Renewal

May 27, 2021May 27, 2021

What’s In a Name?

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Elim Evangelical Free Church derives its name from an oasis in the desert.

In the Old Testament book of Exodus, we catch up with a ragtag group of former slaves as they trek across the sun-scorched wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula. They are on journey of rescue and becoming. Recently liberated from bondage in Egypt and having passed through the waters of the Red Sea, they desperately pursue their divine Deliverer as He leads them forward into newness and life.

We read in Exodus 15:27, “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.” Stumbling into Elim was an unexpected grace. It provided much-needed refreshment and a haven from the heat. Yet as the road-weary Hebrews settled in for a time of rest and recovery, I wonder if they were struck by the resonant power of that place.

Elim was more than a pleasant watering hole. The landscape thrummed with divine communication. It was an oasis not just for the renewal of thirsty souls, but for the renewal of purpose.

Let me explain. Did you notice the 12 springs of living water? There just happens to be one for each tribe of God’s redeemed family. All will be able to drink their fill from these invigorating wells. Observe, too, the 70 date palms that encircle the springs, brought to life by their flow. Seventy is a symbolically significant number, representative of the 70 nations of the ancient world.

So what’s the message? Elim was intended to remind Israel of their ancestral call, to bring to mind God’s words to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3: “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. . . . And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The Lord has called us to adventure, to leave what is comfortable and familiar and to journey with Him into a future packed with promise. And yes, He will bless us. We will drink deeply of God’s life-giving presence, but that renewal is not for us alone. It’s a renewal for the nations, for our sun-parched neighbors, friends, and coworkers. We are blessed to be a blessing.

This is an important lesson for us because it is easy to get offtrack living in the oasis of God’s renewal. It is quite easy to think of Elim as all about our restoration and zen. When we do, we’ll want to put up walls around it. “This is my life-sustaining pool. Don’t stick sweaty, dirt-caked feet into these clean waters. Also, get your herd of noisy, spitting camels out of here. You’re disrupting the bliss and magic of this place!”

It is my prayer that we would not miss the invitation of Elim. Yes, the water flows to restore us on our journeys, but it bubbles up so that it might be channeled through us, so that life might bloom in the dry desert of our city. As we emerge from this season of isolation and difficulty, may our church prove to be an oasis for renewal, but may the Lord also renew our purpose: to share His life with a thirsty world.

As Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

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April 29, 2021

Change Springs Forth

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By Gregg Zimmerman

Over the last few weeks, I have really been enjoying the weather and the changes in nature that it brings. Spring is definitely here!

Spring has always been one of my favorite of the four temperate seasons. The constant gray of the Pacific Northwest winter shifts to sunny skies mixed with life-giving rain. Leaves emerge and flowers sprout. Birds return and mammals give birth to their young.

Just a few sentences into God’s Word, we see mention of the seasons: “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years’” (Genesis 1:14). Literally from the very beginning God denoted the separate seasons. The changing seasons are a reminder, something to help set a rhythm and pace.

Springtime often symbolizes new birth, fresh starts, renewal, and growth. At times that all sounds very cliché, but there definitely is something about spring that brings forth the excitement of what is ahead. The natural changes that spring brings is always something I love seeing, and as God’s creation it is a small reminder of part of His character. Hosea says, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth” (Hosea 6:3). Even in the midst of Israel’s unfaithfulness, God’s faithfulness is as sure as the spring rains that water the earth.

As with all of God’s creation, springtime is a beautiful masterpiece, but the Creator Himself is even better! “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16). The psalmist writes, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:10).

Hebrews declares, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He does not change with the seasons. We give God thanks during all seasons, but the changes around us are a reminder. Just as we move into the new spring season, we also move into this next season of Elim’s history. Let us pause to look around and enjoy the beauty of the changes God is doing all around us.

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July 3, 2014

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By Jeff Foerster

“How are you?” – “I have been so-o-o busy.” How many times have you heard someone tell you the same, or even said it yourself? Amidst the action items, priority lists, or errands being run and yet to be done, where is rest?

Rest is a reoccurring theme found in Scripture. In the beginning God performed His creative works and then, on the seventh day, He rested. We find it again in God’s commands to His people Israel, and it even makes His top-ten list, telling them to weekly imitate Him in obtaining rest. As those invited into His family, to be His children, we are told that we can rest in the Lord Jesus Christ and upon His finished work. Done. Complete. Finished. Did you hear me?

In Hebrews we are told of a rest that had not yet been entered into by the Israelites. It was a rest beyond physical boundaries into spiritual ones. And again, in Revelation God reveals that we will find rest from the weight of this sinful world and all those who detract from the gospel of our Lord and Savior.

Rest is good. In seeking rest we acknowledge our own limitations and shout, “God is my Victor, His grace is sufficient for me!” In one month we have the opportunity as a congregation to do just that. Beginning in August and ending in November we at Elim are sending Pastor Brian Sharpe into a time of rest, a time of renewal.

This three-month sabbatical mirrors that which Pastor Martin entered into last year. It’s a time of declaring God’s provision for the church and a time of rest and renewal for Brian, that he may focus all his mind, his heart, his soul, and his strength upon the Lord. In doing so Brian is strengthened and prepared for the good works that God will do through him, which have been planned since the foundations of the world.

For us at Elim it brings opportunity to see the work that God is accomplishing here as larger than any one person. This period of rest can accomplish the same for us as it is accomplishing for Brian: serving to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. May His name be praised forever!

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