Pastor’s Corner May 2007

The following was published in our monthly newsletter, the Redeemer Report.

Ponder God’s Thoughtful Providence- The Pleasant Valley Cemetery

In 1996, Pastor Mike Milton and a faithful core group of Redeemer members took a sacrificial step in faith to buy our initial ten acres of land. There was no significant development in our immediate geographic area, we were essentially in the “boonies”. Since then, we have witnessed rapid development. Our newly developing neighborhood is a picture of suburban change, transition, and flux. While gladly not on pace with modern “mega churches” in our area, we have experienced dynamic church growth (deep, as well as wide) and ministry development during our relatively brief time at 9333 W. 159th Street. Redeemer has undergone change, constant action and progress, just like our neighborhood.

I urge you to welcome this multifaceted time of transition and action, it is what our founding members envisioned. As a church, we should not “hole up”, but rather intentionally pursue what God has called us to. As we grow in Christ personally and corporately, we will necessarily and by God’s design have more and more impact on our neighborhood and wider culture. In the midst of all the flux and busyness, please join me in praying for God’s clear focus on our simple, biblical mission: to mature as a community of Christians who love to worship their God, study His Word, and proclaim His gospel to the world. A simple mission which, if followed, will yield a widespread, eternal result.

The busyness and rush of life can overcome us to the point of skewing our view to what is most important. Suburban America is a great place to live, however it can be challenging to remain focused on Christ and matters of eternal significance in the midst of so many demanding activities and events. In light of this reality, I am so grateful for God’s thoughtful providence. Lest we become too consumed with the temporal and lose sight of the eternal, there is one thing that has not changed in our area for over 150 years. Immediately to our west is the Pleasant Valley Cemetery. In the midst of all the flux, we can always glance over to the Pleasant Valley Cemetery and recall our need to continuously recalibrate our lives to our eternal Savior, Jesus Christ and His purposes.

Will you think about Pleasant Valley Cemetery today, and give a glance there every so often when you are at church? In the midst of this shiny, new, landscaped and manicured neighborhood, we are forced to face our mortality and the brevity of life with a simple glance to the hundreds of headstones that line the rows of Pleasant Valley Cemetery.

Let me be clear- the regular reminder of the certainty of physical death does not depresses me because I am owned by Christ. Instead, the cemetery helps me to focus on what the Lord wants me to do today.

Our time is short brothers and sisters, if you don’t believe me, just look at the cemetery to our west, it bears the decayed earthly homes of 2200 people who, if they could, would tell you how short life really is. Beware of busyness for the sake of busyness.
Don’t mistake relentless motion with meaningfulness. Evaluate what you are involved in and why. Consider the vivid illustration of our physical Church building now being erected and the cemetery just a couple hundred yards away-these places relate in a profound way. What we are about as a church is ordained by God to have impact on the state of souls when they depart their earthly bodies. Your part in the growth and maturation of Redeemer, so long as we stay focused on our mission, is of great eternal significance. You can be genuinely excited about such a venture. I am certain no one who endeavors, by God’s grace through Christ, to live their lives for the glory of God will ever come to the end of their days and think it a waste.

In the Lamb,
Pastor Tony Felich