“The disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: …. ‘Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me…. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven…. Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.’” (Matt 18:1-14)

Jesus loves little ones. Little ones are weak and dependent. They know their need for God. Jesus loves both literal and metaphorical children. They are the “micro”-people who become “mega”- people in God’s family. Jesus assures us that angels are assigned to help them and that not one of them will be lost.

As Pastor of Visitation and Care, I enjoy reaching out to “littles” because I myself am a “little” in need of God. When I visit families, I want children to know that they are at the center of God’s attention. When “grown-ups” sit in pain-filled hospital rooms or at tense kitchen tables, whenever we cry to him in our weakness, we can be sure that heaven comes down to meet us in our need.

When we lose a loved one, or get stopped in our tracks by a serious illness, we have God’s angels watching over us. When we face addictions, disasters, family conflicts, divorce, job loss, or depression, we just need to remember one thing: despite ever present suffering and evil, not one of God’s “little ones” will be lost.

Alan Crandall
Pastor of Care

One of the ways to grow in your prayer life is learning from other practices of prayer. Regardless of the practice of prayer you choose, a good place to start is by asking the Lord to birth inside of you a desire to spend time with Him. The purpose of spending time alone with God is to develop intimacy with Him, secure our orders for the day, and to come alongside the things that are the closest to His heart.

Time not scheduled to be alone with God in prayer or any other discipline will be filled with other things in life. We must make time to pray, even schedule it on our calendars like every other important meeting in our life. Spending regular time in prayer will radically deepen our personal lives as disciples, transform our priorities, renew our commitment to service, and increase our awareness of how involved God really is in our lives.

There is considerable variety in prayer and nearly as many different ways to pray as there are people to pray. Some people  write out their prayers; others prefer more spontaneous praying. Some people pray silently; others pray loud. Some people like praying alone; others like praying in groups like their cells. While it’s true that most new prayer disciplines feel uncomfortable at first, you do grow into them if you stay with them, and often the fruit results in a new and fresh encounter with God.

Because different prayer formats are helpful to different people, refusing to try new ways to pray may mean that you never discover a format that enhances your relationship with God. Visit www.discipleshiptools.org and look at the Disciplines of Prayer for new ways to grow in your prayer life.

J.R. Henderson
Pastor of Spiritual Formation
Isaiah 56:7

This year the Journey student ministry is dwelling in the Word of God by reading through the parables of Jesus. Each week we pick a different parable and seek to understand what God is speaking to us through this story. We have also encouraged our students to engage in God’s Word by giving them five passages to read and respond to each week. Our hope is that each student will grow in their knowledge and application of the word of God during this year. Please also pray for our Fall Retreat coming up Nov. 10-12. If you know of any student in 6th -12th grade who would like to join us, please let me know.

Jeremy Van Genderen
Director of Youth & Young Adults

Every now and then a song text that I’ve sung for years and years will suddenly strike me with new meaning. It’s not quite Christmas season yet, but I’ve been listening to a Christmas Lullaby with my kids and heard the song “We Three Kings.” Have you ever pondered the meaning of that song? It’s quite moving once you realize the song is about us on a journey towards Jesus and not about the wisemen from the East at all, though we may have thought it was, having heard the song hundreds of times since our youth. I think sometimes scripture can be like that to us.

There are verses we’ve memorized and stories we’ve heard and enjoyed since childhood that we overlook and think we completely understand, when out of nowhere BOOM — and God suddenly brings a new and greater revelation to His Word. We can never ever completely have fully learned everything there is know about the Bible, His voice, His character, His love. There is always more for God to show us. This is what I love most about the Dwell series.

Even if we think we know all the stories, we are wrong. There is more. Dwelling: speaking, writing, meditating, singing, praying the Scripture helps our spirits to focus and receive more from God. And He has so much more for us! Never be content. Never settle. Never think there is nothing else to the Christian journey. There is always more, always a deeper place of intimacy and knowledge in Christ to be had.

Are you in a lull? Are you in a dry season? Are you bored? Keep seeking! God will break through! Even if the seeking seems mundane or worthless at the time… it is not. There is deep blessing in the journey. Be encouraged today that God is going to show you more.

Leah Carolan
Director of Worship & Media

I have a little devotional book on my desk that I refer to often entitled Note to Self: the Discipline
of Preaching to Yourself. Joe Thorn shares scripture and meditations that inspire me. Like this one:

Jesus is Enough
Dear Self,
Are you satisfied? It is pretty obvious that the answer is often no. I am not saying it is wrong to
want things in this life, but why do you find yourself so frustrated with the absence of those things? The
problem is not that you want evil things. The things you want are generally good, or at least harmless in
themselves. But more than wanting, you become frustrated by not having. You become jealous, envious, and discontented with your life. It is true; you need what you lack, but what you lack is satisfaction in Jesus.

When you find your deepest satisfaction in Jesus, you are protected from bitterness in times of want and pride in times of abundance. The world and all good gifts within it are temporal blessings. For you, Christian, their presence should remind you of the Giver, and their absence should remind you of that which never fades nor can be taken away.

Paul models this well for you. He knows the secret of being content whether he has an abundance or nothing at all, for he has  found his ultimate satisfaction in Jesus. Jesus is enough. Do you believe that? Can you say, with the author of Hebrews, that you can be content with whatever you have because God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). This is a promise made to us in Jesus. Jesus is enough, but that kind of satisfaction is only experienced when we understand our greatest needs to be redemption and restoration. God in Christ has reconciled us to Himself, is renewing our minds, and promises to raise us from the dead, and we will dwell in righteousness and peace forever. If you have this, what more do you need?

These words encouraged me to draw near to Jesus. They also struck me in light of our recent discoveries in the REVEAL study about our getting stuck as we grow in our faith. I am not satisfied with my own stuckness, but want to keep growing, to know Jesus more so that I can experience him more fully.

That sounds very satisfying,

Kent Landuis
Pastor of Teaching & Leadership