Oh Be J yful news
april 2013
PO Box 175 | 625 Maroon Avenue | Crested Butte, CO 81224 | (970) 349-6237 | www.ohbejoyfulchurch.org
Years ago I was with a group of people who were in fact Christians yet did not like to identify themselves as Christians. This was because of all the “negative” connotations that were being attached to the name…you know the ones… hypocrites, being judgmental, legalistic, etc. It was a lot of bad press. They also did not identify themselves with any church organization as the name “church” also carried many of the same labels. Rather, they identified themselves as “followers of Jesus” which they believed was a more accurate description of who they were, what they believed and how they lived their lives out in the midst of this broken world. I believed they were sincere in their attempt of wanting to bring something better to the table to honor Jesus with. They were sincere in having lives that walked the talk. Well, you can guess what happened to this group over the course of time as their lives continued to unfold. Yes, those very lives began to contradict the very name they made themselves known by. Unfortunately in their attempt to separate themselves from all the negative press attached to Christians or the Church, they set themselves up for the same failures. Why? Simply because of themselves and the sin that dwelt within their mortal bodies (Rom. 7:20). Many wondered why Jesus would allow for such a travesty of negative “connotations” to be associated to His name and Kingdom. Why does He allow those who are called by His name and are labeled by Him–as Christians, as His Church, as His Bride, as Saints – to bring such ill repute to Him and these names? Jesus, do something!
From Our Pastor
The good news folks…He has…He has done something…He is doing something and He will continue to do something. The person of truth somehow marvelously creates a tapestry of brokenness and healing, imperfection and perfection, sinfulness and holiness, sorrows and joys to be hung in a throne room of grace by the person of grace. There in that sacred place before the Father, Jesus stands with the tapestry of us and Him woven together individually and collectively from the past, present and the future, along with all of our sins…eternally woven and inseparable from Him. In that sacred place Jesus loving lypresents it to the Father and with a few blood stained nails…nails that tapestry to a cross…and then goes to weave another. Consider Colossians 2:13-15… In His love and service,
-Jim
Oh Be Joyful news page2
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We know many of you are probably wondering…at a special business meeting held on March 10th, OBJ voted to accept Scott Winn as recommended by the Elders to become the next Senior Pastor. His decision to receive the call followed shortly thereafter and, God willing, he and his family will be moving to Crested Butte sometime mid-summer. We anticipate that Scott will be transitioning into his role as senior pastor sometime in August/ September. We praise God for the faith walk He has taken us on and we’re thankful for all who have been praying for us as we have made our way. Scott and his wife Claire come to us from Richardson Texas where Scott has been involved in full time ministry at Woodcreek Church for over 20 years. They have three children. Scott has been very faithful in being a part of the long process of finding a replacement for Jim and the elders are excited for everyone to get to know him better as he shepherds our church family into the future. We’ll have more on Scott in next month’s newsletter.
Thank You
“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judges me faithful, appointing me to his service,….” 1 Timothy 1:12 Looking to the future we would like to thank and welcome our new Board members for offering their background in networking, banking, legal experience, and counseling. Through the expansion of professional members involvement in The New Adam’s House we will be praying for our ability to continue to help those in need of recovery and a relationship with Jesus Christ. The New Adam’s House is celebrating its fourth year of service to the Greater Gunnison Valley and beyond.
chris gibson
Our administration is experiencing growth and change in the past months and we would like to say thank you to Nancy Osmundson for her faithful service. Nancy volunteered her time and experience to the New Adam’s House as interim president. She came into this position in a time of need, and we would like to thank her for her help and offering. Her scheduled departure was with an accomplished goal of expanding the Board of Directors and in her wake we would like to welcome three new appointees. Again, thank you Nancy.
The New Adam’s House is funded through participant’s fees and the generous donations of gracious people like yourselves as God leads. Please contact The New Adam’s House (TheNewAdamsHouse.org) if you would like to contribute to this wonderful ministry. Funding is needed for: General Operating Expenses, Salaries, Utilities, Intake and Fee Scholarships, Capital Improvements, as well as Individual Sponsorship for men from challenging backgrounds.
about the ministry of
reconciliation
Oh Be Joyful exists to bring glory to God through the ministry of reconciliation as outlined in Colossians 1:18 and 2 Corinthians 5:11-21. To be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, to sustain a vital relationship with Him, to be used of God to bring all people into this same relationship, to live in love and reconciliation with one another. As a church, we strive to be about the ministry of reconciliation through six areas: • Ministry of Equipping • Ministry of Harvest • Ministry of Healing & Recovery • Ministry of Retreat • Ministry of Service • Ministry of Worship To find out more about the mission of OBJ and the ministry of reconciliation, please visit ohbejoyfulchurch.org or facebook.com/objchurch
OBJ is in the transition to going paperless with our correspondence. If you would like to start receiving this newsletter as an email rather than snail mail, please email your information to objnewsletter@yahoo.com. Or, like us on facebook and every month there will be an embedded newsletter you can view right there from your social network. Thanks!
FAcebook Find us on facebook at facebook.com/objchurch. There you will find weekly updates with church happenings, music from OBJ, and valuable resources. And it’s a great way to stay connected!
Sunday worship recordings CDs of every Sunday’s worship service are now available immediately after the service. Find Tyler after the service and he will be happy to help you out. Or email a request to objnewsletter@ yahoo.com.
deadlines If you have something you would like included in the newsletter, bulletin, website, or church facebook page, please email it to objnewsletter@ yahoo.com. The deadline for the newsletter is the 10th of the month and bulletin is Wednesday morning each week.
Oh Be Joyful news page3 Come find out what’s going on at
CB Community Youth
Contact Courtney Kirby, CB Community Youth Minister (865)406-6876 • courtneykirby@gmail.com • www.cbym.net
newsletter archives If you have missed any of this past year’s newsletters and you would like to read them, good news! Archived versions of the newsletter are available to view at www.issuu.com/ohbejoyful. There you will find easy to access digital versions of all our past newsletters.
newsletter email Speaking of the newsletter, we are going to be a bit more proactive in switching over to pimarily email distribution starting in June. That doesn’t mean we won’t send this out via snail mail anymore, but we’re asking that you contact us to request to continue receiving a snail mail version, otherwise we will automatically switch over to email. You can contact Tyler at objnewsletter@yahoo.com or give him a call directly at (970)596-5348 to let him know. Thanks!
on-going church
activities
Sunday Schedule: 7:30 a.m. - Intercessory Prayer (in OBJ Café) 8 a.m. - Adult Bible Study 8 a.m. - Worship Team Practice 9 a.m. - Worship Service 9:30 a.m. - Children’s Sunday School (midway through service) 10:15 a.m. - Post-Service Fellowship Ladies Bible Study: Thursday - 9 a.m. (OBJ Lounge - Childcare provided) celebrate recovery worship: Thursday - 6 p.m. (OBJ Sanctuary)
Eliphaz, Bildad, or Zophar in the room? Have you ever been brokenhearted and feared telling a friend? As Christians, we are often hesitant to share our deepest struggles in fear of being rebuked or told we are not exercising our faith. Job says “A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14). Why is it hard to just listen to a friend who is hurting or angry and not feel the need to “fix” them? I dare say it is because we don’t like to face pain and we try to avoid it in ourselves and others. When a friend of mine lost her 8 year old daughter, she said so many Christians told her they didn’t know what to say…then they opened their mouth and proved it! Job’s friends exhibited a short time when they were able to be true friends. Job 2:13 revealed how they sat on the ground with Job for 7 days and 7 nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. They must have gotten impatient with the amount of time the suffering went on so they decided to give their two cents on “why” they thought Job’s was in his trial. We all know their dissertations went on for over 35 long chapters before God
from darkness into
We just finished holy week here at OBJ and it was a wonderful time to reflect on the great story that God has made us a part of. From the very beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, God is telling a story of how he desperately pursues us in a desire to have relationship with his sons and daughters. It is a picture of the greek word Prosdechomenoi. I preached recently on what Prosdechomenoi looks like as outlined in the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is an image not of a God who sits back waiting for people to come to Him, looking around to see who will approach Him. Instead, God actively
cindy chamberland
spoke and rebuked them. God asked Job to pray for them and make a sacrifice so that God would not bring down his judgment on their folly (Job 42:7-9). Being a true friend to a friend in pain takes patience, time, and lots of listening without giving advice. If you find this is hard to do; look into your heart to see why pain is uncomfortable to be around. There may be unresolved issues from the past that has not been addressed. Often the pain of others reminds us of similar wounds we have faced. Ask God to show you how to face pain He has allowed in your life and others around you. We are the best friends we can be, when we have experienced his love and healing in our lives first…and then we can show compassion in the measure we have been shown compassion. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, so we are near Him when we are with them.
light
pursues us as the desire of His heart. He goes out into the field looking for the one lost sheep. He tears apart the house looking for the lost coin. He has his eyes scanning the horizon looking for his lost and sinful son. And He leaves the party to seek out the righteous son who refuses to come in. God is a God of pursuit. He is a God who chases hard after us so that we might chase hard after him as disciples of the truth. What does this have to do with Holy Week? On Good Friday, we gathered in the sanctuary, in the midst of the growing darkness, to reflect upon Christ’s suffering and death. It was
somber. But in that darkness was a picture of Christ’s pursuit. There was a picture of a savior who sweat blood in the garden so that those lost in the first garden might be brough back. And as we extinguished the lone candle on Friday night, we waited in anticipation for Sunday morning. On Sunday morning, in the morning light, we lit the candle and Christ’s pursuit of His people was made complete as we celebrated His resurrection. We are a people called from darkness into light by a Savior who suffered in darkness and was victorious in light. Now THAT is a reason to celebrate.
Oh Be Joyful news page4
Oh Be Joyful Church of christ, for christ, in christ PO Box 175 (Mailing)/625 Maroon Avenue (Physical & Shipping) Crested Butte, CO 81224 • (970)349-6237 www.ohbejoyfulchurch.org • www.facebook.com/objchurch objchurch@crestedbutte.net (Jim Kunes) • objnewsletter@yahoo.com (Bulletin/Newsletter) • objsecretary@crestedbutte.net
additional ministries
church staff
Crested Butte Community Youth Ministry - Courtney Kirby, Director courtneykirby@gmail.com • (865)406-6876
Jim Kunes - Elder/Pastor Al Van Dyke - Elder/Trustee/Treasurer Mark Ewing - Elder/Trustee Chris Gibson - Elder Tyler Hansen - Elder/Worship and Arts Pastor Annette Runion - Minister of Sunday School
New Adam’s House - Chris Gibson, Director christianjgibson@gmail.com • (970)596-6633
Oh Be Joyful Church was established in 1982 and is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention
PO Box 175 Crested Butte, CO 81224 return service requested
april prayer needs Scott and Claire Winn and their children as they prepare to move to Crested Butte. CB Community Youth Ministry New Adam’s House Ministry Care & Share Foodbank Ministry Reconciliation Resource Ministry The Kunes Family as they nuture our OBJ Family Those in our community and church body with health struggles The OBJ team of Elders Our Marriages and Families OBJ Sunday School Team OBJ Worship Team Our members & friends in missions throughout the world: David and Linsey Gardeen - Ecuador Harol and Coni Knepper - Tanzania Bill and Patty Bokelman - Israel Shaw Family - Peru Iserman Family - France Ives Family - Argentina