An Evening of THE BLESSING - March 28

An Evening of THE BLESSING.

Sunday, March 28

5 PM

Hosted and led by Linda and John Piippo

Pizza afterwards!

Redeemer Fellowship Church

Tim Curry's Message on the Sermon on the Mount (3/21/21)

In fifty years of ministry I have not heard, nor seen, a message like the one Tim Curry gave at Redeemer, on Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. (Fast-forward to 15:30)

Letter to My Church Family - March 23, 2021

 

                                                                    (Lake Erie sunrise)

March 23, 2021

Good Morning Redeemer Family!

This Sunday coming morning we will focus on Jesus, riding into Jerusalem, on that first Palm Sunday.

Then, on Sunday, at 5 PM, Linda and I will host The Blessing Gathering. 5 PM. Pizza afterwards. If you are coming and want to donate a 2-liter soda, thank you.

On Thursday evening, the night before Good Friday, our Youth Group will lead us in a communion service.

There will be a youth overnight on Friday, April 2. 

Then, on Sunday, April 4, we are going to part like it's Easter!

I hope you are well today. If you have a PRIVATE PRAYER REQUEST for me, I will be taking time to pray this afternoon.

Finally, I just posted this to my blog. 

Remain in Christ (Rather than Occasionally Visiting Him)

Blessings to you all this day,

PJ

Remain in Christ (Rather than Occasionally Visiting Him)

Green Lake Christian Conference Center (Wisconsin)

At Redeemer we teach people to abide in Christ. For followers of Jesus this is the first thing we must learn, and live. 

To "abide," or “remain” in Christ means “to take up permanent residence” (Greek meno). "Abide" is a dwelling word. This refers to a slow cooker, not a microwave; a lifestyle, rather than a trend; a relationship, rather than a rule.

It's like being a branch, connected to a Vine, who is Christ. This is about a day after day after day thing, rather than occasional visits.

Greg Boyd writes:

“Branches don’t visit a vine once in a while on special occasions. Rather, branches are permanently attached to their source of life. So too, followers of Jesus are to take up permanent residence in Christ, remaining attached to him at all times as their source of their Life.” (Boyd, Present Perfect, 34)

Tim Curry's Message on the Sermon on the Mount

In fifty years of ministry, I have never heard, or seen a message like this before.

It was moving, overwhelming...   

Find a quiet place, and watch it to the end.

(Here's the LINK.)

How to Lead a Spirit-led Church

 

The way to lead a Spirit-led church is to be led by the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the church's leader, not you.

To do this, you must walk closely to the Holy Spirit. This is the first thing you must do in leading a Spirit-led church.

This requires, on your part, time and focus and intentionality. You must intentionally spend time with the Holy Spirit. You cannot multi-task this time with the Spirit. Blessed are the mono-taskers, for they shall hear from God. If you are too busy for this, you will end up with a You-led church.

You must have a deep, abiding, praying life. There simply is no substitute for this. Talking about this does no good. You must do it.

You must cultivate a growing, ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit. You must do this, before doing anything else in the church.

You need to hear from God, every day. 

This requires growth in spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment is in direct proportion to intimacy with the Holy Spirit. The more familiar you are with the Spirit, the more you will grow in ability to separate the voice of God from the world's competing voices.

You need to disciple your people in living the abiding-in-Christ life, the listening-to-God life, the discerning-the-Spirit life. As this happens, practice corporate discernment. Discern what God is saying through your people.

You have to risk everything on this; viz., on the conviction that the Spirit is now saying "Do this," "Go here," "Do not do this," and so on. You must hear the voice of the Spirit, and, when instructed, you must follow the Spirit's leading.

This means you must give up control. A control freak is incapable of following the Spirit. To be led is to give up control.

These are the things you must do, in leading a Spirit-led church.

***

For more detail see my two books.

Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God

Leading the Presence-Driven Church

Easter Thoughts: #1

 

                                                                   (Art by Gary Wilson)

I began studying the historical resurrection of Jesus in 1970. I was a new Christian. My two campus pastors were William Lane Craig, and John Peterson. Both are excellent scholars. They introduced me to apologetics. I fell in love with it. To this day, my love for defending the faith has not waned.

I will preach at Redeemer on Easter Sunday. I always begin preparing in advance. This year is no exception.

Part of my preparing is re-reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. 

Between now and Easter Sunday I intend to post Resurrection Thoughts. Here's a quote from Wright's book. He argues "that the only possible reason why early Christianity began and took the shape it did is that the tomb really was empty and that people really did meet Jesus, alive again, and that, though admitting it involves accepting a challenge at the level of worldview itself, the best historical explanation for all these phenomena is that Jesus was indeed bodily raised from the dead."

I am fully aligned with Wright on this. Fifty years of ongoing studies on the historical resurrection take me to these conclusions. (Including my doctoral dissertation, which was on metaphor theory, and drew heavily on theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg's analysis of the resurrection in his monumental Jesus: God and Man. 

Easter Sunday is ,my favorite weekend of the year. I am going to celebrate, for the 51st time as a Jesus-follower! Will you be joining me?

Self-Forgiveness As a Gateway to Healing (Sermon)

                                                                               (Detroit)

You can listen to my sermon "Self-Forgiveness As a Gateway to Healing" HERE.

This was a follow-up to my sermon "Forgiveness As a Gateway to Healing," which is HERE.

Redeemer Coming Events

Click HERE for Redeemer coming events.

Renewal School of Ministry - Spring Classes Begin April 5!

 

I am pleased to teach in Renewal School of Ministry.

We are offering four classes this Spring, beginning April 5.

For more information and registration, see HERE.

RENEWAL SCHOOL OF MINISTRY

THE NEXT WINTER/SPRING 2021 TERM STARTS APRIL 5 !

 See What people are saying about the Renewal School of Ministry

Holy Spirit Renewal Ministries (HSRM) is very excited about our online school, The Renewal School of Ministry (RSOM). We’re inviting you to participate in this unique opportunity to learn and grow spiritually and to become better equipped for the ministry God is calling you to.  

Take classes for credit toward a Certificate of Completion or audit classes if that meets your personal needs and interests for $10.00 per course or $25.00 per Term.

Any and all courses or seminars are open to all interested.

No prior or current enrollment in RSOM classes is required to attend any individual class or seminar.

The only requirement is to pay the admission fee at the time of registration for the individual course or seminar.

What is a HSRM Certificate of Completion?

The courses for Winter/Spring 2021 are listed below. 

Click on the course title for the course descriptions.

  

RSOM Courses, 2021 Winter/Spring Terms

Term 2 From April 5, 2021 to May 16, 2021

All Classes start at 8 pm ET, 7 pm CT, 6 pm MT, 5 pm PT

How to Study and Interpret the Bible -F                 Clayton Ford

Starting Sunday April 11 for 6 consecutive Sundays ending Sunday May. 16, 2021

Prayer That Works - O                                           John Grove

Starting Monday April 5 for 6 consecutive Mondays ending Monday May 10, 2021

New Testament Survey -F                                       Ed Owens

Starting Tuesday April 6 for 6 consecutive Tuesdays ending Tuesday May 11, 2021

Pilgrim's Progress: A Journey in Discipleship -I          Cheri Ford 

Starting Thursday April 8 for 6 consecutive Thursdays ending Thursday May 13, 2021

 

SPECIAL SEMINARS: 

The Adventure of Giving

Facilitators: Rev. Pamela Wantz & Dr. Clayton Ford

Saturday April 24, 2021

8 am-10:30 am PT,  9 am-11:30 am MT,  10 am-12:30 pm CT,  11 am-1:30 pm ET

Is giving to God's work a joyous adventure for you? Or is it something else...? Many Christians give to God's work grudgingly, out of a sense of duty, or out of guilt if they don't feel they give enough. But God intends that your giving be a source of joyous adventure and abundant blessing. 

In this seminar Dr. Clayton Ford and Rev. Pam Wantz will use the Scriptures and share personal experiences from their own lives, as well as the lives of others, and how they have discovered the joy and adventure of giving. 

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap" (Luke 6:38). 

 

BASIC CLASS INFORMATION

Course Times/Dates:  

Classes will be a 1.5 hour Zoom meeting for six weeks on the same night each week starting at 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT / 6 pm MT / 5 pm PT. Currently there are classes scheduled for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. 

Cost:  

The cost to participate in RSOM is so  low  it is astounding!  You’ll be charged a fee of $10 per course, or a maximum of $25 for all courses taught per six-week term.  It is our desire to make these courses accessible to all.