Contract or Covenant?

In Isaiah 55:3, God was speaking of His son Jesus when he said, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” This covenant in Isaiah is the ultimate covenant of love. When Israel turned its’ collective back on our Creator, God sent Jesus in the world to establish a covenant of love that would last forever, a covenant sealed with His own blood.

The Church of Jesus Christ is established on this covenant of love. God covenanted with us to redeem us by the blood of Jesus Christ, not because of what we could do for Him, but because of His love for us. So, what is our part in this covenant?

Jesus was once asked a similar question. When queried by a supposed expert on contract law about the greatest commandment, Jesus said in Matthew 22:37, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” In reality, that’s a relatively easy thing to do. How can we do any less than love a God of such mercy and grace? That’s the contract part, we love Him because he first loved us.

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He added these words in verse 39, “and the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s the covenant part. Loving others is about vulnerability. Loving others is about commitment that transcends circumstances. Loving others is about sacrificing our good for the good of someone else. And Jesus says in John 13:35 that it is this kind of love that shows the world we belong to Him.

On this Valentine’s Day, the love of your life wants to see how much you love him/her. But every day, the world needs to see how much we love Him by how much we love them. God keeps His covenant of love. How about you?

-Mike Johnson

Double the Blessing

Our shepherds have determined that the Mandarin Family’s first Double the Blessing for 2021 will be used to bless our ministry partner, Leroy Swaby, and his work with the Negril Church of Christ in Jamaica.

Our evangelism/mission ministry leaders, Gary Eaton and Troy Regas, visited with brother Leroy just prior to the pandemic. Upon their visit, they discovered an active, hard working church who are doing much with little. They have immediate needs for Bibles, song books, tables and chairs. They also have a very old van in dire need of radical repairs or replacement. In addition to problems with rust, air conditioning and tires, not to mention an old engine, Leroy has to enter through the passenger side to get to the driver side to operate the van. Repairs will cost thousands, if they can be done at all, and a good used replacement van could cost over $20,000, due to import fees, taxes, etc. This van is a critical ministry tool for transportation and evangelism.

Simply put, Negril could use some help! We took up a collection last November to assist, and you generously gave a little over $3,000 in the heart of Christmas season when we were asking you to be generous on multiple fronts. We would like to add as much as we can to that amount. After all, a little can help a little, but a lot can help a lot!

You can double the blessing in any of these ways:

· Leave a check in the marked box in the foyer, designating the funds to be used for Double the Blessing.
· Mail a check.
· Donate online, via text to give, or via Zell. Again, please designate your donation for Double the Blessing.

I am excited to see what God will do through you!

-Mike Johnson

Growth Opportunities

The Mandarin Family works together to guide people into a growing relationship with Jesus. Our all-in pursuit of this mission helps us be a place to love and be loved. Loving relationships requires continuing growth.

That’s why we’re starting off 2021 with our 7-5-2 prayer campaign, where we are asking all Mandarin Family members to pray 7 times a week for your family, 5 times a week with your family, and 2 times a week with your spouse. We believe this pursuit of a new normal will change our prayer lives, it will change our relationship with God, and it will change our relationships with the people who matter most to us.

Another growth opportunity is our virtual Bible classes. One of the blessings of the pandemic has been tapping into technology that allows all of us to participate in a Bible class from the comfort of our own homes.

Right now, we are offering a study of Proverbs on Tuesday mornings at 10:30 and Wednesday evenings at 7:00. One of the cool things about Proverbs is that each class stands on its’ own as opposed to building on the previous class, so if you are out for a week here and there, you can rejoin without feeling behind.

On Sunday evenings at 6:00, we are engaged in a short study called, “Can You Trust the Bible.” This study will continue into early February, then a new study will begin. Our intent with Sunday night classes is to do relevant studies of no longer than four to six weeks. That way, you don’t have to make a long-term commitment to participate.

I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to grow and to help others grow.

-Mike Johnson

Get Fit

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? Most polls indicate over half those who make a get fit resolution do something out of alignment with that resolution within the first three days of a new year.

Cultivating new lifestyle habits is not easy. If we’re trying to get physically fit, we need accountability. We need someone in our lives who has permission to challenge us to keep going when we want to give up. It helps to set appointed times to engage in the behaviors that will help us reach our goals.

In the Mandarin Family, we are renewing our efforts to Get Fit spiritually. The Apostle Paul says, “physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things” (I Timothy 4:8 NIV). Over the next several weeks, we will engage in specific training techniques to Get Fit. And out of all the habits in which we will engage, none is more important than prayer.

That’s why today, we are introducing a 40-day prayer campaign called 7-5-2. We are asking every Mandarin Family member to make a commitment between today and February 19 to:

· Pray for your family 7 days a week,
· Pray with your family 5 days a week,
· Pray with your spouse 2 days a week.

We need help to do this, so we’re providing you a wide variety of resources, and we’ll be offering consistent and positive encouragement as we pray together.

We believe that prayer changes things. In fact, we believe that prayer changes everything. Today I will be asking you to make a 7-5-2 commitment. Pursuing a new normal begins with this step. Are you ready?

-Mike Johnson

The Power of Prayer

Do you remember where the Mandarin Family was a year ago? How have things changed so dramatically and progressed so quickly? Easy answer: God at work! But why did God show up and start rebuilding, reviving and restoring this church? Easy answer: Prayer!

A year ago, Trey Clark created a plan to call the Mandarin Family to a month of prayer. Over this past school year, every child in this family has been prayed for daily by someone in addition to mom and dad. Our elder process was bathed in prayer. Every move made by our former Steering Committee was bathed in prayer. We are where we are, not because of anything special in us, but because God is faithful when His children pray.

So what’s going to happen next? What about a new youth minister? What about deacons? What about continued growth? What about putting our baptistry back in operation? What about making a real Kingdom difference in our community? What work of God will we be celebrating a year from now? Easy answer: It all depends on prayer!

This church family moves forward in direct proportion to our prayer lives. I hope you are praying for laborers for the harvest. I hope you are praying for your neighbors, friends, coworkers and classmates to come to know Jesus. I hope you are praying that our shepherds will move with boldness and vision. I hope you are praying that your preacher will faithfully carry out his calling as God’s servant. It’s because of your prayer life that I believe Mandarin’s best days lie ahead!

Mike Johnson

Don’t forget to ‘Take 5’