August 1, 2024
Dear Radiant,
I don’t want to sleepwalk my way through life.
Alive but not really living.
Hearing but not really listening.
Looking but not really seeing.
No, I don’t want to sleepwalk: I want to be alive, awake, and attentive to the wonder of the day.
I want to experience God here and now. I want to discover him hiding in the present moment. Because I know that he is near.
As CS Lewis writes:
“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito.”
The best way I’ve found to live aware of God is by praying my way through life.
Paul says this too in Colossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
The word translated as “being watchful” could also be translated “be awake.” This is what prayer does — wakes us up to the reality of God’s presence and the wonder of walking (not sleepwalking) with him.
Prayer can be like cold water on our face — waking us from our distracted slumbering to God with us now.
We’ll wrap up Colossians this Sunday with a consideration of what it means devote ourselves to watchful and thankful prayer.
See you there at 5!
SUMMER SCHEDULE KIDS UPDATE:
*We’re back to normal children’s church gatherings this Sunday!
EVENTS CALENDAR
8/11 – Second Sunday Supper – Mexican Food Potluck
8/16-17 – 24 Hours of Prayer
8/18 – Morning Preview Service at Modesto Jr. College Recital Hall – 10AM
8/22 – Rad Yth Night 6:30-8:30PM at ELC!
9/8 – Second Preview Service at Modesto Junior College Recital Hall – 10AM
9/15 – Home Churches Re-gather
10/4-10/6 – Women’s Retreat at Mission Springs *registration now open.
SPREAD THE WORD!
We’re getting excited about the 10AM service experiment. It’s getting close! We encourage you to begin prayerfully invite friends, family, neighbors, to our preview services on 8/18 and 9/8 at at the MJC recital hall (1130 Stoddard Ave.) at 10AM. Radiant exists to be a place the unchurched and dechurched can encounter Jesus. Let’s see what God is up to by joining together on mission.
*Reminder — in addition, we’ll have our normal 5PM services at ELC.
Btw – here’s another, more social media friendly image to share:
24 HOURS OF PRAYER – AUGUST 16-17
In lead up to our 10AM preview service, we are going to pray for 24 hours straight. We’ve done this in the past — but we are going to do it a little bit different this time. Instead of gathering at ELC, this will be a decentralized 24 hours of prayer. This means people will sign up for a slot to pray and pray from the own homes, or walking in their neighborhoods, or wherever the Lord leads them. But we’ll start and end together: we will begin the 24 hours with a gathering for prayer on Friday, 8/16 from 5-6PM at the Mission House: 505 Chabot Ave. We will end our time by gathering at the MJC campus Recital Hall for prayer from 4-5PM on Saturday evening.
No experience necessary — we learn to pray by praying. Enjoy some time with the LORD and pray for his kingdom to come and his will to be done in Modesto as in heaven. More details and resources will be provided once you sign up.
WOMEN’S CONFERENCE AT MISSION SPRINGS OCTOBER 4-6 2024
BLESSED AND BROKEN: Jesus took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread, and gave the bread. These four words not only summarize the life of Jesus but are central to our spiritual lives as well. Join us for an unforgettable weekend with other women where we dive into what it means to live as chosen, blessed, broken, and given children of God. This conference is hosted at Mission Springs conference center in Scotts Valley, CA and will be a gathering of women from many Covenant churches in our region. Register here: https://www.missionsprings.com/camp-event/womens-conference/
BAND APP One way to connect at Radiant is to join our BAND APP group. Think of this as a sort of Radiant message board — our own little social media space. People can extend invites, share about needs and opportunities.
GIVING
Thank you for your generosity and partnership in Radiant’s ministry! Here’s the link to online giving.
Grace and Peace!
Zach
