SummerLINK Raleigh: The Power of the Gospel

By: Chris Garnett

I have been thinking long and hard about what to write about for this SummerLINK blog post. We are just over a month in to the work we've been doing with SummerLINK Raleigh, and it has been amazing to see the work that God is doing in our community, and even outside our community:

• We have participated in Equip Nights at the houses of different pastors and leaders at Open Door, learning more about their ministries and what they do for our church family
• We have had a weekend soccer camp in a nearby neighborhood, sharing the gospel and running around with a bunch of kids
• We have had our VBS camp called Power Camp for our elementary school kids, teaching them about God and His overflowing love and power
• We just returned from our youth camp called Creed where we went through Acts and learned what it means to live a missional lifestyle for the Kingdom of God
• We are getting ready to send a small team up to Boston to spend time with Redemption Hill ministering to their area

And we're only half way through the summer!! I can't wait to see what else God does through us...ALL of us SummerLINK interns at our different locations.
Something that I have become so much more aware of this summer is the power of the gospel in everyday life. I took a moment to think about what the gospel really is and how influential it is to Christians, and you can't simply take one moment to think about the magnitude of the gospel. Pastors spend anywhere between forty-five minutes to an hour teaching their congregation small portions of the gospel on a weekly basis, and it takes them hours upon hours to get all of the information together!

Yet the gospel is so much more than just reading and understanding the Bible, and hearing a sermon on a weekly basis. The gospel is actually living out the teachings that are in the Bible. It is so easy for us to pick up the Bible and read an incredible parable of Jesus, or read about Paul laying down some spiritual conviction on the church of Corinth, or read about what it takes to be leader in a church and say to ourselves, "That's so great, we totally need to do more of that!" and then do absolutely nothing. We have too many lazy Christians in our church. Unfortunately, I am one of them.

I don't write this blog with the mindset that I'm the greatest Christian. I write this blog with conviction on my heart because I have done a horrible job of sharing the gospel. I have not fully submitted to the awesome power of the gospel. I just read Thom Rainer's article, "Seven Characteristics of Highly Evangelical Christians," and as I read through the article I caught myself thinking, "Amen! That's good stuff," yet most of those characteristics are greatly lacking in my own spiritual life. I could turn this blog post into me analyzing how bad my spiritual life is, and as great as that could be for my own sanctification, it would quickly make this blog post all the more less entertaining. But here is where the beauty is...here is where the power of the gospel comes into play: we serve a merciful, gracious God.

I cannot begin to express how thankful I am that we serve a merciful, gracious God, who loves us unconditionally. If that weren't the case, I would have my one-way ticket to a very horrible place. Yet God still chooses to forgive even after every mistake I make.

I have learned a lot of things over the past month or so. All have been encouraging, challenging, and even convicting in some way or another, and that's what I love about the power of the gospel. That's what I love of discipleship. We as Christians are constantly learning more about the gospel and about who God is. We will never stop learning. Even when we think we have it all figured out, God will come and pull the carpet out from under us and knock on our backside.

I pray that whoever reads this post, or this blog as a whole, is encouraged. The gospel is a powerful, beautiful thing that can radically change your life if you're willing to take the necessary steps to follow Jesus Christ.

Summer LINK: Raleigh- Trusting Him Even with the Small Things!

            This is my first year to serve as a Summer Link intern and it has been a wonderful experience! I am primarily working with the Women’s Ministry and the Student Ministry at Open Door. The Lord is teaching me so many things this summer as He is growing, stretching, and molding me as I serve Him.

            While working with the Women’s Ministry I was able to help plan and facilitate the women’s event for June. This event’s theme was “Smiling at the future.” Women gathered to fellowship, worship, hear from a speaker, and pray with one another. As the event approached I became a little anxious and stressed about all the little details, but the Lord showed me through this event that I need to always trust Him even in the small things.

            Also, I have had the opportunity to serve with the Women’s Bible study leader and attend the weekly women’s Bible studies. We have been studying Psalm 119 for the month of June. I have loved being able to learn from other women at our church as we study and pray through Scripture together. I have also been able to meet many new ladies at our church, which has been a blessing. As I have studied Psalm 119 the Lord is teaching me to always be meditating on His word and truths found in Scripture.

            This summer I will be apart of the team going to Boston. I am thrilled about the chance to go and serve our church plants and the people of Boston. We had our first trip meeting this week. It was encouraging to hear each of our team members share their burden to proclaim the Gospel message while in Boston. At the meeting we walked through Colossians 4:2-6, and discussed what it means to “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving” (v. 2).  I pray that the Lord will allow me to have a watchful heart and mind, being in prayer for the trip and aware of the needs of those around me.

            Please be praying for our students and interns this week as they head to Creed Camp!

By Anna Slay

Summer LINK: Raleigh-The Power of Community

 

            After several weeks of being a part of Summerlink at Open Door Church, I have been involved with activities such as, soccer camps, children’s camps, planning, group bible studies, equip dinners, small group discipleship time, etc. I have learned so many things from these people that I have been learning from and serving with.  

            But what I have experienced is the power of community. The church is dependant upon deep and intimate bond between its people. I have experienced a different kind of community lately in doing summer link, a community where I have experienced mentorship. This is something I have not really had before. The leaders that I get to sit under are amazing. I have learned so much from them in the past couple weeks. I have seen their example in how to do ministry, how to love the church, how to lead your family and your church, among other things.

            During one of our Equip dinners at Zach Nelson’s house he talked about this kind of relationship. He talked about how before a church planter is sent out that person is assessed and given opportunities to serve, and that summer link is one of those opportunities. I see this opportunity as a privilege to be refined and taught and to build relationships with people who I consider friends.

            Zach talked about how the church is supposed to be the entity that evaluates, equips, and prepares the men and women to plant churches and do ministry. This concept was kind of different to me because being in Bible College you expect that once you graduate you are supposed to be “ready” to go out and plant churches. Through Zach’s talk I realized that for this method to work the community within the church must be deep, and it must be able to correct and instruct. It is this kind of community that I have seen and experienced, that pushes me to want to be more like Christ.

            From the few short weeks I have been a part of SummerLink I have grown closer with the leaders of my church as well as other members and I know that they are equipping me to be the best servant of Christ and His church that I can be. This community, this bond I am developing with the people of my local church gives me a new and deeper love for the church, and causes me to want to serve it with a new fire.

            By: Steven Kramb

Summer LINK Raleigh: Unless the Lord Builds the House

Summer LINK Raleigh: Unless the Lord Builds the House

     A verse that seems to fit my thoughts on this first week of Summer LINK is Psalm 127:1: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” This truth radically changes my initial attitude toward the summer.

     As I have often done, my preliminary thoughts on the summer were focused on what I was going to do and not do. My hopes and fears were filled with thoughts of diligent work that I would do to produce fruit for the kingdom, but a fear of the slothfulness that hinders this. These are not necessarily bad thoughts, but they are certainly incomplete.

     Conviction about the incompleteness and sinfulness of my initial mindset came on Monday at our team’s first Equip Night at the house of Tim Brannigan—the Director of Missions at Open Door. It was an evening of godly hospitality and freaking cool stories from Tim and Nancy’s early missionary career, but what struck me most was the discussion on prayer towards the latter part of the evening.

     The Holy Spirit stirring a desire for a deeper prayer life in my heart has been especially potent the last few months, and one of the impetuses has been noticing that every Christian that has done much for the fame of God’s name has also had a deep prayer life. After hearing about Tim’s life, I wanted to verify this observation with him, too. And sure enough, my suspicions were valid. This man’s prayer life certainly humiliates me—and I’m guessing it does the same for many believers around me. The most astonishing statements Tim made that have stuck with me are “One of the most fun things for me to do is pray” and “When we pray, we see God work.” My heart has been meditating on these statements ever since.

     Do I have fun when I pray? Do I really enjoy God through prayer? Or are many of my prayers cold obligations? Sadly, I think many times the latter question is the only one that receives an affirmative. And I believe joyful prayers like Tim’s are much more fruitful than cold prayers of obligation because they are rooted in the supremacy and satisfaction of Christ. For any fruit to come from SummerLINK, our teams and churches must be saturated in this God-satisfied prayer. And if our prayers are not at this point, we must pray until we are happy in Christ—we must pray until it is “fun.”

     And even more so, do I really believe God works through my prayers? Do I think I can accomplish anything for the kingdom apart from prayer? The answers to these questions are often pitiful as well. But the truth that Tim proclaimed—that when we pray we see God work, and the truth in Psalm 127—that unless the Lord builds the house we labor in vain, are so liberating. The liberation lies in their taking focus off of us and onto God Himself. The summer is no longer about what we will or won’t do, the summer is about what God will do. All we must do to take part in the Holy Spirit’s work by having the “fun” of praying.

     So, in conclusion, to gather what I’ve learned from the first week of Summer LINK: Unless the Lord builds Summer LINK, we labor in vain. To broaden the truth, unless the Holy Spirit makes disciples through the local church, we labor in vain. So let us beg God, beg him to work. Let’s eagerly yearn to have the joy of seeing the Holy Spirit change lives in ways impossible for us, all for the glory of Christ. Let’s spend this summer learning how to pray until it’s fun, so that we can look back on the summer and see fruit for the kingdom, the strengthening of the local church, and glory to Christ.

            By: Tyler Perkins

Meet the Team: Jon Chasteen

Tell us a little about your bio (studies, work experience, family, etc.)

 

I am originally from Durham, N.C. Since my dad was a pastor, I grew up in the church. I came to faith in Christ at the age of seven after my mom shared the gospel with me. After high school, I attended Appalachian State University where I met my lovely wife, Leigh Miltier Chasteen. We met through CRU our freshmen year and got married two weeks after we graduated. Two weeks later we moved to Wake Forest, N. C. where Leigh began teaching 1st Grade and I began seminary at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Much has happened over the past ten and half years of our marriage. We now have three children: Ava (8), Emet (6) and Owen (3) and are in the final stage of the adoption process to bring home Zoe Beigh (2) from China. I have also completed two additional degrees: a Master of Divinity in Advanced Biblical Studies and a Ph.D. in Biblical Theology. My dissertation title is: "The Drama of the Sabbath: A Biblical and Theological Analysis of the Sabbath." Additionally, for the past four years we have been in Medford, MA (5 miles north of Boston), helping plant Redemption Hill Church. This is where I currently serve as the Pastor of Missions and Discipleship. In addition to planting RHC, for the first two and a half years of our time here I worked as a server at P. F. Chang's China Bistro (Mongolian Beef anyone?)

 

What does Generation LINK look like at your church/location?

 

All of our Generation LINK interns receive intentional discipleship and theological training while serving in various ways throughout our church. We currently have four Generation LINK interns:  Carrie Lee directs our Children's Ministry, Joel (J Smooth) and Jen Smith head up our College Ministry, and Jonathan (J Mac) Mitchel serves in our Student Ministry. In addition to these interns, we have been a Summer LINK location for the past three summers. This summer, Joel and Jen Smith will be leading Summer LINK Boston (#BLINK).

How have you seen God use Generation LINK in your location?

 

We would not be where we are as a church without the intentional investment of our GLINK interns and Summer LINK participants. Joel and Jonathan first participated in Summer LINK Boston before deciding to return and spend a year with us. In addition to serving our church in various ways, Not our interns have excelled in displaying and declaring the gospel, as well as intentionally making disciples who make disciples among the nations. 

 

What excites you most about the future of Generation LINK?

 

I am most excited to see these men and women grow in their pursuit of God and being trained and equipped to make disciples wherever the leads them in life.

 

What 2-3 books have been most formative in your walk with Christ?

 

In my college days, there were two books that God used to form me into the person I am today. The first was The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer and the title of this book described the desire I had for God in my sophomore year of college. As God opened my eyes to see more and more of his extravagant grace and love, all I wanted to do was to know him more . . . to pursue him with all I had in life. The second was Desiring God by John Piper and this helped me to make the connection between my pursuit of God and pleasure in life.

 

What are your favorite things to do in your free time?

 

I am just now beginning to taste what it feels like to have "free" time (up until this May, I have continuously been in school since the age of 5 - WOW!). In the days ahead, I look forward to spending some intentional time with my family: playing games, playing baseball, playing music, going to the beach, hiking, riding bikes, reading, etc. I am also known among our staff team as the resident meteorologist (aka. Harold Taft).

 

What is your typical coffee shop order?

 

 I'm simple and cheap: a tall blonde with two Splendas and cream.

 

 Jon Chasteen

 

 

Meet the Team: Jonathan Mitchell

   Where did you graduate from and what did you study? I graduated from Clemson University in 2013 with a degree in Biological Sciences

   What led you to do Generation LINK? During my senior year at Clemson, I felt God calling me to ministry. Once I did Summer Link Boston, I prayed about coming back up for GLINK. God led me to come back and serve on staff at Redemption Hill. I really love the staff here at RHC and am learning so much from them.

   Which location and what areas of ministry do you serve with through Generation LINK? I am serving at Redemption Hill Church in Medford, MA. I assist with the student and college ministries currently.

   What are you most excited about in your area of ministry? I really enjoy working with youth and encouraging them with the gospel. I love building relationships and doing life together with them.

   What 2-3 books have been most formative in your walk with Christ? Obviously, the Bible. The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever helped me to see the urgency and purpose of sharing the gospel with others. It provides some practical advice in sharing the gospel, as well. The Master Plan of Evangelism is a great resource for discipleship. It is neat to see Jesus’ method of evangelism and how we should follow it. I look forward to continue reading more books which aid in my growth for the sake of the gospel.

   What are your favorite things to do in your free time? I love sports. I enjoy watching Clemson football, Clemson basketball, and the Boston Red Sox. I enjoy playing basketball and hanging out with friends.

   What is your typical coffee shop order? A regular coffee from Dunkin. “America Runs On Dunkin.”

  By: Jonathan Mitchell