Singing a New Song

Yo soy quien dices que soy, soy hijo de Dios, sí lo soy. (I am who you say I am, I’m a child of God, yes I am).

This last weekend, nine people from the worship teams of Living Hope Piperton and Vollintine-Evergreen traveled to Querétaro, Mexico to conduct a worship conference with our church plant partners there. Worship teams from the churches of Lumina, Conexión Vertical, and Esperanza Viva joined with our team to worship and learn from each other about how we can more faithfully serve our churches as we lead in worship. 

Over the last few years, a close partnership has developed with three different church planters and their churches in the area surrounding Querétaro. Living Hope has sent several mission teams to the area, and we have hosted them here in Memphis. On their last visit, as we discussed how Living Hope could further minister to their churches, they asked us to come and do some teaching in the area of worship. 

We spent the last few months building a team and preparing to lead a mini-conference for everyone involved in their worship ministry. Since their teams are usually the ones serving everyone else in the church, on Friday night, our team led them in a worship service, so that they could have a time to sit back and enjoy worshipping Jesus together. I was especially proud of all the hard work our team put into learning all the songs in Spanish so that we could minister to them in a way they could most clearly understand. On Saturday, we met with worship leaders, planners, musicians, audio engineers, and technicians to teach on both the theology and practice of leading others in worship. Each member of our team was able to share from their experience and engaged in teaching and Q&A with their team members. On Sunday, we split up and joined their worship teams and preached in their churches to serve their congregations as well. Pablo DiGilio, one of the planters, sent us this encouraging email this week: “Thank you again for all the effort and thought you put into the conference, our team is already talking about working on the vision, values and objectives, and we are going to spend some time on the worksheets you gave us. You guys have such an important part in everything we do here.” 

This trip was beneficial for our team as well. The time we had serving and growing together, in both the preparation and the execution of the trip will continue to reap benefits for our worship team (and our church) for years to come. We made friendships and built relationships that will be lifelong. 

I am so grateful to be a part of a church that realizes, as the redeemed children of God, we must take church planting seriously, and be willing to give time, money, and energy so that others can know our Father. Please continue to pray for Pablo, Alex, Juan, and their families and churches as they labor in Querétaro, and continue to seek God in how you might be involved in going, praying, or sending others out for the sake of the Gospel.

- David Lewis, Worship Pastor/Elder

The Dream that Will Inspire Us

Living Hope is sending out the Jackson’s (Greg, Brienne, Ada and Lyla) to plant a new church in East Memphis. If you want to hear more, visit eastmemphischurch.com and fill out a Connect form. Also, watch for dates for upcoming interest meetings. 

Below, Greg shares a little about the mission and vision for this new church.  

Our family has lived in East Memphis for 6 years, and in our current house off Walnut Grove, near Richland Elementary, for 4 years. Feeling compelled to live in a particular neighborhood, near Brienne’s work and walking distance to the school where our girls will attend, God blessed us with a home. Over the subsequent years, we have developed a love for our neighbors and our community. We love Living Hope dearly, but the longing to worship in our part of the city has grown each year, along with the dream of seeing a certain type of church in our area. The mission, or the engine that will drive us as a new church, is this: we exist to seek out new friends where we live and work, welcoming them into our lives and into God’s family through Christ.  The vision, or the dream that will inspire us, is this: we believe that God is preparing people in our neighborhoods to trust Christ and enter His family. Increasingly, many in Memphis have never experienced life inside of the church, or at least not since they were children or teens. And when you ask those who are not a part of the church what goes on inside the church, the answers are often the same – hypocrisy, judgment, rules-focused, harsh, etc. We envision a growing number of churches that change people’s perspective of what Christians are like and what life inside the church is like. We will be a community that loves, encourages, serves one another, bears each other’s burdens; rejoices and mourns with each other. We will see our homes in a new way – no longer only as a refuge for me, but also a refuge for others. The light of Christ is glowing within our homes as our families and Gospel Communities share life.  The Spirit is at work in living rooms. The Good News is celebrated and applied to each other’s lives around the kitchen table.  Christ is present on the back porch.  There is a refuge from the rushing waters that many around us are struggling through, in danger of being swept away.  But how will people know this unless they are invited in? How can we change people’s perspective of what Christians are like and what life inside the church is like? We dream of a church in East Memphis where new people are encountering our community every month; where gatherings and open conversations with believers and non-believers are commonplace; where new Christ followers are joining God’s family. This new church will emphasize practicing Biblical hospitality, driven by God’s grace toward us. In the Old Testament, hospitality is defined as “welcoming the stranger”. The strategy is to open our circles, inviting “outsiders” (Colossians 4:5-6) into our homes, our world, and our hearts; serving, eating and partying with no strings attached – welcoming people because of love and with joy. And speaking often about the most important, life-giving things in our lives, including what Christ has done for us and in us. As God’s family, we will urge each other to be who Jesus says we are - the light of the world…a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14).   

The Common's 1st Anniversary

We are grateful! God has exceeded all of our expectations and goals in our first year as a church. From Brunch & Bible, to the coffee shop on Echols Street, to the heart of Orange Mound. From 20 in a living room, to over 100 in an Elementary school cafeteria. From one corporate weekly meet up, to several Community Groups studying and fellowshipping throughout the week. From being religious, to being relational. From being inconsistent, to being intentional. 

We have had an amazing year!! However, there is STILL so much work for us to do! Although we have gained so much, we have also mourned the young lives we have lost to senseless violence. We are nursing wounds and souls back to health as hurts, challenges, and grudges have lead to fights, shootings, and even suicide attempts. We are still struggling with so much sin within our body. With that being said, your prayers are not only appreciated but needed! 

2 Chronicles 7 tells us “to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and to turn from our wicked ways”. As we attempt to do exactly this in order to experience healing, deliverance, and transformation in our homes, in the Orange Mound Community, and beyond, we ask that you continue to be the Fervently praying parent church that you are as we continue to work our harvest and produce capable laborers who will see the work through until the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

MARANATHA!!!

- The COMMON

LHVE's 5 Year Anniversary

Living Hope Vollintine Evergreen, the first church plant of LH, turned 5 last Sunday. The sanctuary was filled with people praising God for all that he has done through LH Piperton and LHVE. Through volunteering, relationship-bulding, and building renovations God has empowered people to preach and display the gospel. The Vollintine Evergreen community has been served in incredible ways because our people’s love for God overflows out of them. Of course, LHVE really began in 2010 with a call from LH leadership.

They asked for families to relocate to an area that needed regular gospel presence. From 2010 to 2013 our strategy was to prayerfully engage the neighborhood through being good neighbors, loving the public schools and institutions, and listening well. When one bible study birthed into two, it was decided that public worship would follow soon. On the third Sunday in August in 2013 LHVE launched its first public worship service. Ever since, we have been a worshipping community that seeks to bring God’s kingdom to bear in the lives of those around us. Our vision is to “to be a family of believers that reflects our neighborhoods, transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, grounded in his grace and love, and devoted to the restoration of each other, our city, and our world.” This is our banner and how we verbalize the calling of the bible.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank LH Piperton and every member individually who has served us, helping us to fulfill our calling. We could certainly not have done it without such a strong support system. Countless church planters have marveled at how healthy it is to have such a 

supportive body of believers so close in proximity. And of course, the battle is not over. Ministry is really difficult in VE because of the barriers that class, culture, and world-view create. Our hope is that our relationship with LH Piperton continues to be strengthened over the next 5 years. With new church plants and even more mission partners the LH footprint is growing larger and larger in our city and world. It is such an honor to be apart of this movement. In the future, you can keep up with LHVE through our weekly newsletter and website - LHVE.org. Please prayerfully consider finding a way to plug in.

- Justin Burkhead, on behalf of LHVE

Going Deeper

“Fast food is popular because it is convenient, it is cheap, and it tastes good. But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu” – Eric Schlosser

It is easy to draw parallels between our eating habits and the way we interact with the Word of God. The abundance of spiritual “fast food” around (short daily devotionals, podcasts, or a quick verse of the day found on a Bible app) has made us spiritually lazy, and has resulted in an ignorance of Biblical doctrine and knowledge among Christians. Many believers struggle to defend what they believe when confronted by non-believers, and many are easily influenced and led astray by the world around them. “Rather than acting as salt and light, we become bland contributions to the environments we inhabit and shape, indistinguishable from those who have never been changed by the gospel.”- Jen Wilkin. When faced with diversity in our own lives, we often succumb to despair and even anger at God, because we don’t know Scripture, and his truths are not ingrained into our hearts and mind.

The Women’s ministry of LH has a vision to see the women in our church excited, knowledgeable and changed by the Word; to go Deeper. Our families, our community, and our world desperately need Godly and spirit filled women who are grounded in the Bible, and who will make a difference.

In September the LH women’s ministry will launch our first Bible study series for the year. Over a nine-week period, we will study 1John. This letter will provide us with a cameo of life in the early church – a time where there was a significant amount of confusion and disagreements among believers about theological truths. John provides the church with principles to identify and challenge teachings that departs from the gospel. The letter will also give us insight into what faith, unbelief, brotherhood and false teachings look like. Throughout the series we will be challenged and encouraged in our faith walk.

The Bible study will be introduced to the women of LH at a worship and teaching event on September 11. This will be followed by seven weeks of home study groups (each group will have their own time and location), and wrapped up on November 13 with another combined group event.

- Rhe Janse & Suzanne Acuff

Kenya Trip: Things I Did Not Expect

A team from Living Hope returned from a trip to Kenya last week.  LH people have been traveling to Kenya annually since the earliest day of our church.  We work with an orphanage started by church members Alan and Pam May.  The teams stay at the orphanage with the kids and caregivers, offering support, encouragement, prayer, Bible studies and other training.  They also work alongside the kids and caregivers to serve and take the Gospel to their surrounding community. 

Paul Kilpatrick, Living Hope’s Mission Assistant, has had a busy summer (which you will hear more about later); he has traveled to Mexico, Iceland, and Kenya in two months. Here are some of Paul’s thoughts from this most recent trip:

There were some ways I was blessed in Kenya that I could have anticipated. I expected to make friends, serve the children at the orphanage, and be encouraged by seeing God’s work in another part of the world. I hoped for the worship with the church in Eldoret to be engaging and eye opening. The Lord certainly granted these things during our time in Kenya, and so much more.

There were also a few things I did not expect to see. We worked efficiently and cohesively like a team should, but the dynamic felt much more like family. Many of us had never even met before the trip, but it did not take long for everyone to bond closely. Serving together allows for connections to form quicker than usual. When believers unite to “count others as more significant than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3), God works in powerful ways in the hearts of the serving and the served.

Some of the most meaningful times for me were when I saw people on the team care for individual needs of other team members. Unity and genuine love was a regular experience, despite the team consisting of people of different ages and backgrounds.  I was given the opportunity to preach on one of the Sundays, which I am very grateful for, and the church’s response to the sermon Sunday was better than I could have hoped. It’s no secret that many churches in Africa (and the United States!) preach and teach a ‘gospel’ that emphasizes health and wealth over knowing and loving Jesus.  I used the time to point to Jesus being the true bread of life, not worldly pleasure and success. I was informed later of immediate fruit from the sermon, including a church leader who was openly repentant about what he had taught in the past! And the glory goes to God alone.

A few of us, myself included, were able to see the Lord open potential doors for future ministry in Kenya. Future opportunities exist for evangelism, teaching, and healthcare teaching. I hope to be a part of what God is doing through the church in Kenya.

I’m very thankful to Alan for leading us well, and also for the hospitality of the leaders at the orphanage. We were welcomed warmly by all of the children and leaders. I will not soon forget the kindness of the believers we met in Kenya. God is drawing people to himself and causing the name of Jesus to be treasured, especially at the orphanage.

For more info about future trips or how to sponsor a child at the GFE Children’s Home, contact Greg Jackson (gjackson@lhchurch.com).  

Maggie Lavoie

As you would expect, this is an extremely busy and emotional time for seniors. For me personally, it’s happy and sad, exciting but nerve-racking. I am so ready to be done, but at the same time I feel sentimental…finding myself wanting more time with the people I’ve become close to. It’s hard to understand that everything we have become so accustomed to is all going to disappear completely. 

One of my biggest struggles in life has been the challenge of trusting and surrendering everything to God: the big and the small things. I am a control freak and list-maker who tries to keep everything in order so I will always know what will happen next. But at the end of the day, these uncomfortable places I try with all my might to keep away from always end up finding me regardless. Recently though, God has made me realize that He puts us in these uncomfortable places because He knows we are afraid to seek them out ourselves. He’s so confident we already know what to do next that He is willing to be silent when we ask for His voice. He doesn’t care as much as we do whether we perform perfectly or not. He just wants us to be His while we do it. Playing it safe and just waiting for little reassurances from Him here and there isn’t necessarily bad, it just isn’t faith anymore. 

People seem to wait for God to give them a “plan” and ride out their to-do list until He intercedes with some big sign about the purpose for their life. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think that at one time. The point is that if you’re waiting for this supernatural sign, you’re most likely trying to delay the process. What a shame it would be if we were waiting on God to say something while He’s been waiting on us to do something. 

Even if you are not a senior, there is always room for a new beginning. I pray for thankful and expectant hearts in the church that desire to see God work in them and through them in the years to come. I pray that we live out bold faiths, shining our lights for all to see. That we as a body use our fears and anxieties to run to Him, to find rest and assurance in the sure and steady. The one thing that will never change. 

Christ-Centered Parenting

Jenny and Eric Powell attended the Christ-Centered Parenting classes offered in April. Below are some of their thoughts as they reflected on what they heard and discussed while attending the classes. 

Parenting today is hard, especially when your kids have special powers. They always know when you just started a phone conversation, and then they need a snack. They always know when you just sat down for the first time in four hours, and then they need you to settle a dispute with their sibling. They always know when you have just had enough of the chaos, and then they decide to run screaming though the house with muddy feet. As your kids get older, the things they do to test your patience and boundaries change. They know which buttons to push and when. 

How do we react to these moments which combine weariness, frustration, short fuses and a desire to just make the immediate problem go away? The tempting response is to reach for the most convenient punishment or newly created rule to try and restore peace in the moment. This is a bit like using a bandage to repair a leak in a dam – the results will be temporary and the long-term damage will be extensive. Thankfully, our loving and merciful Father has provided the perfect example of parenting for us though his interactions with his people throughout the Bible. 

The law was given by God not to save, but to point to our need for a Savior. God used the law to provide instruction, but his people could never measure up to his standard of holiness. In the same way, we set guidelines and rules for our children. However, our focus should not be on their outward behavior, but on the inward condition of their hearts. Jesus didn’t just tell the tax collectors to stop behaving poorly. He understood that their sin was a symptom of a larger problem – a sinful heart. As parents, our job is to recognize those tendencies in our children’s hearts and address the root problem, while acknowledging that we too have these same tendencies and struggles. 

The challenges we face today as parents are becoming more diverse and complex, especially as technology continues to become a bigger part of our daily lives. From simple disobedience to issues of identity, sexuality and technology, we are constantly trying to love, protect, and guide our children into becoming healthy adults who know and love God. As we parent, we must be mindful of our responsibilities as role models who show love and affection for our kids and use our interactions with them to point them towards Jesus. Just as we must keep Christ in the center of our personal life, we need to also keep Christ in the center of our parenting.

She Retreat

What a joy it was to be one of the 80 ladies that came together at the Country Place Inn in Moscow, TN on April 6th and 7th for our SHE retreat! Our speaker was one of our former Living Hope members and a dear friend of mine, Mackenzi Groff. The weekend was titled “Everyday Holiness.” She expounded on the truth that the majority of life is lived in the mundane moments. Much of our daily and weekly routines make up the largest part of our lives. Mackenzi challenged us with the truth that God reveals His glory in every second of every day. Even when my day feels boring, God is in that! She said, “when we seek to give gratitude, see glimpses of God in creation, use our gifting, participate in godly group, and pursue ordinary opportunities for gospel living, we work alongside God to reveal His glory in all moments.” 

I am so thankful that I was able to hear this timely message as I am a wife, a mom of three young children, and also work part-time outside our home. It was also a blessing to get a break from my normal responsibilities and get away for a weekend with many of you ladies! I laughed a lot, cried a little, and ate three meals that I didn’t have to cook myself! 

Gathering together in the beautiful chapel, worshipping our Savior with 80 voices led by Heather and Joanna and listening to Mackenzi guide us through God’s word were rejuvenating to my soul. Anita opened and closed each session and gracefully led us through the weekend.

And the ladies that shared testimonies of what the Lord is doing in their lives...Joanna with her family’s fostering journey, Jennifer and her journey to being mentored and mentoring others, and Brandi and Natalie’s craft ministry in North Memphis to primarily Muslim women were amazing and inspiring. There were more stories that I heard that touched my heart. It is all such a good reminder to me that God loves it when we as believers gather together. We need each other. It is essential to our Christian walk. It is encouraging to us so that we can encourage each other, our neighbors, our co-workers, and our world. 

- Laura Oppenheimer