A New Season, A Faithful God
November! Here we are at yet another season change! Are you a pumpkins and crunchy leaves type of person or are you already in the Christmas spirit? Whether you're itching to set up your tree (real tree for lifeeee!!!), or won't touch a candy cane until after Thanksgiving, the coming of Fall and into Winter is always a great reminder of the faithfulness of God. Psalm 8:3 and 4 tell us:
"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"
How can it be that the God of the Universe, the creator of heaven and earth is mindful of us! He cares for us! He is as predictable as the changing seasons, and that gives me great comfort.
“I’m not getting baptized because I have everything figured out. I’m getting baptized because I know who I want to follow.”
On Sunday morning, Jo declared her faith in Jesus through baptism. Chasing things she thought would bring happiness and fulfillment had led her to a dark place. But even then, God was pursuing her.“I started reading the Bible, praying more, worshiping, and genuinely looking forward to Sundays.”
Little by little, God was drawing Jo to Himself, and He continues that work today. “There were times when I found myself slipping back into old habits, but somehow, I always found my way back to Him.”
Jo shared how God has blessed her and her fiancé, Jordan, as they've pursued Him together. Through obedience, they've begun letting go of the things that once held them captive, choosing instead to follow Jesus. Jo knows that doesn't mean she'll never make mistakes or fall short. “But the difference now is that I know where my hope, my peace, and my identity come from.”
As a church family in downtown, we desire to seek the good of our city and partner with those who are seeking to do the same! A.J. Whittenberg is an elementary school in downtown that seeks the good of their students in many ways. They offer a school-wide, engineering-focused curriculum for all their students. Pretty amazing! What's even more is that they care for their students outside of school hours as well.
Origins will celebrate its 17th birthday in just a few weeks. Over the course of those 17 years some of our favorite times of celebration have revolved around seeing people declare their faith in Jesus through Baptism. We had been blessed to seen both young and old immersed as an act of faith and obedience! Through the years we have used lakes, pools, borrowed portable baptistries, and most recently an inflatable hot tub. Yep! A HOT TUB! The location or vessel is not what has made these times so special. It has been the statement made by those going into the water.
On the third Sunday of each month, we invite someone from our church family to share about what God has been doing in their lives. In September, David Bonner shared about how God has been drawing his heart towards Him.
David and his wife Sarah found Origins 10 years ago. Invited by a couple from their apartment complex, they decided to visit Origins. Despite growing up in the church, David’s first impressions of Origins were unlike his previous church experiences. There was something special about the community of Origins, and they have been a part of this family ever since.
Two Sundays ago, Kailee Wood lead our prayer time focusing on Food for the Hungry (FH). She shared about her own experience and how she and her husband, Taylor, have been sponsoring a child since 2023. The kids in Caquipec are just like our kids at Origins. Some are energetic and talkative, while others are shy and a bit reserved. When Taylor first met Lidia, she was so shy, timid, and did not want to speak, but the Lord has been kind to let the Woods see that relationship grow over the past 3 years. This year at their visit, Lidia asked for a hug! That may seem simple but it’s a big deal! Kailee said, that “they are real people and real relationships.” This is proof that the way Origins “shows up year in and year out creates trust and a greater opportunity for them to hear, know, and respond to the Gospel, which is the ultimate goal.”
In our Back to School blog post, there was a little nugget about a future blog post on kids going to camp... I know you’ve been waiting impatiently for that update, so here goes!!!
In January (yes, winter), we started having conversations about summer camp. It really does sell out that quickly, so we have to start planning early in the year to make sure we get the dates we want, particularly for Camp McCall.
In Acts 2, we see that the early church is born and then grows tremendously, by the power of the Holy Spirit in the everyday life of God's people. The church committed to the rhythms of meeting together, hearing the Word, praying with one another, and taking care of one another's needs. What was the result? "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)
August is here! Another change of rhythms is upon us and as much as we may want control over time, we can be sure that it will continue on despite our desire to stop it (or speed it up??). We know that the Lord does not change (Malachi 3:6), and He knows the number of days we have on Earth (Psalm 90:12). As we head into the school year, let us seek Him daily, ask for His help in spending our days well, and remember all He has done for us.
As a church in downtown Greenville, we desire to be a people who see the needs of the lowly, serve them, and share our hope in Jesus with them. Piedmont Women's Center is a local ministry we get to partner with in that mission. PWC is a faith-based non-profit that desires to see women and their families succeed and thrive. This is accomplished through their free services such as medical-grade pregnancy testing, pregnancy consultations, limited OB ultrasounds, STI assessment, education, referrals, well-woman exams, child loss support, and parenting classes. These services matter because women, their unborn babies, and their families matter. God cares about life, and our Origins family is grateful to partner with PWC to preserve life, whether that be an unborn baby or his or her mother.
These are only five of the reasons our volunteers love serving in OriginsKids, and if you are one of the ones who does serve, THANK YOU. Thank you for your faithfulness and for being obedient to the calling of making disciples. As a church family, we choose how we approach our Kids. Are we serving well? Are we dreading time in the chaos and loudness? Do we look forward to seeing how they've grown since last month? Are we excited to tell them about our Savior, Jesus, who loves us and came to rescue us? Are we praying for the Salvation of our children? Let us be salt and light, even to the littlest.
Church membership can be a confusing and often divisive topic. I believe there are a few dominant reasons for that. The first has to do with how we have seen membership practiced in our previous church experiences. The second is due to a lack of solid explanation about the wisdom behind local church membership.
I cannot speak of your church history, but if it is anything like mine then you saw church membership as walking down front and letting the pastor or someone in leadership know that you wanted to join the church. They would likely ask about your salvation and if you said you did in fact believe in Jesus, then you would be presented as a member of the church. I am in no way knocking that process, but I rarely heard the rationale or meaning behind it. What did membership mean? How did it change your role or status? Were there any new privileges or responsibilities attached?
If you are a part of the Origins family, we want to be clear about our desire for “meaningful membership.” We want the why, how, and what to be defined so you know how it affects you and the rest of this amazing church family. When addressing the WHY, we can acknowledge the fact that the Bible does not expressedly command or require local church membership. And while this is true, if we take the time and apply sound Biblical wisdom, we can make a strong case for local church membership that is both meaningful and impactful.
Saratoga Springs, Utah, is one of the fastest-growing communities in the state. With a population of approximately 65,000 people and projections showing continued rapid growth, the need for gospel-centered churches is significant.
The area is predominantly LDS, with approximately 86% of residents identifying as Latter-day Saints and only about 0.4% identifying as Evangelical Christians. While there are around 20 LDS wards in the city, there are only a few gospel-preaching churches.
We exist to make disciples who…
Love God
It may sound simple, but we desire to build a family that clearly Loves God! While this occurs on a heart level, we believe that it should reveal itself in the way we do life. One aspect, as we discussed above is through our weekly worship gatherings. This is a public display of our affection to God. Other ways that we encourage our covenant members to Love God is through regular Bible reading, prayer and fasting, and seeking to give up sin in favor of God’s righteousness.
And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
I don't know how many of you reading this have been back in OriginsKids, but if you have in the last nine months you probably have heard of The Biggest Story. We say this over and over and over again, and I hope it is true for as long as I get to serve in this role (and beyond), but our kids are going to hear about Jesus when they come to OriginsKids. Every week kids are going to hear scripture, learn truth, be prayed over, and learn about the character of God. Every week we read stories that point to Jesus.
When Matthew and I were serving as Apartment Life missionaries, a group of women from Hampton First Baptist Church adopted us. For years, they were diligent about praying for our family and for our ministry. They also supported us financially and encouraged us with letters and emails during our early years with Origins.
One of the blessings and responsibilities we have as a church family is to seek the good of our city. (Jer 29:7) We desire families who live, work, and play in our city to have their needs met both physically and spiritually. We understand that we are incapable of doing this on our own and are grateful that the Lord has allowed us to build healthy relationships with local organizations that are also seeking the good of downtown Greenville! We hope that through these partnerships we can both serve immediate needs and share the hope of Jesus. Below are a few ways we have been able to serve alongside two of our partnerships, and also ways you can be praying with us heading into the summer!
Our mission is simple; we exist to Make Disciples who Love God, Love One Another, and Love
the City. We feel this is best accomplished through intentional relationships with those who
live, work, and play in downtown.
This summer, all elementary-aged children, including Lower Elementary and 4 and 5 year old will begin Sunday mornings in the main service, worshiping through song with their families. After the worship portion, they will be dismissed to their classes for a Bible lesson with their peers. Our two- and three-year-olds and nursery-aged children will continue to have classrooms available starting at 9:20.
On Sunday, we looked at Luke chapter 14, where Jesus is talking to the multitudes that were following him, and he began to discuss what it meant to be a disciple and what it took. One of the things that he discussed is counting the costs. He wanted to prepare the people that were following him so that they knew, when things came up, that they were prepared and that there was going to be some work and some costs involved in following him.
