Once again I find myself in a coffee shop with little sleep and a hope in my heart. Elizabeth and I have resembled zombies for the past week because our kids are sick and so they wake up every few hours crying throughout the night. They slept through the night when they were babies so this is a new experience for us to enjoy.
However I did not start this blog for pity's sake no it has a purpose... and it will be revealed... right now!
I will be preaching at Bridge Community Church this Sunday in Redding. I am very excited to be there. I have not been there since they have committed support to us. Their Pastor, Joel asked me to fill in for him because he is going out of town and I was very happy to do so because I love getting a chance to guest speak at different places. Then something occurred to me... it has been five months since I have even lead a bible study. This should not be a problem writing sermons is like riding a bicycle, it is fun, you need to wear a helmet and you never forget how.
So back to why I am in a coffee shop with hope in my heart. I still have noy written the sermon for Sunday and I am hopful that God will let me know what I am preaching because I do not have a clue. Now Joel if you are reading this do not worry because it will spoil your trip.
I know what some of you are thinking, it is valentines day talk about love. Well valentines day was invented by people who sell cards, candy and flowers besides it has been Gabriella's Birthday for the past four years. So you see I now sit... wait... an idea... no... no... it is gone!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
family affair
Today was another great day in beautiful Chico CA.
I was at my usual hangout Starbucks. I know, I know, I am not supposed to like it there but I do! I have met some great people there and had some good conversations.
I had a chance to follow up with a guy that I met a few days ago. He is not churched but he seems interested in checking us out. However this blog is not about me, not hardly this is about the family. I get a lot of people checking in with me and asking how it is going, the answer to that question changes every few moments. The person that is my hero today is Elizabeth.
Today, Elizabeth and the kids went to the library for story time. This happens twice a week and many moms in the community bring their kids. During story time today Elizabeth had a chance to meet another mom with children the same ages as our kids. Through the conversation she found out what we do and she said that she and her husband might be interested in helping. You can trust me it is hard to have any exchange of words with the kids around but just like that she made a connection, she is better at this that I am. You see my hero.
Please pray for us as the good work continues...
I was at my usual hangout Starbucks. I know, I know, I am not supposed to like it there but I do! I have met some great people there and had some good conversations.
I had a chance to follow up with a guy that I met a few days ago. He is not churched but he seems interested in checking us out. However this blog is not about me, not hardly this is about the family. I get a lot of people checking in with me and asking how it is going, the answer to that question changes every few moments. The person that is my hero today is Elizabeth.
Today, Elizabeth and the kids went to the library for story time. This happens twice a week and many moms in the community bring their kids. During story time today Elizabeth had a chance to meet another mom with children the same ages as our kids. Through the conversation she found out what we do and she said that she and her husband might be interested in helping. You can trust me it is hard to have any exchange of words with the kids around but just like that she made a connection, she is better at this that I am. You see my hero.
Please pray for us as the good work continues...
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
rocking the shema
For those who are not hip to the Jewish tradition the Shema is their call to worship from Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. It is said in the Shabbat which is their service and that is where I was on Friday night.
On Friday morning I was out in Starbucks (I know I should be in local coffee shops but that is where I am now) and I met a Jewish gentleman. I was asking him about church names and he informed me that he was Jewish and invited me to synagogue. I am currently field testing names Encounter Church, InterActive Church, Tapestry Church (please leave your name preference in the comments on this post, please do not be sad if you preference is not chosen). At the Shabbat service I had a great time we sang some Old Testament passages in Hebrew. I must admit my voice does not sound on key in Hebrew either.
I had the privileged of having some dialogue with the Rabbi and she invited me to the inter-faith meetings and I will definitely blog about those. Before I spoke with her I had a very interesting conversation with a man who was once on a launch team for a church plant that did not get off the ground in Chico and now he converted to Judaism. I stood perplexed as he relayed the story and I was wondering were Jesus went in this guy's life. To know Jesus and then decided he is no long the Messiah and continue to wait for one was new to me. I have met people who walked away from the church but they left religion all together. Never have I found anyone to go from Christianity to Judaism. Our hope is that he may come back.
Hope is a funny thing. It is term thrown around recently, but what is hope? Hope speaks to a world and says that while it may look dark now, God is in control. Though the storms may wage, God is in control. While people are killing one another, God is in control. And while we want to be, God is in control. It is hope that sent us to Chico and it is hope that God gives to all of us. Hope that eternal life waits for all of us.
Please pray for us as we meet these great people. We already love them before we know their name.
On Friday morning I was out in Starbucks (I know I should be in local coffee shops but that is where I am now) and I met a Jewish gentleman. I was asking him about church names and he informed me that he was Jewish and invited me to synagogue. I am currently field testing names Encounter Church, InterActive Church, Tapestry Church (please leave your name preference in the comments on this post, please do not be sad if you preference is not chosen). At the Shabbat service I had a great time we sang some Old Testament passages in Hebrew. I must admit my voice does not sound on key in Hebrew either.
I had the privileged of having some dialogue with the Rabbi and she invited me to the inter-faith meetings and I will definitely blog about those. Before I spoke with her I had a very interesting conversation with a man who was once on a launch team for a church plant that did not get off the ground in Chico and now he converted to Judaism. I stood perplexed as he relayed the story and I was wondering were Jesus went in this guy's life. To know Jesus and then decided he is no long the Messiah and continue to wait for one was new to me. I have met people who walked away from the church but they left religion all together. Never have I found anyone to go from Christianity to Judaism. Our hope is that he may come back.
Hope is a funny thing. It is term thrown around recently, but what is hope? Hope speaks to a world and says that while it may look dark now, God is in control. Though the storms may wage, God is in control. While people are killing one another, God is in control. And while we want to be, God is in control. It is hope that sent us to Chico and it is hope that God gives to all of us. Hope that eternal life waits for all of us.
Please pray for us as we meet these great people. We already love them before we know their name.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
internet ready!
Well it has finally happened we have internet. It turns our that At&t internet was down for the entire area but now I feel like I can breath again. Hello internet friends!
Now that we are officially on the field I will more more forthcoming with information because it does not pertain to further fund raising.
Well last night we finally met all of our neighbors and we are the only ones on our street with small children but of all ten of them we have only met one Christian family. So please pray that we can continue to grow the relationships that we have started and see them all come to know Jesus or at least begin that journey.
Today was a great day. I got up and an extremely early hour to go and pray at the offices of a church here in town. The church is six years old and was planted by the current pastor who also showed up in town with a couple names and a young family. At the prayer meeting was a group of people that are involved in homeless ministry. I sat and listened, praying with them and was struck by their heart for the broken. Afterward I had coffee with the pastor and he shared their journey and the process he used for gathering people. He was very kind and encouraging and if interested in allowing us to team up with them in some of the homeless outreach that they do. I am so thankful that God has placed so many interesting people in our path.
Pray that we are able to reach people for Christ and start building our launch team!
Now that we are officially on the field I will more more forthcoming with information because it does not pertain to further fund raising.
Well last night we finally met all of our neighbors and we are the only ones on our street with small children but of all ten of them we have only met one Christian family. So please pray that we can continue to grow the relationships that we have started and see them all come to know Jesus or at least begin that journey.
Today was a great day. I got up and an extremely early hour to go and pray at the offices of a church here in town. The church is six years old and was planted by the current pastor who also showed up in town with a couple names and a young family. At the prayer meeting was a group of people that are involved in homeless ministry. I sat and listened, praying with them and was struck by their heart for the broken. Afterward I had coffee with the pastor and he shared their journey and the process he used for gathering people. He was very kind and encouraging and if interested in allowing us to team up with them in some of the homeless outreach that they do. I am so thankful that God has placed so many interesting people in our path.
Pray that we are able to reach people for Christ and start building our launch team!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
January 2009 Rhodes Family Church Planting Update
Dear Family and Friends,
GOD DID IT! We have reached our first fundraising goal and moved to
We came up for a day with a list of properties to view and a battle plan. After viewing all the properties and not feeling they would work for us, we stopped and prayed. We not only prayed for a house, but also for the people in
We have been here for a week now and are settled and starting to make connections in the community. We have met a few of our neighbors and are planning to introduce ourselves to everyone on our street. The people two doors down are a wonderful Christian couple who invited us in and have already offered to help us in any way they can. They even have a pool that they have offered to the kids during summer!! They have a church home and we don’t want to take them from that, but it is so nice to have people so close who love God!
Now that we are on the field we really need your prayers! We have a tremendous task ahead of us that we can only do with God’s guidance. We also need you to continue to be faithful in sending in your support. Our financial stability is dependent upon those that have supported us to be faithful in sending in that check every month. If you have not yet started sending us the support you have pledged please start now!
Even though we have reached our first goal the fundraising is not over. After the first year the support we get from Sunergeo decreases by half so we will continue to need the support of those around us. If you have not yet committed to support us and would like to you may do so at www.sunergeo.org/donate. If you have already pledged support to us and would like to sign up for automated debits you may also do so at www.sunergeo.org/donate. We encourage you to do this so that you don’t have to have the pressure of remembering to send a check every month.
We love you all and are so thankful for your faithful prayer and support. We would never have made it to
Blessings!
Jeremy and Elizabeth Rhodes
Monday, January 26, 2009
in Chico
We are in Chico officially church planting. There are more specifics to come.
I write this from a Starbucks hoping that my Internet at home will work soon so that we can get the newsletter out. Sorry for the lack of updates.
We moved here on January 17th and spent all last week unpacking.
We are now ready to rock and roll.
I write this from a Starbucks hoping that my Internet at home will work soon so that we can get the newsletter out. Sorry for the lack of updates.
We moved here on January 17th and spent all last week unpacking.
We are now ready to rock and roll.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Rhodes Family December 2008 Update
Dear Family and Friends,
What a year it has been!! As we come to the close of 2008 we look back and see how much our lives have changed. We began the year in Lodi, CA where Jeremy was on staff full time at Calvary Bible Church. We are now ending the year in Fremont, CA awaiting our next adventure of Church Planting in Chico, CA. It has been a very challenging year for us, but we are glad to say we have come out of it stronger and better than when we went in.
For those of you who don't know, after leaving Calvary Bible Church we decided to begin the adventure of church planting. After going to an assessment center in Wisconsin in July we were approved to plant a church with Converge PacWest. We are very excited to partner with this organization. They are extremely supportive and we are blessed to have found them. For the last several months we have been raising our support so that we can get to Chico and start! We are only $132 short of our monthly goal and biting at the bit to get going! We are hoping to be in Chico by the middle of January.
Elizabeth has been working the past several months at her parents medical practice, while Jeremy has been staying at home with the kids and planning for our future church. We have both learned so much through this experience. Jeremy has been able to walk in Elizabeth's shoes for the last few months and Elizabeth has been able to see how much she loves staying with the kids. We are both anticipating going back to their previous roles, but wouldn't take this time back for anything. God has taught us both so much and we have a better appreciation for each other!
Gabriella turned three at the beginning of this year. She has been a joy (and a frustration at times). She is very smart and compassionate. She loves to sing and dance and play with her baby brother. She is a very good big sister and loves to play mommy with Josiah. Although they do fight her compassionate nature always wins out.
Josiah just turned two at the beginning of this month. He is definitely a boys boy. He loves to growl and pretend to be all sorts of animals. His favorite is an elephant, and he does a great impression of one. He is very independent and can entertain himself very well. He loves to get into things that he shouldn't, but what two year old boy doesn't. He is also very sweet natured and loveable.
We hope this Christmas is filled with much joy and celebration for you all. Hopefully you will be spending wonderful time with family and remembering the birth of our Savior. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives and couldn't do any of this without your prayer and support. If you have pledged support to us, please send in your December support. If you have not and would like to help push us past that goal you may do so at www.sunergeo.com/donate.
Blessings!
Email: pastor.jdr@gmail.com
Amount Left to Raise: $132/ month
What a year it has been!! As we come to the close of 2008 we look back and see how much our lives have changed. We began the year in Lodi, CA where Jeremy was on staff full time at Calvary Bible Church. We are now ending the year in Fremont, CA awaiting our next adventure of Church Planting in Chico, CA. It has been a very challenging year for us, but we are glad to say we have come out of it stronger and better than when we went in.
For those of you who don't know, after leaving Calvary Bible Church we decided to begin the adventure of church planting. After going to an assessment center in Wisconsin in July we were approved to plant a church with Converge PacWest. We are very excited to partner with this organization. They are extremely supportive and we are blessed to have found them. For the last several months we have been raising our support so that we can get to Chico and start! We are only $132 short of our monthly goal and biting at the bit to get going! We are hoping to be in Chico by the middle of January.
Elizabeth has been working the past several months at her parents medical practice, while Jeremy has been staying at home with the kids and planning for our future church. We have both learned so much through this experience. Jeremy has been able to walk in Elizabeth's shoes for the last few months and Elizabeth has been able to see how much she loves staying with the kids. We are both anticipating going back to their previous roles, but wouldn't take this time back for anything. God has taught us both so much and we have a better appreciation for each other!
Gabriella turned three at the beginning of this year. She has been a joy (and a frustration at times). She is very smart and compassionate. She loves to sing and dance and play with her baby brother. She is a very good big sister and loves to play mommy with Josiah. Although they do fight her compassionate nature always wins out.
Josiah just turned two at the beginning of this month. He is definitely a boys boy. He loves to growl and pretend to be all sorts of animals. His favorite is an elephant, and he does a great impression of one. He is very independent and can entertain himself very well. He loves to get into things that he shouldn't, but what two year old boy doesn't. He is also very sweet natured and loveable.
We hope this Christmas is filled with much joy and celebration for you all. Hopefully you will be spending wonderful time with family and remembering the birth of our Savior. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives and couldn't do any of this without your prayer and support. If you have pledged support to us, please send in your December support. If you have not and would like to help push us past that goal you may do so at www.sunergeo.com/donate.
Blessings!
Email: pastor.jdr@gmail.com
Amount Left to Raise: $132/ month
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