Author: Believers Church

Duluth Update

April 13, 2022 Believers Church

Greetings to all from Duluth, this last month has been full of opportunities and things happening in and through our church. It seems common in our area that people stay “in” and wait for the weather to get nicer before getting out and doing things so this could end up being a boring time of year. We are thankful that Gods mission and His church don’t wait around for better weather to get out and do stuff. Here’s what we have been up to,

Street Level

Street Level has been continuing to meet for Bible study on Monday nights and have been enjoying plenty of time to hang out together including some Friday night movie nights at the Street Level House. For spring break this year a group of Street Levelers from Duluth joined up with Street Levelers from Menomonie to go on a mission’s trip to Waverly Tennessee, a small town about an hour from Nashville that was devastated with a flood last fall. They teamed up with a disaster relief organization there to help homeowners in need of many home repairs including flooring, painting, sheetrocking, and hanging doors. They were also able to meet some of the homeowners, talk with them, and listen to some of their stories about what had happened in their small town. It sounds like the people there have really had to rally together to support each other through this difficult time.

UMD Campus Church

UMD Campus Church has been continuing to meet together on Wednesdays to go through the book of Exodus. The people involved in this have been diligently trying to meet students and spread the word about the Wednesday service. They took a break from the normal schedule to welcome Annemieke Roering from the Cleft Ministry in Amsterdam to speak. She spoke about her almost 2 decades of ministry to the women in the red-light district. It was very powerful and inspiring, she seemed to be clearly answering her call from God to minister to and help these women. A number of people from the public and campus were able to join us to hear her speak.

Church

At Church this past month Pastor Justin finished up our trek through the book of Romans and Paul’s wonderful description of the gospel. We have moved on to the Gospel of Matthew on Sunday’s and started out with the genealogy of Christ which helped us look at our own past and what Christ has done and is doing in our lives. On Wednesday’s we have been continuing to do small group recaps of Sundays sermon which has been very helpful to dig in a little more to what we are hearing on Sundays with the hope that God would be speaking to us through it and that we would be responding. We did take a 2 week break from this on Wednesdays to watch a video on the American Gospel which explained what many churches throughout America are teaching. It was very eye opening to be aware of what people are believing out there.

Community Group

Community Group is gearing up for a busy spring/summer season starting with an outreach at the Zoo on Easter weekend and planning to set up at a number of local events to get out in the community and meet people. We have been continuing to go into an assisted living home every other week to study through the gospel of John with all who can attend.

We are very grateful for all of Gods work in our church and are excited to continue to see new visitors at church on Sundays somewhat regularly. Please pray for us to have love for these visitors and each other along with the wisdom to be able to minister. You can also pray for the upcoming months as we have many things planned for the spring/summer and that we would be having the right heart behind all that we are doing.

Adam

True Treasure

April 11, 2022 Believers Church

Envision that you are on a ship clinging tightly to whatever it is that you have on this earth that you treasure the most. Imagine whatever it is that you value so highly slipping out of your grasp only to fall out of reach. You lounge forward in a final futile attempt to catch hold of it, only to see it fall forever into the depths of the sea, unable to ever be retrieved again.

This is exactly the picture that John Foster uses in his book from the early 1800s entitled “The Improvement of Time.” In it, he points to another treasure that moment by moment is wasted by being dropped over the edge, but its loss is many times unnoticed. The 234-page book’s entire intent is to convince the reader not only of the value of time but to also see how easily it slips away from us, never to be seen or utilized again.

The Value of a Minute

When we are young, we are constantly given unheeded warnings on the speed and shortness of life. Usually, they passed over our heads under the assumption that the “old” men and women giving them were out of touch. But did you realize that God gives the very same warnings?

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Psalm 90:10

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

James 4:4

In Ephesians God tells us that he has things for us to do. We are His workmanship and He has created and prepared things for us to do. We only have this life to do them. There is no second shot. There is no reset button on this journey that we are on. When we reach the end of our lives, as Christians we will give an account for the life that God has given us. I’d like to leave no task that God has prepared for me undone.

In John 9 Jesus tells us that “We must do what God has for us now while it is day for night is coming when no one can work.” We will never accomplish what God has created us for if we aimlessly drift through this life, allowing it to passively pass us by. It’s our choice to either spend ourselves on the things that matter: God, His Kingdom, and His mission, or to spend our lives on cheap thrills, comfort, and ease. But only one decision will have anything to show for it in the end.

Minutes Easily Spent

Imagine having $40,000,000. You would likely give little thought to dollars spent here and there. Some costs are paid so gradually that the total expense paid slips away without notice. But when those small payments here and there are totaled, the sum would be staggering. When it comes to the investment of our lives, I think many of us spend them in that way; wasted, not all at once for we are far too wise to make such a mistake. Instead as fools, we spend our life savings of time on little trinkets here and there. Our time purchases nothing of great value, worth investing in, but it is spent in such small instances, that it concerns us very little.

If you are an average man or woman in the United States your life will likely consist of just over 40 million minutes. What are you going to do with them? It would be easy to excuse wasting a great deal of it, but be careful, you just might find at the end of it all you wasted more than you realized.

No Getting it Back

There is no way of getting time back, once spent it is gone for good. If time has slowly been falling out of your hands beneath the surface of the sea you cannot dive down to retrieve it. The moments were wasted. All you can do moving forward is to fight to keep more from drifting away. I don’t know how much time is left in your bank, but you have some. You have one life to live. Spend it where it counts and make it count.

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Shofar Mission Update

March 25, 2022 Believers Church

Greetings from the USA! Find out what we have been up to in the Philippines… and America!

Since our last post, it has been a mad dash to the finish line before departing the Philippines for the first time since 2019. We welcomed Pastor Tim and Sharon in Cebu, then a few days later, passed the baton and hopped on an airplane (ok, a few airplanes) to the USA. We were thankful to spend some time with Dodson’s before we left. They filled us in on many of the changes we’d face upon our reentry, and we caught them up on some of the changes in Cebu.

Travel went better than expected. We were prepared for the worst, but God helped us navigate the airports and all the COVID-related travel requirements. Last Friday night, we joined the Kindred and One Life groups for a junk food buffet and game night at the Blind Munchies. It was a great opportunity to catch up with people and participate in some friendly competition. We also joined Saturday morning’s Coffee Talk in the coffeehouse, which is something we’ve both heard much about and are thankful we got to be a part of one.

Laura has been volunteering in the coffeehouse and taught a science lesson to the homeschool group. Brittany will be joining Street Level for a couple meetings and playing piano during worship. We’re excited to spend time with Believers Church Duluth this weekend, then Campus Church in River Falls in April. Thanks for welcoming us back with open arms… there’s nothing that can compare to fellowship with the body of Christ. Whoever said absence makes the heart grow fonder has obviously never been separated from the family of believers in a local church…

Philippines Ministry Continues

The work of the Kingdom never takes a hiatus… thanks to technology, Laura has been able to schedule pre-recorded lessons that premiere online during regular class times for students in Cebu. She has also been in communication with the staff of the schools she works with. Britt has been keeping in touch with the Street Level students and joined last week’s meeting via Google Meet. Tim and Sharon have been continuing the ministry, rebuilding relationships with churches, and forming new contacts. God is good. We’re thankful that we get to continue to be a part of the action – even from the other side of the world.

Please be in prayer for Dodsons as they seek to finish strong on their trip. Please also pray for the ministry that is continuing there while we are away. Just goes to show God doesn’t need us… but we are the richer for being used by Him.

Children’s Ministry: Spring Update

March 22, 2022 Believers Church

Happy Spring! Here is a little peek into what we’ve been up to in the Children’s Ministry over the past few months.

Reaching Out

In February, we made Valentines cards for some of the residents at Our House Senior Living Facility in Menomonie. They had a special mailbox set up outside where they invited anyone from the community to drop off Valentine’s mail. The Foundations kids took the challenge and made cards filled with personal notes, Bible verses, and reminders that God loves them. We also got to pray for all of the residents as a class, and many of the kids continued to pray for them outside of class as well.

Happenings at Home

Foundations class continues to meet every other Sunday during the church service for children in kindergarten through 4^th grade. Recently we have been learning lessons from the life of David. We’ve seen how God looks at the heart rather than the outward appearance, and how God uses regular people who trust in Him to accomplish His plans. We also learned that God is faithful to forgive our sins when we honestly repent, just as He did with David. These lessons help us to know God’s character better so we can recognize His hand in our daily lives.

Prayer

One of the most important things we can do for the kids in our church is to pray for them. If you would like to join in praying for the Children’s Ministry, here are a few requests:

That the kids would continue to grow in their understanding of who God is and how He has worked throughout history so they can recognize His involvement in their lives today.
For good soil in the hearts of the children, and that the seeds being planted would sprout, take root and produce a crop in God’s timing.

River Falls Ministry March News

March 19, 2022 Believers Church

As the seasons change, Believers Church in River Falls continues to serve and reach out to the community in a variety of ways. Boy does time fly by quickly!

Word on the Street

At the end of February, Word on the Street (WOTS) held an introductory night for interested students. As a collaboration, the team from Menomonie came to visit and fellowship with us. We shared the vision for WOTS, did some writing exercises, and ate a meal together. This was a great chance for students to hear about opportunities to serve.

Believers Campus Church

Believers Campus Church continues to meet, moving verse-by-verse through the book of John. Campus church has been a blessing to be a part of this past school year. We continue to meet new students, worship together, and get a chance to fellowship before and after service.

For the first time this year, we had a guest speaker at the Campus Church in River Falls. Pastor Ben, from Menomonie, was here for a Wednesday night service. He explained the gardening that needs to take place in our lives according to John 15.

Some of our friends from Menomonie came over for Church.

Pastor Ben is teaching on a Wednesday night at the university.

Street Level Events and Activities

This last month we joined Menomonie, on the Stout campus, to attend a speaking event by Dr. Randy Marshall where he spoke on the brevity of life. It was great for all of us to hear from someone, who has so much experience, talk about the importance of pursuing what God wants us to do with our lives and carrying it out with passion, love, and discipline.

Because we enjoy spending time with each other, Street Level River Falls held a Friday night fellowship event. The bash featured a slew of activities including laughing at each other’s drawings, ganging up on the best Super Smash Brothers players, and eating pizza. It was great to be able to use the coffeehouse space as a place to all come together as friends and hang out.

The Blind Munchies Coffeehouse

As the winter progresses into spring there is an ever-changing group of people who walk into the coffeehouse. The conversations and outreach from this ministry continue onward with the River Falls students and the community. We are often looking for opportunities to bring in new people. One way we did this last month was by featuring a Thursday night drink special, the Caramel Frappe. Even though it is a shameless attempt at playing to people’s sugar addiction, people have been enjoying it.

The Bottom Line

All in all, we are blessed with the community that God has graciously allowed us to be a part of. We are continuing to plan through the remainder of the semester and well into the summer. We cannot overemphasize the importance of prayer, the need for continual diligence, and faithful reliance on the working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and minds of ourselves as well as those who are showing up each week.

Prayer Requests

Contiue prayer for church on the River Falls campus and growth in maturity.
Pray for the transition from the winter into the spring that students wouldn’t get distracted and would desire to pursue their relationship with God.
Pray for continued outreach efforts through the coffeehouse, Word on the Street, and the radio.

For Further Information

Duluth Update

March 13, 2022 Believers Church

Brethren, I’m happy to report that this past month has been an encouraging effort when it comes to the mission of God. We’re pushing the offense, gaining momentum, and making ourselves a prime target for spiritual attack. It’s quite exciting.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

First, we finished our second round of membership class (a year in the making) and welcomed a handful of candidates to the official roster. Since that class is complete, we can offer another round of Believers Class later this Spring. In Discipleship Class, we’ve been discussing what it means to disciple others and be disciples ourselves beyond a mere intellectual approach. A real disciple sleeps with one eye open, so to speak, and does the hard work of prayer and preparation so that when God’s call comes there is little to no hesitation.

NEW MINISTRY

Also, we started Believers Campus Church at UMD on Wednesday nights! Despite the numerous other Christian organizations, the campus is so large we believe there is still room for us to minister. We paired the Wednesday services with tabling to spread the word. Some students just wanted coffee, but some genuinely showed interest in our format and our topic. In the weeks we have left of the Spring semester, we are going through the book of Exodus start to finish.

God has certainly blessed us with student interest at UMD and renewed energy for campus ministry. Though we are at UMD, we are not letting go of Street Level at UW-Superior. Monday night studies are still happening, and the crew is trying new things like English language help for international students. Please keep both campuses in prayer as we seek God’s direction for the fall.

NEW ADVENTURES

Furthermore, there’s nothing that induces warfare more than missions. We are sending out a large crew for the Street Level trip all the while applications are getting turned in for more domestic trips. Locally, we are planning where we can utilize the coffee trailer in the months to come to raise money for well-drilling. Prayer would be appreciated for the hearts and minds of everyone involved—that we remain laser-focused on Jesus and pleasing Him through it all.

Getting out in the community and beyond would be a weak effort if it wasn’t for what we’re learning. We finished the book of Romans on Sundays and are taking some time to dissect the Gospel. This is paired with watching the film American Gospel on Wednesdays. We’ve been challenged to consider if we really know and really believe the Gospel for ourselves. Unfortunately, we are more susceptible to the prosperity gospel, the American dream, and plain ‘ol morality than we realize. In a few Sundays we’ll be back in the New Testament and will start the book of Matthew.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Finally, we like hanging out with each other so we gathered for a Super Bowl party one Sunday, and on another occasion we all went ice skating at Bayfront Park. It’s these small, but consistent, opportunities that do much to reinforce our unity.

Keep fighting, keep striving, and we’ll do the same.

-Kelsey