The Bible in 90 Days, Part 2 (Guest Blogger)

On October 1, the elders and staff of jubilee church st. louis city embarked on a 90-day adventure through the entire Bible. Our hope is that we would gain a new perspective by reading the Bible quickly (an "aerial" view) versus and reading the Bible devotionally (an "on the ground" view). From time to time, I hope to share our insights. Here is one from one of our Administrative Assistants, Amie Fox:

I have felt incredibly inspired by God through the stories I’ve read so far. Some of my previous understandings of Him have definitely deepened and I find I’m just more in awe of Him than before. I’m sure that will continue through the rest of the reading plan. There is one thing that I specifically wanted to mention because I thought of our (Jubilee’s) presence in St. Louis and sensed God’s favor. In Exodus 3:19-20 when God is speaking to Moses about the Israelites enslavement in Egypt by the Pharaoh, He said, “I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go except under heavy pressure. So I will reach out and strike at the heart of Egypt with all kinds of miracles. Then at last he will let you go,” and I remembered how in previous years it was prophesied over Jubilee that God would cause us to be fruitful throughout the St. Louis region and specifically at the heart of our city...

In reviewing what I know of St. Louis and what I know of God, I was encouraged by the fact that no matter the type or degree of enslavement our city can be experiencing in poverty, depression, abuse, etc. -we serve a God whose arm is not too short to save or incapable of breaking the chains. In fact, the heavier and stronger the chains, the greater and more powerful His miracles!

Above it all though, as I continued to follow their journey into freedom, what I was most moved by was God’s heroic nature. His determination to rescue us despite our circumstances is so captivating... and a reminder of how He alone is worthy of my worship.

New Sermon Series

We just finished our four part "Jubilee Series" where we looked at Jubilee Past, Jubilee Present, Jubilee Future and How to Participate. If you missed it and call Jubilee home, I would highly encourage you to listen to these messages. The can be downloaded from our website.

This Sunday I am very excited to kick off our 10 week sermon series "God Series" where we seek to reveal the breadth and depth of God's brilliant character to a world that is desperate to know Him. While no sermon series can comprehensively reveal all of God's glory, our hope is that through this series people will come face to face with the grandeur and majesty of who God is and how He interacts with His creation, mankind. As an added bonus to the series, all Jubilee Action Tracks (small groups) will be discussing this sermon series in their weekly gatherings. We hope you will join us for this significant series of messages.

Week 1 - Bible in 90 Days

Going through the Bible in 90 days has been a great experience so far. Genesis. Done. Exodus. Done. Leviticus. Done. Here's what I know so far - God is very good and humans have an unbelievable capacity to mess up, take for granted and forget God's grace and mercy. Most people view the God described in the Old Testament as the mean, old grumpy God who destroys everything and gives rules that are impossible to follow, and that it took Him to the New Testament to mellow out and be nice. God is the same yesterday, today and forever and He has always been gracious merciful.

1) He sent Adam and Eve away from the Garden, but gave them the promise of a Savior (Gen 3:15) and would not leave them separate forever (Gen 3:22)

2) Spared humanity through Noah

3) Promised blessing to the whole world through Abraham (Gen 12:1-3)

4) Was willing to spare Sodom for not 50, not 45, not 40, not 30, not 20, but for the sake of 10 righteous...oh well...there was 10 found righteous

5) Saved His people from bondage (Ex 1-15)

6) Feed them manna (Ex 16:31) and supplied water from a rock (Ex 17)

7) Gave them leadership (Ex 18)

8) Gave them a sacrificial system to deal with their sin (Leviticus)

Through all this, the primary response form people was to complain and forget the promises and faithfulness of God. In your life, what are the blessings God has given you? Do you remind yourself of them often or do you tend to complain about what you don't have?

The Bible in 90 Days

The jubilee city elders and staff just finished an insane two-month period of hard work in getting our location ready for two services that launched on Sept 13 (going very well so far). Instead of all going on vacations, we've decided to due something different - go on a spiritual adventure by reading through the Bible in 90 days starting tomorrow.

Over the next 90 days I'll be sharing with you some insights of our process and hopefully have a guest blogger or two along the way.

If you want to join us, follow this link: Bible in 90 Days

Getting Ready for Gift Day

In light of our upcoming Gift Days (9/27 & 10/4), Rick Hein (a Jubilee elder and Wentzville Location Pastor), posted this blog recently and I found it personally helpful:

Once a year Jubilee Church St. Louis receives an offering above and beyond our normal contributions. Though established years ago, this Gift Day continues to be practiced, not because the church is in dire straits, because we're not. It's been an ongoing practice of Jubilee's because it reinforces in our minds and hearts that everything we have has been given to us by God. The realization of this truth affects every facet of our lives.

Every year when Gayle and I prayerfully consider what God would want us to give for theGift Day offering we keep coming back to the fact that all we have is from God (1 Chronicles 29:12) and belongs to God (Revelation 4:11). This gracious reminder solidifies so many things in our hearts, such as...

• Our very lives are not ours, but God's (1 Corinthians 6:20)
• Purpose in life is about glorifying God (1 Corinthians 10:31), not riches. Hording stuff glorifies our stuff. Generosity towards God glorifies God.
• It's a way to increase our own joy because "God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7)

If you're like Gayle and me you don't have much, if any "extra" money laying around. On a personal note in the past week and a half Gayle and I have been hit by our two largest car repair bills of the year. We are grateful for God's provision, though it put a sizable dent in our finances. Nonetheless, we will be doing what we do every year at this time, praying what God would want us to give on Gift Day.

Plans are to use Gift Day funds for future staff, building improvements at the City Location and freeing up resources for future locations of Jubilee Church. Ask God what He wants you to give and then give it with a joyful heart. The Gift Day offering will be received Sunday, September 27 and Sunday, October 4.

Why Go to an Action Track?

Action Tracks are a HUGE part of what we do at Jubilee. They are not just a great next step to get more involved, they are the door way to many other things we do as a church like praying together, serving the community together, discipleship, spiritual formation and the list goes on. In fact, speaking of lists, let me give you 10 reasons why you MUST sign up for an Action Track if you call Jubilee "your church".

10. It's the best way to meet new friends at Jubilee

9 . You will learn more about Jesus with other people than you could ever do on your own

8. You will have an opportunity to serve the St. Louis community with others (very Christ-like)

7. It's an opportunity to receive prayer for your daily concerns

6. It will require you to put others first (very Christ-like)

5. It will multiply what you get out of the Sunday morning messages (note: all Action Tracks in the fall trimester will be following the fall sermon series "God Series")

4. You can be a friend to someone else who really needs one

3. It's a place to use your spiritual gifts (serving, mercy, encouragement, leadership, etc)

2. It's the primary way you will receive care

1. Because God never called us to go it alone...you need others and others needs you

Here's how to sign up:

1. Sign-up during our Sunday morning service beginning Sunday, September 13th, 2009.
2. Sign-up online beginning Sunday, September 13th, 2009. REGISTER TODAY!

It's Been A While

My goal is to make 1 or 2 blog posts a week...it's been almost 3 weeks since my last one. The reason why is because, along with the rest of the elders and staff, I have been crazy busy with the launch of two services at Jubilee Church St. Louis in the City, which turned out great (btw). We had good crowds at both services and John Lanferman delivered a "must listen to" message if you call Jubilee home.

Along with the launch two services, we also took the opportunity to update our bulletin, interior signage, website, and the J Kids check-in process. It was all possible because of a great staff and a lot of volunteerism. I am very proud to be a member of Jubilee Church! More posts will becoming soon.