Women's Connect - May 15, 2012

Dear sisters in Christ,

Recently I had one of those “ah-ha” moments.  Most of you know I love God’s Word, prayer, worship, mission trips, and apple pie (the pie is a joke, tee-hee).  All good things, right?  But have you ever considered that you might love those God-things even more than God Himself?  As much as I criticize the Pharisees of the Bible, I can get so caught up in spiritual works that I put them ahead of Jesus.  There have been times when I was striving more for the feelings of worship than seeking to adore Jesus. I’ve maybe even put the Bible and its teachings above the Lord.  We can put various forms of ministry- caring for the poor, praying for the sick, evangelism, taking mission trips, whatever your serving might be…ahead of Jesus. 

Jack Deere says, we must not equate Jesus with any of these good things.  Jesus is not a doctrine…a ministry, a church, a denomination, an activity, or even a way of life.  None of these things died for us; the Son of God did.  None of these things controls our destiny; God does.  Anytime I begin to give more attention to one of these things or pursue one of them more than I am pursuing Jesus, it will become an idol in my life.  We so easily confuse living these good things with loving Jesus.  We so easily confuse being committed to these good things with being committed to God.

How about you, sisters in Christ?  I find that almost every good thing in my life is all too ready to compete for my time and intimacy with God.  The essence of all of life is loving God and then loving His people.  “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”  Matthew 22:36-39

One way you can love your neighbor is through our Mission Madness event this Sunday, May 20.  We will have lunch at Central at noon and then we’ll commission you to head out into the community from 1-5 PM.  I still have a few sites in need of workers.  Abba Pregnancy Center needs cleaners inside and yard workers outside; a home site in Zimmerman needs yard work done; a home in Becker needs carpentry skills for building a wheelchair ramp; a home in Big Lake needs its deck scraped and painted; and the Klier family (if you worship at 11 you might recognize Tyler in his wheelchair) could use help cutting firewood and working in the garden and yard.  Sign up on our website or by responding to this e-mail. Thanks!

The deadline to register for the Focused Living workshop this Saturday, May 19^th, 8:30-3, is tomorrow.  If you haven’t participated in this life-giving experience, please sign up today. It really is a gift to yourself.

We had a wonderful Women’s Night Out. Lots of laughs and great food.  I especially enjoyed how so many of you came in your best Sixties garb!  Super fun.  Thanks to Pat Hackman and Linda Sklenicka for making this a delightful event!

We are in the process of launching our discipleship groups, D4D.  Be expecting an invitation in the next month or so!  Our hope is to have 250 women involved in a small group by next fall!  If the idea of getting together with 3-5 women every couple weeks for conversation about spiritual things including Bible reading and prayer, appeals to you, just respond to this e-mail and I will get you connected.  The discipleship group I was a part of in Wisconsin for 13 years became my second family. 

The next book for those interested is Have a Little Faith by Mitch Album; it is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and was named by Oprah as the Best Nonfiction book of 2009.  It tells the story of an 82 year old rabbi and a former drug dealer and convict who became an inner city pastor in Detroit. It is the story about losing faith and finding it again and about the divine spark inside all of us.  It is a short book so you will have no trouble reading it before Tuesday, June 5.  As usual it will be held at the Elk River Activity Center at 1:30.  Encourage your friends to read it and to join us.

Blessings everyone!  Keep God the focus of your love and life! 

Sonja Dixon