New Weekly Rhythm Offers a Holistic Approach to Church

There’s now more variety to be had on Thursday evenings at The Redemption Movement. The 6pm meetings at RM’s River Street storefront will take place on a rotating schedule--one that provides a different kind of gathering each week. The schedule is as follows:

Worship Service: Communion

These gatherings will most closely resemble what one would expect from a traditional, church worship service. The congregation will sing worship songs led by a team of musicians, followed by a time of teaching and communion. 

Fellowship Meal: Community

These gatherings will be characterized by food and fellowship. A potluck-style meal will be provided, and time will be dedicated to sharing about each person’s lives--ranging from struggles to celebrations. The goal of these meals is to strengthen relationships, build community, and help people find the support and encouragement they need within the church.

Celebrating a birthday with friends at RM's storefront church.

Community Outreach: Co-Mission

Putting words into practice by showing the love of God to others in our city is a big part of what it means to be the church. On Outreach Thursdays, this will either be done by actually going out as a church to bless the community in a practical way. Or, we’ll combine our efforts to strengthen and build up RM’s existing outreach ministries, like the Kindness Station and the free ride service. 

Why Not Just Do the Same Thing Every Week?

The idea behind this new, rotating schedule is to provide a rhythm that gives worshippers a more holistic approach to weekly church gatherings, one that includes communion, community, and co-mission. Since moving our church’s weekly gathering to Thursdays, we’ve discovered that it’s difficult to accomplish all three of these purposes within a two-hour, once-a-week gathering.

It’s our hope that, by dedicating an entire evening to each of these three purposes, we’ll be a church that’s balanced when it comes to communion, community, and co-mission. We also hope that being intentional like this will produce a kind of spiritually-holistic growth in people that wouldn’t otherwise happen if we focused on just one or two aspects of church life (at the expense of neglecting another aspect).

Bonus: for all of these meetings, childcare will be provided.

To find out where the upcoming Thursday fits into this rotating schedule, you can email Pastor Kaler at rm.gigs@gmail.com, or call 607.434.2564, or check the church schedule on the front page of this blog.

Evil is in the World, But We Know He Who is Greater

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

This promise in 1 John that gives us incredible peace (blessed assurance) in the midst of anything that we’ll ever encounter in this world.

And, as we’re all keenly aware, the world is broken. It is a jacked up, messed up place.

Evil is very real, and Satan preys upon the innocent--seeking to kill and destroy every human that bears the image of God.

But, He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

In America’s most recent mass shooting, evil showed itself by taking innocent life at a small church in Texas.

It’s a horrific tragedy that doesn’t make any sense. It’s tempting to react with fear, and even be angry at God. This past week, the world’s reaction to this particular tragedy has been anger--and this anger has been directed to those who have faith in God. To those who respond to tragedy, with prayer.

They mock the promise “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world,” saying that it can’t possibly be true as long as there is evil in the world.

You know what, there are a lot of promises in the Bible, and tomorrow isn’t one of them.

As long as we live in a fallen world, we are vulnerable to evil. Tragedy can befall this little church just like anywhere else. But, despite the reality of evil, we believe that God is greater, and therefore, we’re free from anger and fear, and we can take refuge in God by communing with Him, in prayer.    

Admittedly, the innocent dying at the hands of evil is painful and can’t be easily explained and. 

Yet, God identifies with our sorrows because He experienced the full brunt of this evil when his innocent Son, Jesus Christ, was murdered on a cross.

For the sake of our sins and BECAUSE the world has a problem with evil, God sent Jesus to redeem the world by subjecting him to the worst that Satan and evil could do.

Nails pierced his hands and feet. Thorns were pushed into his head. He was severely beaten and mocked, and he died a slow, agonizing death hanging from a cross. All this done to a man that was on a mission to heal a broken world.     

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

This is not an empty promise.

Jesus overcame evil for all of us when he rose victoriously from the dead.

And now, the same power that raised Christ literally dwells “inside of us,” so that we too can overcome the world and all of its evil.

So tonight, if the world has made you angry, or sad, or if you’re hurting or offended, then come to the table, identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Tonight, seek out the powerful prayers of the saints, and find healing in a power that is greater “than he who is in the world.”

From the Anchor sermon series "Blessed Assurance," Message: "Test the Spirits."

What Does Christian Love Look Like?

An Anchor sermon preached by Kaler Carpenter of The Redemption Movement, October 8th, 2017.

Podcast on AnchorOneonta.com:

Facebook Live video:

Jesus Christ is considered a revolutionary, the founder of a great religious movement. Yet, his message wasn’t one of government reform or a code of ethics on how to live your life. Instead, at the heart of Jesus’ message is a simple command that I believe is impossible to live out apart from having one’s life first transformed by Christ: the command to love one another.

“A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:33-34 

Now, the idea of love itself isn’t revolutionary. In fact, it’s commonly preached everywhere and valued by everybody. Modern examples are everywhere: “All you need is love,” #LoveIsLove, #LoveWins, Valentine's Day, etc.

But, what makes Jesus’ take on love so revolutionary is that, for the Christian, love is more than a feeling. Expressing the love of Christ can only come from having one’s own life first transformed by Christ, as well as being at a place of complete dependency on Jesus Christ. In 1 John, this kind of life is referred to as “abiding in the light,” or having one’s “life in Christ.”

In the letter of 1John, we get incredible insight as to what this love looks like, and what makes the love of Christ unique. 

“Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.” 1 John 2:7-9

John begins this passage by putting into context exactly who this “one another” is in v.7, “Brethren;” i.e., the love of Jesus Christ is most clearly seen in the family of God, i.e, we who are brothers and sisters in, due to our common life IN Christ Jesus.

Now to be sure, every human is capable of expressing love in some capacity. But John is saying that the love expressed by the Christian is of a completely different nature than whatever form of love the rest of the world can show, apart from Christ. The difference between these two loves, John says, is as drastic as the differences between light and dark.

“The metaphor is rather involved, but to put it simply John is saying that people who are not Christians are walking in the dark; yes, but not only that, there is a darkness within them also. The trouble with sinners and unbelievers is not simply that they have darkness around and about them and cannot see where they are going; the darkness has blinded their own eyes--they are blind as well as being in the dark… so that, in a sense, even if you put them into the light they would not be able to see. So when people become Christians, two things happen to them: their own eyes are opened, and they are enabled to see; and they are also in an entirely new realm.” -Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ  

This “new realm of light” is a new life, or “born again,” that is now a life marked by love. It includes:

• A changed life.
• You are a new creation in Christ Jesus
• Citizenship of a different kingdom.
• You are found (last time I preached about what it means to be lost).
• You are made righteousness, or right standing before God (through no effort of our own).
• And a new family.

Family love: In the human experience, the love seen in a nuclear family (parents and children) is one of the strongest bonds there is. In God’s family, those whose eyes are opened and have been transformed from darkness to light, there is family love that now exist between every person abiding in the light.

This is good news for those who, unfortunately, never experienced this kind of deep, unconditional love from their biological families. And this is good news for all of us, because it means that this family love can now be given to/experienced by way more people than just mom, dad, brother and sister. John is saying that every person who considers themselves a part of the Christian family should be both giving and receiving this kind of family love. John is also saying that showing this love is what makes a Christian a Christian, and, those who fail to do so by harboring hate, why, these people aren’t really Christians. By failing to show love to one’s family = a person is still in darkness.

“But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” 1 John 2:11

John is addressing Gnosticism, a heretical group that was trying to pull people away from the church by 1. denying the Trinity, and 2., claiming that salvation only comes from a personal experience of receiving “secret knowledge about God,” or, “a new command.”

So John says that that the test of salvation, isn’t based on religious experience and personal knowledge, but it’s based on how a person shows the love of Christ to their brothers and sisters.

Anybody ever been burnt by religion before? If you have, consider verse 10:

Religion done without love or relationship = hypocrisy. Back then, hypocrisy was seen in Gnosticism and its false claims made people stumble. Can you think of modern examples of how unloving and hurtful deeds done in the name of religion still cause people to stumble today? Of course you can.

John is addressing the problem of Gnosticism in his letter by:
Asking his people, “How much love do you see coming from these ‘enlightened religious teachers?’”
Combating the fact that Gnostics are so concerned about “special knowledge,” “religious experience”, and “a new revelation,” with an old truth: all you really need is an old commandment that Jesus made new, v.7-8.

To summarize v.7-8’s “old vs. new commands”:

"In other words, from the moment you first heard the gospel, you heard this particular doctrine emphasized (to love one another). I (John) shall not add to the gospel which you have already believed (like the Gnostics were doing). I am simply reminding you of what you already know.”-Lloyd-Jones

Living this out this truth practically for today’s Christians: There’s a lot of temptation in today’s postmodern culture to add to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; diversity, new teachings, spiritual principles, exciting experiences, etc.. Friends, family members, we don’t have to reach for new things. The love that’s available in the life of Jesus Christ is more than enough to meet all of our needs.

So how are you doing with this super simple command to love your brethren? How’s it going with “walking just as Jesus walked”? (v.6). Now, walking in the light like this can be seen in variety of ways, from simply showing kindness to one another, to having meaningful fellowship, to serving each other’s needs. But, the true test of Christ’s love is seen when we express love in the most powerful way that Jesus showed love: when we forgive one another.

For the world and all of its definitions of love, forgiveness is a nice option, but not a command. But for the Christian, extending grace and forgiveness is at the heart of what it means to show the love of Jesus Christ. Also, showing forgiveness is fundamentally what it means to be family. Take for example a parent who is refereeing a fight between siblings. It’s common for them to say, “I know you’re mad at your brother, but he’ll always be your brother.”

Think for a moment how strong a church would be or how beautiful the movement of Christianity would look like if everybody who claimed to be Christian actually lived this out and forgave one another in this way? It would be a powerful witness of church unity that would testify to the world that, “Hey, there’s a different way to love!”

Admittedly, when it comes to forgiveness, this is where Christianity gets tough, but it gets easier to live out as you grow and when you’re plugged into a church community that’s committed to loving like Jesus loved.

All that said, I feel the need to make a distinction between loving and forgiving those in your Christian family, vs. loving and forgiving those in the world (outside your spiritual family, or those in the world and in darkness). I have a personal example from just yesterday of forgiving a young man like this who wronged me:

“What this means is that you and I can only be happy about the fact that we are Christians if we find this loving, forgiving spirit within ourselves. It is idle for us to say that we know that God has forgiven us if we are not loving and forgiving ourselves. People who say they are in the light but who hate and do not forgive their brother, are in darkness even now. Men and women who have seen the truth, those who are in the light, have seen themselves and others all under the law of the love of God. And having realized this love which has pardoned them in spite of their unworthiness, they are prepared to do the same to others.” -Lloyd-Jones

Lastly, I want to close by looking at a picture that John paints for us of what the Christian family looks like. He does this in the following verses, 12-14, and what we see here is a beautiful snapshot of the Christian family, one that’s marked by love and discipleship.

We see John give practical advice to children, fathers, and young men for victorious Christian living. But I don’t believe that John meant for us to take these titles literally in the biological sense. Look around you, the reality of this Christian family means that, spiritually speaking, this room is full of fathers/mothers, young men/young women, and little children. And your designation at the family table, isn’t based on your age, but on your maturity in Christ Jesus.

Example 1: How long have you been a Christian?

• A couple of years = a little child.
• Decades = a father/mother.

Example 2: How easy is it for you to forgive?

• If forgiveness is hard = hating someone a little less = a little child.
• If you’re so aware of how Christ forgave you that extending forgiveness to others is easy/natural = a father/mother. 

Now, with that in mind, let’s read v.12-14 and take to heart the verse where John addresses you, father/mother, young man or young woman, or little child.

“I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.” 1 John 2:12-14

What’s really genius about how Jesus setup this spiritual family/love movement, is that we are each called to grow and mature in our faith, with the help of those who are more mature, for the purpose of raising up the little children in the faith. This is what it looks like when a church is a family of disciples that make disciples.

In the family snapshot John gives us, we see that John is the spiritual father, as seen in v.1 when he addresses his audience as “my little children.” Yet, there was a time when John, and all 12 of the mighty disciples, where each little children in their faith, and Jesus was teaching them like a father.

Going back to John 13, we actually see this on the night when Jesus was betrayed.

“Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.” -John 13:33 

That night at the family table, Jesus passed the all-important commandment on to John, “in the beginning” of his faith journey, while he was still new to salvation. Now, lets fast forward beyond 1 John to 2 John 1:5-6 and listen to John as an older man, a father in the faith, as he echoes Jesus once again:

“Not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”

Tonight:

• If you are a little child in the faith, then who is a father figure that’s mentoring you?
• If you are a father in the faith, then who is the child that you're pouring into?
• If you are a young man/woman, then how are you using your strength to overcome the wicked one and be on mission for God? 
• Also, if you don’t consider yourself a part of the Christian family, then what stumbling blocks can we talk with you about so you can “see the light”? 

Answering these questions starts by participating in Christian community. For Jesus, he expressed community in John 13 by sitting with his children at the family table. At this table, Jesus broke bread and ate and drank, he served his children’s needs by washing their feet (including Judas), and he taught his children “new” commandments to pass on others.

So tonight, let’s come to this table remembering what Jesus did for us, as well as asking the question, “Because of what Jesus did on the cross, how can I better love my brother and sister?”

Going All Out to Celebrate Our 5,000th Ride!

A Special #OneontaRides Ride Report
9-15-17
72 people were given safe rides home the night of September 15th. But for dozen or so Kindness Team members on hand, and even more who contributed behind the scenes, last Friday was all about celebrating the night’s first ride, #OneontaRides’ 5,000th!

For past milestone rides (like 1K, 3K, & 4K), we celebrated by blessing the rider with a fun gift. But this is 5,000. A big milestone like this calls for a celebration on a larger scale--and that’s exactly what we did by treating one lucky rider, SUNY Oneonta freshman Julia Lombardi, to a giant party at the Kindness Station.

72 #SafeRides given tonight, including a special ride to Julia, #OneontaRides 5000th ride! Threw her a big surprise party. Story/video soon! pic.twitter.com/9XAEQzLghF

— Redemption Movement (@RedemptionNY) September 16, 2017

Operation Ride #5K

Sometimes, it’s difficult to know exactly when we’ll give a milestone ride. But, seeing as we ended the previous week at 4,999 rides, we had a pretty good idea of when the big ride would happen. This allowed me set the Kindness Team into motion for what would be the biggest act of kindness we’ve ever done!

Live music @ the #OneontaRides Kindness Station tonight? Wha the whaaaat!? & safe rides home tonight starting at 10 pm 📞 6074342564 pic.twitter.com/pujKZBLuEC

— Redemption Movement (@RedemptionNY) September 15, 2017

The plan (Operation Ride #5K) was as follows:

• Casually pick up the rider like normal (while keeping a tight lid on the party plans so the person we give a ride to would be genuinely surprised).
• Then, notify every participating Kindness Team Member via group chat that we got the rider, along with what their name is. 
• Then have everyone move into position.
• Next, I would leave with the lucky rider, drive for a couple of blocks, make up an excuse to go back to the Kindness Station, and circle back.  
• Upon arrival, a live band would welcome the rider with a song and the team would be celebrating with sparklers, glow sticks, a confetti canon, and signs with the rider’s name on it.
• The rider would then receive a gift bag, and a representative from Domino’s would be on hand with a free pizza and a gift card for a free pizza party. 
• Then we pile back into the car and take the happy rider home.

Here’s how everything turned out!

The Long Wait

The biggest challenge of the plan is that we didn’t know exactly when the first ride request was going to come in. This meant having everything ready to go and everybody in place as early as 10pm--for a ride that didn’t take place until midnight! The team of anxious volunteers made the most of their time in limbo by serving at the station. Plus, having such a large team on hand made for an enjoyable time of getting to know one another.   

Mark Henke filled in like a pro.

For awhile there, it was looking like the biggest part of the festivities, the live band, wasn’t going to happen, due to scheduling conflicts with their show that was taking place at The Black Oak Tavern (one block away). No sooner did I get bummed out about this and random musicians started showing up at the Kindness Station. It only took a little convincing to talk them into grabbing an instrument and filling in.

Thankfully, the musicians had no problem learning the song we had lined up, “Slow Ride” by Foghat, and changing the lyrics to “Free Ride.”

Having the extra help at the station also allowed for some great conversations to take place. Plus, even though we didn’t tell the downtown crowds exactly what we were up to with the instruments at the Kindness Station, it nevertheless drew a curious crowd that made sure to stick around to see the big surprise.
  
We also had an bonus band show up at the Kindness Station and play a song for the crowd that remained after we took the 5,000th rider home. Our old friends in Lila Ignite just completed their set at the Black Oak Tavern and stopped by the station to hang out and witness the 5,000th ride. Lila Ignite joined in the festivities with a tambourine and singing background vocals, and when “The Free Ride Band” was done, they took over and treated the crowd to a song.

All in all, the 5,000th ride celebration was a lot of fun, but the night of service for the Kindness Team didn’t end there: 

Highlights from the rest of the night include:

Garland dressed up and wore a tie for the big occasion.

We got to premiere some new signage for the Kindness Station from our friend Mel of Ones-Self Design.

In addition to Domino’s giving the 5,000th rider a free pizza party and a gift certificate, they provided another pizza party for the downtown bar crowd at closing time.

Having two Kindness Team members volunteer to babysit my kids so that my wife Laura could be on hand for the 5,000th ride. When it was time for Laura to go home and relieve the babysitters, we had another group wanting a ride so we took the kids’ car seats out and gave them on ride too.  

We had enough volunteers that we could take out a third car, which allowed for Tammy Miller to drive the Kindness Wagon so I could take my personal car (with the kids’ car seats now removed). Tammy is a mom extraordinaire/teacher at Lighthouse Christian Academy, and she was serving that night with her teenage daughter, Montanna. Tammy turned out to be a pro at driving, and I think that having a compassionate mother serve in this capacity was a treat for the students she took home.

One couple that we’ve consistently given rides to all last year, Mike and Jill, approached the station for a ride. Although, there was some tension between the two and they weren’t their happy selves. Jill was wearing a sash and celebrating her 19th birthday and she mentioned to me how her and Mike were having a fight. I gave Jill a bag of candy I had at the station and wished her a happy birthday, and I did my best to talk with her and Mike about their relationship on the ride home and help them out. There wasn’t anything I could say to erase the hurt feelings between them, but I did get some smiles out of them and encouraged them to focus on the happier times.

Not soon after, I had two male students in the car with me and we all spotted a young female student stumbling pretty badly at the corner of Main and Chestnut. I asked if the students would be so kind as to ask from their car window if the girl could use a ride home. One of them, unaware of the nuances involved in such a proposition, did so by yelling to the girl, “Hey, you’re f**ked up! Get a ride.” Understandably, the girl replied with “f***k you.” I immediately remedied the situation by pulling over, getting out, and approaching the girl on foot.

She was with her friend who turned out to be her sister. They were both very intoxicated. The girl who was stumbling the worse was wearing Red Jug Pub devil horns from celebrating her birthday. I introduced myself to the sister and she immediately took me up on the ride offer. We both helped her sister into the car and gave her a window seat, just in case. Since I was close to the Kindness Station and the Domino’s pizza party just took place, I managed to swing by for some pizza which I gave to all four passengers. They couldn’t believe their luck, getting a free ride and free pizza. Everybody in the car was overwhelmed with kindness. 

During the whole ride, both sisters were having a difficult time. Eventually, I had to pull over so the one girl could lean out the car and vomit. I tended to her by holding her hair, patting her on the back, and reassuring her that she’ll be okay. Her sister was unable to provide this kind comfort because she was about ready to vomit herself.

As I was comforting the intoxicated birthday girl, I looked down to see that my new shoes were covered in vomit. I was certainly annoyed, but that’s the price one pays for helping people in their time of desperate need. While the the girl was vomiting, two SUNY Oneonta police officers stopped and checked in on us. They both seemed appreciative of what I was trying to do. Eventually, the girl had nothing left in her stomach to throw up so I helped clean her up with some paper towels, shut the car door, and rushed up to Hillside Commons. I then dropped off the two sisters before the other one could lose her dinner. The girl who threw up told me how embarrassed she was, so I assured her that there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, and how the important thing is that we got her home safe. 

Later that night after the Kindness Station was all packed away, I dropped off Rakesh and, as he was getting out of the car, he paused, looked back at me, and said, “I want you to know that I’m praying for that girl from last week (the one who Rakesh tried to keep from taking drugs). She’s on my heart and I have compassion for her.” I then went on my way and, sure enough, ten minutes later this same girl called me for a ride. I picked her up and, while taking her home, even told her about the cool coincidence of Rakesh praying for her. She was taken aback and kept asking me, “Why do you guys care for me?” I was able to tell her about God’s love for her, as well as address misconceptions about God that her guilt-driven religious background taught her. This was the 3rd week in a row we’ve ministered to this girl who we consider a good friend.

How long will it take for us to give another 5,000 rides? At the pace we’re going, it’ll happen much quicker than the 4 years it took to give the first 5,000 rides!

Check Out the New #OnentaRides Kindness Fleet!

It’s been a quiet summer for RM, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been idle!

We’ve been working behind the scenes to expand our #OneontaRides community outreach effort. This time last year, we were down to only one small car. When we resume operations this Friday, 8-25, we’ll have a “kindness fleet” and be able to help even more people in our community make it home safe on the weekends.

This includes the addition of an 8-person “Kindness Wagon,” the original Kindness Car is repaired and ready to, Pastor Kaler's Kia is still insured for giving free rides and standing by as a backup car (should we encounter a big night), and gaining access to vans from other local organizations is shaping up nicely (more details on that to follow).

Expanding a community service comes at a cost—we’ve spent roughly $2,500 just this summer alone on car repairs, licensing fees, and an extra in-car security camera. Plus, we paid for a year’s worth of insurance on our cars, AND we paid extra to increase the amount of coverage for all of our passengers.

All of this has been a major expense for our little church, but it’s all possible thanks to the generosity of others. This act of kindness outreach continues to operate solely from the kindness and gifts of others.

We’ve got a big school year of outreach planned and we’ll need help from the community with funds and volunteers in order to pull it off and keep the crazy momentum that we experienced from our last Kindness Team outing in May. You can join the Oneonta Kindness Team Facebook Group to volunteer, monetary donations can be made online, and we’re always accepting donations of Kindness Station supplies.

The 10th semester of #OneontaRides kicks off this Fall!

The Redemption Movement Now Meeting on Thursday Evenings!

We’re excited to announce that, beginning August 3rd, The Redemption Movement will have weekly gatherings every Thursday that are open to the public.

What Will Thursdays at The Redemption Movement Look Like?

In keeping with our values, we want to keep things simple and relational. Here’s the breakdown of what this weekly rhythm will look like:

• We’ll meet at our storefront at 148 River Street at 6pm.
• We’ll have a meal together, followed by a study/group discussion.
• The meal will be coordinated by those who regularly attend and those who tell us ahead time that they’ll be there (first-time visitors shouldn’t feel obligated to bring anything). 
• Childcare will be provided. Children will join us for the meal and then be dismissed with a babysitter to a separate part of the building or property. Depending on the ages of the children and who’s watching them, we may have a Bible lesson prepared for the kids.
• Worship: Each gathering will offer some way to worship the Lord together, like music, prayer, communion, etc. 

We Finally Feel Like a Family When We Come Together!

This is an exciting time for us because we haven’t offered public gatherings or worship services since last November.

Instead, we’ve been investing exclusively in small-group discipleship. The idea here is that, for years, our worship services felt inadequate. Like, RM just didn’t feel like a family that was totally committed to each other (which is how the New Testament describes church).

Therefore, we made it a point to stop doing casual church events so we could better invest in one another through small, discipleship-driven groups. It should also be noted how, in the spirit of church unity, we spent this time attending worship services of other local churches. 

Blog further explaining RM's hiatus from public gatherings.

We called these small discipleship groups “Movement Meals,” and we kept them private so that a new person couldn’t come into the small group and disrupt the progress of community-building that was being made, i.e., getting to know each other and building trust.

Monday Night Movement Meal Group, Spring 2017.

For the upcoming Fall season, we plan on starting up new Movement Meal groups, as well as to continue providing Thursday evening gatherings that are open to the public.

After taking all of this time to invest in each other, it’s my hope that, when you visit The Redemption Movement, it won’t feel like just another social event. Instead, may you sense how committed we are to each other, and how we love one another like a family--this despite our church being made up of a rather diverse bunch. And, may this witness of community, togetherness, and unity speak louder than any sermon that’s preached, be more insightful than any Bible study that’s taught, and be more impactful than any performance by a worship band (which are all great things BTW).

Realistically, we’re expecting to start off small with just those who’ve been built up in our recent discipleship meals, along with their friends. Should Thursday evenings at RM grow into something more than what our dining room table or storefront can accommodate, well, I guess we’ll just have to come up with an entirely new plan!

Get a First Look at the New Kindness Car!

Big news for #OneontaRides: a car has been donated to the cause! And not just any car, but a 2004 Ford Taurus station wagon. It’s a vehicle that suits our needs much better than the old Mercury Grand Marquis that we’ve used since day one. Consider the following advantages:

Newer and Less Miles
Overall, the station wagon is in much better shape. Sure, it needs some repairs, but it has a lot more life left in her than the 22-year old Mercury. Continue reading blog on donate.theredemptionmovement.org >>