Iron Sharpens Iron...

I am so excited to see what God is going to do through this new discipleship group that was started tonight through a dear friend of mine, Tori Young. There are about 10 of us...leaders and college students. We will meet every Tuesday and discuss what we have read, ask questions, and seek God's will for our lives. We will also be paired up one on one...college student to leader. We will meet with the person we are paired up with once a week if we can so that we can get even deeper into God's Word and other things that come up in our lives. "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17
I am so excited about this! I never really had anyone (outside of family) when I was growing up that discipled me. I have already seen in one evening how beneficial this could be. I encourage you to be discipled and find someone to disciple you. I can already tell that it is going to change my life in so many ways.

We are reading two books this semester: Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem and Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donal S. Whitney. I am pumped about digging into to these books along with the Word and filling in some gaps in my knowledge of Christian beliefs. I will continue writing what God is doing in my life through this ministry (of course, in keeping with the confidentiality of the Dgroup).

I am also going through a Bible reading plan on esv.org to read the Bible in a year. I am learning a ton and loving it! It is the first time that I have committed to reading the entire Bible and am actually following through with it (just being honest). I am anxious to see everything that God is going to show me. I need Him to do a great work in me and I am seeking Him to prune away my fruitless branches.


"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." John 15:1-17

The Ministry of Reconciliation

At our church we are doing a series called, "Resolved...The End of Self Help". Instead of hearing our amazing pastor J.D. Greear, we had the opportunity to hear our young professional's pastor, Andrew Hopper. He did an amazing job of bringing the message of reconciliation and the ministry of reconciliation through 2 Corinthians 16-21. He explained it as one complete circle beginning with being reconciled to Christ (v.16-18) and then moving on to the ministry of reconciliation (v.19). Next, we become ambassadors of Christ (to beg people to become reconciled) (v.20). And lastly, we come to righteousness (v.21). We should be resolved to tell everyone because He is our only hope and our only Savior.

One thing that Andrew said that really hit home with me was that we must "not forget to remember" our reconciliation experience. If we stop remembering, then we will not have anything to pull from when sharing the gospel to someone. He explained it as drawing from your well of experience. You must have them and remember them in order to draw from it.

I have a lot of experiences with reconciliation to draw from and I don't want to forget. Believe me, I don't think that I will. However, for years I have wanted it all to just go away. Today...I have decided that I will hold onto ALL of it and put it in my well to draw from when I am talking with unbelievers. I want to use my past to be able to let unbelievers know that we have all been there. We are all sinners and we all have a past. We have all made mistakes. But, in the end, God is our Savior and we have been reconciled to Him so that we might become the righteousness of God. Absolutely amazing.

2 Corinthians 16-21
16Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

God is good.

You know those times in your life when you are not sure when something is going to work out. You know God is going to take care of it, but you are still struggling with it all. Well, I have been struggling with not having a church home. We will have lived in Raleigh for a year come the end of this month. About a month or so ago, Chris and I had a long talk about what our next step was going to be. We were both emotionally exhausted from church hunting. We were just having a hard time not comparing every church to our last church (which we still miss dearly).

We decided that we just needed to commit to one of our favorite churches and dive in. We narrowed it down to two churches, ultimatley choosing the church that is closest to our house and the one our neighbors attend. We are now regularly attending The Summit. We are positive that the Summit is where God wants us to be. We weren't positive when we first committed to it, but after JUST a few weeks it became clear. God is so good. I am already singing in the choir which is so fun! My neighbor friend and I are leading the worship this week for Route56 (5th and 6th grade) during VBS. We are having a blast! As soon as Chris' schedule will allow, he is also planning on getting plugged in (hopefully helping with the youth in some way). God is doing great things at the Summit and I can't wait to be a very small part of it! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

A new home...

So...Chris and I have been in Raleigh for three months now. Honestly, it seems like we have been here for a year (and I don't mean that in a good way). We absolutely LOVE the area and we have the best neighbors ever! Our neighbors have definitely made this a much better transition. However...I still miss my friends like CRAZY!!

Ok...here is the good part...we found a church!!! YAY!! I can't stress enough how excited we are! It is called Newhope Church and it is in Durham. It is exactly what we have been looking for. The pastor, the people, and the worship are all incredible. God is doing BIG things at this church. We are so excited just to be there! We really believe that this church is going to be our new church home. Thank you to those of you that have been praying for a church for us. I really don't know how people go without a church home. I can't imagine doing it for much longer than we did. The community aspect of it is so crucial. I praise God for sending us to this church! We are so grateful!

You can click on the title of this post to take you to the church website.