Saturday, March 24, 2012

Close2Home Schedule for Sunday and Spring Break

Hey Everyone,

Spring break is under way, and some of our community have already hit the road. Doug and his kids are off to New Zealand for three weeks, and Jonathan is in Spain and France on a school trip with some of his friends and classmates...so if they come to mind pray for safety in travels.

This Sunday we will be meeting at our place at 11:00am. It will be a potluck so bring some food to share. Last week we talked about inviting some friends to join us. So depending on who is coming, we will adapt our time together. We are going through the Engage series by Carl Medearis and Jay Pathak, a Vineyard pastor in Denver. This week's topic will be Two Paradigms for Sharing Your Faith.

Congratulations to Joel and Amy on the purchase of their home in Ranchlands. We're thrilled for you guys. We also look forward to the Kingdom Adventures God has in store for you there as you become friends with your neighbours.

FYI, I'm in the midst of the beginning stages of planning a ministry trip to India for the latter part of October. We will be visiting some Vineyard communities that I coach in the foothills of Himalayas. If you are interested in going let me know.

Due to spring break and Easter, we will not be meeting for a couple of weeks after Sunday's gathering.

Peace on you all,

Tim and Esther

Friday, March 16, 2012

Happy St. Patty's Weekend

Yes, for all those of you who are of Irish decent, or for all of us wannabees, this Saturday is St. Patrick's Day...so get out and have your green beer and dance to an Irish jig. Perhaps we should try this out on Sunday as a form of worship:---)...anyone want to lead us.

This Sunday we'll be meeting @ 10:30am at Beth's place at 4301A - 70st NW in Bowness. We'll be sharing God stories from the week, praying for one another, and continuing on in our Engage series. This week's subject is called Know Nothing.

There was a cool story that happened right after we prayed for some Bownessian youth last Sunday...but I won't steal Emily's thunder...so we'll keep you curious till Sunday, where you'll just have to come and hear for yourself.

Bring some food to share and hang out after if you like. If you would also rsvp us by phone, text, or e-mail if you are coming that would be great.

Well that's all for now,

Tim and Esther

Friday, March 9, 2012

Serving In The Hood

Would love to hear the responses and take aways for those of you who were able to make it to Simply Jesus this last weekend. Will spend a little time doing that this Sunday.

We as a family really connected naturally with Carl and loved the way he presented who Jesus is, and how Jesus is at work all around us drawing people to Himself. We are not here to peddle the religion of Christianity, but to be and speak of the Good News of Jesus. The truth of the matter is that we don't have to try and convince or convert anyone. That's God's business! We simply need to be prepared to tell our story of what Jesus means to us, and what He has done in our lives. It helps to know the parables Jesus told and weave them into our conversations as stories that illustrate what Jesus and His Kingdom are all about. So here's a challenge to read through the Gospels and become so familiar with the parables that you can re-tell them in your own words to someone else!

This Sunday we will be meeting at our place at 10:30am and beginning the Engage series done by Carl and Jay, a Vineyard pastor in Denver, when they spent 9 weeks in a trendy bar in Denver doing Q & A about Jesus. This is a tool that will help us connect to what Jesus is already doing in the lives of those we live around, work with, recreate with, or go to school with. It is also a tool for helping us learn how to converse about Jesus with those who are turned off to Christianity, but open to Jesus.

We also want to talk about how we can serve in our neighborhoods together. Something is percolating with youth in Bowness bubbling up out of the Boys and Girls Club. Stephanie now works there, and Emily has been blessed to start something. Not sure exactly what God is up to, but we want to partner with Him.

Bring some food to share and hang out after if you'd like.

Mike's hockey team the Sabres are in the playoffs this weekend. If you want to see a different side of Esther you should see how fanatical and competitive she gets when cheering for her son's hockey team:---)...so shoot up some prayers for the eardrums of our fellow fans. I think I've gone partially deaf from sitting beside her at some of these games. On a more serious note, we would appreciate your prayers as we continue to build friendships with our 'hockey community' and very shortly 'soccer community'. Over the years we have built a trust with some of these folk who live in Bowness, and we know that God is at work. We simply want to care for them, and see community form around them where they experience Jesus for themselves.

Peace on you all,

Tim and Esther