New Wine Report - April 2012

Life in the vineyard has been good. We continue to have visitors come to the church on Sundays and we are working at getting to know those who join us for worship. Several folks have become regular and we are hoping to find ways for them to connect with us and us with them. Our hope is that all of us are looking at how the Lord would have us live out this journey of discipleship and service together. It is uncanny how many of our visitors have connections with people in our fellowship without even realizing it. One person had worked at a restaurant that one of our families had frequented for several years. Another couple from New Wine knows another person's parents from years gone by. Still another was the son of a pastor friend who I have worked with in Flushing. We are the "Network Generation" which reenforces the notion that "it is all about relationships". We are not responsible to change the world (that is Jesus' job). We are responsible for the people He places in our paths or into our "networks".

Another example of the Spirit moving in Flint is a young couple contacting me last month. They live in apartments in Flint, but work at the private Catholic primary school in Flushing. They will be married in July and are feeling called to buy a house in Flint. The hope they have is to establish some sort of faith community in a neighborhood to help change and serve the community. They were interested in New Wine, which they found via our Sunday Yard Signs and website, because of our

house church approach to discipleship and mission. The Lord is bringing people like them to Flint. They want to "do church" in a new way. Please pray with us for Nick and Rachel as we do our part to encourage them in their calling to be missionaries to Flint.

I finished the Lent Preaching Series on "Breaking the Power of Shame" last month. The final part was called "The Shame Exchange".

(The sermons can be heard on lineat: http://www.newwinemission.com/Audio_Sermons/ )

What struck me as I worked through the materials from a NAVPRESS study guide by the same name, is that so much of the work of the cross and Easter was about the problem of shame in our lives. Jesus' work on the cross was a matter of taking on our shame and guilt and exchanging it for his righteousness. If we believe this and own it for ourselves, when we sin He wants us to give Him our shame by confessing it and asking Him to take it on. This means we will not have to stand before our judge with head bowed down or in fear of judgment, but free from its hold on us. As Christians we cannot avoid shame when we sin, but now we do not have to hide or run from God. Instead He wants us to bring it to Him and He will set us free. This reminder this Lent was really good news. My prayer is that those of us at New Wine can truly live into the freedom Jesus bought for us on the cross.

Finally, when things go well spiritually the enemy often steps up his mischief. Last month I struggled with the distraction of a car accident. Just as Deb is starting her new full-time job, we find ourselves needing to buy another car. To our surprise and delight, we have already been blessed by over $2,000 of gifts given to us to go towards a new vehicle. That leaves me speechless (which is odd for a preacher). That being said, I have experienced a sense of spiritual oppression in the form of distracting thoughts, which is typical when the devil wants to hassle me. I have learned this is what happens when you are trying to follow after Christ. So we ask your prayers for spiritual protection and continued provision for each of us and our family. I ask you keep Deb in your prayers as she learns her new job. Pray she might find favor and enjoyment in what she does and the new people who she meets.