As you might know, our purpose at Fifth Church is “Growing disciples who make disciples.”  To that end, we hope to foster an environment in our congregation that helps us all grow in Christ and that equips us all to help others do the same.In the recent “Marks of a Disciple” series, I often mentioned the REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey.  Fifth is participating in this survey, and I am very interested in the “snapshot” of the church that we will receive through the results of this survey.


That’s why we need your help.


We are asking every adult who considers Fifth their church home, to individually click on the survey link below to take the REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey, which asks questions about your spiritual life and the role Fifth Church plays in it. Since the survey touches on a wide range of thought-provoking issues, you should anticipate needing 35 - 40 minutes to complete it. 


Let me assure you:
This survey is completely anonymous. An expert third-party research organization will aggregate your input with responses from thousands of other people, so your survey will not be viewed individually. 
You will not be solicited for any products or services as a result of taking this survey. 
Your email address will not be distributed to another party.


We will close the survey on Monday, May 07, 2012.  


Thanks & blessings,


Pastor Jon


Survey Link:     www.Fifthsurvey.org


If you run into problems with the survey, please contact Jan Fields at his email, or (616) 450-9624.  

  

Hey friends and family! 

We continue to add more features to this new website, and want to make sure you can use it as easily as possible. 

One of our newest features is a "search" bar at the top of the website. It might be obvious, but here, you can search 

for something you read in another news article, specific sermons, events and so on. As an example, I typed in the 

word, "disciple" in the search bar, and here (click) is the result! 

More features are coming soon, including a discussion board where you will be able to discuss implications of recent 

sermons, submit prayer requests, post event ideas, if you own a business you can put up your services for all of us 

to utilize and more! 

We are also going to be launching a "Members" log-in page that will co-incide with our new photo directory 

(see announcement). Here, you'll be able to create a username and password and find an online version of the new

directory, and even more features! 

We are also revamping the sermon media files so you can sync them via Itunes and put them on your Ipod's (or other

mp3 players). If you ever have questions or concerns, please contact our website director, Chad Farrand. 

We are beginning the process of updating our photo directory. The times and dates will appear on the front page of 

our website. Based on availability of our photographers, we will have times for you to get your pictures taken before

and after worship services. If you'd like to sign up for a time slot, please click the link below. 

Blessings to you! 

Please click here to sign up.

We currently have two open positions. They are listed below: 

Job Posting - Young Child Ministries Coordinator (job description)
Fifth Reformed Church is now accepting resumes for the stipend position of Young Child Ministries Coordinator.  This is a 20-hour-per-month position that reports to the Children's Ministries Director.  Responsibilities include to lead, coach and develop people willing to serve as Ministry Partners in caring for the youngest members of Fifth Church, and understand the critical role that ministries to young children play in connecting with families that might not be connected to Christ and lead all Ministry Partners in understanding the same.  A full position description is available here.  Please submit your resumes to rkindle@fifthrc.org as a Word document or by dropping them by the church office.

Marks of a Disciple:  Sacrificing

Disciples of Jesus follow Jesus in giving away their lives. (sermon audio)

Of all the marks of a disciple, this is the capstone – a willingness to sacrifice of oneself to follow Jesus.  By definition, a disciple is follower of Jesus, not just someone who is intrigued by Jesus or thinks highly of him.  Disciples of Jesus are followers of Jesus, so when we talk about Growing disciples who make disciples, we are talking about growing people who:  1) follow Jesus faithfully no matter the cost and 2) help others do the same.

The dictionary defines sacrifice as the “surrender of something for the sake of something else.”  And that is exactly what God has done for us in Jesus.  Jesus willingly gave his life for us, not simply as a model of selfless living for us to follow (though his example certainly is that) but as a sacrifice for our sin.

Think about that truth.  Pick up the Bible and read Hebrews 10:1-14.  Let your heart ponder this sweet center of the Gospel – “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”  Theologians call it substitutionary atonement.  Simply put – Jesus died in our place, and that death reopened the possibility of a relationship with God.

Throughout the series, we have been looking at the stages of spiritual growth as defined by the REVEAL study:

The idea is that all of us are on a spiritual journey and called to keep moving spiritually, to be growing people.  The ultimate goal of following Jesus is to become more and more like Jesus, not simply to use Christianity to improve our lives.  A distinguishing characteristic of a Christ-Centered person is a mindset of surrender.  “Rather than expecting Jesus to be there for the sole purpose of helping them with their lives, they respond to his call to sacrifice and lay down their lives to serve Jesus and advance his mission in the world” (Move, Greg Hawkins & Cally Parkinson, p.93).  This is what it means to be a sacrificing person.

In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul tells us to follow the example Jesus when he offered up his life for us (Eph. 5:1-2).  In Romans, Paul writes this:  “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices.”  Basically, this means “live as if you’ve died to yourself.”  It is exactly what Rob Ellis was getting at in the March 16 devotional he contributed to our Lenten Devotional Guide.  Rob wrote this:  “This is the true meaning of discipleship—the suffering through the loss of our natural self by denying its sinful lusts.”

This death to self becomes visible to others through a willingness to sacrifice of self to follow Jesus.  A willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others is love.  And as the old song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

Disciples of Jesus follow Jesus in giving away their lives.