Saturday May 15 Christ Church will be participating in Fort Wayne’s annual spring cleanup day. More detailed info will be coming soon, but we’ll be gathering Saturday morning May 15 to help pick up trash, etc, around Fort Wayne. Afterward we’ll have a lunch/cookout somewhere. Kids can easily participate in this project!
We need to know how many people will be joining us, so please sign up by emailing Wes right now, or during a Sunday gathering.
Last week Ben, Deb, and Zach participated in a Learning Community with 3D Ministries in Pawley’s Island, South Carolina.
It was a great opportunity to learn from people who have seen good fruit in cultivating missional communities that bring blessing to those around them, and cultivating students of Jesus. Hearing their testimonies and being in relationship with others on a similar path was, and will continue to be, a great blessing for our community.
We felt like God spoke some things very clearly to us while we were there, and we’re in the process of sitting down to talk with everyone who is a part of the Christ Church community about our plans for the future.
We’re very excited about the direction God is pointing us in, and we’re confident it will help put some “feet” to our intention of joining God in the renewal of all things.
After our worship gathering on May 2 we’ll have an all-church community meal. Bring some food to share and join with us!
Message preached by Ben Sternke on April 25, 2010, the fourth Sunday of Easter, from Luke 10:22-30.
A sermon given on the second Sunday of Easter, April 11, 2010 by Ben Sternke from John 20:19-31.
In the church calendar, Easter isn’t just one day, it’s a whole season. It’s 50 days of learning to walk in newness of life, of finding ways to “practice resurrection,” as Wendell Berry said.
And if Lent is a time to give things up, then perhaps Easter ought to be a time to take up new things. Start piano lessons, ask someone out on a date, start volunteering, start reading a new book.
Specifically, a book that helps you dive more deeply into the meaning and implications of Christ’s resurrection. We don’t grow deeply in our relationship with Jesus without the help of those further along in the journey. Here are three suggestions of books that would be great to read in this season of resurrection:
Viral Hope: Good News from the Urbs to the Burbs is a collection of short essays from 50 different authors articulating the gospel in their own local context.Read about the various ways the good news of Jesus is making its way into many different places of the world. One post per day of Easter, all the way to Pentecost! You can read more about the book on Ben’s blog.
Surprised By Hope is a phenomenally lucid examination of Jesus’ resurrection, the meaning of heaven, and the mission of the church.
This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how the resurrection of Jesus gives shape and meaning to our everyday activities and propels us into missional living.
The Challenge of Easter is a very short book on the credibility and reliability of the resurrection of Jesus as matter of history. This book will help you ground your faith in knowledge. One chapter per week of Easter.
Winn Collier, an Ecclesia church planter, and some friends are blogging through this book during the Easter season as well. You can find the intro to the series here.
Happy reading! Christ is risen!
A sermon preached by Ben Sternke on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.
Today’s reading is a little longer, and introduces us to Jesus’ teachings about the end of the age – a subject we don’t often hear about during the Easter season, but one that is obviously tied to his resurrection. So, read Matthew Chapter 24 and 25 and reflect on the questions below.
Questions for Reflection
- How would you sum up Chapter 24? What is the main thing Jesus seems to be trying to say?
- How would you sum up the teaching of the three parables in Chapter 25?
- Why do you think Jesus might be discussing this during the week leading up to his crucifixion and resurrection?
- How do you think this subject of the end of the age might be relevant for us today?
(Exercises written by Jason Coker of Ikon Community)
Today read Matthew Chapter 23 and contribute your thoughts to the comments below.
Questions for Reflection
- What single saying in this long list of “woes” strikes you most or which one best sums up the whole list? Why?
- If Jesus were to come today and give a modern version of the “woes” for Christians, what kinds of hypocritical behaviors do you think he would be condemning?
(Exercises written by Jason Coker of Ikon Community)
Today read Matthew Chapter 22 and Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and contribute your thoughts to the comments below.
Questions for Reflection
- In this passage Jesus quotes part of the Jewish Shema from Deut 6, the most important prayer practice in Judaism (you can read more about the importance of the Shema here). How do you think reciting Deut 6:4-9 three times daily might affect your thoughts and life positively?
- How can we know if a religious practice, like reciting the Shema three times daily, is effective for good spiritual formation or if it is merely an empty religious ritual? How are Jesus’ words in Matt 21-22 helpful in making this distinction?
(Exercises written by Jason Coker of Ikon Community)