The Redemptive Power of a Child

This morning I was changing Mathew (our 5 month-old) and putting his little overalls on him while he yawned, smiled and cooed away. There’s something about the little moments like this, or when we wake him up in the morning and the first thing on his face is a huge smile, that invigorates my soul. [...]

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Missional Communities:Geography (location, location, location)

The following is a summary by Dwight Bernier that explains some of the reasons why we’ll begin organizing our Missional Communities by where we all live.
When I was in fifth grade, my science teacher tried to convey to us what dictates the value of a home. I hope that he wasn’t stunned when none of [...]

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What’s the difference between Small Groups and Missional Communities?

As you know we’ve begun a shift from Small Groups to Missional Communities. With any change, big or small, there’s bound to be questions. One question I want to answer is “What’s the difference between Small Groups and Missional Communities?” Here we go.

Missional Communities do not replace our small groups as much as they refine [...]

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Greetings from Kaffrine!

Greetings Family,
It’s 7:30 Monday morning in Kaffrine, and we are about eat breakfast and head out to the coast. We woke to the sounds of the mosque – broadcast for the last hour throughtout the whole region have been songs of worship to Allah. And how our hearts break for the spiritual blindness of this [...]

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Baby Caleb is Home

Dear Church,
All the Otte family is home, safe and sound and TIRED! Caleb Philip joined our lives very quickly Wednesday night, and he is doing everything a healthy baby should–eat, sleep, poop (many, many times). Mommy is recovering well, looking beautiful, and thinking that sleep will be nice (…in a few months).    Zechariah is [...]

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Welcome Caleb Philip

Our hearts are filled with joy and celebration with Josh and Heidi as they welcome their new addition. Little Caleb Philip was born on Sept 16 at 9:41pm weighting in at 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 21 inches long.   Dad, Mom, Zechariah, and Caleb are all doing wonderful. Praise God for His kindness to [...]

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Update & Prayer for the Senegal Team

Dear family, the team has safely arrived in Senegal. They arrived around 4:30am on Sept. 17. They spent a day of shopping in the capital, Dakar, and went to view a historical slave house on a nearby island. Pray for them today through Sunday. They will be at the camp doing some prep work and [...]

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Communion and Community

We announced this Sunday that we would observe communion each week this month, and that it would look a little different. With great joy we celebrate communion in a traditional way each month, a way that emphasizes servant leadership (leaders humbly bringing the bread and cup to the people) and allows us time to respond [...]

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Seeing the Glory of God through the Hubble Telescope

Join with the Hubble Space Telescope in magnifying the glory of God. Check out some spectacular new images, here.
Psalm 19:1-6
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above  proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not [...]

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A Note to Artists

Hey, any artists out there? We are beginning a series called “Shift” – the image in my mind is of a house that is off its foundation, and you are trying to get it straightened out. The other image is “Exodus” – leaving all that you’ve known to head to a promised land, [...]

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