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Blog Archives: January 2018 — December 2018
A Long, Slow Christmas
December 19, 2018
In our culture, it is an uphill climb to embrace a long, slow Christmas season. It is hard to pause and soak in the spirit of Advent, the “waiting” for Christmas. My children gleefully count down the days until Christmas, while I attempt to live in the tension between their excitement and anticipation and my own worries and to-do lists. As I encourage Redeemer’s parents today, I am really preaching to myself!
It is easy to load ourselves down with self-imposed strain and guilt about things we think are important in order for Christmas to ...
2019 Mission Trip Teams Forming Soon
December 18, 2018
Redeemer’s mission trip teams for 2019 will start holding interest meetings in January. Because months go into preparing, fundraising, and learning about the culture the team will visit, now is not too early to prayerfully consider one of Redeemer’s mission trips. Here are stories from mission trip teams Redeemer sent out in 2018.
L’viv, Ukraine
Going to Ukraine was Angel Whitley’s first mission trip. Angel’s husband Jeremy had been to L’viv with a Redeemer team ten years before. When they both committed to go with the 2018 team, Angel ...
Winter Grace 2019: Life-Giving Friendships
December 10, 2018
Can you think of someone in your life who has “given life” to you in things she did or said? As we walk through life, there are those in our lives who have done and said things that have “given life” to us. We have also experienced others who have “taken life” in the ways they have related to us — those whose words or actions have wounded us in minor or deeply-lasting ways. I can certainly think of many times I have taken life from my friends and family with angry words, sarcasm, gossip, criticism, and more. Can you? I long to give life ...
Join Redeemer at San Antonio's MLK March
December 06, 2018
If you have never attended San Antonio’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. March, you may be unaware that it is the largest in the nation. On average, 300,000 people attend the march each year, starting at the MLK Freedom Bridge on the East Side of San Antonio and following a three-mile route to Pittman-Sullivan Park. This year, Redeemer will participate in this important day in the life of our city, and we invite you to join us. This year’s march takes place on Monday, January 21, 2019.
Redeemer’s Racial Reconciliation Committee, which met ...
How Long, O Lord?
November 29, 2018
The holiday season is now upon us. Christmas and the New Year will be here before you know it. When we’re children, we may say that Christmas takes “forever” to arrive, but by the time we’re adults, the days feel like minutes. Life happens so quickly. How can it be time for Christmas again?
Perhaps our annual surprise also indicates a subconscious resistance to the pressures and obligations that accompany this season. The holidays are not just here, we have to get ready for them. Presents must be bought, parties planned and attended and, of ...
2018 End-of-Year Giving Update
November 14, 2018
Dear Members and Friends,
The holiday season is now upon us. Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas only six short weeks away. That also means that we are rapidly closing in on the end of another fruitful year of ministry. In many ways, 2018 has been especially rewarding.
For example, this year Redeemer successfully launched Trinity Grace Church, the fifth church plant in the San Antonio area, under the leadership of former Trinity RUF campus minister, Michael Novak and his wife, Rachel. Making this transition particularly rich was the ...
Prayer in Parenting
October 02, 2018
As the women of Redeemer studied Colossians in Bible Study last spring semester, I was struck by how parental Paul is to the church in Colossae. It was very convicting to me as a parent to notice how, time and time again, Paul focuses not on their weakness, but on their progress. He gives thanks for the fruit that has been borne. Notice how in this central passage, Paul prays for them, he tells them he has prayed for them, and reminds them that he continues to pray for them!
And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, ...
Hispanic Leadership Initiative: Raising up a new generation of leaders in the PCA
September 24, 2018
When Redeemer Associate Pastor Victor Martinez talks about the importance of developing minority leaders in the Presbyterian Church in America, he asks what the PCA will look like a generation from now.
According to denominational statistics presented at the PCA’s General Assembly, out of 4,882 Teaching Elders in the PCA, 51 are African American (one percent), and just 34 are Hispanic (.8 percent). While our communities have become more diverse, our churches have not kept up. That is not just a problem for churches located in ...
KidzTime at Strong Foundation: Helpers Wanted!
September 19, 2018
John and Chrissy Fitch began volunteering at Strong Foundation when their youngest child was about two years old. Now their children range in age from 10 years to post-college, but volunteering together at Strong Foundation is still a standing commitment on their family calendar.
Strong Foundation is one of Redeemer’s longtime city ministry partners. Strong Foundation is a residential program that gives families in homelessness or at risk of homelessness a place to stay while they work toward stability and independence. They also work with ...
Racial Reconciliation: What can I do?
September 12, 2018
If you watch the news it doesn’t take long to hear about the racial tension our country lives through every day. Racism is a big topic. As Redeemer seeks to be “in the city for the city” we want to be more aware of this reality and learn how to participate in a helpful and redemptive conversation towards racial reconciliation.
This summer our congregation experienced the blessing of reflecting together through John Perkins’ excellent book “One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race and Love.” This study represents for Redeemer an ...
VIVO Conference at Redeemer in October
September 06, 2018
In October, Redeemer will have the honor of hosting the Hispanic Leadership Initiative’s VIVO Conference. I want to encourage Redeemer’s members to attend and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and wisdom this conference has to offer our congregation.
Redeemer is a founding church of the Hispanic Leadership Initiative (HLI), an organization that provides mentoring and financial support to Hispanic seminary students, church officers and others called to ministry in the Presbyterian Church in America and other denominations. I serve as ...
Speaking Hope to One Another in Fall Bible Studies
September 05, 2018
What a world we live in. Open a computer or a smart phone; turn on a radio. Tragic and disturbing news of brokenness, hopelessness and despair pours out. How do we live in such a world? If we have children, how do we equip them for such a world? The Bible tells us we are not to fight this battle alone, but side by side in the body of Christ, with the word of God dwelling in us richly, speaking to one another in another in Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God (Col. 3:15-16). We must have women we can text ...
The fall is here and so are Shepherding Groups
September 04, 2018
Living in South Texas means we can’t count on falling leaves and changing weather to tell us autumn is here. The temperature will still be in the 90s long after the first official day of fall in September, and we will be wearing shorts and T-shirts for months after other parts of the country have moved on to jackets and long sleeves. But if anyone is in doubt, the fall is here. School buses are back on the road, and pictures of smiling children on the first day of school fill our social media feeds. Summer is over and that means things have ...
He Told Stories
August 09, 2018
This Sunday, August 19th, Redeemer not only “kicks off” its official fall program for children and youth ministries, but also begins a new sermon series titled “He Told Stories: A Study of the Parables of Jesus.”
Our English word parable is simply a transliteration of the Greek word parabolē. In the Greek para means beside, and ballo means to throw or cast. Parables, then, are short, pithy stories cast alongside the ordinariness of life that illuminate important truths about the character of God, our lives in this world and Jesus’ coming ...
Ephesians Women's Bible Study: We Want World Peace!
July 09, 2018
In the movie Miss Congeniality, Sandra Bullock is an FBI agent pretending to be a beauty pageant contestant. When asked on stage “What is the one most important thing our society needs?” she answers, “That would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.” The boisterous audience goes silent. It’s a funny point in the movie because everyone knows the “correct” beauty pageant answer to that question is “world peace”—even Sandra Bullock’s rough and tough character, who hastily adds, “And world peace!”
Everyone wants world peace, ri ...
Shepherding Groups Coming this Fall!
July 05, 2018
Among the many things that make Redeemer special are its commitments to joyful worship, God's freeing grace and serving our city in word and deed. These commitments are foundational to Redeemer's growth and the life-change so many of us have experienced over the years. As a growing church, however, Redeemer's size can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. The bigger Redeemer becomes, the harder it is for our members, particularly our newest ones, to feel at home and experience genuine care in the Gospel. For this reason, the Session has decided ...
Redeemer Transitions Westover Hills Site
July 02, 2018
Dear friends,
I am writing to inform you about an important transition for Redeemer's Westover Hills ministry site. As many of you know, Redeemer launched the Westover Hills site in 2012 under the leadership of ruling elder Manny Alaniz. At that time Manny was a candidate for ministry in South Texas Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). In September of 2015, after much prayer, study and hard work, Manny was ordained and installed as an Assistant Pastor at Redeemer with specific responsibility for the Westover Hills ...
A Summer Reading Recommendation for Parents
June 12, 2018
Parents, if you’re feeling like you are limping out of the school year and stumbling into summer, you are not alone! Oftentimes we have big goals and dreams, not only for ourselves, but also for our children. With the summer approaching we can feel depleted and defeated from falling short of a standard we set for ourselves or our families.
If you’re looking for some encouragement or wanting to hit the reset button, I would like to recommend Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp as a ...
Children's Ministry Construction Project Underway
June 07, 2018
When Christian Education classes resume in the fall, children will return to a fresh new look downstairs. Redeemer’s construction project to expand the Children’s Ministry area will take place this summer. Funded by the Building for the Future campaign, the project will more than double the amount of space available for children’s ministry in Redeemer’s facilities, bringing the total to 7,000 square feet.
The centerpiece of the project is a 2,000 square foot large group assembly area with a raised stage at the front, space for seating or ...
Coming in July: The Redeemer Block Party
June 04, 2018
In July, Redeemer will debut a new event: The Redeemer Block Party is a night of fun and fellowship on the Redeemer campus, and a great opportunity to invite friends to experience the Redeemer community. We are excited to begin hosting this summer event on our block. The first Redeemer Block Party will take place on Sunday, July 22nd. The block party will replace one of our longest-running events, Redeemer in the Country. Redeemer did not have a permanent location for the first 12 years of its existence, so all church events took place on ...
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