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Intermountain District SDMI e-Source Letter
Equipping
the Disciple Maker...
February 2009
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Coffee is one of the
greatest Discipleship tools God ever created. In the words of Rev. Ross
Hayslip, "Coffee is the great
leveler."
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...MISSION...
The
Mission of the Intermountain District SDMI is to train, resource and
inspire the leaders and age-level ministries to win people to Christ,
bring them to maturity of faith, and equip them for works of service
in God's kingdom.
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WE GO TO
GREAT LINKS TO RESOURCE YOU
Living Your Strengths
This
is a powerful resource for Christian leaders in every realm.
Discovering your God-given strengths and learning how to lead from them
will not only bring success in leadership but will help you understand
who you are and how God is using your particular strengths to build His
kingdom.
Overcoming Your Shadow Mission
This
little book contains a great message from John Ortberg about overcoming
our shadow mission and discovering our true mission in the kingdom of
God. It is designed both to challenge us in our personal walk and to
help us lead our churches to define and focus our true mission. Ortberg
says, "Without an authentic mission, we will be tempted to drift on
autopilot, to let our lives center around something that is unworthy,
something selfish, something dark -- a shadow mission."
EPIPHANY
RESOURCES
Epiphany
is the season of light. Epiphany
means to reveal or to bring to light. It began on Tuesday, January 6th
this year and will continue through Transfiguration Sunday, February
22nd.
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Inspiration
In Psalm 62 David
is
faced with enemies who would topple him like a leaning wall, and with
those who would delight to see him in financial ruin. But in the midst
of it he finds rest and peace in God alone.
In these days of economic challenge it is good to know what David knew
so long ago.
"One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O
God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving."
A
God of power without love would not help us, and a God of love without
power could not help us. I am thankful to serve a God of love and power!
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 A
Discipleship Moment:
THE RESET BUTTON
I have a
Palm Pilot I carry with me. It helps me to keep track of my
calendar and
organize my life. Every once in a while
it gets a glitch and locks up on me. At
those times I have to turn it over, take a paper clip and push the
reset button. That button restores everything back to
normal.
In the
book of James, we are challenged to allow the tough times
to develop perseverance in our lives.
That word perseverance is a military term meaning "to stand against the
enemy." I've found in my journey that it is during the "trials" of my
life that
God shapes me and teaches me to follow Jesus.
I like to look at it as character
building time, when we re-evaluate what is really important to us and
our
hearts are molded to follow Christ.
These
are challenging days.
Some economists would say it is a 'reset' time, when things that have
been over-valued
are given their appropriate worth. I also think it could be spiritual
reset
time, when we are forced to determine what we hold dear to us.
Every one of us is having to look at our
priorities - what a great time for making disciples! As Sunday
School teachers and other small group leaders, this
is a great opportunity to help our people place their trust in Christ.
I read
an article recently from Gordon McDonald in Leadership Journal.
In it he shares a story of
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who while in a Nazi prison camp, wrote to his
friend
Eberhard Bethge that he was neither a pessimist (expecting things to
get worse)
nor an optimist (expecting things to get better). He said that he was
living by
HOPE. McDonald went on to comment how
these tough times can help us re-evaluate where we are placing our
trust. He writes this:
"God intends to
reduce the attachment of hopeful people to
material wealth, to the tendency to think that everything rises and
falls on
being prosperous and financially secure..."
God
intends to remind hopeful people that loving, serving, and
generous giving are the primary markers of genuine faith. God intends to awaken hopeful people
to the suffering of a
larger part of the world's population that we have all too easily
ignored.
In
short, God intends that hopeful people put everything on
the table and ask once again: What is at the core of the real Christian
gospel
that we may have forgotten during the days of prosperity?
That is
a great question.
Think about it for a moment - this crisis may be the thing that resets
our spiritual lives, helps us trust God, brings us back as a community
of
people who care about our neighbors and causes us to re-prioritize our
schedules
to what really matters.
I know
that for many people, this crisis has created fear -
the opposite of hope. There is probably
not one of us who does not know someone who is being impacted by these
conditions; the truth is it may be us.
In the midst of tightening our belts financially, let's seize the
moment
to open our hearts and ask God what He wants to do in us and through
us; let's
place our trust in the One who gives us hope for today and eternity.
Following
Jesus Together,
Tim Brewer
Intermountain District SDMI Team Leader |
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What
is the District SDMI Tour? 
The
Intermountain District SDMI tour is coming to your area in
February. In the panel below you will find the dates and times of
the tour. But if you are like me you may be asking yourself, "What is
the District SDMI tour?" I'm glad you asked.
The purpose
of this tour is to equip those in the church who lead (Sunday School
teachers, small group and, sports ministry leaders, and any age group
leaders) to come along-side of the people they
influence, encouraging
them to be and make disciples for Christ. Pastor Hal Perkins will
share principles of how to walk with Jesus through listening to and
obeying the heart of Christ. He will take us through the discipling
principles laid out in his latest book "Walk With Me." He will answer
questions like "Why be discipled? Why make Christ-like disciples?" and
he will give specific direction on how to make Christ-like
disciples. Pastor Hal will move and inspire you to greater
and more effective ministry.
Our
time together will be inspirational, devotional, equipping and
encouraging. We will have a unique opportunity to meet leaders and
workers from surrounding churches and exchange ideas as well as our
common goal of making Christ-lilke disciples in the nations. |
INTERMOUNTAIN
DISTRICT SDMI ZONE TOUR...
Partnership in
Discipleship: People of Influence
 This year we are privileged to have Rev. Hal Perkins with us
for the tour. He is the pastor
of Grandview Washington Church
of the Nazarene and the author of five books including his most recent
book Walk With Me.
Hal and Debbi Perkins
Pastor
Hal is an authority on making disciples and his church is a working
model of disciple making. This workshop is designed to equip pastors,
Sunday school teachers, and small group leaders for all age groups. It
will also be useful for
Parents and Grandparents in helping their children follow Jesus. Every
leader in your church will benefit from the District Tour, so register
today!
Tour
Schedule: February 16 - 20, 2009
Feb 16 - Salt Lake City First Church of the
Nazarene
Feb 17 - Twin Falls Church of the Nazarene
Feb 19 - Nampa Karcher Church of the Nazarene
Feb 20th - Baker City Church of the Nazarene
Registration
information:
The cost for the tour is $10.00 per person.
Your
Pastor or Sunday School Superintendent has registration information.
Please register through your local church or contact Bonnie Emery at ble@srvinet.com.
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Ideas
make the world go 'round!
THE NEW SDMI BLOG
SPOT: A place to
share your ideas and learn from others in the world of discipleship.
Prompted
by the young'uns among us, the District SDMI team is developing a new
SDMI blog spot where you can go to share ideas and glean ideas from
other disciple makers on the Intermountain District. Recently, for
example, Pastor Tim wrote about two people who recently accepted Christ
in Sunday School.
What about
you? How has Sunday School changed your life? How have you
seen it change the lives of others? We'd
love to have you join the conversation! Click the "Comments" link
at the end of a post to see what others have added, and to write your
own. (The word verification section helps to keep electronic junk
from being added to the page.) You can post with an account or
anonymously.
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