• Giving out of Fear:  ”How much can I afford to give?”  This one is marked by giving what is left over because there are more important/pressing things that I have to give to.  As a result, I would give from the time I had left at the end of the day and the money at the end of month.  I hate the idea that I was giving God my leftovers rather than my first fruits.

• Giving out of Law: “How much do I have to give?”  Just tell me what I have to give and I will work toward hitting the mark. Of course when I hit the mark, I began to have pride in my giving and began to judge others on if they were hitting the mark or not.  It is funny, the Law almost always leads to judgment and condemnation of self and/or others.

• Giving out of Faith: “How much is He calling me to give?”  God is constantly calling us to grow in our faith, our trusting in him alone.  The biggest competition for him in my heart and for my trust is money. It is only when I am asking this question on a daily/monthly basis that God captures me and reminds me “you trust me with your eternity and your sins now trust me in this too!”  The funny thing is that He has always provided for my family and me in amazing ways when we gave what he called us to give.  He continues to grow me in the posture of giving out of faith, learning to ask him what he would have me to do with the gifts he has given me.

Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 9:6-8  ” ⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly  or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

See, there is one thing that I want my wife to know more than anything in the world.  In fact, most husbands will agree with me that if they could tell their wife one thing, it would be this “I Love You!”  For years, I thought I had been telling her that I loved her but in reality, I was telling her in a language that she didn’t know or understand.  The reality is that all of us show love to others the way that we ourselves feel loved.  The challenge is that many of us feel love in different ways.  While I was showing her I loved her with little gifts here and there, what she was thinking was “Wow, he gave me another gift.   How Nice.”

In the book “Five Love Languages” the author identifies five different ways that we can show others that we love them  and how we receive love.  The key point to remember is that we often show love the way we receive love.  The challenge is to understanding how they receive love and showing it to them in the language they will understand.  As we began to understand this more and more, we saw how it not only applied in marriage but also to our kids and our friends.  What are the five love languages?

• Gifts
• Acts of Service
• Words of Encouragement
• Quality Time
• Physical Touch

For me, Gifts was my love language.  For my wife it is Quality Time and Acts of Service.  If I want her to know that I love her, the best thing I can do is shut everything down, help out around the house (doing things that I hate to do like laundry and dishes) and spend undisturbed time with her.  Take some time, find out what your love language is and more important, find out what it is for those you love.  It will change those relationships for the better!

- Discipline: The ability to follow through on what you have committed to in a timely fashion has become an essential trait for our teams.  How do you know if you are marked by discipline?  Excuses are rare and things are done on time and with excellence.  The benefit is that time and energy is given to advancing the vision/mission rather than babysitting, covering up, or going back and fixing what should have already been done.  There is nothing that slows down a team more than not being a professional and being undisciplined to do what you have agreed to do.

- Proactive: This one is difficult.  You don’t want a renegade who is being proactive and off doing their own thing without the big picture in mind.  However, you do want people who know and are sold out to the mission of the team, who are invested and are not waiting to address problems or challenges but are attacking them.  I will often set up situations to see if someone is proactive or not because if they are not, the leader will be spending a ton of time holding their hand and leading them to the solution.

- Under Promise and Over Deliver: We all have a desire to impress and often that desire comes out in over promising on what we will do and when we will get it to you.  This almost always results in stress in trying to get it done on time, frustration that it wasn’t done to your expectations, and disappointment that it wasn’t delivered up to expectations.  On the other hand, if you deliver and it is better than expected and done early-let the good times role.  For me, this is tough but I am learning the benefits of this every day.

- Eyes on the Big Picture:  We all like to think that what we do is most important.  We can often get frustrated when praise or resources don’t come our way.  However, when we pull our eyes off of ourselves and focus on the Big Picture of what we are really trying to accomplish- the little turf wars fade away.  This one is up to the leader in many ways.  They are the ones called to know the big picture, share the big picture, and keep the team focused on the big picture.  If there is a problem with this one, often it is a challenge of leadership of the team more than the team itself.

- Confidence:  I will be honest, I struggle with this one.  As a christian, we are called to be humble.  The unfortunate thing is that in many ways, we have a bad understanding of what humility really is.  We are not called to be weak and timid in our vocation or our calling, but rather bold-always giving credit to Jesus and always seeking his direction.  Looking at the great fathers of our faith, we see a confidence in their calling and a continued surrender to the leading of Jesus.  Confidence must always come from God’s Calling and not our talents.  When a team has confident people who are serving in their sweet spot-look out, because the sky is the limit on the Eternity Impact they can have.

Merry Christmas! Since we will not be gathering together this Christmas Sunday to worship, we wanted to provide you with a devotional for worshipping at home with family and friends. We look forward to worshipping together on New Year’s Day.

Christmas Day Family Worship Time
download printable devotional sheet

Family Questions

1. What are your favorite articles of clothing? Describe why.
2. What does it mean to “clothe” yourself in something?  What are some things we “clothe” ourselves in that hide who Jesus is in our lives or family?
3. Read Galatians 3:24-29 and Isaiah 61:10 (printed below). What do you think it means when it says in Galatians that if you are a believer in Jesus you have clothed yourself with Christ? What do you think it means when it says in Isaiah that God has clothed you in robes of righteousness?  How does that change or even define your family?
4. Christmas is all about God sending His Son Jesus to do a clothing exchange. Jesus exchanges or trades His righteousness and salvation for our sin and condemnation. That is the greatest Christmas gift exchange ever.  Pray as a family – thanking God for all He is and for exchanging your sin for his forgiveness and salvation.

Bible Readings

Luke 2: 6-7
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Galatians 3: 24-29
So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Isaiah 61: 10
I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

Have a great Christmas!

Looking Ahead Toward the New Year
Over the next few days, take some time as a family and dream a little bit about 2012. What are you looking forward to next year?  What are you worried about?  If we were to interview your neighbors at this time next year with the question “describe your neighbors to us,” what words would you like them to use (friends, awesome, dear, etc.)?  Come up with a plan that will help make that happen.

Last week we wrestled with the reality that God is telling His story through us, and that it is a story of redemption and second chances.  As God becomes real to us, the people around us will notice and they will start to ask questions.  One of the tensions we have in our lives is that often, we feel very unqualified to talk about God with others.  We sometimes think we don’t know enough or that a “professional” like a pastor, would do a better job answering the questions that are posed.  Because of this attitude, we often hide what God has done in our lives rather than letting the Spirit use us to tell God’s story.

Digging into John 9, we are encouraged to read the story of a guy whose life was radically changed as Jesus healed him and became real to him.  As people began to ask about what happened, his confessions were simple and profound, “I don’t know for sure who he is, but what I do know is that once I was blind but now I see.”  Too often we over think what we need to share rather than simply state what we know about God and what He has done.  People won’t understand and will doubt our story.  That is okay! People didn’t understand Jesus and doubted His story as well and He was God.

Finally, take heart and be encouraged by 1 Peter 3:15 and Luke 12:11-12 knowing that God will stir the people around you to ask.  Our answers don’t have to be exhaustive or perfect but instead must have a posture of gentleness and respect.  In those moments when we don’t know what to say, pause and know that it is the Spirit, himself, who will give you the words to share.  God is telling His redemptive story through His people.  As He does, they will be asking us questions and we will have the chance to share His story.

On the journey,
Travis Hartjen

Each week, we will share a video from one of the families who have joined Water’s Edge Allen over the past year.  I can’t tell you what a joy it was to sit down with some of them and hear them share how God has become real to them.  I wish we could include all that they shared but it just isn’t possible.  Each of the videos take about an hour long interview and boil it down to 3 to 5 min.  What encourages me the most is the powerful reminder that God is still very active in the world around us, caring for his creation, and never giving up on those He loves.

This week, we looked at how God uses the Big & Small stories in our lives to tell His Story!  So often, we can look at the “BIG” stories of redemption and second chances and think that our story would never measure up and if it can’t mesure up, it is not as important.  This is not true.  Diving into John 6, we see a young boy whose name we never learn but whose actions impacted eternity. This young boy’s posture of offering the perishable to impact the eternal-no matter how great or small, is the heart of the lesson.

Each of us has a unique set of gifts and passions.  When we blend those with the attitude of the little boy, God impacts the eternity of the people around us.  The key is to be encouraged by each other but know that God’s call to us is unique and important.  He is calling you to do what only you can do in your location and context.  He is not calling all of us to write music like he is calling John, however, he is calling each of us to offer the perishable things in our lives to impact the eternal.

This is only possible because of the work of the Spirt.  It is not something we come to on our own but something that is being brought to life by the Holy Spirit who is in us.  What is that unique calling?  Great question!  I always encourage folks to start with praying about it on a regular basis and begin to journal it.  More often than not, it is a blending of your Gifts (things that come natural to you), your Passions (what you find joy from doing), an Attitude (letting it be available to be used by God), and Context (Where you are in life stage and community).  We call this G-PAC and will be teaching more about this on January 28th at our First Steps at the Edge.  Find more information under the Connecting Tab.

Remember that God is telling His story through the lives of His people.  People like you and like me.

From the Edge,
Travis

+ Being on time matters:  Time is valuable and finite. When I am late, I waste a very precious resource.  The greatest tragedy is that when I was late, I lost precious moments to connect with and build relationships with the very people I was called to lead.

+ Being informed is essential: I had fallen into a bad habit of relying on others to read the emails and newsletters to know what was coming next.  As a result, I used the phrase “I don’t know” way too many times.  The result is that people no longer looked to me for information or influence.

+ Being proactive is KEY: As a leader, I can say that there is nothing more enjoyable than having someone on the team being proactive and solving a problem or developing something new before I even asked them.  To me, it shows that they have bought into the vision of the place and are dedicated to seeing is continue to grow and improve.

+ Being a part of the solution is far better than simply complaining: No one likes a complainer, and yet most of us have no problem doing just that, complaining.  It is a waste of time and energy that could have been poured into advancing mission.  Shut up, stop complaining and get working on solutions!

+ Influence comes through time, trust, and consistency. There is an influence that comes through position, true, but true influence comes through a relationship.  Relationships take time, trust and a pattern of being consistent.

+ Leaders lead! They don’t make excuses. 

+ It is the hard work behind the scenes that makes it look effortless and easy to everyone else! 

+ Simple is very different than easy.

+ The two fastest ways to loose influence is sloppy work or being unprepared.

+ Finally, let your yes be yes and your no be no. (And it’s okay to say no! Really!)

It has been a 37 year journey to this point of learning and relearning many of these lessons.  That may be the biggest one of all, never stop learning, growing, and transforming.

On the journey,
Travis Hartjen

Commissioning our Uganda Mission Leaders: This is HUGE! Even though we are a small community working on making ends meet month to month, we also believe in the Gospel mission, and are willing to sacrifice to serve a community in Africa long term.  We’re in it for the long haul.  We have already bought land and got funding for a well to be installed to bring clean drinking water to the families there.  We are working on buying land for a school and have kids ready to be sponsored.  This is how our community answers the call!

Supporting Zoe the clown! What?  A clown. Really?  Yup.  She has a heart for an orphanage in India and wants to bring shoes and backpacks to all the kids when she goes there in January.  We’re partnering with her through KidConnect. Over the next few months, our kids have a chance to donate $4 for a pair of shoes and $6 for a backpack to make a difference in kids’ lives halfway around the world. Check it out!

I love being a part of a place open to follow God anywhere he leads, whether it is next door or Uganda, Klemtu, or India.  We are missionaries who are doing what ever it takes to get the eternity message out in tangible ways that proclaim God’s grace.

Scandalous Grace: Sunday we kicked off the new series and began to wrestle with how true grace is so scandalous in our world and culture.  We live in a world that is constantly judging and placing people into categories based on any number of external indicators.  Those indicators could be income, skin color, level of education, location of home.  However,the Gospel crushes this system and boldly declares that God’s love is for everyone, PERIOD. When we gather together on Sunday Morning, we all gather as children of God, no more, no less.  When we encounter others in the world around us, we see them as God sees them-His creation, everyone precious and important to him, from the oldest to the youngest, smartest to the dumbest, and worthy of our time, respect, and servant attitude. Check out the sermon on the website if you missed it.

Lets keep running the race,
Travis Hartjen