May you experience this vast, expansive, infinite, indestructible love that has been around all along.
May you discover that this love is as wide as the sky and as small as the cracks in your heart no one else knows about.
May you be called to more and break the bonds of exile by caring for the sick and the poor and the needy.
And may you know, deep in your bones that love wins.
” New Format BenedictionThe Rescue - The Exile
Four weeks into our series title The Rescue and God is speaking into the foundation of who we are as Christ Followers.
We started the night off with some awesome worship, which then led into an amazing reading given by Jarred Benitez.
After worship, this week’s speaker, Daniel Merk-Benitez gave a message on The Exile, the period of time where the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years before entering a land they could call their own.
The message centered on the truth that exile is not just about location, but about your heart. Exile occurs when you forget to turn the blessings that God has given you into blessings for others.
Fresh from a trip to our sister Church in Carrefour, Haiti, Daniel also shared some of his experiences there and how God desires for us to be the rescue to those in need. The night ended with another benediction praying for us to be the embodiment of love.
If you missed the message, you can download and listen to the podcast by searching for “New Format - A Ministry for College-Age People” in the iTunes store!
Fact No. 1
In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help.
Fact No. 2
Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
Fact No. 3
Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
Fact No. 4
In Ethiopia approximately one million people are suffering from podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot on volcanic soil.
Fact No. 5
Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes.
Over 100,000 people will go barefoot today. And they are doing it to raise awareness for people who don’t have a choice. In 2010, over 1,600 events were held, over 250,000 people went without shoes. Will you take part this year?
In partnership with TOMS shoes, New Format will be taking part in One Day Without Shoes today April 5, 2011
Will you join us?
So may you have revelation.
In your life.
In the lives of those around you.
May you hear God’s desperate plea of love for you to choose Him. May you hear the cries of “Hosanna!” from the people around you and respond. May you find that God, the god of Israel is present within you. May you be the body God is searching for and in doing so, may you BE the rescue.
” New Format BenedictionThe Rescue - The Revelation
In case you missed this past weekend, New Format is currently in a six week series titled, “The Rescue” which carries the purpose of introducing the history of Christianity as we know it. Currently being three weeks into the series, we have so far covered the beginning of God’s relationship with His people, Israel, as well as their freedom from slavery.
This past week we took a glance at The Revelation, as our college pastor Sarah Merk-Benitez unpacked the monumental moment where God reveals His desire to Moses to find willing people to act as His body and in turn be the rescue that humanity is looking for. The message brought to light empowering truths regarding what it looks like for us to enter into the story of Israel as well as restructuring insights as to what God really intended for the 10 Commandments.
The worship portion of the night was powerful as our community earnestly responded while our band led us through a set including an emotionally rich tag of “Hosanna”.
The night ended with an amazingly intimate time of reflection and prayer in which our community asked God to show us who to be a body to and then prayed a benediction over one another asking God to allow us to be the rescue He intended us to be.
Hello tumblr.
That’s right NFer’s! New Format now has a tumblr for your viewing pleasure! Follow us as we will be posting entries reviewing our weekly series’ topics as well as highlights and photos of all of our events. We look forward to blogging with you!
