My wife told me that I need to think of a name for this part of our ministry. This is my working title...
Here I sit on a Sunday morning usually I would be finishing up work on the message, but this morning there is none. I think that this is harder for me than anyone else. I love to bring God's word every Sunday, it is my passion so a Sunday like this is hard for me in preparation. Why is there no message or music today? TODAY WE SERVE!
We as fusion take the 5th Sunday of the month and devote it to serving at the Boys and Girls Club (our regular meeting place). Why? Vision. This is one of the distinctives of our vision and a passion of my heart. Matthew 20:26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Most of all we serve in response to Jesus. We serve because he served. We desire to live like Jesus and live the call that God gave us in the moment he saved us. So this Sunday is the beginning of a significant piece of our Church. Why are we doing it on Sunday? Because is insures that this is a priority. This is our way of loving the place we meet at in a tangible way.
So here I sit thinking of what could be... will what we are doing change the world? I do not know. Will the Boys and Girls Club be clean? A part of it. Will Jesus be lifted up through our service? YES!
We gather to serve today. Should it be such a strange idea?
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
a kind word...
I have found out lately what a kind word can mean to a hurting person. The value of speaking and being a person of peace is amazing and so simple. It all starts with how you view people around you.
I recently was told by a young lady that one day while she was working she was having a rough day, everything was coming apart around her and she was in a fog. She said that the sound of my voice, the kindness in my demeanor and the gentle words of encouragement I gave her helped her out immensely. Nothing profound, nothing from my training just kindness. Although she saw me, I cannot help but think that the voice that she heard that brought peace was that of Jesus Christ. Sometimes Jesus works in and through us as we do the routine of our day. Sometimes the most gentle of words can change a person's day and that is of eternal value because every person has eternal value.
There is question here: How do you treat the people you encounter? How do you speak and act toward people who work at coffee houses and restaurants? Do you treat them with value? Do you treat them as if the bear the image of God? Or do you treat them as means to your end, a good customer experience?
The people of the Kingdom of God are not consumers but agents of healing and change. We MUST at all times live that way and then the littlest of things will be done in the name of Jesus Christ.
I recently was told by a young lady that one day while she was working she was having a rough day, everything was coming apart around her and she was in a fog. She said that the sound of my voice, the kindness in my demeanor and the gentle words of encouragement I gave her helped her out immensely. Nothing profound, nothing from my training just kindness. Although she saw me, I cannot help but think that the voice that she heard that brought peace was that of Jesus Christ. Sometimes Jesus works in and through us as we do the routine of our day. Sometimes the most gentle of words can change a person's day and that is of eternal value because every person has eternal value.
There is question here: How do you treat the people you encounter? How do you speak and act toward people who work at coffee houses and restaurants? Do you treat them with value? Do you treat them as if the bear the image of God? Or do you treat them as means to your end, a good customer experience?
The people of the Kingdom of God are not consumers but agents of healing and change. We MUST at all times live that way and then the littlest of things will be done in the name of Jesus Christ.
Monday, May 3, 2010
May 2010 Rhodes Family Church Planting Update
Dear Family and Friends,
We baptized two people on Easter! We were blessed to celebrate our first Easter at Fusion by baptizing two members of our congregation. We know that God is working in the community of Chico and we will see many more people following Jesus and being baptized.
One of the things that has marked the ministry here in Chico is one of the first things that we did when we moved here. And that is serving the community. We have worked at the Jesus Center, Love Chico, Special Olympics and many others. This continues to be the case. We continue to serve at the Jesus Center on a regular basis. Many of the people who would not come to Church continue to join us. This has been a way to have amazing spiritual conversations while loving the homeless and hurting. Please pray that these conversations can turn into people following Jesus.
Pray with us as we take May 30th and do a service project together. We will still be meeting at Boys and Girls Club but we will gather to worship through working together rather than through music and the word. I know God will do amazing things as we love on the Boys and Girls Club in the name of Jesus.
Jeremy has also been made the Chaplin of the Chico Fire Department, which is another amazing service opportunity for Fusion. This month he will be taken around to all the stations and meet the firemen. We are very excited about the relationships that will be forged through this.
Please also continue to pray for our financial support. We are making ends meet, but the money we have in our reserve is slowly going down as we wait for the additional commitments of support that we need. If you would like to commit support to us you may do so by contacting the Converge office at (209) 830-6222 or going online at www.sunergeo.org/donate.html. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We couldn’t do this without you! If you are currently supporting us and have not yet sent in your support for May please do so at this time. Thank you!
Blessings!
Jeremy and Elizabeth Rhodes
Monday, April 5, 2010
I wrote and prayed early Easter morning
I am feeling strange today- too many distractions on Easter.
God please calm my distractions... help me focus, focus on you not anything else. You are my first love and the knowledge and relationship with you should permeate all that is done today and everyday...
numbers, finances, children's programming, set up... focus
focus on God
like the sun, may I see everything by You
may you be my worldview, my filter
the Way, Truth, Life
calm my heart
You today, tomorrow, all days.
This prayer I prayed Sunday morning during my prep time. A half hour later we arrived at our facility to find that we were locked out. The person assigned to let us in forgot to come and we scrambled to find a place for the gathering, they have since apologized for their mistake.
God still showed up as we crammed people into the place where we were scheduled to have a potluck and baptism after our gathering. I thank God for the immediate application to the prayer and the people that were baptized. Praise God that he does not dwell in buildings but in the hearts of his people.
God please calm my distractions... help me focus, focus on you not anything else. You are my first love and the knowledge and relationship with you should permeate all that is done today and everyday...
numbers, finances, children's programming, set up... focus
focus on God
like the sun, may I see everything by You
may you be my worldview, my filter
the Way, Truth, Life
calm my heart
You today, tomorrow, all days.
This prayer I prayed Sunday morning during my prep time. A half hour later we arrived at our facility to find that we were locked out. The person assigned to let us in forgot to come and we scrambled to find a place for the gathering, they have since apologized for their mistake.
God still showed up as we crammed people into the place where we were scheduled to have a potluck and baptism after our gathering. I thank God for the immediate application to the prayer and the people that were baptized. Praise God that he does not dwell in buildings but in the hearts of his people.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
April 2010 Rhodes Family Church Planting Update
Dear Family and Friends,
April is here, springtime and Easter season are upon us. We will celebrate our first Easter as Fusion Church on April 4th. It is an exciting time in the life of Fusion. On Palm Sunday we had a guest worship leader and 68 people joined us for worship. We are praying that the ones who came without a church home will connect with us and join us again! It was a great experience to see so many new faces and get a chance to share the vision with them.
Please join us in prayer as we continue to build our core group. We are so amazed at how God has brought different people to Fusion. When we thought things would go one way, He would give us a big surprise and a bigger blessing instead. One of the most exciting things about the people we have right now is their heart to serve. As soon as the service is over everyone takes time to help tear down and clean up. It is just one of the ways we have seen the vision of Fusion tangibly lived out in the lives of our church family.
We ask that you pray with us for our gatherings each Sunday. This Easter two people will be baptized and we will be following that by sharing a meal. This will be our second Sunday spent sharing a meal and we feel this is an important part of community, breaking bread together. Please also continue to pray for our financial support. We are making ends meet, but the money we have in our reserve is slowly going down as we wait for the additional commitments of support that we need.
If you would like to commit support to us you may do so by contacting the Converge office at (209) 830-6222 or going online at www.sunergeo.org/donate.html. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We couldn’t do this without you! If you are currently supporting us and have not yet sent in your support for April please do so at this time. Thank you!
Blessings!
Jeremy and Elizabeth Rhodes
April is here, springtime and Easter season are upon us. We will celebrate our first Easter as Fusion Church on April 4th. It is an exciting time in the life of Fusion. On Palm Sunday we had a guest worship leader and 68 people joined us for worship. We are praying that the ones who came without a church home will connect with us and join us again! It was a great experience to see so many new faces and get a chance to share the vision with them.
Please join us in prayer as we continue to build our core group. We are so amazed at how God has brought different people to Fusion. When we thought things would go one way, He would give us a big surprise and a bigger blessing instead. One of the most exciting things about the people we have right now is their heart to serve. As soon as the service is over everyone takes time to help tear down and clean up. It is just one of the ways we have seen the vision of Fusion tangibly lived out in the lives of our church family.
We ask that you pray with us for our gatherings each Sunday. This Easter two people will be baptized and we will be following that by sharing a meal. This will be our second Sunday spent sharing a meal and we feel this is an important part of community, breaking bread together. Please also continue to pray for our financial support. We are making ends meet, but the money we have in our reserve is slowly going down as we wait for the additional commitments of support that we need.
If you would like to commit support to us you may do so by contacting the Converge office at (209) 830-6222 or going online at www.sunergeo.org/donate.html. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We couldn’t do this without you! If you are currently supporting us and have not yet sent in your support for April please do so at this time. Thank you!
Blessings!
Jeremy and Elizabeth Rhodes
Sunday, March 21, 2010
struggle, struggle but never break free!
I learned this morning that the reward is in the struggle with scripture. Many times I set out to conquer scripture to explain it plainly, how many times have I missed God in the process...
This morning as I was finishing up my message a man who was a missionary kid on his way out of a coffee house said to me "May the peace of the LORD be upon you." As his words washed over me I saw all of the ministry that I had done over time in perspective.
The struggle with scripture... the struggle with God through Christ, that is the process by which we are refined and our hearts connect with God.
May your truly struggle with God in the quiet times of your life...
This morning as I was finishing up my message a man who was a missionary kid on his way out of a coffee house said to me "May the peace of the LORD be upon you." As his words washed over me I saw all of the ministry that I had done over time in perspective.
The struggle with scripture... the struggle with God through Christ, that is the process by which we are refined and our hearts connect with God.
May your truly struggle with God in the quiet times of your life...
Monday, March 1, 2010
March 2010 Rhodes Family Church Planting Update
Dear Family and Friends,
February was a very exciting month for us! Fusion began meeting weekly at the Boys and Girls club on Sunday Mornings. We meet in their gym and the children meet in a youth room adjacent to the gym. We have a great band that consists of college guys and Elizabeth leads vocally.
We have had the privilege of several of our supporters spending Sunday morning with us. Thank you so much to those of you that came. It means a lot to us knowing there are people that believe in what we are doing here.
We are spending these first morning gatherings building a solid core group and then we will do some marketing and have an official launch for the Church. We are very excited about who God is bringing into our midst! We have some people that are still a little on the fence and we ask that you pray with us that they will jump over onto our side! We also have several very committed college students and we are extremely thankful for them.
Our Thursday night Bible Study is also growing. The time and energy we have spent building relationships here is coming to fruit and it is exciting to see these people start participating in the Fusion movement.
We ask that you pray with us for the families that we have become friends with here to come to our church. There are several couples that we know that do not currently have a church home and we are praying they will join for a Sunday and see what we are all about. We also need prayer for additional financial support. We are still short on what we needed to raise for this New Year. The Lord is still providing for us as He always has. We pray that new supporters would come forward to fill the gap that we have.
If you would like to commit support to us you may do so by contacting the Converge office at (209) 830-6222 or going online at www.sunergeo.org/donate.html. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We couldn’t do this without you! If you are currently supporting us and have not yet sent in your support for March please do so at this time. Thank you!
Blessings!
Jeremy and Elizabeth Rhodes
February was a very exciting month for us! Fusion began meeting weekly at the Boys and Girls club on Sunday Mornings. We meet in their gym and the children meet in a youth room adjacent to the gym. We have a great band that consists of college guys and Elizabeth leads vocally.
We have had the privilege of several of our supporters spending Sunday morning with us. Thank you so much to those of you that came. It means a lot to us knowing there are people that believe in what we are doing here.
We are spending these first morning gatherings building a solid core group and then we will do some marketing and have an official launch for the Church. We are very excited about who God is bringing into our midst! We have some people that are still a little on the fence and we ask that you pray with us that they will jump over onto our side! We also have several very committed college students and we are extremely thankful for them.
Our Thursday night Bible Study is also growing. The time and energy we have spent building relationships here is coming to fruit and it is exciting to see these people start participating in the Fusion movement.
We ask that you pray with us for the families that we have become friends with here to come to our church. There are several couples that we know that do not currently have a church home and we are praying they will join for a Sunday and see what we are all about. We also need prayer for additional financial support. We are still short on what we needed to raise for this New Year. The Lord is still providing for us as He always has. We pray that new supporters would come forward to fill the gap that we have.
If you would like to commit support to us you may do so by contacting the Converge office at (209) 830-6222 or going online at www.sunergeo.org/donate.html. Thank you all for your prayers and support. We couldn’t do this without you! If you are currently supporting us and have not yet sent in your support for March please do so at this time. Thank you!
Blessings!
Jeremy and Elizabeth Rhodes
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