Frontier Family,
As we close out the year, I always try to discipline myself to take time to deeply reflect on the year behind in order to stir vision for the year ahead.
The Prayer of Examen
The prayer of Examen is always a helpful tool for this. The Examen involves remembering the events and the experiences, the places where I’ve been and the people that I’ve been with, and it involves inviting the Holy Spirit to help me become aware of God’s presence in, and over, and through it all. (Here's the app I use for this if interested.)
Giving Thanks for Frontier's People: Authentic, Hungry, Vulnerable
As I do this, it's easy to give thanks and remember all that is happening at Frontier that we get to be part of. I think I'm always most impressed that Frontier always seems to be a people marked by authenticity, hunger, and vulnerability. As we grow in both health and number, we are proud to see you all represent Jesus without being fake- the testimonies of how he is working in us, healing us, using us, restoring us is beautiful, but each of you being willing to be real about the imperfect process is what draws people to Jesus. We don't have it all together. Jesus meets us where we are at, but we are never satisfied with our current place of experience!
Who you are...
Frontier, you walk in the tension of believing for all that Christ has made available, without getting offended at the areas of life that still need breakthrough! The power of God is often working miracles in the person next to me while I process a deep loss. You resist comparison. You are vulnerable with the process. You embrace that God is with you in the wilderness and the mountaintop. Through it all you stay hungry to pursue a lifestyle of worship that kills the worship of anything inferior to the life of abiding that Jesus offers. And you have embraced the cultural shift to deny the temptation to define yourselves off what you have "achieved" with your life, and embraced the goal of "who you are becoming..." by following a Rabbi from Nazareth.
Growth in every area
We've come along way from being a few young families with as many toddlers as people crammed into a little room... We are so proud to see a church growing in diversity of age, race, and even denominational/spiritual backgrounds. Still with a never-changing hearts to see children hear God's voice, and encounter the Spirit in worship, we expanded our offerings to little ones with a toddler ministry, a fresh kids ministry format up in the loft with intentional worship and Spirit-led encounter times, as well as launching the youth group we asked you to pray and sow into this time last year!
In addition to the almost 100 kids in our church, we are also seeing the college students and young adults we have prayed for begin to find a home at Frontier. Join us in praying into a move of young adults that are being increasingly challenged by the cultural voices to find a place to wrestle with and be refined in their faith at Frontier!
And join us in praying for an increase in every person joining the intimacy and mission of Frontier Communities in 2023! Some of the other highlights from the last year include:
70% of the church took part in Frontier Communities in 2022! The national average is 30%:)... More people than ever before are engaging in their spiritual formation beyond Sundays and Practicing the Way of Jesus, together.
From un-churched, de-churched, New-Age, Scientologists, Catholic, Presbyterians, Baptists and everything in between- Frontier is seeing people from diverse backgrounds of our city engage with our community! Many of you may not realize the range of people we are privileged with discipling- but you are all part of this!
You've given over 10% of budget (2x national average) to missions, and we've begun to see impact of loving both our city and the nations- I am brought to tears at just the beauty of some of our homeless outreaches that we tried for the first time in 2022. Simple, selfless, and profound. Thank you to all who took part. We sowed into the nations and had a beautiful trip to France as we continue to pursue a specialized call to mission in Western Europe and Post-Christian centers (our city included). We continued our commitment to Alpha and engaging those outside the church with life's biggest questions...
At times I get so frustrated at the state of the world and our seemingly small impact, but then I pause and the Holy Spirit floods my mind with the massive amounts of stories of lives touched by this community of people. You are not an accident, Frontier is not an accident, and your commitment to the church of Jesus matters. We are all part of something bigger than ourselves. Something that has been shifting human history far before we were each conceived, and that will continue to endure long into eternity.
Thank you. Thank you for your lives. Your time. Your love. Your sacrifice. And your generosity. It matters and does not go unnoticed.
Giving at Frontier
Many of you have joked with us how we seem to hardly mention giving at Frontier. Part of that is a deep disdain for the ways much of the church has handled this subject so poorly, and yet it is likely an area of weakness we need to grow in! Generosity is critical to practicing the way of Jesus and we are committed to growing in this area in both teaching and practice.
Realities of Global Recession
With that said, we know this year was a major shift economically for many as we entered a global recession, inflation, among the ongoing challenges of the cost of life in Southern California. Thank you for your giving to Jesus' church regardless of your means! It's been said that the act of worship through tithing is a essentially a decree that you trust God to be able to do more with you, and through you, and to you when you allow Him to have first fruits of your labor, than if you invested it all yourselves... In short, it's a powerful act of worshipful trust, and it exposes the condition of our hearts. So thank you!
Would you make a year-end gift to the mission of our church?
Despite all the challenges, as we come into the final hours of the year, I'm wondering if you would be willing to make a final gift to the mission of our church? It doesn't matter the amount or your means. We rely on the faithful giving of each of you. Whatever the amount, your year end gift would help us start the year off strong, able to set budgets to better fuel the work of the kingdom we are called to. We are prepared to do more with less in the challenging seasons ahead, but our invitation to sow into our mission never changes regardless of the economy and markets of mankind!
Need to expand staff
We also have the wonderful challenge of a body that is growing, flourishing, and in need to sow deeper into the work Frontier does in our city. In particular for the season ahead, we need to expand our staff and its hours to build with the growth we are experiencing! Despite all the turbulence happening on our planet, it would be our honor if you could give a gift as we celebrate the New Year!
Thank you for your generosity. It's the honor of our lives to serve Jesus by leading the people of Frontier. Regardless of where you're at as we close out 2022, we encourage you to take time in the Prayer of Examen and invite the Holy Spirit to help you become aware of God’s presence in, and over, and through it all over the past year, so you become aware of where he is walking with you and ahead of you into 2023!
With all our hearts,
Christian and Sue
P.S. All gifts give to Frontier, whether given online or dropped in mail before the end of December 31st, are 100% tax-deductible.
Reminder!
No Service, Sunday January 1!
See you back at PIHOP on January 8!