Elders and Deacons of The Connection have been selected and will be installed during our worship service this Sunday, November 23 at Harrisburg High School.
Selected as Elders: Jerrold Wynia (2-year term), Lyndon Hohwieler (2-year term), Tim DeLoof (1-year term), and Tim Kromminga (1-year term).
Selected as Deacons: Kyle Hanisch (2-year term), Galen Van Otterloo (2-year term), Dave Wieman (1-year term), and Jim Halling (1-year term).
Information on the role of elders and deacons in the Reformed Church in America can be found in the Book of Church Order.
November 18 2008 | News | No Comments »
Poverty may not always show up on the outside. Our friends at The Banquet in Sioux Falls know this very much.
They are asking for “Brand New Donations” of sox, underwear, bras, and undershirts to give to their guests this Christmas season.
The Connection will be receiving donations (look for the Project Inside-Out box by the Info Table) between November 30 and December 7. Check out http://thebanquetsf.org/special_projects/index.htm for more information on the what and why, or visit with Laura Byl (Mission/Outreach Team Leader) or Kathy Jorgensen for more info.
November 18 2008 | News | No Comments »
I have lived a pretty opulent life. Part of that is simply a generational reality of life in America. My grandparents (both sets) were miserably poor. My maternal grandmother told of a Christmas when she was a little girl and received for her present an orange. That’s it. My great-grandfather (paternal) lost everything in the Great Depression, went insane, and killed himself. This led to my grandfather joining the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) so he could send money home to his Mom, dirt poor and trying to raise a family as a single-parent in South Dakota.
My grandparents did their best to provide for their children, though for both of my folks their upbringing was pretty spartan. They themselves, as they grew into adulthood and began to raise a family, surely went out of their way to see to it that my siblings and I not only had food and clothing, but toys, books, games, etc.
At no time in my life can I say that I’ve gone hungry. In regard to clothing, it’s never been a question of “Do I have clothes to wear today?” but “Which of my many clothes should I wear today?” Times have changed. While this is not true for everyone (there are still many poor people in our communities), it is far more the norm than the exception.
None of this, in case you are wondering, is leading down a path of guilt for “having.” I am thankful for all that I have. Where this is leading, I hope, is in asking the question, “What is it for?”
I was so terribly struck by a picture this week:
The caption below it reads, “Protegee, carrying her sibling on her back, cries as she looks for her parents through the village of Kiwanja, 90 kms north of Goma, eastern Congo, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2008. A fragile cease-fire in Congo appeared to be unraveling Thursday as the U.N. said battles between warlord Laurent Nkunda’s rebels and the army spread to another town in the volatile country’s east.” (AP Photo/Jerome Delay - Source)
Knowing that the good things I’ve been blessed with are surely from God, this abundance surely begs the question: “What is it for?” What is this blessing for? So I can live fat and sassy and grimly lament “those sad people in the poor places” of the world? Or is it so that I can march out carrying the banner of Jesus Christ in bringing relief to the sad ones? The hungry ones. The lonely ones. The oppressed ones.
The richest blessing we have is in Jesus Christ, the One in whom “there is redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). In Jesus Christ we have an eternal blessing and security, knowing that this life is simply an incomplete foretaste of the life to come when Christ’s kingdom is fully come. We have glimmerings of it–beauty, goodness, kindess, justice. We also have more reminders than we’d like that it is not yet here–hunger, poverty, war, death. Protegee.
As a redeemed people, it is ours to go out as though the kingdom were here. As though the heavenlies were right now. Scenes such as this one of Protegee (about Ian’s age, carrying her sister, who appears about Annie’s age) should break our hearts. We should fight against this, because this is not the reality of Christ. I wonder if God has gathered a people in Jesus Christ to fight…to address the brokenness of the world and in doing so invite others into a glimpse of the heavenlies.
I’m writing about this primarily because it is what God has placed upon my heart this week as I’ve been immersed in 1 Corinthians 15. It is one thing to talk, it is another to act. The brother of our Lord writes this: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says…If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:22, 26-27)
One role of the Church is to give opportunities to actually go and do that which God commands. This summer, The Connection will be providing three mission opportunities for our people: local, regional, and world. Begin praying even now about how God will use you to live into His kingdom reality. Together we are going to fight against the brokenness of the world.
November 14 2008 | News | No Comments »
Christ in Action attacked leaves in Harrisburg on Wednesday, November 5 for our second installment of C.I.A. for the fall. A hearty group raked a horse trailer-full of leaves, beating the first snowfall by about 24 hours! Well done, Connection! A special thanks to David Hackrott for his leadership and hardware, and our friends at Your Daily Dose for a warm-up cuppa afterwards. (PS–We don’t have any pictures because it got so dark, so early!)
December C.I.A. is at 6:00 p.m. on Dec. 3 at The Salvation Army of Sioux Falls. More details TBA!
November 11 2008 | News | No Comments »
Our sister church in Sioux Falls, The Crossing, is hosting a healing conference, Following Jesus the Healer, on November 21-22 at Good News Reformed Church. Check out http://www.thecrossing.biz/j15/ for more details and registration information.
November 11 2008 | News | No Comments »
At the behest of a friend, I am beginning today a (hopefully) regular series of blogs. For some time I’ve resisted the urge to write publicly in this way, but my friend sent a rather compelling article by John Piper on why pastors should blog (http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1156_6_reasons_pastors_should_blog/). While these entries may or may not be theological, they will point to Jesus Christ, the One in whom “rich store of every kind of good abounds” (Calvin, Institutes, 2.16.19). Scripture passages and threads of thought will usually be tied to the daily lectionary readings of the Episcopal Church (http://satucket.com/lectionary/).
Psalm 69 (along with Psalm 22) is the most commonly cited psalm in the New Testament. It is a cry for help, a lament, from an innocent person suffering unjustly. It’s applicability to Jesus Christ, naturally, is given.
What I find so interesting about Psalm 69 is that it begins with a cry for help: “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck” (v. 1). It is a distressing picture that continues through the psalm with only short respites here and there. The allusions to Jesus Christ’s experience at Golgotha and before are transparent: “zeal for your house consumes me,” “[they] gave me vinegar for my thirst.” There is suffering, deep suffering here.
But the psalm ends with praise: “Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them, for God will save Zion” (v. 34-35a, italics mine). There is no promise here of not suffering. Jesus suffered. He suffered greatly. There is, however, trust in the only One who can save. For that, we offer our praise.
As I grow older and come to know Christ more, I find that walking with Christ offers no exemption from suffering. In fact, I’m finding more and more that, in so many ways, suffering increases. Yet, in a way that is simple, mysterious, and verily inexplicable, this suffering produces in me not cynicism and despair, but ever-growing trust and praise.
Who among us doesn’t feel the waters coming up to our necks occassionally (or more), and a sense of sinking into “the miry depths”? But we have a hope, grounded in the gracious and merciful goodness of God’s love, shown to us fully in Jesus Christ.
We have a hope. However scorned, disgraced, and shamed. However numerous our enemies. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).
Amen!
November 07 2008 | Pastor Travis | No Comments »
Sunday, November 2–Seth Sundstrom of The Crossing will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, The Life of the Church–Sacraments. We will celebrate the Sacrament of Communion.
Wednesday, November 5–C.I.A. (Christ in Action)
Sunday, November 9–Pastor Travis will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 14:1-25, The Life of the Church–Prophecy & Tongues. We will celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism for Aspen Schroedermeier.
Sunday, November 16–Pastor Travis will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 15:12-58, The Life of the Church–Living in Hope.
Sunday, November 23–Pastor Travis & Pastor Seth will be preaching on 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, The Life of the Church–The Church Catholic. We will celebrate the baptisms of Shelby & Jenna Brodkorb. Post-service Consistory installation and congregation meeting.
Wednesday, November 26–Harrisburg Community Thanksgiving Service, 7:00 p.m. at H’burg United Methodist Church.
Thursday, November 27–Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, November 30–The First Sunday of Advent. Pastor Travis will be preaching on Isaiah 64:1-9.
November 04 2008 | News | No Comments »
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
“God is love.” (1 John 4:16b)
http://www.maximumreferrals.com/videos/bridge/bridge.html
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October 21 2008 | News | No Comments »
The Connection hooked up with Hope Haven International Ministries in Sioux Falls (www.hopehaven.org) on Wednesday night to prepare wheelchairs for shipment to disabled persons in the developing world. A group of 40 sorted foam, wheels, tubes, and tires to send to the South Dakota State Penitentiary and HHIM Workshop in Antigua, Guatemala. Thanks to everyone for participating in this wonderful outreach!
The first Wednesday night of every month is CIA (Christ in Action) at The Connection–kids and families working together to share the love of Christ in ministry around the greater Sioux Falls area.
October 03 2008 | News | No Comments »