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COMMUNITY
A regular communication for the family and friends of
WATER'S EDGE BIBLE CHURCH
209 S. Oakwood Ave., West Chicago, IL 60185 • (630) 231-1210 • info@wcbc.org
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Spring 2008 ----------------------------------------------------Volume III - Issue 2 |
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< Page 2 >
The Edge goes to Timber-Lee
Potato…$0.39. Snacks for the cabin…$5.70. Money for McDonald’s…$12.00. SevenGlory tee-shirt…$20.00. Registration…$125.00. Spending the weekend with The Edge at Camp Timber-Lee…PRICELESS!
One Friday in February, 14 excited teenagers and three very brave adults gathered at the church to load up the vans and head north. Destination: Camp Timber-Lee, East Troy, Wisconsin. Goal: To grow together as a group and grow closer to the Lord.
During the course of the weekend, the teens enjoyed music from the band SevenGlory, and convicting spiritual teaching from local youth pastor Jason Raitz. The band challenged the teens to focus their hearts and minds on God, while Jason challenged them to be moldable by God. Being moldable by God takes shape when we give ourselves over to Him, and allow Him to have our hearts, minds, and bodies. It also happens when we acknowledge that God made us, loves us very much, and thinks we matter.
The teens (and leaders) enjoyed the piles of snow still present at the end of February, which brought endless trips down the toboggan run and tubing slopes. We also enjoyed a creation walk, where we saw God’s handiwork in a new way, as well as many creepy crawly critters. But the biggest highlight of many was just the time that we had to bond together as a group, whether it was hanging out in the cabins, chatting with the band, singing (and dancing) karaoke, or straightening Jon's curly locks!
Here is what some of the teens had to say about their weekend up north:
“[I learned] Jesus thinks I’m worth a whole lot! He wants me to do his work.” Amy
“I have to say that building a stronger relationship with the Lord was amazing, and the fact that I shared my experience with my best friend (Elsa) made the whole thing better.” Lolly
“It was fun!” Dan
“It was great to relax and bond with everyone. The food was amazing! I learned the importance of spending time with God.” Neal
“To share this experience with one of my best friends (Lolly) was absolutely amazing!” Elsa
“It is really cool!” Josh
“We spent a lot of time growing closer to God and each other. After the trip, I felt filled with the Holy Spirit and a whole new love for the members of our youth group.” Elly
“I got to go horse back riding and, while doing that, I was struck with the beauty of God’s creation and how the snow made me think how we’re washed white as snow.” Kiran
Thank you to everyone who made it possible for the teens to go to Camp Timber-Lee!!
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Men Meet with Men
On Saturday March 1, 2008, men from Water’s Edge Bible Church arose early to venture into the City of Chicago. The purpose? To attend Moody Bible Institute’s Walk Worthy Conference for Men. The conference was held at the Institute’s Torrey-Grey Auditorium. The speakers included Michael Easley, Erwin Lutzer, and Voddie Baucham. Easley spoke on what it means to be a true believer and how those who have trusted Christ are to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers. Also, to walk worthy is to walk in obedience. We are not saved by good works but if we are truly Christ’s we will by necessity produce good works (bear fruit). Walking in obedience pleases God and is proof that we are truly regenerated. Lutzer brought us a word on the battle for the home. He stated, as mentioned in Malachi 4:5, that without the hearts of fathers being turned toward their children and children their fathers, God will strike the land with a curse. Pastor Lutzer illustrated how America is under God’s curse by the lack of strong godly fathers in the nation. Fathers are like a mirror and our opinions of them will be the opinions that they have of themselves. "We as fathers, Lutzer said, "are to be compasses for our homes." Voddie Baucham presented a challenging message on family worship and how important it is to be a solid spiritual leader in the home as husbands and fathers. He also affirmed the importance of teaching our sons to be Christ-following men and that fathers need to teach their daughters, as they grow, to be chaste and virtuous women. “All these things,” Baucham said, “are reinforced by lifting up Christ in the home by a consistent time of family devotion and worship.” All in all we were blessed and confronted with the unvarnished Word of God. Praise Him.
On Saturday April 12th, men from Water’s Edge met for cooking and consuming a great French toast and bacon breakfast. About 15 guys showed up and the food went fast. I had the privilege and humble honor to speak that morning. I talked about the necessity of preaching the whole Gospel and that in many churches in America preaching about sin, judgment, and God’s wrath has been replaced with a watered down gospel of sinner’s prayer, easy believeism, which is really not much more than a man-centered gospel, not much on repentance but plenty on grace. There can, however, be no good news without first the bad news being brought to bear. In the words of John W. Stott. “We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we have first been to Moses, to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moses, and acknowledged our sin, guilt, and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moses send us to Christ.”
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Uganda Update
Just like all of those who went on the missions trip this past January, I did not leave Uganda behind completely, and thoughts of it continue to fill my mind and prayers. But even while I was in Uganda, the Lord was putting a certain little boy continually on my heart. This boy was Patrick, the child Jody has been caring for. In Uganda I began praying that if the Lord wanted us to adopt Patrick that He (the Lord) would impress this desire on Dave's heart without my saying anything to him about it. Dave and our kids picked me up from the airport when I returned from Uganda. On the drive home, Dave asked me how Patrick was doing. I said, “Oh, he's doing so well—and so cute—I would have brought him home if I could have.” And, truthfully, my tone was light. But there was a pause—one of those meaningful ones. I looked up from the back seat (I was sitting with the kids) and met Dave's eyes in the rearview mirror. He said, “Maybe we should start praying about that.”
That was when we began doing just that, praying together about adopting Patrick, something the Lord had been impressing on our hearts separately even while we were apart. It's been a great privilege to see the Lord work, not just in our hearts (He continues to reassure us and deepen this desire) but in the actual process of adoption. At this point Patrick has two of the four documents required by Uganda for him to be adopted. Both of those documents were obtained in less than half the time it generally takes to get them, and the other two documents are in process. On our end we are in contact with a social worker in Kansas and are gathering material for our own home study to be completed when we move. We don't know exactly when the Lord will bring Patrick home to be with us, but we are praying that it is soon.
If you'd like to read a moving account of Jennifer Underwood's reaction to the orphans' plight in Uganda, pick up a copy of her thoughts at the Information Desk -Publisher
COMMUNITY
Past Newsletters: Fall 2006, Winter 2007, Spring 2007, Summer 2007, Fall 2007,
Winter 2008
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