By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
God still speaks and moves in our lives. The only question is will we listen and follow?
In the Old Testament, God led his people from a place of slavery to a place of freedom. Individual lives and entire families - in a moment and for generations - were CHANGED as a result of their obedience to God’s call. The Lord led Israel by reminding them to stay focused on him and when he moved, then they should move as well.
I am thankful God still speaks. God still stirs. God still moves people in response to His call and His plan and, as a result, lives and generations are forever changed.
A little over a year ago as a leadership team, we felt God stirring to invest ourselves more heavily in forming community connections for one another within the Cypress family. A place to connect with others. A place to share life. A place to grow closer to Christ, but to do it shoulder to shoulder, not alone.
We found ourselves getting excited about this emphasis on group life, and then we focused our prayers on the Lord helping us to find the right person or persons to lead this initiative. After several months of praying and discerning, God has proven faithful once again.
God has been stirring two people who are new to this area of ministry, but not exactly new to Cypress.
- I am very excited to announce Kathy George is going to be heading up our GroupLife team. God had been stirring in Kathy’s heart for some time that he had something new awaiting her. Through a series of confirmations, the Lord made it abundantly clear this was the right role for Kathy and the right leader for Cypress.
To read about this transition in Kathy’s own words, see her note below to the Cypress Kids families. Kathy also shares what the plan looks like moving forward with leadership regarding the Cypress Kids team…very exciting! - Dave Kujawa, known as “Kujo” to some, will be rejoining Cypress’ ministry team. Dave was the youth pastor here for nine years, before heading to Michigan to help another church and pursue different ministry endeavors. Again, through several God ordained and orchestrated conversations, it is very clear the Lord has moved and opened doors for Dave to come join the ministry team at Cypress. Dave’s first emphasis will be to join men in the church and help us get better connected to other guys and to Christ.
- Ashley Brooks will be rounding out this team. Ashley has been a part of our GroupLife team since June. She began her time with us as a one-year resident in our Next Wave Internship/Residency program and proved to be the type of person you want on your ministry team for more than just a year.
Be praying for our GroupLife team as we work to see God move in our midst. Pray for those who will develop for the first time and others who will be strengthening their connection with Christ and others.
The best is yet to come!
Pastor Ken
From Kathy George:
Living life with Jesus is always an adventure. We never know all the plans Jesus has for us but we know He can be trusted.
During the last few months I
have had a restlessness that I have only experienced one other time in my life.
That was when I left the corporate world and pursued full-time ministry. In the
last few months, I have been feeling a very strong tug on my heart to once
again step out of my comfort zone. I couldn’t imagine what God was up to. I
won’t take you through all the details – but through many, frankly odd
circumstances – God showed me the reason for my restlessness.
Our vision at Cypress is Come,
Connect and Change. Over the years we have landed on different vision
statements – but this one especially grabbed my heart. I was particularly drawn
to the purpose of people connecting for the sake of life change. That is what
this “Jesus Adventure” is all about – lives being transformed…people becoming
new!
Pastor Ken and our leadership
team are excited about this new movement of God and have encouraged me to
pursue this new adventure and so I am moving into the role of Group Life
Director – where I will be leading adults in finding those meaningful
connections within our community.
What does all this mean for Children’s
ministries? God has been preparing our kids team to take the reins. During this
same timeframe, God has been tugging on Angie Young’s heart to take on more in
the Children’s department. Angie will be co-leading with Heidi Kelly and she
will be taking on a lot of my responsibilities.
For all you Star Wars fans – I will be their Yoda. We have an amazing
kid’s team!
Most of you know by now that
our oldest son, Nathan, unexpectedly passed away on November 18. He was excited
for my new adventure because he knew first hand the importance of connecting
with people through the instrument of small groups. He was passionate about
people hearing and knowing Jesus Christ. Some might think this is a time to
pull back but because of Nathan’s adventurous spirit – while this was all in
the works before he left us – I feel more certain now than ever about taking on
this new adventure.
Thank you so much for allowing
me the privilege of serving you and your families for the past 19 years. I am
looking forward to continuing walking this spiritual adventure with you.
Miss Kathy
No comments:
Post a Comment