by his daughter Allison.

Paul Kurts (far right) pictured here with family.

Paul Kurts, 74, of Madison, AL, passed away on May 21, 2019. He was survived by his wife, Pat, and three children, Paul D. Kurts (Emma L. Kurts) of Hickory, NC, Michael S. Kurts of Madison, AL, and Allison K. Meadows (Paul W. Meadows) of Alabaster, AL; his five grandsons, James P. Kurts, Michael D. Kurts, Maxwell W. Meadows, John P. Meadows, Jones W. Meadows; his twin sister, Pattie K. McGee; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Mr. Kurts was a 1966 graduate of Mississippi State University, where he attended on a full golf scholarship and was in the Air Force ROTC. He served in the ministry for 40 years before retiring in 2009. Mr. & Mrs. Kurts were married in 1965 in Jackson, MS, and celebrated their 53rd anniversary last September.

Through the years, Mr. Kurts touched many lives through pastoral care, children’s ministry, and teen ministry. He enjoyed spending time with his wife, children, and grandsons, playing golf and giving golf lessons, fellowshipping with his high school friends regularly, encouraging other people, writing about trinitarian theology, composing poetry, and staying busy with his entrepreneurial endeavors. He liked Mexican food, perhaps a little too much, and made the best homemade salsa you’ve ever tasted.

Throughout his entire life, his love and passion for dogs were unparalleled, having cared for many, including Schnauzers, Yorkies, Beagles, Rat Terriers, and Dachshunds. He was richly blessed and will be greatly missed. Plans for a Celebration of Life gathering will be communicated in the coming weeks.

Cards may be sent to:

Mrs. Pat Kurts
243 Rainbow Dr
Madison, AL 35758-8776

Netherlands Blessing of the Children

Hans de Moei, Jeanine, Jester and Selah Vrijmoeth.

Hans and Denise de Moei, Matthias, Yvonne and Ezra den Hartog.

In the Netherlands, we celebrated two blessings of the children. On April 28 we performed the blessing for Selah Vrijmoeth, the daughter of Jester and Jeanine Vrijmoeth from The Hoeksteen congregation and on May 26 we had the blessing of Ezra den Hartog, son of Matthias and Yvonne den Hartog from The Hoeksteen congregation as well. Ezra is the first grandchild of Hans and Denise de Moei, pastor couple of The Hoeksteen.

Meet Len Joson

Click on the image below to learn about GCI Philippines Media Director Len Joson.

Coach Clinic Registration

GCI Coach Clinic

For any ministry leader from a GCI church desiring to grow in areas of leadership, discipling others and building a healthy team through a dynamic relating style known as coaching.

We Are GCI Series | Judah Dwight Sanders

We Are GCI Series is a collection of videos where various GCI leaders and members are highlighted.
In this episode, GCI Pastor, Judah Dwight Sanders, shares a little about himself and why he likes to serve in GCI and in what ways he connects the most with God.

Devotional – May We Forgive Them

In the narrative of Jesus’ ministry on earth, there are many stories that demonstrated his profound love for those he encountered. And to be honest, many people he encountered were not necessarily that easy to love. But no other story captures the true depth of Jesus’ love, compassion and grace as that moment when looking down from the cross at the throng of jeering spectators and Roman soldiers, Jesus uttered through his agony the words, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Forgiveness in the face of betrayal or hurt is seldom easy for us. The pain—both physical and mental—lingers, and too often our thoughts turn to anger and revenge. After all, somebody has to pay for what has been done to us. The Bible uses the big word “propitiation” to express that same sentiment. “Somebody has to pay.” When Jesus looked out at the crowd surrounding him – and by extension at us – he saw all the hurt and pain that would ever be inflicted upon us – and by us – as a result of the evil in this world. And in his love for us, he became that propitiation.

May we, through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, begin to see the people surrounding us through the same eyes that looked down from the cross. To see beyond the evil they may do, and to comprehend the unconditional love held out for each of them, and for us, by the Father, Son and Spirit. The Father’s forgiveness is already ours. May we graciously extend that forgiveness to others.

By Tim Sitterley
Regional Director USA Western Region
Eugene, Oregon

Author: GCI Media