November 2014

 

Hello ministry friends!

I hope you are feeling thankful this month and looking forward to Thanksgiving.  I love that we have a national holiday to pause and thank God for all things.  Our church is getting ready to host members of the larger community on November 22 with a free turkey dinner as an outreach event. We’re offering tracts like the one pictured, a pilgrim million-dollar bill with a gospel message on the back (from TractPlanet.com). There weren’t any dollars during the time of the pilgrims, but it looks authentic anyway!

From Camp Joy looking at the old Berea SDB Church

 
In mid-October I enjoyed the Appalachian Association’s Fall Women’s Retreat at Camp Joy in Berea, WV.  To share what I’ve been up to, I took the display boards I’d made for General Conference featuring the SDB church plants in North America as well as photos from the two churches I’ve served so far (Arizona and Maryland). I made new friends as we fellowshipped during meals and worshipped together. 

  During lesson time we looked at ways to overcome some of the emotions that can derail us from living for Christ in victory, leading to some deep discussions.  One major highlight was hearing a woman with a Catholic background share how glad she was that she accepted an invitation to come because the contrast between her church experience and our group of women who live for Jesus was enormous. She wanted what we had and clearly had a spiritual awakening that weekend.

 

I had a birthday in early November and was happy to receive two books from my son, Paul, that I’d been wanting to read.  Have you heard of “Radical” by David Platt?  His second book is “Radical Together” about the church taking up the mission of Jesus together.  The author, a pastor, challenges us to abandon the typical American dream in favor of living all out for Jesus. The Church has tended to embrace the values of our changing culture, becoming more materialistic and self-centered, without realizing we’re living contrary to the teachings of Jesus to deny self, take up our crosses and follow Him on His mission. My sending church in Boulder (Colorado) has a Sabbath School class studying “Radical.” I recommend these books!

Just before my birthday week, my sister, JoAnne Kandel, and I took a weekend road trip to Illinois to visit and help our oldest sister, Susan.  A bit of SDB trivia and history for you – we were known in our teen years at Conference as the four Burdick girls.  I’m number three and Jo is number four.  The second one, Mary Ellen, lives in Colorado. We are descendants of Robert Burdick of Rhode Island who was a son-in-law of Samuel Hubbard, a founder of the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in America in 1671. Our father (also a Robert) hailed from Milton, WI, and that was the church of my childhood.  So, we were happy to worship at the Milton SDB church on November 1st and visit with friends and some of my ministry partners over lunch.  It’s a blessing to learn from the things “The Connecting Church” has done in recent years to reach out in Milton and add to the number of citizens in God’s Kingdom.

Side windows in the Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church

A recent answer to prayer has been the addition of three more monthly supporters, and a few one-time donors too.  God promises to provide for His servants in His timing, and I’m so thankful.  Please continue to pray for God to add to this team of partners in the ministry of SDB church planting.  I’m at about 2/3 of full monthly support.  New customers for Xango wellness products are helping a little as well.  You may want to consider buying a Christmas gift of Xango mangosteen juice or hand lotion or other items, and that’s another way to support my ministry work.  View products at www.MyMangosteen.com/Luke638, and contact me at (720) 320-3418 or on Facebook.

There is something I’ve been thinking about lately. Life can be tough. For some people I know, just trusting God to get through another day is all they can do. As believers we rightly cling to the promises of Scripture that God is our defender and never forsakes us. What I wonder is whether we tend to get stuck in “Help me, God” mode instead of asking, “How can I help You today, God?”  I saw this post recently on social media: “Walk with me, Father, until my journey is through.” What about, “Father, l will follow You until my journey is through”?

When you see these, try turning them around for another perspective.

·      From “God’s got my back” to “God’s got me.”  (Phil. 1:21)

·      From “God has plans for me” (how we like to interpret Jer. 29:11) to “God has a place for me to serve in what He is doing in this city.”  (Col. 3:24)

·      From “Jesus lives in my heart” to “I belong to Jesus; heart, soul and mind.” (Matt. 22:37)

·      From “I can count on Jesus” to “Jesus can count on me.” (Luke 14:26-33)

A final thought, from the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 16:13-14.  “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Patty

Autumn mountain view in central Pennsylvania