Week #7: To the Church in Laodicea:
Not a picture of the church in Laodicea

Burning of the Branches

Okay, we must admit that sometimes our “sacred moments” @ The Jake have included unplanned developments, like things getting knocked over, speakers squealing, or… fire!

I truly believe that when we laugh at ourselves, the Author of Laughter Is Good Medicine laughs with us. So, we do things, things sometimes don’t go precisely as planned, but we soldier on. Such it has been with the burning of the palm branches. We do this today, with holy intent, to immolate the very branches with which we welcomed Jesus into the Holy City on Palm Sunday. Why? Because just a few days later we shouted, “Crucify Him!” We burn the carriers of praise to ashes to depict our complicity in our Savior’s death. They will burn… they will smell… and things might get crazy. But, there’s beauty in the burning. Soak it in…

Call to Artists

Work to Be Hung Feb. 22

Bread and Wine/Body and Blood/Fullness of Emptiness

Ashes to Beauty, for Beauty Will Save the World*

Jacob’s Well is blessed to have so many wonderful fine artists in our family. This Lenten season I hope to include the gifts of our artists in the services, just as we did with the musical talents during Advent. It’s not too late. Therefore…

…painters, sculptors, photographers; this is a call to you to provide works to adorn the sanctuary during Lent, works that you believe reflect the Lord’s Passion and Victory. With each work please include a brief artist’s statement as to your inspiration and intent. Ideally, we hang about ten works of art. Interested? See Pastor.

* Key element in our own Lenten theme this year.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer February – Critical Care Unit
• Young Couples: Justina and Dom, Brittany and Eric say: “Let’s get together and get to know each other!” To that end, young couples (you don’t have to be married and you can decide if you are young) will gather on Friday, March 2, 7:00 p.m. @ the church for a night of games and goodies. (If you want, bring a favorite board game and a shareable snack!)
• Ladies of All Ages!
  Women’s Retreat at Miracle Camp – May 4-6. Dr. Shelley Sysum will be keynote speaker with a variety of workshops and activities including a day of facials, massages & pedicures. $125 See Suzi Matthews for more details.
• First comes love, then comes marriage…
  A Weekend to Remember
  March 30-April 1 @ The Marriott Uptown Normal
  Derek and Abigail leading the charge; see them

  A Wedding to Remember
  Leah Bauersfeld & Dan Megli
  March 31, 1:00 p.. @ Calvary Methodist, Normal

Next week:

The Beauty of the Cross

Series opens as we received ashes and trade them in for beauty on Ash Wednesday, February 22 @ 7:00.

The City of Brotherly Love & The Jake

Three things are said of these believers: they have “kept” Christ’s “word” and have “not denied” his “NAME,” both of which would appear to refer to faithfully bearing public witness to the gospel in the face of persecution and slander and possible martyrdom. But what is meant when Jesus says they “have a little power”? This is not a rebuke but a reference to the smallness in both size and influence which proved no obstacle to their accomplishing great things for the kingdom of God. Size is no measure of success. They did much with what little resources they had. (from a meditation by Dr. Sam Storms)

Call to Artists

Work to Be Hung Feb. 22

Bread and Wine/Body and Blood/Fullness of Emptiness

Ashes to Beauty, for Beauty Will Save the World*

The Church is founded on nothing less than the reality of His Broken Body and Shed Blood. Lent gives us an opportunity to focus, focus, focus on His journey to Jerusalem (remember last year’s “Like a Flint”), the Triumphal Entry, the Upper Room, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Trial, the Via De La Rosa, Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, and the Fullness of the Emptiness.

Jacob’s Well is blessed to have so many wonderful fine artists in our family. This Lenten season I hope to include the gifts of our artists in the services, just as we did with the musical talents during Advent. Therefore…

…painters, sculptors, photographers; this is a call to you to provide works to adorn the sanctuary during Lent, works that you believe reflect the Lord’s Passion and Victory. With each work please include a brief artist’s statement as to your inspiration and intent. Ideally, we hang about ten works of art. Interested? See Pastor.

* Key element in our own Lenten theme this year.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer February – Critical Care Unit
• Garden 2012 Planning Session: Let’s look forward to spring together next Sunday morning @ 9:00 in the church basement as we discuss the plan of attack for our Community Garden 2012.
• Summer in the USA! Lord-willing, we will once again host Basque students next summer. If you want to play a part, pray a part, or help plan a part, please let Bob V. know.
• First comes love, then comes marriage… A Weekend to Remember
  March 30-April 1 @ The Marriott Uptown Normal
  Derek and Abigail leading the charge; see them
• A Wedding to Remember
  Leah Bauersfeld & Dan Megli
  March 31, 1:00 p.. @ Calvary Methodist, Normal

Next week:

#7 of 7: What Jacob’s Well can learn from…The Church at Laodicea > Hot is good. Cold is bad. But lukewarm is unthinkable.

Seen any Unicorns Lately?

“Creativity opens us to revelation, and when our high creativity is lowered to 2%, so is our capacity to see angels, to walk on water, to walk with unicorns. In the act of creativity, the artist lets go the self-control which he normally clings to and is open to riding the wind. Something always happens to startle us during the act of creating, but not unless we let go our adult intellectual control and become as open as little children. This means not to set aside or discard the intellect but to understand that it is not to become a dictator, for when it does we are closed off from revelation.” Madeline L’Engle

Call to Artists

Work to Be Hung Feb. 22

Bread and Wine/Body and Blood/Fullness of Emptiness

Today we take communion, a responce to Jesus’ invitation to partake of His Suffering. The Church is founded on nothing less than the reality of His Broken Body and Shed Blood. Lent gives us an opportunity to focus, focus, focus on His journey to Jerusalem (remember last year’s “Like a Flint”), the Triumphal Entry, the Upper Room, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Trial, the Via De La Rosa, Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, and the Fullness of the Emptiness.

Jacob’s Well is blessed to have so many wonderful fine artists in our family. This Lenten season I hope to include the gifts of our artists in the services, just as we did with the musical talents during Advent. Therefore…

…painters, sculptors, photographers; this is a call to you to provide works to adorn the sanctuary during Lent, works that you believe reflect the Lord’s Passion and Victory. With each work please include a brief artist’s statement as to your inspiration and intent. Ideally, we hang about ten works of art. Interested? See Pastor.

Prayer gathering this Wednesday:

• 7:00 @ the church: Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer February – Critical Care Unit
• A Little Night Magic!
  Sat., Feb. 11, Valentine’s Dinner for Couples
  See Harvey for Tickets and Details
• Summer in the USA!
  Lord-willing, we will once again host Basque students next summer. If you want to play a part, pray a part, or help plan a part, please let Bob V. know.
• First comes love, then comes marriage…
  A Weekend to Remember
  March 30-April 1 @ The Marriott Uptown Normal
  Derek and Abigail leading the charge; see them
• A Wedding to Remember
  Leah Bauersfeld & Dan Megli
  March 31, 1:00 p.. @ Calvary Methodist, Normal
• Why Live the Gospel Among the Navajo?
  The Navajo Christian Foundation is a burning shaft of light in a place and among a people who dwell in deep darkness. Gazing at the stars in Dilkon, AZ is to have your soul pierced by the amazing night sky. The darkness is profound, but it permits more stars to shine. Imagine yourself with a team of Jakesters, loving the Light.

Next week:

#6 of 7: What Jacob’s Well can learn from…The Church at Philadelphia > Patience and Open Doors

Week #4: To the Church in Thyatira:
“Simple, Uncompromising Faith”

“Hold On”

Some passages in Revelation are so symbolic as to demand very, very careful study and application. There is some of that in today’s letter to the church in Thyatira. But let us not fail to see the forest for the trees; Christ is saying to them to keep their faith in Him pure and unadulterated; they are not to let economic, cultural, or celebrity pressures dissuade them from keeping their lives and worship focused on and hoping in the Risen Christ alone. Some have fallen away… to their destruction; but those who stand firm will be rewarded with treasures that are literally (and when I say “literally,” I mean “literally”) out of this world.

The Christ Who knew men’s hearts in His earthly walk… still knows our hearts. He still calls us to hold onto Him, alone.

Call to Artists

Bread and Wine/Body and Blood/Fullness of Emptiness

Every time we take communion, we are responding to Jesus’ invitation to partake of His Suffering. The Church is founded on nothing less than the reality of His Broken Body and Shed Blood. Lent gives us an opportunity to focus, focus, focus on His journey to Jerusalem (remember last year’s “Like a Flint”), the Triumphal Entry, the Upper Room, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Trial, the Via De La Rosa, Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, and the Fullness of the Emptiness.

Jacob’s Well is blessed to have so many wonderful fine artists in our family. This Lenten season I hope to include the gifts of our artists in the services, just as we did with the musical talents during Advent. Therefore…

…painters, sculptors, photographers; this is a call to you to provide works to adorn the sanctuary during Lent, works that you believe reflect the Lord’s Passion and Victory. With each work please include a brief artist’s statement as to your inspiration and intent. Ideally, we hang about ten works of art. Interested? See Pastor.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer January – Cardiovascular Care Unit
• A Little Night Magic!
  Sat., Feb. 11, Valentine’s Dinner for Couples
  See Harvey for Tickets and Details
• Summer in the USA!
  Lord-willing, we will once again host Basque students next summer. If you want to play a part, pray a part, or help plan a part, please let Bob V. know.
• Weekly Soul Food:
• Women: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Thursdays @ church.
• Men: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Mondays @ Dave Park’s Place
  6:00 a.m., Wednesdays @ church (Fraternity)
• Readers: Tuesdays @ Noah pad @ 1202 Fell, B-ton. The Great Divorce brightens us @ 7:00 p.m.
• Why Live the Gospel Among the Navajo?
  The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly… They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Isaiah 35:1-2 God brings deserts to life, and when He does, His greatness is observed and declared. We can help this become literal for these people.

Next week:

#5 of 7: What Jacob’s Well can learn from…The Church at Thyatira > Wake Up! — and Strengthen the Things that Remain

Jacob’s Well is blessed to have so many wonderful fine artists in our family. This Lenten season I hope to include the gifts of our artists in the services, just as we did with the musical talents during Advent. Therefore…

…painters, sculptors, photographers; this is a call to you to provide works to adorn the sanctuary during Lent, works that you believe reflect the Lord’s Passion and Victory. With each work please include a brief artist’s statement as to your inspiration and intent. Ideally, we hang about ten works of art. Interested? Contact Pastor Dave.

Week #3: To the Church in Pergamum:
“White Stone with Your New Name”

The Wonder of God to You… and (amazingly) Vice Versa

“We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the Divine love may rest ‘well pleased’.” from The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis

The Church at Pergamum – and the Church at Jacob’s Well – were called into existence so that the Love of God might be experienced, shared, and made a spectacle to a watching world which worships worthlessly.

Reflect. Repent. Rejoice!

Call to Artists

Bread and Wine/Body and Blood/Fullness of Emptiness

Every time we take communion, we are responding to Jesus’ invitation to partake of His Suffering. The Church is founded on nothing less than the reality of His Broken Body and Shed Blood. Lent gives us an opportunity to focus, focus, focus on His journey to Jerusalem (remember last year’s “Like a Flint”), the Triumphal Entry, the Upper Room, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Trial, the Via De La Rosa, Golgotha, the Garden Tomb, and the Fullness of the Emptiness.

Jacob’s Well is blessed to have so many wonderful fine artists in our family. This Lenten season I hope to include the gifts of our artists in the services, just as we did with the musical talents during Advent. Therefore…

…painters, sculptors, photographers; this is a call to you to provide works to adorn the sanctuary during Lent, works that you believe reflect the Lord’s Passion and Victory. With each work please include a brief artist’s statement as to your inspiration and intent. Ideally, we hang about ten works of art. Interested? See Pastor.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer January – Cardiovascular Care Unit
• A Little Night Magic! Valentine’s Dinner for Couples @ Broadview Mansion on Saturday, Feb. 11
  Guys: ask Harvey & Cary how you can help…and start practicing your manners!
• Summer in the USA!
  Lord-willing, we will once again host Basque students next summer. If you want to play a part, pray a part, or help plan a part, please let Bob V. know.
• Weekly Soul Food:
  Women: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Thursdays @ church.
  Men: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Mondays @ Dave Park’s Place
  6:00 a.m., Wednesdays @ church (Fraternity)
  Readers: Tuesdays @ Noah pad @ 1202 Fell, B-ton. The Great Divorce brightens us @ 7:00 p.m.
• Why Live the Gospel Among the Navajo?
  In 1864 Capt. Thompson and 35 troops of the First New Mexico Cavalry systematically destroyed 4000 peach and apple trees in the Navajo stronghold of Canyon De Chelly.

Next week:

#4 of 7: What Jacob’s Well can learn from… The Church at Thyatira > Service with a Smile…But Don’t Laugh at Heresy

Week #2: To the Church in Smyrna:
“Provision in poverty and pain”

The Power of “that”

There are times when the experience of being a Daughter or Son of Adam redeemed by the Second Adam is a glorious reality; those are life’s transcendentally joyous moments. We might call them “a little taste of heaven.”

There are also times when the reality of being a Son or Daughter of Adam means that the curse of Our Fall seems to overwhelm; those are life’s all-too-inescapable distortions and deaths to life, relief, and goodness. We might call them “a bitter taste of hell.”

This realm of our existence is, indeed, “the Shadowlands.” Not everything is bright and clear, yet Light is here and it illumines the darkness. The early church at Smyrna lived through extremes of Light and darkness. Their story teaches us that this sometimes tortured “living” is absolutely within the Lord’s Ultimate Purposes for His People. Consider this verse:

Do not fear what you are about to suffer.
Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you
into prison, that you may be tested…

There is an unmistakable relationship between suffering and sanctity; we have no greater example of this than Our Lord. And He invites us into the “fellowship of His suffering” that we might be transformed into His likeness.

We have brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering. Some of them are even being thrown into prison. The devil is all over them to steal and destroy. Yet, as we learned last week, Christ is with them, taking them through these “bitter tastes of hell” because He knows that a Shadowless Glory awaits.

Tests will come, that we might prove His surpassing glory.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: 7:00 @ the church
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer January – Cardiovascular Care Unit
• A Little Night Magic!
  Valentine’s Dinner for Couples
  @ Broadview Mansion
  Saturday, Feb. 11
  Guys: ask Harvey & Cary how you can help…
  and start practicing your manners!
• Summer in the USA!
  Lord-willing, we will once again host Basque students next summer. If you want to play a part, pray a part, or help plan a part, please let Bob V. know.
• Annual Business Meeting
  Right after church – a review of last year’s numbers and ministry; ideas/opportunities for 2012
  Lunch provided.
• Weekly Soul Food:
  Women: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Thursdays @ church.
  Men: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Mondays @ Dave Park’s Place
  6:00 a.m., Wednesdays @ church (Fraternity)
  Readers: Tuesdays @ Noah Poirot’s, C.S. Lewis speaks with British accent weekly @ 7:00 p.m.

Next week:

#3 of 7: What Jacob’s Well can learn from… The Church at Pergamum > Living for Christ in the midst of strong Satanic influence

 Week #1: To the Church in Ephesus:

“Your hard work really matters only if it is driven by love for Me, your First Love.”

Loving God @ The Jake

John Piper says many profound things. One of my favorite “Piperisms” is:

“God is most glorified in us
when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Take a minute to meditate on this.

On Christmas Day our message was built upon this remarkable revelation from John:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son
from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Take a minute to meditate on this.

John tells us that he wrote his gospel so that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that by believing, we might have life in His Name.

Take a minute… you know the drill.

So why did John write the Book of Revelation? For the same reason… and more. The opening verses tell us:

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants[ the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

It’ll take more than a minute, but meditate on this.

God is speaking, revealing mysteries of His love. May we bend our ears, bend our knees, and bend our souls to listen, obey, and be satisfied with Jesus, for that is our loving response.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gathering this Wednesday: Blessing the Encounter Campus House at 300 Normal Ave., 7:00
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer January – Cardiovascular Care Unit
• Summer in the USA!
  Lord-willing, we will once again host Basque students next summer. (The word is out! There are students over there ASKING to come to the Jacob’s Well families!) It’s time to start planning and praying, praying and planning. If you want to play a part, pray a part, or help plan a part, please let Bob V. know.
• Annual Business Meeting … Next Sunday right after church. Lunch provided.
• Weekly Soul Food:
  Women: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Thursdays @ church.
  Men: 6:00-7:00 p.m., Mondays @ Dave Park’s Place
  6:00 a.m., Wednesdays @ church (Fraternity)
  Literate people of all ages: Tuesdays @ Noah Poirot’s Place, “the Fellowcopter Pad.” C.S. Lewis speaks with British accent weekly @ 7:00 p.m.

Next week:

#2 of 7: What Jacob’s Well can learn from…The Church at Smyrna >
Surviving Satan, Slander, & Suffering By the Power of Love through Poverty of Spirit

Reflections on 2011: May the Past be Prologue

We can learn a lot from Moses. One of the key precepts he taught – and a theme repeated throughout the five Books of Moses – is “remembering.” Consider the Book of Deuteronomy, for example: the first four chapters are essentially a lesson in remembering what the Lord has done for the children of Israel. Over and over again (more than 20 times in Deuteronomy), Moses encourages and warns the people to “forget not.”

Deuteronomy 4:9 is a great verse for the family of God at Jacob’s Well to embrace and hold tightly to:

“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children –“

Our eyes and our hearts saw the Lord do wonderful things in 2011. The list could go on and on, for maybe the greatest things He has done will never be fully known to the Body at large, for they were the moment-by-moment provisions and protections He continually provides beyond our ability to perceive or understand. But within our perception, when I think of 2011 I think of: babies, baptisms, Basque students, Bible studies, beautiful music, ball games, bountiful garden, wonderful weddings, VBS, Valentine’s “Table for Two,” conversations over countless cups of coffee, prayer over people and places and predicaments and promises, new building and old building improvements, and most memorable of all: new people worshiping and serving with those who have loved Christ and His people here for years.

Do not forget the mercies of the Lord towards Jacob’s Well.

News & Announcements:

• Prayer gatherings resume 1/11/12
• Advocate Bromenn Partners in Prayer January –
• Summer in the USA!
  Lord-willing, we will once again host Basque students next summer. (The word is out! There are students over there ASKING to come to the Jacob’s Well families!)  It’s time to start planning and praying, praying and planning. If you want to play a part, pray a part, or help plan a part, please let Bob V. know.

New series starts next week: Seven

from the Book of Revelation 2 & 3

The Christ Candle

taken from: WorldVision’s Hope, Joy, Love Peace Advent Study Guide

We gather to celebrate the birth of the One who is the Light of the World, the Prince of Peace, Home to the homeless, Refuge for the weary.

We have explored what it is to wait expectantly for the best Christmas gift the world has ever known. We have acknowledged that the world needs the hope, joy, love, and peace of Jesus Christ—now more than ever.

Christ is our hope and our salvation. Christ is God’s promises made flesh. Christ brings meaning and hope for a world short on both.

We light these four candles again, remembering how we have waited on love—and celebrating that love has not let us down.

We light the Christ Candle recognizing that Christ is the center of all. The Light of the World was born this night. His name is Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Our waiting is over.