Sparks Ministry

It has been a while since we sent out an update or posted on this blog.  Sorry for such a long time of silence!  Our real life just went a little crazy as soon as we returned from our Living in Grace conference in June.

As the last entry explains, we had an offer on our house soon after we returned from North Carolina.  That started our search for an apartment and preparation for moving.  It also began about 6 weeks of communication struggles with our prospective buyer which complicated our plans to move.

We ended up moving to a small, 2 bedroom apartment on July 15 and closed on our house on July 28.  Praise the Lord for His provision in both instances!

Our apartment is much closer to Steve’s work so he doesn’t have such a long commute.  It’s very convenient to our church and other places we frequently go and I’m getting used to the neighborhood.  Stevie, as usual, seems to be adjusting very well.

Now that all of that is finished, we will be back in our normal routine.  My next post will give you an idea of our schedule for the next couple of months and our next update will let you know about the exciting ways God has provided financially for us in the last couple of months.

When we returned from our week at Living in Grace, we were encouraged both personally and in our ministry and support raising preparation.  We were quickly brought down by the news that not one person had looked at our house during the week we were gone.  We struggled to apply the lessons of the previous week and trust in God’s timing and not give way to anxiety about the house situation.

So, Monday morning was spent in the struggle not to give in to discouragement.  By Monday evening, two people had looked at the house and by Tuesday we had an offer!  Praise the Lord!  Our closing is scheduled for July 15, so please pray that everything will continue to fall into place with that.

With the house selling, our next concern was finding an apartment.  We spent about 4 days looking at various apartment options both in person and online.  We finally found one that fit all of our criteria – it is close to Steve’s job (cuts his commute time more than half!), convenient to a bus that had a stop in front of his building, has a garage, and the rent is less than our current house payment.  Again, praise the Lord!

We are moving to a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment so we are now sorting through our things and trying to get rid of things we don’t need.  Our hope is that going through this process now will make the transition to an apartment in Ukraine a little easier.

We love our home and will be sad to leave it.  We moved in when we returned from our honeymoon and it has been perfect for us.  We have many wonderful memories and we hope the new owners will enjoy it just as much.

I think most of you who read this blog are also on our mailing list so you should have received an announcement of our son’s birth.  (If you aren’t on that emailing list but would like to be, just click on the box at the top right of this blog that says “Sparks Family Newsletters” and follow directions to be added to the mailing list.)  However, for those of you who are not, I want to joyfully announce the arrival of Steven Ronald into the Sparks family on November 16, 2009.  He weighed 8 lbs, 9 oz. and was 20-1/2 inches long at birth.  Even when he keeps us up at night, we are grateful to God for a healthy baby and safe delivery .  Thank you for your prayers for him and for us!

We’re biased, but we think he’s just adorable so here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

It was nice to be back at our home church today! We were in Atlanta 2 weeks ago and last Sunday we were recovering from our week away, so this week we finally made it back to worship! (It’s funny how much energy a growing baby can take out of you )
We enjoyed the chance to share news of our approval with folks who had been praying for us and are excited to be the first “home-grown” missionaries sent from CrossPointe. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be talking with the missions team and looking for creative ways to help our church support us as we go through the preparation process.

While this does not fall in the category of news about Dawn and me, I think it might be something that we can all think about, especially in the mission field.

I recently read an analysis of Apple, and how the iPhone is not the cause of Apple’s success but the iPhone is successful because Apple is a success. Why is Apple successful? They provide a product that is an experience and of high quality. They do not always provide a product that has everything for everyone. They more often provide a product that meets the needs of a specific target group and make sure that what they do provide meets a high standard of quality. They do not define quality as making sure the product is so diverse or flexible that it could partially meet the needs of everyone.

There will at times be people who do not think the worship style of the presentation is exactly for them, however if it is of quality, and biblically supported then it is the truth.

I once passed a church on the highway that had a sign displaying “30 Minute Worship Service”.

While I have no idea of the details for that specific church, and personally think a corporate service is more detailed than something that can be done in 30 minutes, should I discount the style or the length if it meets the standards of high quality, biblically sound and is obviously targeted at a specific seeker audience?

So while there is much that can be discussed in this area, the intent of this note it not to resolve the issue, but rather open the door for the discussion.  I would leave you with these ideas for your personal ministry.

How can this approach help you with your personal ministry?

Let’s consider our personal testimony:

• Do you have a personal testimony of how you found Christ?

• When you give that testimony can you speak it in 1 to 3 minutes?

• Can you vary the testimony enough to meet a specific context of the situation where you will be sharing?

• Even though it is 1 to 3 minutes, does it contain the truth of the Gospel and would the testimony be of high quality to the person for who you are sharing or did you try to meet the needs of everyone?

When we do provide quality and truth with our limited resources (Money, Time, etc) , I believe the result will be what Paul speaks to in

2 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 12 to 13.

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.

Well, today is my birthday! I would have never guessed a few years ago that when I turned 41:

1. I would been married

2. I would have a baby boy on the way

3. I would be in Seminary

4. I would be processing a call for Ukraine service

I am amazingly grateful for the gifts of the past year and look forward to the next year!

Recently Pastor Jerry Rahm from my home church, CrossPointe Church in Austin Texas, has been doing a series of sermons on hope. These have been very good and very timely.

I thought I would share the links to the recording I made of these the last 2 sundays.

• Hope: Sunshine for Our Souls 07/12/2009 This morning we start a new series, “Living with Hope in a Hopeless World”. Throughout history there have been ups and downs in terms of hope. There are times when it appears that all is right with the world, and people have great hope in the future. There are times when things seem to be spiraling downward and people have little hope in the future. This same cycle is true of our lives. Some days we have great hope and optimism; some days are dark. What do Christians do when their life seems hopeless? We will explore that question over the next few weeks. We begin today by recognizing how very important hope is.

• Hope Lost 07/19/2009 Last week we begin a discussion about how important it is for us to have hope. Yet when we look around we see lots of people living their lives without hope. And even God’s people sometimes seem to lose hope! Where does hope go? Why does it go away? Why is it so hard to hold on to? This week we look at the things that would steal away our hope, and more importantly, how we can take hope back.

• Who’s In Charge Here? 07/26/2009 One of the reasons we lose hope is that we often hold on to and trust in the things we can see. As we learned last week we live our lives as if we can control them. We try to manufacture outcomes through our own strength and wisdom, and yet we know in our hearts that the idea that we are in control is just a myth. The truth is that when we forget that God is in control it is easy for us to lose hope. And we can really lose hope when we forget that the God who is in control loves us more than we can imagine.

While Dawn and I consider our calling to serve in the Lords kingdom, it has been a desire of mine to spend time studying God’s word. This is also a time to consider how the twenty years of work in Information System can be used as a tool for ministry. Certainly aspects of the business culture, and work culture are applicable, however I feel as if I need a better foundation.

So while Dawn and I were in St. Louis for the Missions Emphasis Weekend at Covenant Theological Seminary, we took the opportunity to schedule a campus visit. Actually, it was more a matter of not having a choice! However much how much I forgot to send a reply email to my campus contact and no matter how “Simple” we wanted to keep the visit, the visit was a day of attending classes, worship service, more classes and speaking for more than an hour with the Director of Admissions.

We both really enjoyed the classes and really enjoyed the material. When I returned home, it was less than a week before I filled out the online application and began to write the admissions essay.  Several drafts of the personal essay, Dawn’s required essay, a couple of pastoral references, some personal references, and lots of Emails to Jeremy (the previously mentioned Director of Admissions). I received a phone call from the Admissions Team and I have been admitted into Covenant Theological Seminary. 

Admission to Covenant is a huge step in helping us work on our future plans. Right now it means I am going to take one class starting next semester. It has been 20 years since I have attended school, and considering these classes would be used towards Masters Degree or Graduate Certificate, I need to start slow. During the next year I hope to finish 5 to 8 credit hours of work and then start to consider where I want to take my next step with this opportunity. 

Since I am taking distance courses, we will not be moving to St. Louis. I might visit depending on some class requirements or a need to be at the school for something special. 

Some of you may know that I am involved with the podcast at CrossPointe Church in Austin, Texas. Recently we published a podcast on Biblical Rebuke.

Dictionary.com defines rebuke as:

–verb (used with object)

–noun

At the end of the serivce we had some really good feedback and requests for the sermon. I thought it would nice to share the link for those that might be interested.

08-24-2008 Jerry Rahm: Gracious Rebuke?

• Scripture and Elder Prayer
• Sermon