Every-Member Ministry

From Daniel Baker: I asked Daniel Ramsay to write this for the church. It will be followed up by a second post that gives more detail on SIM's work in fighting Ebola. I hope you will consider playing some role in this situation.

Dear church members,

I know that Ebola has become a topic that all media is reporting on, and we are now getting saturated with news about it 24/7, particularly with the new cases in the United States.  Rather than looking at what is going on here, which I hope our government will act strongly to curtail,…

This afternoon I spent time with Benjamin Tangeman at the Cary office of Trans World Radio. Ben has been working for them for years and has been connected to them through his parents and grandparents for decades (he spent his first ten years on the island of Bonaire, while his parents worked for TWR). It was an inspiring look into a ministry I knew virtually nothing about.

Most of you know that I work for a Christian publishing ministry. It’s called Church Initiative. We make video-based resources that equip churches to help hurting people. Our team recently finished up work on the third edition of GriefShare, a small group, grief-recovery program.

Just under three years ago our church lost Scott Monroe, but our collective loss was nothing compared to what the Monroe family experienced themselves. It taught all of us a great deal about the earthly side of death—a side very different from the heavenly side of it that Scott joyfully experienced in a brilliant moment. As a church we are still learning how to come alongside those who have faced trials and tragedies very different from our own, but this is what Christian love and compassion call us to do. In this note from Carla, she shares something of the way the church has entered into her suffering these last several years. We hope it is both encouraging and challenging for you.

"The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father." That's how J.I. Packer opens his famous book Knowing God. 

Daniel Garner did an excellent job in our men’s meeting last month. He gave a powerful testimony of God’s transformation in his life, bringing him from a fairly clueless single to a man who could lead a sizable family and do it fruitfully.

If you had the privilege of attending the men’s meeting on Saturday, February 22, then you were treated to a wonderfully edifying and challenging message by Daniel Garner as he shared lessons he has learned over the decades from being a husband, father, and leader in his family.

Minds drift, visions leak, and memories fade. That's why it seems worthwhile to revisit our church vision at the start of another new year. What is it that ties all our sermons, meetings, and labors together? What do you say to the person who says, "What's your church about?"

Join us for the "He Said, She Said" marriage conference where Ed Welch, noted author and faculty member at CCEF, will speak on the "Communication that Builds Intimacy in Marriage."