September 2018

This morning in Tab Kids Ministry, Ms. Jenn is helping the children prepare for the Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem on October 7th. They have constructed a “Western Wall” in the Activity Center, and next Sunday the children will be placing prayer requests in the Wall, in the same way those of our family who are traveling to Israel this week will be doing when they are in the Land. Please write your prayer request on the attached “Post-it Note” and return it to the Welcome Center after service. It will be given to the children, so they can place it in the Wall next Sunday.

So, what is it about praying at The Western Wall and placing prayer requests there? Is there something magical about it? Does God hear prayers at the Wall differently than He does prayers offered anywhere else? The answer does not lie in God, but in us. The Wall reminds us of the fact that God is a covenant keeping God, and that His eyes, “are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry” (Ps. 34:15). It is the reminder that The LORD remembers the covenant He has made, and that He will faithfully fulfill every good word He has promised.

Take time to place your prayer request on the “Post-it Note” and then drop it off at the Welcome Center. It will be a great joy for the children to partner with you is seeking God for the answer to your prayers.

Believing with you,

Pastor Jim Ruddy

Dear Tabernacle Family,

This week we begin our individual and corporate study of “Gods at War – Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your Heart” by Kyle Idleman. I hope you have purchased a copy of the book and signed on to be part of the six-week homegroups that are being hosted throughout the region. This study will help us understand our deep-seated needs for security, significance and satisfaction, our proclivity to try and meet by looking to created things (idols), and then be empowered by God’s grace to find our answers in the True and Living God alone.

Like some, you may be dismissing this focus on idolatry as fooling gibberish about some ancient practice of worshipping before wood carvings or stone altars. But as Idlemen contends, “Anything at all can become an idol once it becomes a substitute for God in our lives” (26). You see, as His beloved creation, God has made us with the innate need from Him, and our needs for security, significance and satisfaction are to be found in Him alone. Because of His love for us, God has blessed us with an abundance of wonderful gifts: gifts of pleasure – food, sex and entertainment; gifts of power – success, money and achievement; and gifts of love – romance, family and self. Each of these gifts, when received gratefully and enjoyed properly, result in our enjoying a heightened sense of joy and fulfillment – something God desires for each of us.

But “the problem is that every gift God gives us can be twisted into a lure to pull us away from Him” (83). As we begin to value the gifts above the Giver, the gifts can become gods, and we look to them to provide what we were created to find in the True God alone. The tendency of some is to overreact and throw out these good gifts altogether. Instead, our study will demonstrate how each of these gifts are to lead us to Jesus who alone can satisfy the deepest cries of our hearts.

It’s not too late for you to join us as we take this important step toward wholeness. Let me encourage you to purchase the book and sign up for a homegroup today. I’m looking forward to all that lies ahead, as we see every false god dethroned and the True God worshiped.

From my heart,

Pastor Jim Ruddy

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” Matthew 28:19

We are excited that as a church we are being discipled and making disciples through the ministry of TabGlobal! Since our launch of TabGlobal, we have seen more disciples trained, equipped, and sent.

We currently sow into 40 missionaries in 15 nations around the world, including the neighborhoods and fields each Tab family member is sowing into!

TabGlobal serves to:

1. Strengthen those who are being sent through financial, prayer and practical hands on support

2. Equipping those who are sending by connecting you with our missionaries to serve and encourage

3. Raising up those here who are called to be sent through missions trips The Tab will be coordinating

We have had teams travel to more than 3 different nations in the last 6 months, with many of us headed to Israel in just a few weeks; and have hosted more than 5 of our TabGlobal missionaries right here at home!

As Jennifer Goeddertz, from our church family, travelled to Tanzania in August she saw many receive freedom from bondage and demons and unity breakout within the church. Praise be to God!

As we look ahead we are excited to announce upcoming trips for 2019 including one to Honduras in August. We will be having a Tab Life Institute focused on Missions, September 22nd from 10:00am – 4:00pm. Come hear more about Why missions, Why me, how to raise funds and upcoming trips. If you plan on joining an upcoming TabGlobal missions trip, this class is required.

Stop by the table in the Atrium to sign up for the class or if you want to become more involved in TabGlobal by praying for our missionaries or helping in a practical way.

Whether you are a sender or being sent, we all are part of an Apostolic Center that is together fulfilling the Great Commission!

Together In Him,

Veronica Jenks
TabGlobal Team

Dear Tabernacle Family,

“Back to School!” Those words signal the changing of the seasons as the freer routines of summer give way to the more structured regiments of fall. I so enjoy seeing the “Back to School” pictures being posted by so many dads, moms and family members on Facebook. I can almost relive my childhood as I peer into the priceless expressions on the faces of these young people ready to move forward into a new and exciting day. What a joy to join with these families in praying blessings over each of their children as they take the next steps forward in their most amazing lives. Thanks for letting us share your joy.

“Back to Church!” In a similar way, the change of seasons invites us to make a fresh reconnection and recommitment to the House of God. Refreshed by our summer getaways and vacations, we now settle back into the solid rhythms of life that involve connecting our hearts with Christ and His Body – The Church. The more relaxed pace of summer has allowed us to catch our breath, and now, with hearts full of anticipation and expectation, we look forward to what this next season brings. Hopefully, it will result in a deeper and more satisfying relationship with the LORD, and a greater heart-connection with the amazing people God allows us to relate to at The Tabernacle.

Today and this week, we reopen the core ministries that help to disciple us as followers of Jesus. This is your invitation to find your place among Jubilee (Seniors), Men of Valor, 3D Woman (AM & PM), Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), Activate Young Adults, Ark Youth and related classes, Royal Rangers, MPact Girls and Rainbows. From the oldest to the youngest among us, these ministries exist to help each of us thrive in our walk with the LORD. Check out the bulletin for times and make the decision today to connect with one of these life-giving ministries. Feel free to call the church office for more clarification or help in discovering where it may be best for you to connect.

Often, when I ask individuals if they are planning to join a discipleship ministry, they answer, “I’ll try” or “We’ll see!” Over the years I have discovered that those answers result in very few positive outcomes. Instead, determine today, “I will!” Choose to not “try” or “see,” but instead, determine today that you will take the next step in relating to the LORD and to the people who make up this life-giving Church where God has led you.

May God bless you richly as you come “Back To Church!”

Pastor Jim Ruddy

Greetings Tabernacle Family!

Great News! Home Life Groups are relaunching with a purpose!!!

As our Fivefold Apostolic Ministry Team steadfastly leads, Home Life Groups are following in step with the Acts 2:42 – 47 model for producing disciples and creating ever increasing community. We are relaunching with a Fivefold Purpose to:

Know God * Build Relationships * Discover Purpose
Influence Others * Produce Disciples

Family, if we truly believe that we are standing in the threshold of a great move of God (and we are), then we have to do all we can to accommodate all that He wants to do. The Lord’s business is catching people.

He is about to launch us forth to capture a net-breaking, boat-sinking catch of men! We need to be trained and equipped to know how to accommodate those He sends to us! When this catch comes in, these new fish will need to be cleaned, fed, directed, aided, cared for and loved on. In other words, we are preparing to be the Church: we are preparing ourselves to embrace and make room for those who hear the call and come home to be made part of the family.

We might call it a catch or a harvest and negligently overlook the reality that these are people whom the Lord has saved, is saving, or wants to save. These are real people, with real issues and needs, who need real solutions to their very real problems. God wants them delivered, He desires to see them free and transformed. The heart of our Father wants these people welcomed, embraced and connected into a vibrant thriving community where Kingdom culture is the norm and those real issues can be lovingly and adequately addressed because we are a people who know our God.

Home Life Groups are the God ordained answer to this process, just as it was with the early Church! (v46)… breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. Beloved, YOU are the answer!! YOU plugging into Home Life Groups with a purpose is a very powerful tool in the hand of our Savior.

As we expectantly anticipate the favor of the Lord to add to our congregation daily (v47) we must actively prepare to receive and assimilate the Lord’s harvest into our Home Life Group communities. We must unite in the Lord’s Kingdom purpose with a willingness to serve. Please join us by becoming the crucial element the Lord uses to bring in the catch and keep it! Please sign up! YOU are needed!!

Much love,

Sherry Jankowski