Truth 4 Utah
Truth 4 Utah Mission Update #19
March 22nd, 2022
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. —1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Dear Family & Friends, Have you noticed the trend of trying to make the biblical Gospel acceptable to the culture? One of the biggest temptations we are facing personally as disciples of Jesus as well as in the American church is to cave to the idea that people won’t surrender to Jesus unless we make Him & the Gospel more palatable. The truth is, it is a message of death to self. It’s a message that doesn’t call for self-promotion but rather self-demotion from the throne of our lives. Let’s make sure that we don’t try to change God’s message in an attempt to make it more acceptable to others or to ourselves. We stand in Christ, not based on the version of Him we constructed ourselves or on the ideas of others, but rather on God as He has revealed Himself to us through His Word, His world & His work. We are called to believe, live & preach truth and then trust the results to God!
General Update
Our dear friends Lee & Laura came up from ABQ for the weekend. It was a wonderful time of fellowship. Their kids played great with our kiddos and God even gave us some warm weather so we could get up into the mountains and discover a new waterfall. It really is true when the Bible says that a friend refreshes your soul. Noelle is as cute as can be (yes, we’re biased). She is sleeping much better overall and AnneMarie is establishing a new daily routine for our family. Alana, Patrick, Daniel & Emmie are doing swimming lessons on Saturdays which is fun and Brendan sometimes gets to swim in the pool while they do that so it’s a blessing. School is coming along. Some days it seems to go better than others but growth and progress are a process, not an event and AnneMarie is investing a lot into their little hearts and minds. Also, Brendan and I were able to go with some friends from church to see Frank Turek at the University of Utah. He is a Christian apologist and it was a great blessing to be there and to be there together! We are content and at the same time, we’re learning to be content in what God has for us. He is doing a work & we’re thankful for His goodness! We look forward to His blessings as we walk in obedience!
Gospel Seeds & Opportunities
Our kiddos are connecting again with our Mormon neighbors recently. We haven’t spent much time with them over the winter so it’s been good to be able to just be neighbors and friends more actively. As we’ve talked about before, this is a process so our role here has a long-term view and these types of connections are an important piece of the Gospel & disciple-making work here and our kids are certainly a big part of that. The Lord has blessed me with multiple opportunities to engage co-workers in Gospel conversations which is a blessing. I’ve also had the chance to minister to a few of my students on my bus routes. This past weekend I was unexpectedly able to share the Gospel with two co-workers at Papa John’s which was a great blessing! God is on the move and we’re so thankful He allows us to engage in the work of building His kingdom. There have been some other opportunities as well in different ways that God has brought about.
Wrap-up
PLEASE continue to PRAY for us as we’re launching a new ministry called Eternal Life Elevated. This ministry is designed to help train God's people ( specifically churches & youth) how to engage people around them with biblical truth, the biblical Gospel & biblical apologetics. The hope is to also have opportunities to get into schools & possibly summer camps in the future. We’re praying it will aid our missions work here in Utah, continue in New Mexico and anywhere else God will open the doors to go to churches & equip them to preach the Gospel & make disciples for Christ! This work is impossible for us to accomplish, but it is not by our might or power but by God’s Spirit!! If you’d like to get involved through our prayer team or if you sense this being something that your pastor or elders might be interested in, feel free to reach out or direct them to our website or social media pages (Facebook/Instagram). Eternal Life Elevated – Evangelism & Apologetics Ministry Eternal Life Elevated (@eternallifeelevated) • Instagram photos and videos EternalLife Elevated | Facebook GO CONTEND FOR THE FAITH & PREACH THE GOOD NEWS!! Thanks again for following us in this adventure & many blessings to you all in the Lord our God! In Light of Eternity, Corry, AnneMarie, Brendan, Alana, Patrick, Daniel, Emmie, Micah & Noelle