Bhutanese Church Praise Report

A few weeks ago Pastor Norbu Tamang shared with us that his church (Christian Community Friends Church Columbus) was in need of a few items, which included Christmas gifts for the children in his church, tambourines, a guitar, and a sound system. The immediate need was for Christmas gifts for 28 children in his church. We wanted to help out and determined that we needed to raise a total of $500. On Sunday morning, December 13th, the Lord moved in our midst and Orange Friends Church donated $506 to the cause! With that donation, Rochelle White purchased the gifts and put together 28 "shoe boxes" (similar to Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes) filled with gifts for the children. The gifts included Bibles for the older children, Bible story books (Veggie Tales) for the younger children, hats, gloves, socks, Chapstick, pens, pencils, word search books, candy, cross necklaces for the girls, flashlights, watches for the older boys, body wash for the older girls, pajamas for the little ones, shirts, and a toy and a stuffed animal for each child. 

On December 20th, Orange Friends Church raised an additional $360 for the 18 families that attend the Bhutanese Church and the amount was exactly enough to purchase $20 gift cards from Kroger for each of the families! The same day, Pastor David Mabry preached at the Bhutanese church and delivered the gifts, a guitar that someone donated, and tambourines that Orange Friends Church donated. Willoughby Hills Friends Church donated $1,000 towards the sound system and Karl Freudenreich (Worship Administrator at Orange Friends Church) helped purchase and assemble the system. He also trained some leaders on how to use it. 

Thank you so much for your generosity! Please keep the Christian Community Friends Church Columbus (Bhutanese Church) in your prayers. The church has many young families and has great potential in reaching out to other Bhutanese refugees.

 

Living Revival

Have you experienced something new in your faith the last couple of weeks? Or do you desire for God to do something new in your faith? Perhaps you have recognized your need for Jesus because of sin and shame. Or you have been convicted about how your faith has grown tepid or cold. Either way, you have cried out to Jesus, asked for forgiveness, and you have proclaimed surrender to His work in your life. That is great! Now what?

My encouragement to you is to ACT! Move! Respond in such a way that confirms this surrender!  Do you desire or are you experiencing revival, renewal, or rejuvenation in the Lord? Here are some steps of faith to fan the flame, feed growth, and to position yourself to experience ongoing change.

1.  Pray believing He hears and answers

"But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." James 1:6-8

"The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." James 5:16b

2.  Worship expecting the Holy Spirit to move

"...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,..." Ephesians 5:18b-19

"...true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:23-24

3.  Read, study, and meditate on scripture knowing that the Holy Spirit is speaking.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

4.  Love generously those around you.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35

5.  Share your story of transformation in Jesus everyday knowing that the Holy Spirit is moving in the lives of everyone you meet. He wishes to use your story, your words, your life to bring life to others! 

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:20-21

None of us would win the lottery and keep it locked up or buried in a can in the back yard! We would spend it, invest it and give it away! Faith unspent, un-invested, and selfishly hoarded is a dead faith.

You want revival, renewal, transformation?

Live it!

THE STORY

I have a friend who is fascinating to watch with a group of strangers or meeting someone for the first time. For instance, he would stop by a small town diner, having never been there before, and walk out two hours later having made some of the best friends in the world. He would say, "If I can just get people to tell and listen to stories about life, I have met a new friend for life!" A good story can make a huge impression. Particularly if that story is true. There is something that draws us in. We can relate. We connect it with the details of our life.

What do we do when that story is the greatest story ever told? The true account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is THE STORY of all stories. We can relate to details and see ourselves in the ultimate purpose of this narrative. Then, we can see that we are loved, and before long, we are walking in a brand new, unexpected relationship with someone who was once a stranger to us and now is the most important person we have ever met: Jesus. Not only can we see ourselves transformed by THE STORY, but we can further relate to those who followed Him and were transformed by Him immediately following His ascension into heaven.

The story of these people can be found in the book of Acts. Those early followers had incredible adventures that will encourage us, inspire us, and cause us to be challenged in our spiritual journey, whether we are newly exploring the claims of Christ or whether we have been journeying with Him for some time.

With this being said, I would challenge you to join with me in looking at the incredible story of the first followers of Jesus Christ. This story is found in the Bible in the book of Acts. Starting on Easter Sunday through Father's Day in June, we will explore the first part of the book of Acts (chapters 1-10) and discover what this narrative has to say to us, how we can relate, and observe how God moved then and how He is still moving today. I will be preaching through this story and invite you to read through it on your own, as well. So, join me in the "diner" as we swap stories and walk out of this gathering place transformed people with new found friendship.

In His Grip,
Pastor David

The Woman at the Well

Have you tried to make a difference in her life?  Who is she?

Maybe we don’t know for sure who she is, but many of us have tried to make a difference in her life this winter. Did you see it? Well, I saw a bit, and would like to share what I saw!

At Christmas time, we at Orange Friends Church began collecting shampoos, lotions, toothbrushes, and other small items that would be donated to The LifeLine Project and assembled into gift bags that would be given to human trafficking victims in Franklin County. The Project had a goal of filling 500 bags. At Christmas, that seemed like a BIG goal.  

Many generous members dropped items in our donation baskets, and our Outreach Commission provided almost $600 to purchase hotel-sized shampoos, lotions, soaps, etc. Our donations were combined with donations from other churches, Franklin County judges and attorneys, and other interested individuals. On February 28, about 40 people packed more than 500 bags in less than 2 hours! A shout out to our Youth Group, many from our congregation, and a few from outside our congregation. Thank you!

The following week (March 5 & 6), I joined a small group with Karen Monroe to deliver some of the bags. The first stop was Franklin County CATCH Court (Changing Actions To Change Habits).   After delivering bags that will be given to CATCH Court members when they are released from jail, we sat in for a bit of the court. Judge Herbert, who founded CATCH Court, has received a national award for his innovative and effective work with human trafficking victims. The courtroom included representatives from many social and Christian service organizations, as well as the women who are part of the CATCH program and required to be in court each week. It was very much a “wow” experience to see people ready and willing to make a difference in these women’s lives, and to see how much the women wanted to live a better life and to help one another.

On Friday, we delivered more bags – to the Amethyst House; Franklin County Health Department; The Well (housed at Salvation Army); and Choices (housed at Faith Mission). Each bag includes a message directing the recipient to Christ in addition to the soaps, socks, etc. There are still more bags to be delivered over the next month, and bags that Karen will be distributing on the street throughout the summer.

You have tried to make a difference in the life of a human trafficking victim. Who is she? We may never know. But, thank you for the part you played in trying to make a difference.

Kay Cermak

Another New Year...And Time For A New Beginning

This time of year we hear a lot about New Year’s Resolutions. Why, this is even the inspiration for our pastor’s current sermon series. Have you made any resolutions – either formal and written, or just that mental note to yourself? How about this: MONEY!?

The Harris Interactive poll from December, 2012, lists “Improve financial budgeting” as the #2 resolution (behind #1 – lose weight). No surprise, is it? But, sometimes it is just tough to get started. Let me give you a couple of ideas.

Idea #1: A 21-day Financial Fast. This idea is offered by Michelle Singletary, who writes for the Washington Post and has a column each Sunday in the Business Section of the Columbus Dispatch. It is based on the Biblical principle of fasting. The requirement is that you can’t buy anything that is not necessary, and you cannot use credit cards. Debit card use is discouraged. Michelle is sponsoring a group fast that is scheduled to begin January 11th and end January 31st. The fast allows you to focus on what you really want to do with your money. You can follow or join the financial fast at wapo.st/financialfast.

Idea #2: Join our next Financial Peace University class. Our class begins February 1st (the Financial Fast ends the day before, so you will REALLY be ready). Classes are at 6 PM every Sunday night through March 29th, in the OFC Courtyard Room, and the cost of your kit is $93 (workbook, cd’s of each lesson, on-line access to tools, bonus videos, and more). You’ll learn seven “Baby Steps” to living debit free and living generously. Each class lasts 2 hours. 

Want to know more? Visit www.daveramsey.com/fpu/preview/. Please register with Jim or Kay Cermak, so we can have your material at the first class.

Jim and Kay Cermak