March 21, 2012
One of my church planter friends said, “In the early stages of church planting, I prayed like crazy and God showed up in amazing ways. Since we’ve become more successful, it’s easier to do the work ourselves and pray less. I’m trying to get back to praying like I did in the early days, so God will show up more.”
I can relate to that statement. When my life gets busy I can tell the days that I hit the ground running versus fall to my knees in prayer. The Holy Spirit series was a tremendous reminder that God is always with me and I can ask for his direction every moment of every day. If you think about what Jesus asked of the 72 (Luke 10:1-2) the first thing was to pray.
How’s your prayer time? Are you praying for people who don’t yet understand who Jesus is? Are you inviting them into your life and yourself into theirs? Are you expecting God’s work? These questions are drawn from the ‘ask’ handout from Sunday:
Pray that God would bring to mind 3 people, that you could authentically show God’s love for them in Jesus’ name, and that you could help them connect with Christ; then visualize how you’ll…
Invite them to the Easter worship, or invite them to your home, or invite them to serve with you on the next micro-mission in your community. Then, in prayer…
Expect God to work, to draw them to Himself, to bring them to your event, and to transform their lives by the power of the Gospel.
Love,
Rob
Easter Worship Service
We will gather for worship at 10:30am Easter Sunday, April 8, at our regular meeting place at the Hayes Community and Senior Center. Pray about whom God is prompting you to invite. Contact Julie at JulieNybakken@restorationcov.org if you are interested in gifting flowers or helping with decorations for the celebration.
Restoration Kids Coordinator
The Restoration Kids Coordinator Search Team is excited to announce Chris Davis is our new Restoration Kids Coordinator. Chris has a degree in Education, is a qualified teacher, and has an M.A. in Theological Studies from Bethel Seminary. He has several years of experience both working in and leading children’s ministry and served as the children’s and youth ministry coordinator at a Christian church in Bangkok, Thailand. His interest in the RKC position is based on being used by God to serve children, youth, and families in the local church setting and we are pleased to welcome him to Restoration Covenant Church.
SUMMER PREVIEW
Restoration Day Camp
August 6-9, 9am-1pm
Day Camp is an awesome way to reach communities, families, churches and children with the joy, love and hope of Jesus. Day Camp provides a fun and transformational experience led by a welcoming, trained and loving staff from Covenant Pines Bible Camp. Activities will include games, songs, skits, stories, crafts, service project and a carnival. To volunteer contact Chris Davis at ChrisDavis@restorationcov.org. Child registrations will be out soon!
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Covenant Pines Bible Camp
See the brochure for dates
The mission of Covenant Pines has remained consistent for 57 years: to help each person take the next step in his/her spiritual walk. Our goal is to teach campers spiritual values and to model them in fun and relevant ways through the lives of our staff, speakers, devotions, nature and God’s Word. We have camps for kids entering grades 2 through 12. The deadline for the Early Bird discount is March 31! Since many families struggle financially to send their children to camp, Covenant Pines has camps in the month of June at a greatly reduced rate. Please let CPBC know if you need financial assistance.
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Vacation Bible School
June 18-22
If you love VBS like we do, you are going to love our idea to join with Faith Covenant Church in Burnsville for summer fun. For more information, contact Chris Davis at ChrisDavis@restorationcov.org.
Ministry Center: Construction Begins
Restoration is moving into the Granada Center very soon, which means that walls must come down and the space rebuilt to meet our needs. What we want you to do is ask yourself one question: “How can I help?” Restoration is in need of two donations – TIME & MATERIALS. Do you have DIY skills or know someone who does? Are you willing to donate a fridge, range, dishwasher, or microwave? Do you have an eye for detail or a willingness to learn something new? Then YOU are what the new Restoration Covenant Church Ministry Center needs. Email Nick Webb at nicholasjwebb@hotmail.com and tell him how you want to help!
“Food on the Third”
Another huge amount of food was gathered to bless the familes at Westview Elementary School. Thanks to everyone, we collected 180 pounds of food and five gift certificates for our second food drive for March. That makes this month’s grand total over 430 pounds of food. This is a new record for Restoration! Next month’s Food on the First will be Sunday, April 1.
Pastoral Advisory Team (PAT)
Jesus has his rightful place as the head of his church and Rob Jacobson serves and leads us as our pastor. But no church should rest on the shoulders of just one person. Here at Restoration, Rob works closely with a Pastoral Advisory Team, or PAT. At the church’s launch, PAT was formed to serve alongside the pastor to help the church honor its established mission, vision and values. PAT also acts as the liaison to ministry team leaders to make sure the spiritual needs of our church are met. Please feel free to reach out to any PAT member with ideas, questions, concerns or stories about God at work in your life.
Carrie Boyum, CarrieBoyum@restorationcov.org
Michele Jacobson, MicheleJacobson@restorationcov.org
Kerry Stok, KerryStok@restorationcov.org
Chad White, ChadWhite@restorationcov.org
Mike Wiens, MikeWiens@restorationcov.org
Book Discussion
Join us at 7:30pm on Saturday, March 31, at Pardon My French in Eagan to discuss the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. This eye-opening, troubling, but ultimately uplifting book tells stories of people and organizations that are truly changing the world. While the views in the book may or may not reflect the views of Restoration Covenant Church, we hope this book discussion will be a catalyst to inspire us to help our sisters around the world. Contact: Jessica Sanborn, JessicaSanborn@restorationcov.org, 612-730-6265
Life Groups
Contact Eric and let him know you want to find a life group: EricLangmaack@restorationcov.org. Read more about life groups and see a list of current options at our life groups web page.
Student Groups
The Middle School Student Group next meets Saturday, April 28, for sleepovers and we’ll go bowling on Tuesday, May 22.
The High School Student Group (grades 9-12) meets Sundays at 12:30pm at the Wendy’s on CR 42 & Cedar Avenue in Apple Valley. Contact: Louie Washleski, 952-261-7523
Promoting Our Partners
Restoration Covenant Church partners with many organizations and institutions to help promote their upcoming events.
Minnehaha Academy
Now accepting applications for the next school year. Financial aid program for Covenant families.
http://www.minnehahaacademy.net
Home-In-Stead M.O.M.S. Program
10th Annual Benefit Community Concert
and Silent Auction : April 14 at 5:30pm
www.momsprogram.org
Covenant Pines Bible Camp
Annual Father Child Retreat
April 20-22
www.covenantpines.org and 218-768-2610
Upcoming Events
Spring Break ISD 191 & 196 · March 26–30
Spring Break ISD 194 · April 2–6
Get to Know Us Lunch · April 15
Videographer Wanted
The communications team has some ideas for videos, but we need someone with a camera and editing skills to help us. Contact Kerry at KerryStok@restorationcov.org if you’d like to help out.
View past News & Notes by clicking HERE!