The month of January at Redeemer was devoted to prayer about our role in God’s mission. We prayed for our family and friends, our church, our city, our nation and our world. You can access the prayer guide here. Each Sunday we had a testimony and time of emphasis to personalize one of these elements.

We planned to show a video testimony from our friends in India this past Sunday. We were unable to show it because of technical difficulties.They sent us a serious and a funny version of the video. Obviously, we chose to share the funny one. Here is the video. For security reasons, you will need a password to access the video. Email us to request your password.

Redeemer on Mission Testimony from Redeemer Church on Vimeo.

We are concluding week one of Redeemer on Mission. I asked Bill Seaver to share with us how his family is participating in our call to prayer and missions emphasis.

From Bill Seaver:
During the Redeemer On Mission prayer emphasis, we are trying to be sure to include our daughters in the prayer time. To do so, we are praying nightly with them on the designated topics from our prayer guide. Each Monday the guide suggests we pray for friends or family members. On the first Monday night this week, our girls immediately thought of a neighbor we could pray for. The prayer and conversation that came afterwards provided distinct and specific points of conversation that we have continued to discuss since that first night.

Beyond these individual connections, I’m also finding that by extending the focused prayer emphasis to the children it is connecting them more closely with the church. They’re participating in something that the whole church is doing and they know that. While on the one hand the prayers are personal about people and places we have chosen to pray for, they’re also part of a collective prayer effort within the church. We’re excited to see how God will use these prayers and conversations in the family for us all to grow more and see His power more clearly.

Do you have a story to share regarding Redeemer on Mission? Email us. We would love to help you share your story.

January 2012

We will join our denomination and other churches throughout our nation to pray for spiritual renewal in our churches, cities, nation and world. We also will collect an offering to support missions endeavors in our city, nation and world.

Ways to Participate in Redeemer on Mission:

Attend Sunday Gatherings - January 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29.
In each service, we will pray and hear testimonies of how we can be involved in God’s mission.

• On January 1, we will hear a testimony from and pray for Resonate Church (a church plant in Madison, TN launching in January).
• On January 8, I will share a vision message, “Promoting the Gospel in 2012: A Call to Authentic Worship, Bold Prayer, Sacrificial Ministry and Faithful Evangelism.”
• We are planning other testimonies for our Sunday Gatherings.

Attend Community Group Meetings - January 18 and 25
In our weekly gatherings, we will spend time praying together and discussing opportunities to promote the gospel in our city and world.

Daily Prayer
We have written a daily prayer guide for personal and family prayer in the month of January. It will follow the themes: My Family and Friends, My Church, My City, My Country and My World. This prayer guide will be available in our Sunday Gatherings, in our new display at the YMCA or you can download here.

Financial Support
We will collect an offering in January to support missions endeavors in our city, state and world. All contributions to Redeemer on Mission will support these endeavors.

• 50% – Global Missions – International Mission Board, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
• 30% – Local Ministry – Hendersonville Samaritan Association, Cumberland Crisis Pregnancy Center and Sumner County Food Bank
• 20% – Tennessee Church Planting and Missions – Tennessee Baptist Convention, Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions
• To contribute, write “Redeemer on Mission” in the memo line of your check. You can place it in the offering basket or mail to us.

I look forward to what God will do through Redeemer in 2012 and through Redeemer on Mission in January.

We would love to hear your feedback. Feel free to comment on this post or email us.

September 4 – Church Leadership in the New Testament
[audio:http://www.mdbetter.com/redeemer/sundayschool/Leadership1.mp3]
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September 11 – Who Should Serve as Elders and Deacons?
[audio:http://www.mdbetter.com/redeemer/sundayschool/Leadership2.mp3]
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September 18 – What Is the Task of Elders and Deacons?
[audio:http://www.mdbetter.com/redeemer/sundayschool/Leadership3.mp3]
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Yesterday, we shared our vision for Community Groups in the post, The Purpose of Community Groups.

Today, I want to share the vision in someone else’s words. In his post, What is a Missional Community?, Jeff Vanderstelt details a vision that I desire to see fulfilled in our Community Groups at Redeemer. He writes…

A missional community is a family of missionary servants who make disciples who make disciples.

Disciples are made and developed:

• through life on life, where there is visibility and accessibility
• in community, where they can practice the one anothers, and
• on mission where they learn how to proclaim the gospel and make disciples.

I encourage you to read the whole article and pray for our Community Groups to become communities of this kind.

Community Groups are weekly, small group gatherings that take place in a home for mutual discipleship, mutual prayer, and mutual ministry. These groups begin this week. You can find more information or register for a Community Group here.

What do we hope to accomplish in Community Groups?

We hope to see Redeemer Church pursue faithfulness to Jesus Christ and His mission for the church. We articulate this mission as “proclaiming Christ to grow mature Christians who minister in the church and in the world.” One way we pursue this mission is through small groups that promote mutual discipleship, mutual prayer and mutual ministry.

• Mutual Discipleship: Investing in the spiritual maturity and growth of one another. This involves studying God’s Word together, applying it to life and weekly encouraging one another toward faithfulness.
• Mutual Prayer: Praying together for one another, for Redeemer Church and for our ministry in the world.
• Mutual Ministry: Joining together for ministry to one another (inside the church) and to the world (outside the church). This involves seeking ways to serve together and encouraging personal ministry in the church and the world.

We hope you will join us at a Community Group this week.

A Method for Prayer: Matthew Henry’s classic is now a book and a website. This work is helpful for times of intentional, planned prayer. Henry provides hundreds of Scripture passages for prayers of Adoration, Confession, Petition, Thanksgiving and Intercession. If you have ever wondered what things you might pray, consider this resource. There are now numerous ways to connect with it: buy the book, search the website, receive email messages, etc.

The Valley of Vision: This collection of written prayers serve as a resource for praying when you do not know what to pray. The prayers are organized by topic so you can best be served by them. I find these very helpful. I use them by reading them aloud or letting them serve as an outline for an extended period of prayer.

A Praying Life by Paul Miller: This excellent book considers informal prayer as a way of life. It has helped me see prayer as part of all of my life and helped me pray throughout the day.

Conference Audio from The Powerful Life of the Praying Pastor: These seven messages helpfully cover a variety of topics on prayer. Do not let the title’s reference to pastors fool you. These messages are for everyone.

Will you join me this week in intentional, planned prayer for the glory of God, the building of Redeemer and our personal maturity?

During Sunday’s sermon, God’s Armor: Confident Hope and God’s Word, I made reference to this interview between John Piper and Rick Warren. I thought it would be valuable for me to share it with you.

Before you watch it, let me share a few reasons why I think it is worth your time.

• Real Christian Dialogue: How do we normally approach those who disagree with us? Too often, we quickly lump people into categories and dismiss the entire category of people. In this interview, Piper and Warren model a thorough, truth-seeking and compassionate approach to dialogue. I want to learn from their approach.
• Men Shaped by the Word: Both men have been used by God to accomplish much for His Kingdom purposes. What struck me in this interview was neither their methods nor their theological persuasion. I was overwhelmed by how greatly both have been shaped by God’s Word. It was clear both men have spent and do spend much time pouring over and submitting to God’s Word. I want my life and ministry to be equally saturated with the Bible.
• Avoid Making Heroes and Villains: Sharing this interview is not an endorsement of either man or his ministry. I do not share this interview so that Redeemer or you will look exactly like either of these men. That is not the goal. Let’s be captivated by the clear evidence of God’s grace in both of them. Let’s long for our lives and our shared ministry to be equally characterized by God’s Word and God’s grace.

We considered the question: “What do we do with the Armor of God?” We use it! This answer is simultaneously simple and extremely challenging.

Listen here to the sermon, “Battle Ready?” and consider what God has to say through His Word.

If you desire to further consider the subject, consider this very helpful quote from D.A. Carson.

People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

War imagery by Christians tends to be cliche, overused, and even misused. Yet, I am using war imagery to describe our study of Ephesians 6:10-10 anyway. Why? Here are four reasons:

1. Because the passage’s use of war imagery makes our usage necessary.
2. Because after considering multiple titles for this series, I feared missing the weightiness of the text when the war imagery was removed.
3. Because the text offers an urgent, serious, call to action for every Christian and every church.
4. Because war concepts communicate urgency and seriousness.

As we look at the text these next five weeks there are several specific questions we will encounter in Ephesians 6:10-20:

• Why should we think of life as a war?
• Who is the true enemy?
• Who do we battle against?
• Where do we find strength?
• Should we be fearful?
• Are we fighting alone?
• What is our responsibility?
• Who wins?

A Few Requests:
I would like to ask you to do a three things before Sunday morning.

1. Will you slowly read and consider Ephesians 6:10-20 before Sunday?
2. Will you pray this short prayer daily between now and Sunday? “God, will you change me during this study? Will you prepare me for what you are going to do in me?”
3. Will you invite someone to join you at Redeemer for “The Christian’s War”? Ask yourself this: “Who do I know who would benefit from this study?” or “How could I talk with them about the study?”

I pray the broken will find healing, the flippant will find focus, the rebellious will find repentance, and the faithful will find hope in Ephesians 6:10-20. We hope you will join us on Sunday and bring someone with you.

In Christ,

Jamie