Clothed in Humility

"Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience." Colossians 3:12

These are to be some of the defining characteristics of Christ-followers and the Church. We are to literally get dressed in these attributes. When people see Christians they should see the mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience of Jesus being lived out in front of them.  The good news is that the Bible clearly teaches us that we are not to rely on our own ability or self-discipline to live accordingly. Rather, Colossians reminds us once again that it is through faith in Jesus Christ that a person is able to receive forgiveness, experience eternal life, and have the power to live in a way that honors Jesus Christ.  It is the power of Christ living inside of you that is to fuel your effort to clothe yourself with mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

This past Sunday we continued our fall teaching series Clothe Yourselves by focusing on the humility of Jesus Christ. Don't forget you can listen to this week's talk on our website or by subscribing to the Northwest podcast through iTunes. Our key thought for the morning centered around the truth that when we encounter God and we see the humility of Jesus Christ we can't help by come away clothed in humility. Once we are truly clothed in humility suddenly we are willing to do anything God tells us to do. We are willing to serve anyone. We are willing to go anywhere. And we are willing to give up anything for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Why? Because a person clothed in humility understands that life is not about us. Rather, our life exists to bring focus and attention to the name of Jesus Christ!    

In addition, on Sunday we shared with Northwest some of the ways God is working and increasing our dependency on Him.  We shared with the church how God continues to increase our bandwidth and prepare Northwest for an even greater impact in Bella Vista and around the world. Additionally, we announced the anticipated arrival of Scott and Amilee Sanders and their three children (Benjamin, Nathan, and Abigail) on December 1 to serve as our Pastor of Students and Missions at Northwest.  Under Scott's leadership we believe God is going to provide Northwest with the opportunities to further develop Northwest Students as well as make disciples in countries such as Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Haiti.  Furthermore, we acknowledged the tremendous sacrifice and faith required by the Sanders and Northwest to humbly follow God's leadership.

Finally we invite everyone to join us in praying in the following ways:

• Pray for the health and growth of Northwest as we strive to produce and release leaders who are fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
• Pray for the health and future of Northway Church in Macon, GA where Scott has served as the Student Pastor for the past 6+ years. 
• Pray for the transition of the Sanders family and especially the children as they move across the country. 
• Pray for God's provision for the Sanders as they leave the stability of a full-time salary and are willing to become bi-vocational in order to be obedient to God's leadership in their lives.  
• Pray that God would raise up people who will help support the Sanders both prayerfully and financially. 
• Pray that Northwest would give joyfully, generously, and sacrificially to fund the growth of students and missions.

    

Producing and Releasing Future Generations

Since the launch of Northwest Community Church, we have modeled ourselves after the basic blueprint for the church given to us in Acts 2. We believe that the Book of Acts not only describes how the early church got started, but it also prescribes how we are to function and operate today. Acts 2 describes the attitude of the early church as members made great sacrifices to serve each other and meet the needs of a growing church. Likewise, we want to duplicate a similar culture so that every member feels valued, needed, and personally responsible for the health and growth of Northwest for generations to come. As the needs of a growing church fluctuate, we continue to share specific needs with Northwest and then watch as God uses people to meet these needs. Again and again we see that a healthy church is a beautiful thing!

Over the past few months Northwest has been preparing for the opportunity to significantly invest in the younger generations of children and students in our community. At the beginning of September Northwest officially launched Northwest Students in order to equip students 7th - 12th grade with a deep relationship with Jesus Christ, encourage uplifting relationships, and enable life-changing environments through serving others. Jared Fincher, our Creative Arts Pastor, has been providing the direct leadership for Northwest Students by developing the overall vision, strategy, and plans for the fall semester. Currently Northwest Students gather on Sunday nights from 6:00 - 8:00pm at the church office building located at 8250 West McNelly Rd. Bentonville, AR 72712.

In addition, Northwest Kids continues to grow and recently expanded to serve children up through the 4th grade. Each Sunday during our weekly worship gatherings at Cooper Elementary, Northwest Kids shares the love of Jesus Christ with 25 – 30 children. Cassi Luka, our Children’s Director, not only does an outstanding job at organizing Northwest Kids in a portable environment every Sunday but she also equips parents to disciple their children at home during the week.    

So, how can you help invest in Northwest Students and Northwest Kids?

• Pray consistently for our leaders Jared and Cassi.
• Pray for the dozens of volunteers who are currently investing in students and children.
• Pray for the students and children God is raising up as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
• Prayerfully consider if God wants to use you to invest in future generations through volunteering in either Northwest Kids or Northwest Students.
• Continue to give generously and sacrificially to Northwest Community Church in order to support these growing ministries. 
• Invite unchurched friends and neighbors with children and students to join you at Northwest.

I am excited about the future of Northwest and the opportunities God is giving us to produce and release future generations who are fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

For the Sake of the Call | Living Waters International Trip - El Salvador

Living Waters International is a faith based organization from Houston, Texas. They are currently drilling wells in 26 countries. 

Their mission statement is: 

Living Waters International (LWI) exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water and experience "living water"- the gospel of Jesus Christ, which alone satisfies the deepest thirst.

LWI strives to create life-changing environments for everyone that comes in contact with them, volunteers, workers, and people in the community. They not only bring the word of God and clean water to the impoverished people in other countries, they renew and strengthen your faith in our Lord. Clean safe drinking water is necessary for life on earth, spreading the word of God is necessary for eternal life - Living Waters International does both.

We left for XNA airport with 2 large suitcases completely stuffed with wonderful donations --Thanks friends from Northwest Community Church! After getting checked in at the airport, Craig, Nichole, and baby Owen sent us off with a prayer. We were so excited to finally be headed to El Salvador!

Once we landed and got to our quarters in El Salvador, we had a briefing and settled in. Each morning we shared a devotion, sang songs, and prayed as a team. We then headed to our village we'd be serving for the week called Mira Mar (about 130 people). We prayed with the villagers before the drillers started, then began the process of searching for water. 

The moms and their children attended Bible and hygiene classes each day. It was amazing to see how excited the kids were to receive coloring books with crayons! Even the essentials like soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes were like priceless treasures to the people. The kids could not believe that they actually got to keep the soccer balls and footballs we gave them. Everyone was so appreciative and overjoyed with everything they were given. 

We were able to give a Bible to each family. They were so happy and waited patiently as our team leader Norma passed them out. We prayed with everyone each day before we left the village, after a long day of hard work. Each evening back at the quarters we shared supper as a group, along with prayer and stories of our day.

The men in the village pitched in to help the drillers. They always smiled as they worked, just wanting to take some type of ownership in the building of the well. Finally hitting water encouraged them - they laughed when the water spray came out of the ground. Language barriers cannot hide joy, and these people were overflowing with it.

The women of the village cooked the best meals for us. They worked together in a make-shift outdoor kitchen and gave us the best they had. They would peak around the corner to make sure we were enjoying our food. On the last day they were each presented their own bible and a towel/potholder set. You would have thought they won the lottery!! Such joy and gratitude!!

God surprised us with the love that we could share with people that we have never met, and could not even speak the same language! We felt a closeness, a friendship, and in God a kinship. Parting was bittersweet. We left them with clean water and some Bible lessons. They let us go with such gratitude - they had so little but gave us so much. As the van pulled away, an elderly man in the village chased us down the street pounding on the window of our van and handed Gary a single pink hibiscus flower, all he had. A small flower and a smile said it all.

If you ask yourself if going on trips like this are worth it:

---Ask a village that now drinks clean water. 

---Ask two hearts renewed and strengthened in the Lord.  

---Ask the man with the flower.

Christ met physical and spiritual needs during our time in El Salvador. He called us to go, and we followed. The blessing we receive by following Christ's call, is something truly amazing and life-altering. If anyone is interested in more information or hearing more about why we go on trips like this, we are happy to share our experiences and pictures. We plan on going again next year. Thank you all so much for the gifts for the villagers and the prayers. 

Bendiciones (Blessings),

Gary and Becky Jaworski