Do You Wonder?
One definition of the word, wonder, is a cause of astonishment or admiration. Or we could think of some synonyms like amazement, awe, reverence. On any given day in your life, what causes you to be filled with wonder, amazement, awe? Or has it been awhile since you felt a genuine sense of wonder (Sorry, Hallmark Christmas movies don’t count)?
I’m asking myself this question as I consider our time preparing for this new church plant and adjusting to life in a new place, with all the daily troubles and unknowns that come with it. It can be easy to lose that sense of wonder when I focus only on my immediate circumstances. And when my focus is only on those things around me, fears, frustrations, and anxieties can easily grip my heart.
We were actually created for wonder – to stand in awe of something…or someone, outside of ourselves and the tiny universe of our own making. Wonder is not something we can just create or conjure up. It’s a response to true greatness.
Isn’t that what Christmas is…or should be? An opportunity to recalibrate our hearts to wonder by considering what we learn about God at his incarnation. We should follow Joseph and Mary’s example of marveling at what was said about Jesus by Simeon at the temple (Luke 2:33). Consider just a few other aspects of Christmas that should take our breath away if it didn’t sound so familiar:
- Mary was pregnant by the Spirit of God
- God orchestrated a global plan to take a couple from Nazareth to travel to Bethlehem where the promised Messiah was to be born
- God himself took on flesh, to become like us, but without sin
- Joseph and Mary held God in their hands
- God sent a choir of angels to announce his birth to some ordinary shepherds
- A star led three complete foreigners to Jesus so they could worship him
- His birth was miraculous, so that his death would accomplish everything we need… new hearts, forgiveness, justification, the power to become more like Jesus, and God himself, forever and ever!
Just one of those things should cause us great wonder! Let’s not just read the Christmas story this year, but take some time and ponder how marvelous, how miraculous, how wonderful every aspect of it is. May we be reminded of how big and glorious God is, so that our hearts are not only filled with wonder, but also with renewed faith, hope, peace, and joy in our everyday lives. If God has done all of these wonderful things in the person and work of Jesus, then surely he will be enough during our times of worry and doubt and fear (Romans 8:32). Come, let us adore Jesus!
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
Charles Wesley
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
There’s a second meaning to the word, wonder, that we want to talk about. Wonder is also to be curious about something. As we’ve been in Nairobi now for three months, we thought many of you might be wondering how the Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi plant is progressing. We’ve put together this brief Q&A to hopefully address some of your wondering:
How are you guys doing especially spending your first Christmas apart from all your kids?
We are doing well. Of course it’s not easy being apart from our children during this time! And even though we got to spend a few days with them in November, and they are together in Minneapolis, and we’ll be hosting a large gathering here in our home in Nairobi for Christmas Eve, and we know God is forming a church family for us here, we will still miss being with our dear children for Christmas.
What are you feeling most encouraged by?
We are encouraged by how our team is steadily getting to know each other better and now more and more as we work together on the church launch. And we are very encouraged to launch the church on January 5th! This is what we’ve been dreaming about and working toward for the last two years!
What is something God has been teaching you lately?
Okay, this is kind of embarrassing as a pastor to admit, but God has been teaching me (us) the lesson of 1 Peter 4:9, to show hospitality without grumbling – even when that means lots of kids bringing lots of chaos and making lots of messes. There’s a reason Peter mentions grumbling. Hospitality often takes us (me!) out of our comfort zone! We are not there yet, but we’re getting lots of practice.
What are some challenges you’ve been facing, especially as you prepare to launch the church?
One of the challenges we’ve been facing is the home we’ve been renting in Nairobi. We are so thankful to God for providing us a home to host gatherings, and even a place for launching the church. But ever since we’ve moved in we’ve had one issue after another, mainly revolving around plumbing issues. We’ve had different plumbers in our home at least 12 times in the last 2 months and yet, last night we had water spouting out from one toilet, and this afternoon found a pool of water near another.
Where are you at with the launch of the church?
We will do a “soft-launch” of Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi on Sunday, January 5, at 10:00 am in our garage. If you’re in the Nairobi area, please come and join us! What do we mean by “soft-launch”? It means we’re not yet going public – pretty much our team and those we have connections with that are either planning on joining us or are exploring the possibility. We’ll have chairs set up in our garage, project lyrics on the wall, no sound system, and children’s ministry will probably consist of a big rug toward the door with some toys. After the service we’ll have a simple lunch together for those that stick around and then spend a couple hours in fellowship with opportunities to get to know more about the church both formally and informally. In some ways, even though we call it a launch, these next couple months will still be part of building the core team of SGC Nairobi before we launch more publicly.
You were visiting several other churches – what are some things you learned?
What stands out most of all from our time visiting different kinds of churches in Westlands (the area we intend to plant the church) is confirmation of the need for a church like Sovereign Grace Church Nairobi. I’m not trying to be arrogant or boastful or imply that we are better than any of these churches or pastors. In fact, we learned from some of them about promoting community in their church, caring for the poor and disabled, and reaching those around them that don’t know Jesus. But we also heard a lot of prosperity teaching and moralism. If we had to sum it up in a phrase, we observed that many churches assume the gospel. They assume people already know what the gospel is and so they don’t take time to speak about it, sing about it, and pray about it. They assume that people only need the gospel to “get saved” and then they move on from it to more important matters of becoming a better person. We won’t be a perfect church, but we do believe we fill a void of churches that center on the gospel of Jesus for all of life and worship Christ to get him and not just his stuff.
Lilli loved her role as a nurse at RVA. How is she doing in Nairobi?
I do miss my Nursing role at RVA (especially the students!). Those 6 years were truly a highlight of my Nursing career! Nevertheless, I am really enjoying life in Nairobi. Getting to interact with more Kenyans, blessed by their friendliness and joy and openness about spiritual things; being amused by the crazy traffic and unique ways of transportation (never a dull moment when out and about!); spending lots of time in our new home that God has so lovingly blessed us with, setting it up for a ministry of hospitality, and preparing for our “soft-launch” coming soon!
How can we pray for you?
Go here for our current praises and prayer requests
What are some practical things we can do to encourage you and the team?
Of course pray for us. We are really encouraged when you write us a note or send us a quick response to an update. We know that goes both ways – so we want to communicate personally with you as well. We would also be more than happy to have you visit us in Nairobi and stay with us. Join us on a Sunday morning and encourage us with your presence!
May you have a blessed Christmas, filled with joy and wonder in our Savior, Jesus Christ!
