June 28, 2024
Hey Radiant,
Colossians 1:27 stops me in my tracks: “God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.“
Our belief in Christ is not just an intellectual agreement to a certain set of truths. Paul declares that the revelation of God in Jesus Christ is really about presence and proximity.
The world shattering news is that Christ dwells in us. This changes everything.
Of course this raises questions: How can this be? Why and how does God in Christ choose to dwell in me — the quite imperfect vessel that I am?
The answer is simply this: crazy riches of love and grace!
The glorious mystery that Paul can’t stop proclaiming is that God has chosen to do this. Our response is to receive it, to “live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him,” to have Christ be the soil from which our life grows.
So this Sunday, we are continuing our dive into the riches of Colossians (the image of Scrooge McDuck diving into his money bin comes to mind) to discover, ponder, and rejoice in the mystery of Christ in us, the hope of glory.
SUMMER SCHEDULE KIDS UPDATE:
*BTW — this Sunday we are giving our kids volunteers a break and will have all children of all ages join us in service. The nursery will be accessible to parents who would like to use it. For the month of July we will have the Glow group (ages 0-3) but take a break for Shine and 45 degrees Rad.
EVENTS CALENDAR
6/30 – Linger Worship and Prayer Night 6-10PM
7/2 – Emotionally Healthy Relationships Course 6:30PM
7/11 – Rad YTH Night 5-8PM
7/11 – Kingdom Coffee Vision and Prayer Night 6:30PM
7/13 – Shine and 45 degrees Rad pool and movie gathering 3PM
7/21 – Linger Worship and Prayer Night 6-10PM
8/18 – Morning Preview Service at Modesto Junior College Recital Hall – 10AM
9/8 – Second Preview Service at Modesto Junior College Recital Hall – 10AM
10/4-10/6 – Women’s Retreat at Mission Springs *registration now open.
FOLLOW UP FROM THE TOWN HALL MEETING LAST SUNDAY
Thanks to everyone who made the Town hall meeting last Sunday! There was really helpful conversation with great questions and input.
If you missed the meeting — here are our slides from the evening that explains our thinking.
In short, we are excited to move forward with this experiment as we follow Christ into mission and will plan on holding preview services at the MJC recital hall (1130 Stoddard Ave) on 8/18 and 9/8.
If you have any questions — I’m glad to field them. Team leaders will be reaching out soon to those who responded to helping on ministry teams for those dates.
LINGER WORSHIP AND PRAYER – 6/30 6-10PM
Knowing that we are nothing without God’s guidance, presence, and empowerment, we are seeking God’s face together following worship this Sunday, 6/30. Come and go as you please 6-10PM. This will be a loosely structure time of prayer, worship, sharing of scripture. We are praying for more of God’s presence in our lives, particularly as we embark on a new season of mission as a church.
RAD YTH NIGHT JULY 11 5-8PM RAD YTH NIGHT — Rad Youth (6-12th grade) will meet at for a pool party! Invite your friends for a night of fun, food, and good conversation. The gathering will be at 302 Northwood Drive. Hope to see you there!
KINGDOM COFFEE VISION AND PRAYER GATHERING – JULY 11 6:30PMThis is really cool. Folks at A Jesus Mission (many of whom are connected at Radiant) are opening a new cafe in Modesto called Kingdom Coffee. This community gathering space aims to “stimulate a culture of generosity, share the hope of the gospel, and cultivate a life giving space.”
Kingdom Coffee is hosting a vision and prayer night on Thursday, July 11 at 6:30PM at their location at 2401 E. Orangeburg #100 (the old Blockbuster video space). All are welcome to come learn more and pray!
https://www.ajesusmission.org/ministries/kingdom-coffee/
SHINE AND 45 DEGREES RAD POOL AND MOVIE EVENT, JULY 13
EMOTIONALLY HEALTH RELATIONSHIPS COURSE
TUESDAYS, 6:30-8:30PM JUNE 11 – JULY 28 (8 SESSIONS)
*if you plan on traveling this summer — there a video streaming options for independently completing sessions you miss.
This powerful 8-week Course will equip you with practical tools to really love people in difficult situations and mature into an adult follower of Jesus. The Emotionally Healthy (EH) Relationships Course has been developed over a 21-year period to directly address core biblical principles to guide you and others into an experience of discipleship that will deeply change your life. In the EH Relationships Course, everyone will learn 8 practical relationship skills to develop mature, loving relationships with others.
This will be a paradigm shifting course — sign up here.
MEN’S GATHERING – BREAKING FOR JULY!
Men — we’ll reconvene in August. No gathering this Wednesday.
UNITE CONFERENCE
We are sending our first contingent of high schoolers to the Unite Conference in San Diego July 15-20. This is a denomination wide, every three years conference for high schoolers. Unite will be “a transformative five-day event filled with powerful worship, engaging youth group sessions, heartfelt prayer, exhilarating afternoon activities, and meaningful acts of service.” We would love to support our students going — if you’d like to contribute to covering costs you can give here and select Unite Conference from the pull down menu.
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
