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We all desire and long to be known by others, and to know others in return. To be known and to know come in different forms for different people. For some that is a two hour, pour out your heart, transparent conversation; for others that is receiving a desired gift or favorite brand of mint chocolate chip ice cream from a thoughtful spouse or friend.
This Sunday we will look at Psalm 139 and notice how God delights in searching for and knowing us as his people in deep ways, often beyond our imagination. Join me in preparing for this study by reading through Psalm 139 a few times, pausing to be in wonder at the depth of God’s knowledge of us, and then joining King David as he concludes this psalm with the prayer of verses 23-24. A prayer that invites God to continue his searching and knowing of us that results in asking him to lead us to live the life that we were created to live.
I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday.
Pastor Adam
Thursday, July 10, 6:30 pm, Hosted by Emily Patterson, Newport Beach Come create a masterpiece - or have fun trying! We’ll provide the canvas, paint, and samples for you to copy. You bring your creativity and an open mind! No experience necessary at all, just come have fun finding your inner artist. Poolside painting optional, so bring a sweater if you get chilly. Rumor has it one of our resident artists will be joining us and giving pointers so don’t miss it! Contact Emily Patterson, emilywpatterson@gmail.com, with questions or to RSVP.
Summer is here! I hope you are looking forward to a good few months. Try to take some extra time to spend with friends and neighbors. Go outside. Take a walk. Have the kids play in the front yard. You may be surprised at how easy it is to meet your neighbors by simply making a point to get outside. I am planning to take a few weeks of vacation in July so Rev. Joe White with RUF at UCLA will preach twice and Pastor Adam will preach as well.
This Sunday Rev. Joel Pelsue is with us preaching from 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 on the beauty of brokenness. Kintsukuroi means “to repair with gold”, the art of repairing pottery with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.
You are more beautiful for having been broken and repaired with gold. What a picture of the gospel!
I look forward to worshiping together.
Pastor David
Don’t worry. I am leaving, but I am not leaving you alone. Jesus tells his disciples that he is leaving. He will no longer be with them, but they are to continue his work. As we have been exploring these last weeks, John 13-17 records some of Jesus’ last words to his first followers. We can imagine the look on their faces by listening to Jesus' response to their emotion. Jesus says to them, "Let not your hearts be troubled” and “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:1, 18). I imagined shocked, even tearful, silence from the disciples as they realized the gravity of what was happening.
They were going to be left alone.
What if you never had to feel alone again? What if you never had to feel abandoned, overwhelmed, rejected? What if you could live with confidence that you had at your finger tips all you needed for a life of joy and deep connection?
Jesus explains to his first followers and to us, that he will not leave us as orphans. Do we believe it? How would our lives be different if we did?
Take a few minutes and prepare for worship. Read John 13 and 14. Pray, meditate on this passage, and talk about it with friends and family.
Have a great weekend. I can’t wait to worship together.
Pastor David
Saturday, June 21, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm, Irvine Join us for our next Central County Parish gathering. We will be having a picnic at Sweet Shade Park in Irvine (15 Sweet Shade, Irvine) on Saturday, June 21st, 11am-1pm . Invite your friends, neighbors, and co-workers who live in the Irvine/Tustin area to participate in this event. We'll provide the drinks and paper goods, and you just need to bring a food item to share.
For this gathering, and our following gathering in August, we will also be collecting school supplies, especially notebooks, for School on Wheels, an organization serving homeless children in Orange County.
Click HERE to view the Parish Gathering invitation and RSVP.
Contact Shawn Monterastelli with questions, smonterastelli@hotmail.com.
Monday, June 16, 6:30 pm, Irvine Lanes
John 13:12-20 Where is your ambition taking you? It is good and right to be passionate and driven; to desire and work hard towards accomplishing worthy goals. However, questions haunt us: How do we know we are not wasting our life on the wrong things? In the wrong ways? For the wrong reasons? Even hurting or neglecting those around us we are called to love.
Last week we started a four week series focusing on John 13-17. The first half of the Gospel of John follows Jesus’ mostly public interactions, teachings, and miracles over the course of years. John 13-17 takes place over just a few hours in one little room. It’s private. It’s small. It’s quiet. These are the final words, the final instructions, of Jesus to a small group of his closest followers tucked way in an upper room in the corner of Jerusalem.
Jesus tells them, "I am leaving. I have important work for you to do, and this is how you are going to find the strength to get it done."
We saw last week that as Jesus’ followers, both then and now, we are to continue his work. You are continuing the work of Jesus. I asked you to say to yourself this week right before you move into that new task, or project, or conversation, “I am continuing the work of Jesus with these people, in this situation, in this place.” Did you try it? Did it change how you thought about those people, how you approached that situation, or how you felt about that place? You are continuing the work of Jesus. But how?
This week we begin to answer the how. Jesus gives us a stirring picture, challenging and inspiring. Not only does this picture give us a beautiful pattern to follow, it actually redeems our ambition and saves us from wasting our life.
I can’t wait to hear from Jesus and worship together this Sunday.
Pastor David
Redeemer’s middle and high schoolers are planning to kick off the summer with an unforgettable overnight trip to Green Valley Lake. They will build relationships with one another as they enjoy the fresh mountain air, study the Bible, swim in the lake, rent canoes & pedal boats, go fishing, hike to beautiful vistas, play games and hang out with friends. This experience will not only be memorable and impactful, it will also be well supervised and SAFE with quality adult leaders. The boys will be sleeping in tents under the stars and the girls will be enjoying the pleasure of sleeping in a warm cabin with beds.
For more information, click HERE for a flyer or contact Adam Feichtmann, adamf@redeemeroc.org.
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I am leaving. I have work for you to do and this is how you are going to find the strength to get it done. For the next four weeks we will be focusing on John 13-17. You may have noticed this division in your reading of John’s Gospel. Chapters 1-12 in John’s Gospel focused on the public ministry of Jesus. His interactions with individuals and large crowds calling them to believe him, to entrust their lives to him. Jesus performs miraculous signs: water to wine, healings, multiplying small amounts of food to feed thousands, even raising a man from the dead. These signs were intended to show us who Jesus really is and to give us a glimpse of the kingdom he is building. John 1-12 is public, and Jesus focuses on calling people to entrust their lives to him and follow him.
John 13-17 is private. It’s small. It’s quiet. These are the final words, the final instructions, of Jesus to a small group of his closest followers tucked way in an upper room in the corner of Jerusalem. Jesus is saying to them, "I am leaving. I have work for you to do, and this is how you are going to find the strength to get it done."
Do you see the relevance for us? For us Jesus is not leaving, he is gone. Now what? John 13-17 is about the “now what?”
I look forward to worshiping together this Sunday and listening to Jesus answer our question, “Now what?”
Pastor David
We love our worship space at the temple, but in the long term we will need our own church home. The question is not a matter of if we will ever need to move, but when. We are not in a rush; we are only making good use of the time we have to think responsibly through this important decision.
The facility team will be giving an update to the congregation at our next Town-hall meeting June 1st, 2014.
Due to another year of generous giving at Redeemer the session allocated $132,180 more into our building fund, bringing the total to $332,180. Thank you for your kingdom minded generosity.
The Children's Ministry Committee is excited to announce that this summer, starting on June 8th, our kids will be starting a Sermon Time series on the newly adapted version of Pilgrims Progress! Your children's imaginations will be captured as they are introduced to John Bunyan's enduring masterpiece. They will learn important truths about the gospel and gain a richer understanding of Christ's work in the life of Christians.
Books and take home material for families to read throughout the summer will be available weekly on the book table before and after the worship service.
For more information about the curriculum, check out www.childrenspilgrimsprogress.
John 11 Why doesn’t Jesus show up? Sometimes when we need him the most he seems the most distant. What do we do with that?
This Sunday we read an account of a family that desperately needed Jesus to show up. And he didn’t. A least not in time and not in the way they wanted. Do you know what that’s like?
This passage of scripture invites us to ask Jesus some hard questions and we will. But trust me, the way Jesus answers those questions in this passage are beautiful, life changing.
I can’t wait for us to gather to worship and to hear from Jesus together this Sunday.
Pastor David
Friday, May 30, 6:30-8:30 pm, San Juan Capistrano The South County Parish invites all of Redeemer to join them for a talk from theologian Dr. Kelly Kapic. (Read More)
What does it mean to give your life away in light of the Gospel? How might understanding God’s gift of himself free us to live with grace? Before we can talk about how to love and serve others, we must first explore the radical love God has shown us in Jesus Christ. Join us for Conversations in Spiritual Formation (sponsored by the Retreat Ministry at Saddleback Church) as we consider how Jesus is God’s great gift to the world, and what that might mean for our lives as those who have been captured by his love.
“How can we love others? Because He first loved us. And because He continues to love us. God’s love is a powerful liberator. It frees us from the trap of self-absorption and opens us to the other. Love gives us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hands to extend to our God and neighbor. Love is brave, truthful, and generous. Love loves. But when we try to love without first being soaked in divine love—the love of the name—we easily turn 'love' into something ugly. Our endeavors can get twisted into manipulation, consumption, and idolatry. Christian love can never grow out of mere willpower; it must always find its source and strength in God.” — Dr. Kelly Kapic (from “How Then Should We Love”, Read Here)
When: Friday, May 30, 6:30-8:30PM
Where: Saddleback Rancho Capistrano Campus 29251 Camino Capistrano San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Cost: $10.00 Coffee and Dessert will be served.
Registration Deadline: Tuesday, May 27
Click HERE for more information or to register for the event.*
*South County parishioners, please RSVP with Kem Erskine, kem@redeemeroc.org.
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Friday, May 30, Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa, Showtime at 7:30pm Dan Niles will be screening his new film at the Rock Harbor Film Festival on May 30th. Here are some words from Dan about the film:
When I heard of a film festival in Orange County, it was the excuse and the push from God to go and create. What came from the experience was the film, "The Account."
We each have a story to tell, and each story has great importance. But the importance of my story or your story isn't found in the circumstances we've come from. The importance is found in the glory of God that has been hidden within our hearts because we have gone through circumstances and have come to know our God in a unique and individual way.
The thought that motivated me was: the Artist of creation, found the picture of His glory would not be as complete without a specific color. So He created you, so that He could display that specific color of His redemption, grace, and love. The importance of a film like this was not to retell a story similar to what we've all heard before, but instead to display the reality of God's glory alive within a heart. If God truly has created each of us to be a specific color in the picture of His glory, then this film was my attempt to reveal as much of His picture as possible.
I would like to invite you to come support me in a pursuit to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Rock Harbor Church 345 Fischer Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92626
The process of identifying, training, electing, ordaining and installing elders and deacons will have deep and long lasting impact on Redeemer. Here is an overview of the process.
1. Nomination Period
A nomination period is an open time frame in which members of Redeemer can make nominations for elders and deacons. The open period for nominations will be four weeks, May 18 to June 15, 2014. First gain the permission of the nominee and please use the provided nomination form. Before actually nominating someone, make sure to:
2. Candidates
The elders will collect the nominations, carefully evaluate them, inform the qualified nominees of their nomination and to which office, and will interview those interested in pursuing the process regarding issues of life and call. Nominees who proceed beyond this step become candidates.
3. Training and Mentoring
The candidates will be trained and mentored by the elders in preparation for their examinations (listed below).
4. Examination
The Session interviews Candidates again to discern any change in sense of calling or core theological convictions, and each nominee will be examined in:
5. Election, Ordination and Installation
The Session will make public the recommended list of candidates and an election will be held to vote on the recommended candidates. A simple majority of the members in attendance is needed to elect new elders and deacons. Following election, Candidates will be ordained and installed in a worship service.
If you have any questions about this process, feel free to talk to any of the elders. Please be in prayer for our church and this entire process. Ask the Lord to help us recognize those whom the Lord has brought to us to serve and lead our church.
(Acts 20:17-38; Eph. 4:11-22; 1Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9; 1Peter 5:1-4)
“It belongs to the office of elder, both severally and jointly, to watch diligently over the flock committed to his charge, that no corruption of doctrine or of morals enter therein. They must exercise government and discipline, and take oversight not only of the spiritual interests of the particular church, but also the Church generally when called thereunto. They should visit people at their homes, especially the sick. They should instruct the ignorant, comfort the mourner, nourish and guard the children of the Church. They should set a worthy example to the flock entrusted to their care by their zeal to evangelize the unconverted and make disciples. All those duties which private Christians are bound to discharge by the law of love are especially incumbent upon them by divine vocation, and are to be discharged as official duties. They should pray with and for the people, being careful and diligent in seeking the fruit of the preached Word among the flock.”
(Book of Church Order 8-3)
(Acts 6:1-7; 1 Timothy 3:8-13)
“The office [of deacon] is one of sympathy and service, after the example of the Lord Jesus; it expresses also the communion of the saints, especially in their helping one another in time of need… It is the duty of the deacons to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress. It is their duty also to develop the grace of liberality in the members of the church, to devise effective methods of collecting the gifts of the people, and to distribute these gifts among the objects to which they are contributed. They shall have the care of the property of the congregation, both real and personal, and shall keep in proper repair the church edifice and other buildings belonging to the congregation… In the discharge of their duties the deacons are under the supervision and authority of the Session… The deacons of a particular church shall be organized as a Board, of which the pastor shall be an advisory member. The Board shall elect a chairman and a secretary from their number and a treasurer to whom shall be entrusted the funds for the current expenses of the church.”
(Book of Church Order 9-1; 9-2; 9-4)
(Book of Church Order 24-6)
It is fun to remember the good times, and even more fun to share those stories with each other around a campfire or table. As we remember and tell those stories we help refresh memories for each other and generate hearts of gratitude. This Sunday we will be looking at Psalm 136, a psalm of praise where the Israelites paused to remember all the good things that God had done for them as acts of his steadfast love. And as a result of their remembering, they responded in gratitude by giving thanks to God.
In preparation for our study, spend 5-10 minutes as an individual or family around a table remembering and sharing some of your best memories with each other. And like Psalm 136, let those memories and stories lead you to give thanks to God.
I look forward to remembering the great story of God and responding by giving thanks through song beside you all this Sunday as we worship together.
Pastor Adam
This Sunday we will purposefully be keeping our children in worship with us during the sermon time, instead of releasing them as normal. At Redeemer it is a joy to have our children worship next to us in the pews week after week. We are also grateful to have quality and gifted leaders teach them the truths of God's Word during the sermon time in an age-appropriate way. For most of us, the balance of having our children in for a majority of the worship service and out for the sermon time portion is helpful training as they express and are formed by our worship patterns. In an effort to further train our children to love the preaching of God's Word, we have established a pattern of keeping them with us during the sermon four times a year (once each season). For us to do this well, the following things must happen:
1. A shorter sermon with simple illustrations and application must be preached. Pastor Adam will preach a condensed sermon on Psalm 136, with the emphasis being on God’s enduring love and our response of giving thanks.
2. Inform your children ahead of time that they will be staying with you for the sermon. Read through the passage before the worship service and encourage them to listen to the preacher, and especially to his stories. You can even encourage them to ask you questions during and after the sermon.
3. Grab a children's handout if it will help. When you enter the chapel on Sunday, there will be a children's handout related to the sermon passage on which they can answer questions and draw. Encourage your upper elementary children to use their own Order of Worship for taking notes, but feel free to grab a handout and crayons for your lower elementary children.
As usual, childcare will be available for children 3 years old and younger.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email our Assistant Pastor, Adam Feichtmann, adamf@redeemeroc.org.