God and Money (pt1) | Finding Hope by Travis Sinks

Have you ever struggled with finances?

• Not "making enough?"
• Always seeming to run low at the end of the month?
• Never seeming to do better than “get by”?
• Always stressed about how you’re going to make it?

You’re not alone.

In 2016, Business Wire conducted a study and found that financial stress caused nearly 1 in 4 Americans to suffer from PTSD-like symptoms.

This is a serious problem.

But God says there is hope.

God promises to bring us healing, hope, and new life when we turn to Him - and this includes our finances.

This financial series is going cover many practical aspects of godly financial management such as budgeting and saving, but we can’t miss the foundation of all of our financial decisions…

God’s Perfect Plan

Like every area of our lives, God has an ideal design for our finances. Similar to those other areas, the fundamental basics of this plan is to:

• Enjoy His blessings
• Worship Him with what we’ve been given

Enjoy His Blessings

You realize God is not a kill-joy, right?

He loves us very much and created this world so that we could enjoy His creation. As culture grew and money became a way of trading goods and services, we can use money today to enjoy the world that God has created.

But, this enjoyment isn’t meant to surpass our enjoyment of God Himself.

Worship Him With What We’ve Been Given

We were made to worship, and we are designed so that we are filled by whatever we worship.

We were created to worship God, and Him alone, so that we may be filled with joy, peace, love, and other characteristics of God.

And this includes our money and possessions.

This can play out in many ways such as generosity and wise money management, but it all comes down to if we are using money, or worshiping it.

Our Rebellion

I think the title says it all: we messed up. It’s what the Bible calls “sin."

God created us to enjoy His blessings, yet to still worship Him as God - and we’ve messed it all up.

Some claim the physical to be bad, and choose to not enjoy God’s blessings… While others allow His blessings to take the priority in their lives and remove God as having the first place in their lives.

And it’s this rebellion that leads to our pain...

Our Pain

Whenever we rebel against God, we bring pain upon ourselves.

Sometimes this pain is “small” or delayed to show up in our lives, but God’s Word promises that when we turn away from His design, we are immediately “dead in our sins” and it’s only a matter of time until we feel the pain of it.

And, this may seem like we can simply start over today, and try better and do better, but the reality is that the damage is already done.

We cannot redeem ourselves from our sins any more than you can raise someone from the dead by simply putting clothes on them and pretending they’re alive.

But there is still hope.

God’s Grace And Redemption

As in every area of our lives, God offers redemption for our finances and our heart towards money and things.

I’m not saying that God promises health, wealth, and prosperity to those who surrender to Him and love Him.

But God can free you from the love of money. From the fear of financial struggles. From the cycle of bad decisions that makes your difficult life even harder.

From the PTSD-like symptoms that 1 in 4 people reading this struggle with because of financial difficulty and stress.

Finding Hope

Ultimately, to find hope in any and every area of our lives, we need to turn to the hope of the Gospel.

To believe that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again to bring healing to our brokenness and sin, and to trust Him as our Lord and Savior. When we do this, He promises to work in our hearts and lives and continue to heal our brokenness - and this includes our crippling worries and fears regarding our finances.

And we’re not alone - God says that we not only are given hope through Jesus and the power of His Spirit entering our lives when we believe, but that we’re added to a new spiritual family called the Church. In this group of people who trust in Jesus and desire to follow Him, we find help, accountability, guidance, and general love and support to follow Jesus every day.

Finding Healing

In order to find healing in every area of our lives, we first need to admit our need.

James 4:6 reminds us: "But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’"

And Proverbs 28:13 tells us: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

And, lastly, 1 John 1:9 also says: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Turning to Jesus as our Lord and Savior starts with us acknowledging our brokenness and need, and then asking Him to heal us - and He promises to do just that.

From the many conversations I’ve had with people about their finances and difficulties I’ve found something interesting:

People are more open with sins such as pornography or lack of a prayer life than they are their finances.

I’m not sure why this is, but we all have a tendency to want to hide our financial sin more than other sins and brokenness in our lives.

But we cannot find healing in our lives until we confess our sin, and ask Jesus to heal us.

If this is you, I encourage you to confess your sin regarding finances, and ask Jesus to heal you in that.

• The way you’ve prioritized finances over Jesus...
• The way you’ve overworked in order to have more...
• The way you haven’t been obedient to give your first 10% back to God...
• The way you haven’t even gone above and beyond that 10% to be generous as God tells us to...
• The way you’ve found your identity or pride in how much you make...
• The way you’ve been undisciplined and/or spent more than you make...

And the list goes on…

And when you do, you’ll begin to find healing in God’s forgiveness and empowerment to live as God has made you to live in this area of finances.

In the next few blog posts, we’ll cover the practicalities of following God’s design for our finances, but simply reading about these things are not enough.

I encourage you to find accountability to live in God’s design for your finances, just as you would for any other area of your life.

• Ask someone to disciple, teach, and be an example to you on surrendering your finances to God
• Ask a few people you know to keep you accountable, and let them see and speak into this area of your life

To do this takes extreme courage and humility, but as we’ve already seen…

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." -James 4:6

So, may we find God’s grace in our financial lives today, and may be be humble to seek His ideal for our lives.

For when we obey and follow God, He promises that we will be blessed because of it.

CONVERSATIONS | with Pastor Joe Williams

Pastor Daniel talks in depth with his dad, Pastor Joe Williams, about spiritual warfare, what it is and how it affects the daily lives of every Christian on earth. What does the Bible say about demonic activity? “The devil is real. Whatever you do for the kingdom of God, he is going to try to stop you.” Every person who lives for God is going to face opposition. But Satan is a defeated foe. God has given us the tools to fight to defeat him. Christians are a threat to Satan’s kingdom on earth and he will use everything in his power. But the power of God is greater. As Christians, we need to learn to use the weapons of spiritual warfare that God has given us. Knowing the word of God, spending time in prayer with Him, and gathering together with other believers to stand united against the enemy. “Don’t walk in fear of the devil. Fight spiritual warfare in the power of the Spirit and the word of God.” Pastor Joe gives us a great encouragement to walk in the power of the name of Jesus Christ. You’ll be blessed!

Proclaiming Jesus All Over The World

We want everyone in the world to know the love that Jesus has for them and to accept the Good News of His death, resurrection, and the new life they can have through Him! This is why we put a strong emphasis on reaching the lost in our own community and around the world. Pastor Daniel serves on the board for the Calvary Church Planting Network and is a mentor and resource for various church planters. We believe in the Great Commission from Jesus to "Go and make disciples of all nations," and we are privileged to see God using Redemption Church to make disciples in our community of Delray Beach and around the world!

As a church, we give monthly financial support to several different missionaries and church planters across the United States and around the world. We work hard to not only help meet their financial need but to also maintain relationships with them through prayers, missions trips, and friendship. Please take the time to read about some of these wonderful people and the ministries the Lord has called them to do. We are excited about how God is at work in each one, and we are honored to be partnering with them.

CURRENTLY SUPPORTING:

JASON AND JACKIE SANCHEZ (DIRECTORS OF THE HOUSE OF BLESSING ORPHANAGE)

LOCATION: BACHINIVA, MEXICO

WEBSITE: HTTPS://WWW.THEHOUSEOFBLESSING.ORG

The Sanchez family started Casa de Bendicion (“House of Blessing”) in Bachiniva, Mexico in 2013. Jason and Jackie and their daughter Ayantu moved from Puyallup, Washington when God called them to start an orphanage in east/central Mexico as a way of caring for orphans and showing them the love of Jesus. Please be praying as we are supporting and praying with them for God to continue use them in a mighty way!

NIEVES AND KAREN VARGAS (CHURCH PLANTERS) 

LOCATION: SAN JUANITO, MEXICO

WEBSITE: HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ICCCSANJUANITO

Nieves and his wife and 2 children began traveling to San Juanito, Mexico to take over a church there in November, 2016. The small church in this mountain town was in great need of a pastor, and the Lord put it on Nieves and Karen’s heart to move there and serve the people and community of San Juanito. Nieves and Karen are originally from Bachiniva, Mexico (where the House of Blessing Orphanage is located) and is cousin to Jason Sanchez. We are praying that the Lord greatly blesses their step of faith in leaving their home in Bachiniva to go and serve Him in this way!

ESTEBAN AND TIFINY VALENZUELA (CHURCH PLANTERS)

LOCATION: MADRID, SPAIN

WEBSITE: HTTP://VTRIBE4JESUS.COM

Esteban and Tifiny Valenzuela are originally from Southern California where they met Pastor Daniel and Laura at a church planting course in 2011. The Lord has been calling them to Spain to share the love of Jesus there, and in 2016, they moved to Madrid to plant a church. We could not be happier to be supporting them as a church in our prayers, encouragement, and our finances. We hope you will take the time to read a little bit of their story on their blog and begin to pray with us for them as they are following Jesus in Spain.

BRYAN AND TARA HENDERSON (CHURCH PLANTERS WITH ANCHOR CHURCH)

LOCATION: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

WEBSITE: HTTP://ANCHORCHURCH.COM.AU.

The Henderson family left Southern California in 2014 to serve Jesus in Sydney, Australia and are a part of the Anchor Church ministry team. Bryan, Tara and their 3 children are currently living in Sydney serving in the ministry there as missionaries and have help launched Anchor Church. Please be praying as they are serving and loving on their local community and for God to use them to bring many people to Jesus!

JULIE RUSE (REDEMPTION CHURCH MISSIONARY TO THE HOUSE OF BLESSINGS ORPHANAGE)

LOCATION: BACHINIVA, MEXICO

Julie has been a part of Redemption Church since Summer of 2016, and she has had a desire to serve at an orphanage for some time. The Lord has been directing and leading Julie to commit to a short-term mission to serve the staff and children at the House of Blessing. She will serve as one of the female staff at the orphanage helping to care for the girls, help them with getting ready for school, homework, cleaning and laundry ,and wherever else the Lord allows.

She would love to have your prayers for safety, health, spiritual protection and encouragement, and for the Lord to use her in wonderful ways while she is there! To read more about how you can personally support Julie, go to: https://redemptiondb.com/blog-archive/a-great-partnership-the-house-of-blessing/2017

Serve Sunday | An Interview with Allen

We are so grateful for all of you who serve at Redemption Church and the way God is using you to be a part of the Body and use your gifts for His glory! Last month, we interviewed Allen about his experience serving as a volunteer at Redemption Church and how God has used that in his walk with Jesus.  Thank you so much, Allen, for all you do to serve Jesus here at Redemption Church!

Gina's Baptism (5-9-17)

REFRESH CONFERENCE 2017: The Heart Behind the Event

I am getting so excited about how the Lord is bringing everything together for our first ever REFRESH CONFERENCE! It has been awesome to see how things are lining up so well, AND all of the people that are wanting to get involved! I wanted to take just a few minutes to share with you the HEART behind this conference as well as give you an idea of what it will look like!

The Theme: HOPE

Starting a few months ago, the Lord put it on my heart to put on a conference for some of the LOCAL CHURCHES in our area to ENCOURAGE and EQUIP them. It will be open to all adults who want to take 2 days to seek the Lord and hear from Him. My prayer is that this will be a time of refreshing for many servants of Jesus in our area who so desperately need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and be renewed in HOPE. So, the theme for this conference is: HOPE.

Why a Conference? 

Many youth and young adults go on retreats and grow exponentially because they are taking time away to purposefully seek God and give Him that time. These are special times when many look back and say that God did something truly special in their heart or they heard something from Him that changed their life from that point on. Retreats and conferences are just awesome places to seek Jesus and let Him work in your heart! Sadly, many of the people in our congregations have never been to a conference or a retreat as an adult—the cost and the time away from work make it difficult to take time away and get to some of the amazing conferences there are around the country. This is why I thought I would bring a conference to us!

Who is Invited?

I have already invited 6 local churches in the area that are relativity small—several of which have planted within the last 5 years. These are servants of Jesus who are working very hard to share Jesus with the lost in our area and to disciple and love those in their churches. I’m excited for this opportunity to worship and seek Jesus as ONE BODY together and bless some of these churches who, like us, do not typically have the resources to attend or host a large-scale Christian conference. I also know that when the churches in our area are all healthy and strong in the Lord, not only is it good for them, but it is good for our community. This is why the purpose of the REFRESH CONFERENCE is to encourage and equip the servants of Jesus in our area.

Who are the Speakers?

Our first speaker will be Ben Courson from Medford, Oregon. Ben is a pastor/guest speaker whose message and ministry are all about HOPE! He is also the director of Hope Generation, host of a national TV and radio program, and is an author and speaker based out of Applegate Christian Fellowship. Ben is a good friend who will be a wonderful blessing for everyone who comes. You can learn more about Ben and his ministry at www.bencourson.com

We will also be welcoming Pastor Daryl Nelson from Calvary Chapel of the Palm Beaches. Pastor Daryl planted his church in 1995, when he was ordained as a Christian minister with Calvary Chapel. He has studied with and under some of the best Bible teachers in the world and still continues his studies today. Pastor Daryl’s love for Jesus and His Word will be a great encouragement during our time together. You can learn more about Pastor Daryl and his church at www.ccpalmbeaches.com

What is the Schedule and cost?

The REFRESH CONFERENCE is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, August 18-19th and will be held at Lakeview Church on North Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach. We will have an evening session on Friday night, and on Saturday, there will be a continental breakfast and time for fellowship followed by 1 morning session and a catered lunch. We will close with a final afternoon session. The cost will be kept low at only $25 per person in order for as many people as possible to be able to participate. Detailed schedule and registration information will be available soon. Right now we have invited The Avenue Church, Calvary Chapel Delray Beach, Joy Church, Lakeview Baptist Church, Coastal Chapel, and Gospel Fellowship.

How is Redemption Church involved?

I am very excited to be coordinating this conference for the churches in our area, and I am praying that our church can get excited with me about serving and helping make this happen! Lakeview Baptist Church has agreed to allow us to use their building for the conference which is awesome because their facility has a larger sanctuary as well as a dining hall we can use for our lunch and fellowship times! We will definitely be needing volunteers to help with things like greeting and registration, some administrative help, and various other areas. We are not offering childcare, so hopefully all of our Redemption Kids volunteers can arrange for their own children’s care and attend the conference themselves! Remember, the heart of this conference is to encourage and equip the servants of Jesus in our area—this includes us! So, plan to ATTEND and SERVE in whatever ways the Lord has equipped you!

Please begin praying with me that Jesus will continue to direct us as we plan out the details of this conference, that many people will participate, and that God is glorified through all of our efforts. I am really praying that it is a blessing to the churches and believers in our area. More details and registration information will be available in the coming weeks, so be sure to stay connected!

Be blessed,

Pastor Daniel

PROVERBS - Growing in Wisdom Over the Summer by Daniel Williams

I have a special challenge for our church family this Summer, and I’d love to have anyone and everyone who would like to participate to join with us as well!

I want to challenge you to GROW IN WISDOM this summer. For many of us, when we think about Summer, we think vacations and Summer break. But this Summer, I want to encourage you to seek WISDOM! And I have an excellent resource to help you do that!

You may already be familiar with the 3 MINUTE MESSAGES we put up twice each week. They are simple and short videos where we share insight into different scriptures as we read through the Bible together as a church. This Summer (starting in June), our 3 minute messages will be covering scriptures from the book of PROVERBS!

I want to challenge you to read a chapter from Proverbs each day during the Summer. This is a great habit to start because this book is full of WISDOM. There are also 31 chapters in the book of Proverbs, so whatever the date is, you simply read the Proverb for that day! If it is the 6th of the month, you read the 6th chapter that day. It also makes it easy to pick back up again if you miss a few days. You just jump back in where you are in the month. If you keep up with this habit, you will begin to become more familiar with the truths and wisdom in this book because you will be revisiting them each month! 

Beginning in June, the 3 minute message videos will be focused on practicalwisdom from various verses throughout the book of Proverbs. I am especially excited because there are a variety of people from around the country (and the world!) that helped contribute to the videos for this summer! Some of the videos include people like Jason Sanchez (missionary in Bachiniva, Mexico), Pastor Ben Courson (Applegate, Oregon), Esteban Valenzuela (missionary in Madrid, Spain), Andre and Angie Amirato (community group leaders at Redemption Church), and lots more! I think you will be very blessed and encouraged by the things that Jesus has taught THEM through the Proverbs as you are reading through the book for yourself!

Proverbs 18:9 says: “Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good.”

Charles R. Swindoll said that “Wisdom is looking at life from God's point of view.” and this is exactly what reading from the book of Proverbs allows us to do. We can sit down with the book of Proverbs as an old friend and glean the advice, counsel and wisdom of God. We can hear what He has to say about living this life wisely.

Proverbs 4:7-9 says, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

I also want to challenge you by reminding you what wisdom teaches us…it must be APPLIED. It is not just knowing these cute little statements that helps us, but putting them into practice is where the blessing is. Chuck Smith said about wisdom: “Wisdom is knowing what to do with what you know.” Another commentator of Proverbs said, “Wisdom is concerned with what one understands but also what one does with that understanding. Wisdom is about developing both discernment and character.” So this is why we must ask God for help from His Spirit to apply His Word.

So will you seek God and His wisdom with me this Summer? I am looking forward to Summer for many different reasons, and I am excited for all of the fun things that are coming up, but I am especially excited for all that Jesus wants to teach us as we study this book of WISDOM together! And when we take the time to ask God for wisdom and study His word, we will never be disappointed. 

Proverbs 3:15 “She (wisdom) is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”

CONVERSATIONS | with Church Planter Esteban Valenzuela

Social media is here to stay. But how can we use it to grow stronger in our relationship with Jesus and other people? We hear a lot about the abuses of social media. Are there good things about being on Facebook and Instagram, things we can make use of as we walk by faith alongside one another as believers all over the world? God led Esteban Valenzuela and his family to leave their home in Southern California and move to Madrid, Spain to do the work of ministry there. “God made it clear: This is the only place I have for you. It’s Spain.” Social media has enabled the Valenzuelas to stay connected with family and friends, and to reach out to those who read their blog and see their posts about their struggles as missionaries far from home. “It’s about connectivity. There’s the young generation…everyone is flocking to this technology. It’s a way to be part of this movement to reach the people on the other end of their smart phones, their devices.” Catch up with the Valenzuelas at www.vtribe4jesus.com

Serving Like Jesus by Daniel Williams

God has called us all to love Him and love people, and part of loving people is SERVING them. If we are going to love people well, we need to serve them. 

Part of maturing and growing in your relationship with God is doing what He says and walking in His ways. The more we get to know God, to more we will find ourselves wanting to apply His Word to our lives because we love Him. And even though we cannot expect to do this perfectly, we should be striving more and more to be like Jesus through the help of His Spirit living in us!

One way we can ask the Holy Spirit to help us grow to be more like Him is through SERVING OTHERS. And as in all things, Jesus is our example of what it looks like to truly serve as He wants us to serve one another. We are going to look at just a few things that we can learn from Jesus about serving in the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet in John 13:1-20 (READ HERE). We are Jesus’s followers, and followers of Jesus need to learn to serve like Him (our Master). And when we do, we are so blessed.

1. Jesus served when it was inconvenient

First of all, it is important to notice that the story of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet took place during the week of the Passover. This would probably have felt like a good time to just enjoy a meal with one another.  It was supposed to be a celebration and would be exciting to see everyone all together. But Jesus chose to serve others even when it wasn’t the most convenient time. He chose to use a teachable moment that could easily have been missed—because He valued the chance to serve someone more than His own comfort.

2. Jesus served in everyday life

John tells us Jesus “loved them to the end.” Many times when I think of Jesus’s love for me I think about the cross…it was the great display of love. “No greater love has one than this: that he lay his life down for his friend.” But Jesus didn’t just serve His disciples once on the crossHe was serving and demonstrating His love for them over and over again. Many times we think we will serve God and others with these huge actions, but it is important we serve others in the little things as well. Jesus loved his disciples until the end…in both the small things and the little things. At this time, Jesus had not yet gone to the cross, but John knew he was loved by Jesus. You could almost say that the little acts of service prepared Jesus to step into the big acts of service. 

3. Jesus served imperfect people

It must be said…the disciples weren't perfect! Nathanael questioned where Jesus came from,  James & John fought for power, Peter rebuked Jesus, the disciples rebuked the little children and would continually not understand Jesus’s teaching, and Judas was a betrayer! These guys weren’t perfect, BUT Jesus had loved them in their everyday life and served them anyway. If we want to serve like Jesus, we need to be consistently showing love by serving imperfect people—not only those who deserve it. 

4. Jesus served when it was uncomfortable. 

Serving Jesus can be a lot of fun and very rewarding, but other times it can just be hard. Washing feet was a degrading job and not a fun thing to do. In their culture, seeing the bottom of people’s feet was offensive and the job of washing feet was saved for only the lowest of servants. I am sure that raising the dead or healing was very fun, feeding the five thousand people with a few loaves of bread was fun, BUT not all of that Jesus did was fun. He didn't serve for the fun experience but rather to obey and love the Father. This required Him being uncomfortable at times and doing hard things that didn't just please Him.

5. Jesus served with initiative

Jesus washing His disciples’ feet shows us that He saw a need and did something about it. Jesus and the disciples didn’t have any servants to wash their feet, and their feet were dirty. This is refreshing because most people see a problem and just complain. But I have found that if we see a need, it is probably because God wants us to do something about it! We are gifted in a certain way to identify certain needs and serve others in that way. What needs do you see in your family? Your community? Your church? Can you do anything about it? What can you do about it? How can you serve?

6. Jesus served with humility

The text tells us that Jesus knowing His identity allowed Him to serve others.  “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God…” Jesus knew that His identity wasn’t in what He did but whose He was. This enabled Him to humble Himself and serve His disciples because He was concerned with pleasing God over man. He was able to do this because He already recognized that He was God’s servant! If God wanted Him to serve people, it was the best thing for Him. Humility is having a right recognition of one’s self, and if we truly realize we are servants of God Almighty, it will help us serve others. I have found that when I am walking in humility before God, experiencing and receiving God’s love and grace, it helps me to serve others! And ministry becomes more enjoyable because I am doing it for God and not others. 

7. Jesus served to set an example

Jesus wanted the disciples to know what just happened…He wanted them to follow His ways! He told them, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” Jesus commanded his disciples to do the same as he had done. I love that Jesus not only gives us words to live by, but lived those same words out so we can see them. He doesn’t leave us in the dark to figure it all out, but He lived His life openly for us to see and understand what it looks like to serve. When we serve as Jesus serves, many people will be able to follow our example as well. 

Remember, Jesus not only gave us a great example of how to serve, but He enables us to serve others by the power of His Spirit. So, may we walk in the ways of Jesus and apply these lessons of serving to our own life! When we do, we will be blessed just as Jesus told His disciples in verse 17: “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them!” 

Mother's Day Video