On Upturned Plans and a Leap of Faith: Laura Armbrust's Adoption Story

I first knew I wanted adoption to be a part of my story when I was 10 years old. There was a poster in the public library of older children who needed to be adopted, and I was sure I needed to be their big sister. While it wasn't something that was in the plan for my family at the time, it has always remained in my heart as something I just inherently knew would be a part of my life at some point.

When the church announced the hosting program last summer, I felt that tug, and thought that even though it couldn't possibly be a calling to adopt internationally (after all, MY plan was domestic adoption, and that was probably a few years down the road still), I thought that this could be a way for me to help in a small way in some child's life, and would hopefully lead to that child finding a family. I ended up hosting two sisters--Ketty and Dayana--and I DEFINITELY knew my place was just advocating for them. I had no plans to adopt two more children and I had no plans to suddenly have a teenager.

Now I know that God loves to laugh in the face of our plans. I'm pretty sure I fell in love the moment I met them, and for weeks after they left, I felt like I might be going crazy: every time I spoke with a family about them, or shared why they are so amazing, or prayed for God to find them a family, I heard this voice speaking all of it right back to me. And every argument I threw back, was met with a resounding response of, "I have prepared you for this. This is MY plan for you." And when I didn't want to listen to the still, small voice in my heart, God put people in my life who spoke truth to me. As I cried over their future, one of my close friends basically said, "Why are you crying? You know what you have to do, so why aren't you doing it?"

Then I took a leap of faith, and God has had me every step of the way. I have been in awe of not only how everything has fallen into place so easily, but how at peace I feel. I'm not adopting. I'm just bringing my girls home.

Out of Reach: A Reading by Kayla Keele

To open our worship on December 13th, member Kayla Keele shared the followed reflection she wrote about the birth of her son and the birth of God’s Son, too:

Caspian Quentin Keele entered the world at 11:25 am Central European Time on November 24, 2014. He was 8 pounds,  3 oz and 21 inches long. He was a healthy little baby with a round face and steel gray eyes. I felt tired, of course, but also content. Our baby, our long awaited little one, was finally within our reach.

Trevor and I took turns holding Caspian until it was time to move mommy and baby to the postnatal wing. A nurse took charge of carrying our baby while I attempted to walk to the waiting wheelchair. Instead, I passed out on the floor. They revived me and got Caspian and I each settled down in our own beds. I was given an IV in my arm  to combat the dehydration that was making me dizzy, and Caspian and I both fell asleep.

When I woke up, I turned on my side to look at my little baby. There he was, in his little bed, breathing deeply in peaceful sleep. I had wanted to hold him. I wanted him by my side. And that was when he sneezed. A sneeze is such an ordinary thing, except when the sneezer is a few hours old. It made me really realize that he was no longer a part of my body, but was a separate person entirely. In a moment when he was out of my reach, my heart was flooded with joy for the gift we had been given.

I can only imagine, from my experience, the range of things God must have felt and thought as he watched his Only Son coming into the world, being swaddled and placed in a manger, sleeping and sneezing. Just like Caspian’s birth was a welcome end to my pregnancy, Jesus’ birth had been planned for quite some time. But it meant that Father and Son, parent and child, had to separate for a time in a way they never had before. And that would make any parent’s heart ache.

Instead of being at his Father's side, Jesus was in a manger, sleeping off his entry into the world, lovingly wrapped in swaddling cloths by his young mother. And whether it was from the hay that was keeping him warm, or a bit of animal dander, or dust in the air, Jesus might have sneezed. And with joy, God signaled the angels: it’s time for a birth announcement in the fields. Go and tell humanity what they have been given.

On Clearing Brush, Fixing Windows, and Painting Brick: One Way Our Teens are Living Love this Summer

From youth group member Shelby Schmidt:

This past week I participated in a work camp in Arlington.  The work camp works with code enforcement to find out what homes in the area have been fined.  Then the local church that hosts the camp goes out and asks residents if they’d like their yard and house redone for free. In exchange, they asked the residents to tell a bit about themselves so that the students would know who they are helping. The students that participate in this camp spend $50 to participate. This money is used for the materials that are needed to repair the houses.

This year there were nine groups of about twenty kids.  One group, “Special Forces,” was assigned the job of cutting down overgrown bushes and trees.  They also would fix the rotten wood on the house. The other eight groups were put in charge of scraping old paint off the house, adding fresh paint to the outside, repairing windows, and clearing any smaller plants or branches out of the way for the owners.

As a student that participated in this camp this year I was touched.  The couple that my group helped had a sad story.  The husband was an alcoholic and the wife had cancer.  The husband was so grateful each day for all the work that we were doing.  He brought us popsicles and cold water one day to show his appreciation.  On the last day, he wheeled his wife out, and she got to see her freshly painted house and wheelchair ramp.  She was so moved that she cried.  It made me see how God used my group to help just this one family and made me glad that I got to go.  It was hard and hot work but when I saw their faces on the last day all that I could feel was love and joy.  I can’t wait to participate again in the future. I would encourage anyone that gets the chance to do the same. 

Check out the news coverage of this outreach effort here: http://www.star-telegram.com/latest-news/article213016264.html

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Here's a video showing the work the kids did this last week:

On Learning Empathy: A Metamorphosis Story

From elder Danny Champion, to end our Metamorphosis communion series:

I hate hospitals. I hate the smell. I hate the interruption of my day. After all, at the time, the hospital was about a three minute drive in light traffic from my house. I hate the reason hospitals have to exist – that is, the suffering. I hate visiting hospitals. For years, I avoided hospitals like the plague. Then, one day about nine years ago, I entered the hospital for what was supposed to be a 4-5 day visit and ended up staying two weeks. To be honest, I had lots and lots of visitors. There were people who I never thought would visit who showed up. I was not that I had any conflict with these people, I just did not have a very strong relationship with them. Then, there were people who I expected to visit, people I had a relationship with them, who did not show up. I figured they were like me and did not like hospitals. And, there were countless hours of total isolation. It was during these long quiet hours that I was being transformed both physically and spiritually. 

Physically, I was being healed. That was the easy part. Spiritually, I was being transformed into a more empathetic person. I was able to walk in the shoes, or at least wear the gown, of someone who was laid up in a hospital room for days on end. I was a different person when I left. All of a sudden, I was actively looking for people from church that were in the hospital. When I received the weekly church bulletin, I was looking for people who were either in the hospital or were going into the hospital. I visited people who I had to introduce myself to because they did not recognize me outside of the church building. (Maybe, I should have worn a tie.) 

This change only came because I was able to see the importance of the human touch from both sides. Since I have moved here, I have not been able to visit as many people in the hospital as I would like. Some of you are a little more than three minutes away and sometimes, you are out of the hospital before I can get there. But, I do pray for every person I read about who I in the hospital. Sometimes, I have to look your picture up in the directory, but I do pray for you.

Jesus experienced our suffering from both sides of heaven. He sees how we suffer while setting at the right hand of God and he experienced how we suffer first hand while he walked on the earth. And let’s be honest. My suffering was nothing compared to the suffering Jesus experienced on our behalf. But, it is through Jesus’ suffering that we are being changed.

As we are remember the suffering Jesus experienced on our behalf, let us remember how His suffering transforms us a little bit each day.  

We gather to offer thanksgiving for the suffering Christ, crushed and made new. We gather to offer thanksgiving for our own suffering, suffering making us new.

On Losing It All and Starting Over: A Metamorphosis Communion Story

There was a time in my life where I had a picture-perfect life on paper... a wife, two kids, just bought a big house, fast sports car, fancy watch & shoes, somewhat of an accomplished triathlete, and a pretty great job. I loved God, but in hindsight wasn't always living FOR God during that season. Most of my life was focused on me. Through the course of the next year or so, I saw most of it deteriorate away. I found myself in an estranged relationship with my wife, and eventually was presented divorce papers, totaled my car, and generally felt isolated and alone. I was in what I refer to now as, my "Job" season. I literally wrestled with God in prayer trying to understand what was happening to my life. I was broken and being stripped down. I looked back at some of my journal entries from that time and thought I would share some of my raw words of suffering, and searching-

I’m struggling. You know that, yet I continue to struggle.

I’m hurting; I’m confused; I’m angry; I’m searching.

I want to be a better person, I want to shine your light, reflecting the rays of your love. But instead, I continue to fall and remain an angry and broken person. I keep trying.

Why did you make me this way? Why is it necessary for me to struggle so much, and see so little progress?

I know things take time, but when is enough?

The loneliness is almost unbearable, and there just doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the pain.

I hate being an angry person.

Please let my brokenness be complete so that I can move forward. Shelter me, God.

Let my faith be more than my words, greater than the song I sing. The pain I feel right now won’t compare to the joy I experience in Christ. Make this true father.

Watch over my heart and help me serve others. I am tired of living just for me. God, I pray you break all the chains of my selfishness.

I wrestle, but will remain steadfast.

Help me to be the servant you want me to be. Allow me to work for your good.

Let me be the man who truly seeks justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with you. Show me the path. Selah.

Church, let me tell you now that it doesn’t matter what road you’ve been on, or what road you’re on… it’s not the one you have to stay on if you aren’t following God’s will for your life. The broken pieces of our past are simply that, past. They don’t define or determine who we are. I was ashamed, hurt, angry, and confused; and it didn’t end for some time. Some of the things that happened didn’t change. But through the suffering and pain I was experiencing in the upheaval of my life, I knew there was something more. I got plugged in with real community through some brothers in this room, and into a new small group who’s deeply embedded in each other’s lives. I was invited to attend a weekend getaway free from worldly distractions, a spiritual renewal of sorts where the spirit of God unmistakably showed me more clearly the paths I needed to take in my life. It’s been incredibly humbling to see how God has chosen to use me to be there for others who are suffering by lending an ear to listen, a shoulder to lean on, and an advocate in prayer.

Communion is a place where we celebrate suffering, where we remember a terrible loss and even participate in it. Paul asked the church in Corinth, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?" -I Cor. 10:16. We are people of the cross, people always looking for good in our pain, and always giving thanks for the transformation we find in suffering.

So, this morning, we gather to offer thanksgiving for the suffering Christ, crushed and made new. We gather to offer thanksgiving for our own suffering, suffering making us new

On Suffering And Provision: A Metamorphosis Communion Story

A few words from member Tim Beckett on suffering the loss of a job and finding God in the waiting...

As we prepare for our communion time, I am going to share with you a challenge that I experienced that brought me closer to God.  It was a job transition.  I’m going to preface it with a passage from 1st Samuel, and then a special inspirational thought my dad shared with me when I was a youngster.

First, the scripture…I’m going to read I Samuel 7:10,12.

10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 

12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

That’s the scripture, now I’m going to cut to my teenage years.

One day as I was doing my homework, my dad came in and sat down.  He told me that his employer had folded their operations, which left him without a job, but in the same breath said that he couldn’t wait to see what God had waiting for him (and us) around the corner.   This demonstration of his faith transferred into my “wiring” and reassured me many times after that.

Now let’s jump to 2015:

Before we moved here, my wife and I were living in the Houston area.  I had been working at the same company for 13 years.  There were some cutbacks, and my job was eliminated that November. 

I let my Christian brothers and sisters at church know about my job search, and so it was great to have them praying, but since it had been several years since my last job change, it took some time to get my resume together.  I thought I could find something quickly, but the phone interviews I had weren’t going where I hoped they would.

I found out about a weekly networking group that met about an hour away from my part of town on Wednesday mornings, called “Between Jobs Ministry” and I was strongly encouraged to go, so I did.  I found out that this meeting was a ministry of a church, and that it was the main outreach that the church focused on.  And it was fantastic.    

One of the breakout sessions was led by an older gentleman who was no stranger to a podium.  He had an overhead projector, and about 10 transparencies filled with inspirational scriptures to remind us of the God that loves us. 

One of his pieces of instruction that I took to heart was this:  …so begin thanking God in advance, because his timing may not be our timing, but be assured that if you believe in Him and are praying to Him, that He will answer that prayer.  In the meantime, take time to perfect your skills and your resume, but also to help someone else.  When you’re networking, ask what you can do for them.  

Oh sure, I worked hard during that period.  But what I remember the most is the amazing people that God put in my life, and what happened when I was on my knees and acknowledged that He was in control.

Well 5 months after getting laid off, I got an offer that I accepted.

And I ended up getting to be near my grandkids, and getting to meet a whole new set of friends here. 

Our God is faithful. 

And here we raise our Ebenezer, remembering that God has been with us up to now, and that he has no plans to stop loving us. 

"We gather to offer thanksgiving for the suffering Christ, crushed and made new. We gather to offer thanksgiving for our own suffering, suffering making us new."

On Suffering And Presence: A Metamorphosis Communion Story

Shared by member Craig Spinn:

When I think of Christ at the cross I can think of no situation in life that could compare to the passion that he had for his people – for me, for us - and the crushing sin that was heaped upon him. None of which he deserved. His entire life had been about love, sacrifice, doing God’s will and helping his fellow man. He did not deserve this day on the cross and we – we were not worthy.

For the next three weeks our worship will be centered on suffering and the way God uses suffering to transform us. I’ve been asked to share this story....

In November 2014, my mother started having problems with focus and memory. Concerns that went beyond just “getting a little older.” My mother paid the bills in her house and took care of my mentally disabled brother. She was also the guardian ad litem for my disabled niece. At 75, she had never stopped parenting my brother and my niece. She was a rock for our entire family. 

After Mom missed a few bill payments, began to drop sentences, and finally experienced a fall, we knew something was wrong and she needed help. We made plans for Bob to take over paying the bills, we started decluttering their home, and we would come and help out on weekends. We reached out to doctors to find out what was wrong.

By spring break, after a second fall we knew that Mom and Bob needed more help than we could provide on weekends and holidays. Meanwhile, my own job was in jeopardy. As a school superintendent, my commitment to sound academics and integrity met with some resistance. In the end, it polarized the community did not make me a very popular man. Kelle and I needed to look into independent living, and possibly assisted living, and get Mom and Bob moved as quickly as we could. We found a lovely independent living community in Round Rock. A few weeks later we had them safely moved and settling into their new apartment. Mom and Bob could live independently, get nutritious meals and take care of each other. I could take care of my brother and my niece.

On April 10, 7:19 am, Bob called me to tell me mother fell again, and she was on her way to the hospital. After days in the hospital. X-rays, blood test, and an MRI we had our answer. The lung cancer was back, and it was at the root cause of the problems mom was having. The Doctors said she had three to six months to live. After a couple weeks in the hospital and regaining most of her cognitive abilities, mom decided she wanted to rehab. She wanted to regain some strength and spend the next few months with family. When she was able, we moved her to a rehab facility to begin rebuilding her strength. We thought we still had time with her. She never recovered. By the end of April, the school district and I had parted company. On May 5, 2015, my mother, who had lived a wonderful life and loved her family fiercely, passed away after battling cancer for the 3rd time on her life. 

I, on the other hand, was crushed. My family felt crushed. Kelle and I look back on this time, and we know that Christ carried us through this crisis in our lives. We hurt, we struggled, we cried. We prayed daily for answers. There were many times when we felt powerless and helpless. Yet we always felt God’s presence. We took comfort in him. We learned full well that we were not in control! We literally turned everything over to him. He was working in our lives. Loving us, guiding us, and leading us to a better place. We came back home to this church. We rekindled old friendships and made new friends. We were wrapped in a blanket of love. At home in a church that lives love.  Kelle found a job. We found a place to live. We began healing. Turns out, my commitment to doing the right thing became something of legend. It played a big part in me landed my current job, the best job I have ever had. I look after my brother and my niece. We have a lovely home and a beautiful church family. God is good. Thank you, Jesus!

We gather to offer thanksgiving for the suffering Christ, crushed and made new. We gather to offer thanksgiving for our own suffering, suffering making us new.

Because of His Great Love: On the 2018 Women's Retreat

A few weeks ago our women gathered in Salado, TX for our 2018 women's retreat. Our speaker Arlene Kasselman led our hearts and minds in purposeful reflection on what it means to be loved by God and how that one truth shapes our identity and actions. 

Here are a few photos and some highlights shared by women who attended:

After attending this year's women's retreat, what are you going home with? What did you learn?

Pamela Crider Champion:  I learned that God will take what I can do, my interests, my passions, my life and meld that with what He wants me to do. Simple but difficult.

Amber Benskin: The law was given not out of a means to dictate to us rules but rather to show us how to live in better community with another. Even God's cleansing of the temple was because of those being marginalized.

Lisa Seward Shultz: I do not have to live in the past, feeling guilty about things I have done and things that have happened to me. I can let go of that "baggage" and trade it for better things, things God has intended for me. I need to step into the role of my true identity. Believe all the things that God says I am.

Michelle Mohrmann: This is what stuck with me....
Your (my) worth has been taken out of your (my) hands and decided in your (my) favor. 
Relating this to my identity in Christ as described in Ephesians 1&2, I am adored, redeemed, forgiven, chosen, included, loved.

Tiffany Sanders: When we remember who we really are and whose we really are, it’s a game changer. By filling ourselves with the words He identifies us by, we become amazingly free and whole again.

Tanja Whitehead Wren: I learned the importance of discussion. I went into small group thinking a certain way and through the course of discussion I was challenged in my thinking. I was also able to see characteristics in myself that I hadn’t thought about but were shared by others. Without discussion it is impossible to truly grow and understand.

On Being Open-Handed: A Recap of How We Spent (and are spending) Our 2017 Extra

This past Sunday we had the extraordinary opportunity to share with you the effects of your generous giving in 2017, giving above and beyond our budget by more than $145,000. In case you missed the run-down of ways God used your money this year, here's the good news (you can either watch the video or read the full text below):

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TRANSCRIPT:

We want to share some good news with you. We’re 2 weeks into 2018. And in light of that, we want to take a quick look back at 2017, celebrate some things you know about, and let you in on some things you don’t know about.

Over the past year, among many other things,

• You gathered together for ShareFest to give our extra to over 500 people in need.
• You hosted almost 200 kids from this city for a week of Champs Camp, where they had a blast learning about Jesus and worshipping together.
• You invited our neighbors across the street to a party where we fed them and gave their children over 200 backpacks filled with school supplies.
• You gathered again and again for Plus One Celebrations, packing out living rooms and kitchens and backyards to celebrate baptisms, thanking God for salvation and life.
• You blessed Voigt Elementary’s teachers, volunteered at Voigt’s events, mentored their students, and prayed for their faculty.
• You provided a place every Monday right here in this building for dozens of children to have school.
• You sent teenagers and adults on mission trips to Houston and China and Nepal.
• You funded a year’s worth of mission work by an incredible couple in Zagreb, Croatia--who you’ll hear from later on.
• You served and grieved alongside people who said goodbye to precious loved ones this year.
• You drove people to AA meetings and made meals for struggling families.
• You created 4 new small groups, giving 92 more adults and kids a circle in which to love and be loved.
• You welcomed 66 new members into the RRCOC family and cheered for 21 baptisms.

And honestly, all of that is just the tip of the iceberg.

You may remember that in 2016 (the year before last) you went above and beyond with your financial generosity.

As we closed the year that December, and what you had done over the course of the year became evident, it was so fun to get to share that with you. You enabled some beautiful, incredible things.

But that Sunday in December of 2016, as we shared your giving and our plans, I closed that message with these words: “As we look ahead to 2017, let’s remember: give more and we’ll do more. Let’s get crazy.”

And you did. Because of your generosity and intentional giving, we ran a surplus this year.

Again.

You gave more. And so, we did more.

And because we’re Feast People, who gather regularly to celebrate the incredible blessing and work of God, we want to celebrate what God did and let you know about some of the ways we shared our extra…

Every year we budget more than $30,000 in benevolence--that’s money given to struggling families (inside and outside of our church) to help get them through trying times and enable them to get back on their feet. We pay water bills. We hand out HEB gift cards to help with groceries or medicine. We buy gas. This year, thanks to your open-handed giving, we were able to add an extra  $20,000 to our benevolence work, meeting the needs of over 150 families.

Some of your extra giving this year enabled us to take care of our aging building and outfit it to meet our growing needs. We added TVs to the balcony, improved our sound system, installed a new security system,  renovated classrooms, added a defibrillator in the foyer, kept up the  basketball goals in the parking lot as a service to the neighborhood kids who come over to play ball, and, among other things, replaced the baptistry  water heater just a few days before we welcomed five people into that water to put on Christ.

Because of your open-handed giving, we decided to do again what you enabled us to do in 2016 and devote another $9,000 for microgrants to Voigt Elementary to empower teachers to pursue creative and innovative ways of reaching their students.

Teachers have purchased books to make their libraries reflective of the backgrounds and races of their students, programs to teach coding and robotics, and supplies to help special needs students create a coffee cafe, in which they sell coffee and pastries to teachers and staff, learning important money and social skills.

This past year, because of your above-and-beyond generosity, we were able to hire a part time storytelling minister and fund our storytelling ministry--an effort to identify and proclaim what God’s doing at this church. In 2017 we told over 19 stories about how God’s changing our lives.

In 2017 we were able to give $15,000 above our budget to help missionaries in Tanzania and Croatia.

And in addition to all of that, we still have more money we’re currently in the process of allocating to bless our city, equip our church, and glorify God.

This wasn’t an easy year for our church. We made some hard decisions in our efforts to follow God’s leading and those decisions weren’t always popular. It wasn’t an easy year. But it was a good year. In the midst of the inevitable friction of life together, we proved that Jesus was right: we’re better together. You proved that there’s so much power in open hands.

In total, your giving last year exceeded our budget by $145,000.

That’s what enabled all of that good work we listed.

And that’s in addition to the extra you gave in special contributions (for hurricane victims and short term missions) which alone totaled $46,000.

This is what it looks like to be open-handed.

Thank you church for letting God move through you so powerfully.

As we celebrated your giving in Dec 2016, I offered a blessing from 2 Cor 9--a blessing God clearly honored, and a blessing I want to offer again:

As you become more and more generous, may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food also supply and increase your store of seed and enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. [May you] be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and [may]  your generosity result in thanksgiving to God.

Would you join us in saying out loud,

 “Look what God’s done! Thank you, God! We love it!!”

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We have one more thing to tell you about. In November of 2017, we focused our attention on orphans, and God’s call for us to love the way he loves--as a Father who adopts us as his children.

And we introduced you to 4 children from Columbia who are in need of families. Abe, Jack and Natalie, and Nelly. We gave you magnets with their faces and challenged you to pray daily that God would provide them a home. You did. And we want you to continue to.

But some of you did more than that. Some of you sensed God leading you to go further, convinced that God would enable what he required.

Many of you know that our own Josh and Susan Sumpter have decided to pursue adoption. They’ve done a ton of work, completed home studies, and though there’s always less certainty in these things than we’d like, things seem to be progressing well.

What you may not know is that the child they’re adopting is Nelly.

:)

By the way, the adoption agency gives each child a pseudonym until they’re a ways into the adoption process--so we’ve come to find out that Nelly’s real name is actually Brenda. So we can call her that from now on. :)

Now, we’re going to pray with Josh & Susan about this in a second, but we wanted to make you aware of your participation in all of this awesomeness. As most of you know, adoption can be very expensive, and our desire for some time now has been to leverage our collective generosity in the direction of that challenge.

And so while the Sumpters have already paid for their home studies, and while they’re fundraising to offset the costs of (Lord willing) bringing Brenda home (I mean, she’ll arrive with essentially the clothes on her back), there remains the main portion of the costs of this adoption: a sum of around $30,000.

And because of your open hands, our church is providing $30,000 to enable the Sumpters to give Brenda a home. :)

I can’t wait to meet this little girl. I can’t believe that, Lord willing, our church will have had the opportunity to participate in her story. I can’t wait to watch her grow up in this family.

Josh and Susan, would you come up here?

We know that even though things have gone smoothly so far, we don’t know what the future holds, and so we want to pray with you, asking God to bring this to fruition, and asking Him to be present with you and reward your obedient hearts no matter what lies ahead.

Father in heaven, thank you for this family. Thank you for their hearts to be a family to this precious child who has no parents. Father, give them everything they need for everything you’ve called them to. Thank you for the generosity of this church. Thank you for the courageous hearts of its shepherds. Thank you for writing this story and for writing us into it. Please enable this adoption. We want good, good things for Brenda--keep her close to you. And if for some reason there’s something else that’s even better for Brenda, give Susan and Josh the strength and comfort they’ll need to adjust to that. But our desire, Father, is that you would bring Brenda home...here. And that you would continue to enrich us in every way so that we can be generous on every occasion. In Jesus’ name, amen.

On Light & Life: A Christmas Worship Recap

This year on Christmas Eve we gathered to worship the coming Christ and welcomed hundreds of visitors into our midst. Together we celebrated the life and light only Jesus brings.

Because so many of our members spent Christmas Eve away from Round Rock visiting family, we thought we'd share some of the highlights from our Christmas worship here: 

To start, we shared this video, illustrated by Igniter Media and narrated by our own Glenda Morrison.

During our communion meditation we listened to the song "Power To Redeem" from Lauren Daigle...

Afterward Justin Gerhardt led us in reflections on what it means to live in a world that's both light and dark and why it's so important to believe in the light.

Everyone went home with a book of matches, a reminder to believe in the light (and to spread the light, too). 

Especially lovely was the moment when we all lit candles, and light spilled across the auditorium while we sang Silent Night. 

Thank you SO much to everyone who devoted time on Christmas Eve to help make this worship service possible! What a privilege it was to welcome our city into our building and to share the luminous hope we've been given.

On The Winter Youth Retreat, Learning To Be Like Jesus, and Scavenger Hunting

Just a couple weekends ago our youth gathered at Camp of the Hills near Marble Falls to grow closer to one another and Christ, worshipping, praying, and studying 3 of Jesus’ "I am" statements:

"I am the Good Shepherd," learning to listen for God’s voice 

"I am the Bread of Life," learning to trust God more

"I am the Light of the World," learning about Jesus being light and how to carry that light ourselves

On Sunday, the speaker gave the students some practical (though wacky) ways to live these truths out, like leaving an open seat for Jesus or taking a walk with God (and talking to him like he’s walking right beside you).

Over the weekend the students grew closer to one another playing different games, but the big activity that everyone will remember was the scavenger hunt. Not because it was a standard run of the mill hunt, but because while the students were hunting for clues, they were also being hunted. George, our speaker, drove around in his truck and “captured” groups, making it a great game of cat and mouse while students simultaneously tried to find all of the clues and evade capture. Everyone also had fun bonding over smores, "banana surgery," and hanging out during down times. 

Thanks to Josh Jones for the event recap! Here are a few pictures of the fun:

On Generosity & Sending: A Missions Benefit Dinner Recap

On December 10th our church gathered to raise money for adults and teens with a desire to serve and teach beyond the borders of our building and city. We blew past our ambitious goal of $15,000, raising almost $18,000 by the grace of our generous God who calls us into Christ-like giving. 

Gathering together for a purpose always blooms into joy, especially with so many hard-working people orchestrating the celebration. Thanks to everyone who played a part--planners, bakers, singers, decorators, servers, logistics folks, baristas, money counters, speakers, testimony-givers, photographers... Everyone. Thank you for letting God use You do His good work. 

This year that money will send teens to Houston for hurricane cleanup. It'll send teens to Lima, Peru to work with orphans and street kids. It'll send adults to Croatia to encourage and equip local minsters and capture stories of the work there. It'll help send one of our college kids to Africa. It'll also benefit the work done through Come Before Winter, an organization devoted to spiritual renewal for missionaries and church workers. 

So much good work enabled by the generosity God stirred up in your hearts!

Look what God's done! Thank You, God. We love it. 

Here are a few pictures and videos from the night.

On Defending the Fatherless: An Opportunity to Adopt and An Opportunity to Enable Adoption

This Sunday our church joined in with people across our country to observe National Adoption month and call attention to the great need and opportunity for Christians to pursue adoption, welcoming into our homes and families those children who've been abandoned, neglected, or whose parents simply can't manage their care. 

We read from Psalm 68: "But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing in praise of His name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him--His name is The Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing. " And we reaffirmed our commitment to partner financially with members who want to pursue adoption. 

From our stage, Dan and Leann Burgess (Dan's our Connections Minister, and he and his wife Leann have two adopted children, Finn and Norah) shared the following words about our church's plans to support adoption and defend orphans:

"Late last year we shared that because of your generous giving and our heart for orphans, we wanted to financially enable a couple from our church to adopt a child into their family. To our surprise, two couples emerged, and we excitedly walked with both of them on that path. However, both of those couples, for varying reasons, have chosen not to adopt at this time, though they have no less of a desire to adopt eventually.

We remain committed to this, so we’re praying that there might be another family in this church who wants to bring a child into their home. We hope God works or has been working in the hearts of members of this church to move them to adopt, because our intent is to come alongside that family financially and take the financial obstacle out of the way.  And if there are a couple families, we’ll look for a way to help them both.

If God is leading you to adopt a child, please talk to us. Because your church is ready to help. 

Beyond that, we’ve got something we’re excited to begin today as a church. We know that adoption isn’t something God wants for everyone. (Though he may in fact want it for you.) BUT we can certainly all pray for children who are in need of a family. And since it can be hard to get your heart into praying for orphans in general, we want to introduce you to 4 particular children. 

This is ABE—he’s 7 months old and adorable

This is NELLY—she’s 12. We actually met her this summer andshe’s so sweet and beautiful and would make a lovely daughter.

This is JAKE and NATALIE—Jake is 6 and Natalie is 12. They are siblings and want to stay together.

 All these children live in Colombia and are all in need of a forever family. Our church has been told about these kids through Lifeline Children’s Services which is the adoption agency that connected us with Finn. So we’re going to pray as a church that our Heavenly Father would bring them into a home. AND We’re going to remain open to the fact that the home God may have in mind for one of them...may be one of ours. 

Here’s the challenge: (and it’s a commitment to do this--so we only want you to do this if you’re serious about doing it): 

    WE WANT YOU TO PRAY THESE KIDS HOME! We want you to pray for them every day that God will connect them to parents. We’ve got a magnet for you with their pictures on it to help serve as a reminder for you. 

    And, WE WANT YOU TO ADVOCATE FOR THEM! Tell others about them. Share their names and faces.

And, we want you to do this until they’re adopted. We will keep you updated as we receive updates from Lifeline. 

This is a great thing to do if you’re single, it’s a great thing as a couple, it’s a great thing for you to do with your kids. And what a joy it will be for us to join together in this effort to get them home! So if you’re up for this challenge, grab a magnet off the board in the foyer after worship, DEFEND THE FATHERLESS, and live love."

After this announcement, Finn Burgess, Dan and Leann's adopted son, led us in prayer, and though we didn't understand every word he said, we all joined with Finn in lifting up our hearts to God, asking Him to open us up to the work He intends to do in and through us. Our prayer as a church is that God would be calling at least one family among us into the good work of loving a child who desperately needs to be loved. 

If you didn't grab a magnet this Sunday, you can get one next week. We're devoted to praying for these kids for as long as it takes before they're adopted, so it's not too late to jump in and help. If you're considering adoption, just let us know at info@rrcoc.org. 

On Finding Healing In Jesus: Denise's Story of Coming To Christ

Two Sundays ago we shared this story from Denise Warner who was recently baptized. Denise came to RRCOC with her friend Glenda, and it was Glenda who got the opportunity to tell Denise the gospel story. Denise moved out of state just a few weeks ago, but wanted to share her testimony with the Round Rock church before she left. Here's what she wrote: 

When Glenda, and I first began studying the bible together, I was very broken and living a life very distant from Jesus.  My life was very broken.  I was lost because my mother who was my best friend, my confidant, and my greatest teacher just had a stroke.  The stroke left her almost completely paralyzed, and unable to speak, or even swallow.  I was so devastated that I could no longer talk to her that I felt abandoned by God.  Instead of going to Jesus for guidance, I was working with shamanism, tarot cards, and angels.  Because my mother, and I were very soulfully connected, I was trying to connect with her on a psychic level.  I was studying methods to increase my psychic abilities.  While I was working with the spirit world for guidance, I honestly believed I was healing my life.

Then, God led me to Glenda to help me get back on track.  She noticed I often walked in our neighborhood so she asked if I wanted to go for walks with her.  As we talked during the walks we talked about our beliefs.  Our conversations made me question my desire to increase my psychic abilities, and my study of the spirit world. 

Finally, right before my mother died,  as I was letting my mother go from this life, God led me to walk away from my study of the spirit world and to come home to Jesus.  I know it was Jesus who lead me to a find a copy of Joyce Meyer’s book about healing  through Jesus.  Because I had never read the Bible, I had a lot of difficulty at first reading the book.  I became curious about healing with Jesus, and I wanted to know Jesus.  It was during a walk with Glenda that we decided that the best way to get to know him is to read his story in the gospels.   

As I studied the gospels, I realized how Jesus needed to become my spiritual guide. As Jesus became my focus, I removed everything not related to him out of my life. The more Jesus became the center of my life, the more I felt his love, and it was his grace that healed the broken pieces in my heart back together.   

Since I became a sister in Christ... to everyone at RRCOC, my life became so filled up with the love of Jesus that I felt like I was walking on the clouds in heaven with Jesus by my side.  When I think of y’all I still feel that way, and this I why I know that it is possible to live love.  And this I promise to you: that I will continue to live love in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and I will not forget any of you, and I will come back and visit and tell you all the wonderful ways God has led me to live love.

Blessed to be your sister,

Denise

On Washing Feet and Not Being Too Cool

This year just as school began, our oldest student ministry students washed the feet of the incoming sixth graders. This ceremony, something our students do every year, never fails to be a beautiful and powerful symbol of love. It's an assertion from our high schoolers that they're not above or better than these younger kids and that they exist to serve them, to serve as examples and as big brothers and sisters, including them in the life of the group. 

Ava Collins, a sixth grader, wrote the following words about what the ceremony meant to her. She said, "As seven high schoolers walked out to wash my and six other new sixth graders' feet, I felt kind of excited and kind of nervous!" 

Ava shared that they'd studied about Jesus washing His disciples' feet in love. She wrote, "The high schoolers were going to wash our feet to show us that though they are older than us, we are all the same. When they knelt down to wash our feet, it felt strange and kind of awkward, but it was very special."

Congratulations to all our new student ministry kids! We're praying that the next seven years shape you in powerful ways, leading you closer to Christ and closer to His people. 

On Voigt Elementary School & Living Love

This Sunday we encouraged you to join us in living love toward Voigt Elementary School, a Title 1* school less than 2 miles from our building. 

Four years ago our church began a partnership with Voigt in an effort to bless our community, particularly those who're disadvantaged. Close to 70% of Voigt Elementary students live 130% or more below the poverty line. As poverty often correlates to low student achievement and high drop out rates, we wanted to step in as a church, alongside the dedicated teachers and administration, and do what we could to help even the playing field. 

So far for our church that looks like... 

• volunteering as mentors by visiting the school once a week for thirty minutes to have lunch with struggling students

• serving as literacy partners, reading to and listening to below grade level readers in a one-on-one setting teachers can't enable in the classroom

• adopting teachers and staff, providing them with the encouragement and support they need to keep showing up for their students

• and volunteering as community members of the PTA, donating our time to help with school events that benefit teachers, parents, and students

It also looks like $18,000 donated over the last two years to fund micro grants for teachers, enabling them to buy what they need to make learning possible in their classrooms. So far, we've enabled the purchase of curriculum, classroom chairs for students with learning disabilities, books, dual language resources, technology, a relaxation corner for teachers, and more. 

If you're interested in joining us as we join the Voigt Elementary School family in serving and blessing our city's kids, fill out the form below and let us know how you'd like to be involved. 

Name *

Name

First Name

Last Name

Email Address *

What Role You'd Like To Play *

Thank you!

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Listen to member Luke Cochran share his story of mentoring at Voigt...

*Title 1 refers to the school's high enrollment of financially disadvantaged students. 

On Being Beautiful And Intelligent (Like We Were Made): Reflections From This Year's Girls' Retreat

Earlier this summer our youth group girls got together for a weekend of growing and bonding, learning how to be the "beautiful and intelligent" women God made them to be. Jerrin Duty wrote this reflection:

This girls’ retreat weekend has been a wonderful way to relax and grow closer to God and my fellow young ladies. Learning more about God from our elders is always a blessing, One of the advantages as part of the youth group is to learn from christians of all ages.

The speakers gave us all different points of view on how we can be the beautiful, intelligent women God wants us to be, teaching how to live love and use our power for those around us, Jennifer Gerhardt told us Abigail’s story. She reminded us we each have power we can use to serve others. The other two speakers, Emily Sumpter and Linda Kay, taught us about how we need to trust that God sees us as beautiful. Together they taught us that we are special and that God has given us what we need to do his work.

Throughout the weekend we did “ice-breaker” activities and unexpected silly games. These helped pull us closer together and get to know each other better. I enjoyed this weekend immensely and got more out it than I thought I would. Thank you to all who contributed to the girls’ retreat.

On Grace, Dropping Chains, and Camp: Kaylee Wiginton on her experience at Kadesh

Last week RRCOC sent our high schoolers to Kadesh, a camp at Abilene Christian University. Every year our teens come back with stories about the amazing ways they saw God work in their own hearts and in the lives of their fellow campers. 

Here are a few words from Kaylee Wiginton on her experience this year (pictures courtesy of Stephanie Jones): 

This week, Kadesh gave me an experience I won’t ever forget.

After carrying around physical chains all week long, then hearing the words that God speaks to us to release us from our slavery to sin and to accept His grace, the whole camp gathered to worship. This worship started with us dropping our chains at the foot of the cross, then we took communion and prayed with our groups, who we had gotten extremely close to throughout the week. After communion, we sang (or more like shouted). And the feeling that I’m pretty sure the entire chapel felt, I won’t ever forget. You could feel the joy of people who had dropped all their chains, emotional and physical, at the foot of the cross, and accepted God’s grace.

Kadesh brought me closer to God all week with the intensive and extensive studying that we did on God’s word, but this worship showed me a closer glimpse of God because everyone could feel the weight of their burdens being lifted as God’s grace washed over them.

I’m so glad I went to Kadesh this week because I learned what God’s grace really is.

Introducing Our Storytelling Ministry (And Our New Storytelling Minister)

This Sunday we took the opportunity to introduce our storytelling ministry and explain the process of deciding to hire Jennifer Gerhardt as our part time storytelling minister. We're so excited about this work and can't wait to see more and more people involved in proclaiming the goodness of God!

Here's a transcript of what we said: 

KEN KOHL: This morning we want to take a few minutes to talk to you about our storytelling ministry and our recent decision to bring Jennifer Gerhardt on staff as our part time storytelling minister. This is Jennifer. 

JENNIFER GERHARDT: Hi! :)

KEN: Jennifer, why don’t we begin by explaining to everybody what our storytelling ministry is.

JENNIFER:  The storytelling ministry is a congregational effort to identify, capture and share the stories God’s writing in our church. The point is to glorify God and invite more people to join Him in His work. We want to say, “God is here. He’s doing awesome stuff. You can be a part of it.”

Practically speaking, we create videos, facilitate on stage testimonies, maintain a blog of members’ stories, update pictures on the website, and manage our social media accounts. The current story telling team is made up of photographers, videographers, writers and designers.

If you've never heard of our storytelling ministry before that’s likely because we work behind the scenes. We don’t sign our names to pictures we take or videos we make or posts we write on Facebook.

We started building this team a couple years ago at the prompting of the elders.

KEN: Yeah. About three years ago, while looking at our vision for and the needs of our congregation, we felt like three areas of ministry were emerging as places we wanted to invest more of our energy: connections, worship, and storytelling. We hired Dan Burgess as a way to increase our commitment to connections and worship. And we knew we still needed to find ways to pursue storytelling. We needed to help the congregation keep up with the things God was doing in and through this church. We kept hearing about great things happening and we wanted everyone, both inside and outside of our church, to know.

Over the years as we’ve watched this ministry bloom we’ve come to believe that storytelling is an essential practice of a healthy church. Jennifer, why don’t you explain why...

JENNIFER: First, God loves stories, and so much of what He means when He calls us to tell other people about Him is simply Him asking us to tell other people a story. The Apostles say when they’re in trouble for preaching the gospel, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” When the apostles shared the gospel, they were telling a story.

What’s wonderful about this being God's plan is that people love stories, and more and more our culture is built on them. Tell them facts about salvation and redemption and they might be interested. But tell them a story about God saving and redeeming you (and tell it well) and they’ll hang on your every word.

Second stories help connect us to one another. You feel closer to Stormy and Wyatt Raley, or example, after hearing their story. Every one of us who saw Angie Nett get that van this year feel closer to Angie and her son Josiah than we did before. And You should feel close to these people. If you’re a part of this church, they’re your family. Sharing stories enables the kind of intimacy that makes sense in a family.

Finally, stories remind us that God is here and at work. We can be tempted to forget that or to think our church isn’t doing anything to partner with God. These stories remind us that’s not true. God’s all up in this place.

KEN: That’s why we’re such big proponents of this ministry. Storytelling is powerful and a natural extension of who we are as a gospel-sharing people.

Last year Jennifer came to us, knowing we were interested in telling more stories, and mentioned that she’d be up for exploring what a storytelling ministry would look like in our context. She asked if she could volunteer her time to create more videos, take a more intentional look at how we were using our social media platforms, and start a church blog dedicated to our members’ testimonies. We told her to go for it. Her being willing to do this as a volunteer allowed us to test drive the ministry. The work Jennifer produced was amazing--beyond our expectations--and over the course of a year we saw how effective and important this work was for our church, particularly in glorifying God, uniting us around our shared mission and in connecting us to one another. That’s why, a few weeks ago, we asked Jennifer if she would consider doing this work as a part time employee. That wasn’t what Jennifer was expecting when she offered to try this out, but we were able to convince her to sign on.

Jennifer, the elders are obviously excited about the ways you’re qualified for this role, but for the church’s sake, so they can see what we’ve seen, share some of how God’s equipped you for this.

JENNIFER: It really does seem like God's been at work, preparing me for this. I didn't grow up wanting to be a storytelling minister, but somehow that's what God's enabled. Educationally, I have a Master’s degree in literature (so, basically, stories). Experience-wise, I’ve written stories (as a newspaper reporter, freelance writer and book author) and taught people how to read and write stories (as a college lecturer). I've also led workshops around the country. That’s my background and training.

As far as practical skills: I’ve helped build multiple websites. I've built an online community. I’ve managed multiple social media platforms. I’m a photography geek. And I make videos. I’d made several before I started helping Round Rock and I’ve made more than 20 for our church in the last year.

Also, I’m really connected to the people in this church, after worshipping here for seven years. And we’ve found that to be an essential element in making the ministry what it could and should be--I suspect that’s one reason our elders decided to hire from within.

KEN: It definitely is.

When we asked you to take this position, you already had a job as a writer. Will you need to quit that in order to work for us?

JENNIFER: I’ll have to scale back my other work significantly. This year I’ve had to cut back on the number of projects I take on and turn down some opportunities in order to devote time to Round Rock. I suspect that will continue, but I accepted this position because I love telling stories about God and helping other people do the same. Too, I’m happy and eager to do whatever’s good for our church. I do intend to keep writing though, as much as I can.

KEN: The role of “Storytelling Minister” sounds like you’ll be up front telling stories. Is that what this role is? Will we be seeing a lot of your face on stage?

JENNIFER: I sure hope not. When we say "storytelling" we don’t mean me on stage using a dramatic voice. My job is to help you tell the story God’s writing in your life. I intend to be a kind of midwife, empowering you to deliver your own story--not delivering it for you. We want to see all your faces up here declaring the goodness of God. This past year alone we’ve heard stories from our youngest members, from a couple of our oldest members, from our teens, from new members, from men and women. This ministry is an effort to give everyone a microphone for glorifying God.

If you're interested in joining the storytelling team or have a story you might want to tell, contact Jennifer at stories@rrcoc.org.

On Life After Baptism And A New Frequency: Stormy's Story

A few weeks back during our Hero's Journey sermon series Justin shared these words about what baptism has meant to Stormy Raley. Below, she (baptized at RRCOC just about a year ago) shares what God's been up to in her life over the last several months:

Being baptized at the age of 25 was a blessing. I was old enough to knowingly understand and make my decision after being exposed to massive amounts of skepticism, doubt and denial that was shed on Jesus, the Bible and Christianity. Before my baptism, I lived a life of very heavy sin. About 3 years before being baptized I lived a more balanced life, I had grown far away from who I was, trying to forgive myself for the past that followed me like a shadow.  Heavy guilt, secret shame and embarrassment.  Until one pivotal moment.  The moment that I realized that It was not my forgiveness I had so badly yearned for.  It was Gods forgiveness.  

I remember looking into my husband's eyes before I was leaned back into the water……I remember the feeling….I had longed for the moment, God had given me someone that would deliver to me to his front steps…to take a dip into forgiveness and begin a relationship with God.  If my husband only knew what he did for me in those moments.   If God only knew how thankful I was that I was to be there in that moment.  

Thoughts that crossed my mind while getting ready to step into the water: “Am I worthy?  Can I really be forgiven for all that I have done?”………When I was brought up from the water the feeling was almost instantaneous, there was a huge weight instantly lifted from my being, I felt clean, I truly felt forgiven.  From that moment on I felt the strong presence of God.  

I began to feel convicted for things I used to do that I never knew was wrong.  In spouts of anger I would say hurtful things, but now I have a strong magnet like presence, a voice, a whisper, a thought telling me to refrain from anger…..I only want to love.  I have an atheist sister that I had a deep hatred for, with nothing but bad things to say to her and about her….after being baptized now I feel nothing but love and the presence of God helping me to forgive, because after all …..he forgave me.  

This all sounds like something someone would write as a “lets get baptized add”,  but this is me…..this is all happening to me…. a far from normal person that used to think religion was a way of “Controlling the masses”.  It felt like getting baptized set me into a frequency that I wasn’t able to receive before.  I began constantly asking myself how would Jesus handle this situation if he were here?  (I mean ME, of all people, literally asking myself WWJD, sometimes I would smile to myself..).  In past relationships it was all about me, what was I not getting, what was he not doing for me.  However in my marriage, after being baptized I see this man that has vowed his life to God and to me and I can only love him unconditionally.  I couldn’t bare to hurt him, and I cared more about his feelings than my selfishness.  

After being baptized, something else happened…I work in the medical field in the hospital where there can be so much pain, sadness, confusion, and death.  I would sit with patients or their families and listen to their hardships, sometimes there is a nudge within me….someone telling me to pray for them…...and not being able to ignore the strong heart pounding request, I would ask them if I could pray with them.  Someone who isn’t “good” at prayer, someone who is SO uncomfortable praying out loud.  But It was God, using me to comfort others.  

I think what being baptized taught me most of all is that God worked on me for so many years.  He never gave up on me.  He loved, and forgave me like no one ever has or ever will.  In seeking him, I found him…….and I also found myself and my true calling which is to be a glimpse of light for those in the dark searching for God.