a church of destiny From the Pastor’s Office...
May 2009
Discipleship is King-
dom Living
by Dallas Willard
Being a disciple or appren-
tice of Jesus is a definite and
obvious kind of thing. To
make a mystery of it is to
misunderstand it. It is al-
most universally conceded
today that you can be a
Christian without being a
disciple. And one who actu-
ally is an apprentice and co-
Faith Family Update
laborer with Jesus in his or
her daily existence is sure to
be a "Christian" in every
sense of the word that mat-
ters. The very term Christian
was explicitly introduced in
the New Testament -- where
it is used only three times --
to apply to disciples when
they could no longer be
called Jews, because many
kinds of gentiles were now
part of them.
Now, people who are asked
whether they are appren-
tices of a politician, musi-
cian, or lawyer would not
need to think a second to
respond. Similarly for those
asked if they are studying
Spanish or bricklaying with
someone unknown to the
public. It is hardly something
that would escape one's at-
tention. The same is all the
more true if asked about dis-
cipleship to Jesus.
But if asked whether they
are good apprentices of
whatever person or line of
work is concerned, they
might hesitate. They might
say no. Or yes. Asked if they
could be better students,
they would probably say yes.
And all of this falls squarely
within the category of being
a disciple or apprentice. For
to be a disciple in any area
or relationship is not to be
perfect. One can be a very
raw and incompetent begin-
ner and still be a disciple.
It is a part of the refreshing
realism of the Gospels that
we often find Jesus doing
nothing less than "bawling
out" His disciples. That, how-
ever, is very far from reject-
ing them. It is, in fact, a way
of being faithful to them, just
as chastisement is God's
way of showing that some-
one is His child (Heb. 12:7-
10). A good "master" takes
His apprentices seriously
and therefore takes them to
task as needed.
A disciple or apprentice,
then, is simply someone who
has decided to be with an-
other person, under appro-
priate conditions, in order to
become capable of doing
what that person does or to
become what that person is.
How does this apply to disci-
pleship to Jesus? What is it,
exactly, that He, the incar-
nate Lord, does? What is He
"good at"? The answer is
found in the Gospels: He
lives in the kingdom of God,
and He applies that kingdom
for the good of others and
even makes it possible for
them to enter it themselves.
The deeper theological
truths about His person and
His work do not detract from
this simple point. It is what
He calls us to by saying,
"Follow me."
The description Peter gives
in the first "official" presenta-
tion of the gospel to the gen-
tiles provides a sharp picture
of the Master under whom
we serve as apprentices.
"You know," He says to Cor-
nelius, "of Jesus, the one
from Nazareth. And you
know how God anointed him
with the Holy Spirit and
power. He went about doing
good and curing all those
under oppression by the
devil, because God was with
Him" (Acts 10:38).
And as a disciple of Jesus I
am with Him, by choice and
by grace, learning from Him
how to live in the kingdom of
God. This is the crucial idea.
That means how to live
within the range of God's
effective will, His life flowing
through mine. Another im-
portant way of putting this is
to say that I am learning
from Jesus to live my life as
He would live life if He were
I. I am not necessarily learn-
ing to do everything He did,
but I am learning how to do
everything I do in the man-
ner in which He did all that
He did.
I am learning from Jesus
how to lead my life, my
whole life, my real life. Note,
please, I am not learning
from Him how to lead His
life. His life on earth was a
transcendently wonderful
one. But it has now been
led. Neither I nor anyone
else, even Himself, will ever
lead it again. And He is, in
any case, interested in my
life, that very existence that
is me. There lies my need. I
need to be able to lead my
life as He would lead it if He
were I.
Life in the kingdom is not
just a matter of not doing
what is wrong. The appren-
tices of Jesus are primarily
occupied with the positive
good that can be done dur-
ing their days "under the
sun" and the positive
strengths and virtues that
they develop in themselves
as they grow toward "the
kingdom prepared for them
from the foundations of the
world" (Matt. 25:34). What
they, and God, get out of
their lifetime is chiefly the
person they become. And
that is why their real life is
so important.
The cultivation of oneself,
one's family, one's work-
place and community -- es-
pecially the community of
believers -- thus becomes
the center of focus for the
apprentice's joint life with
his or her teacher. It is with
this entire context in view
that we most richly and ac-
curately speak of being a
disciple for the Kingdom of
God.
Join us disciples of God as
we begin our Journey in the
CommUNITY of FFLC.
The Way of Worship
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am just amazed at how God is
working in the body of Christ. Just
in our worship team, God has given
us two more wonderful musicians.
Ashley Edge has joined us with her
beautiful vocals and Jim Faelske is
adding to our worship with his violin.
You may have noticed different peo-
ple leading in worship. Within the
unified team, we have four smaller
groups that are sharing the opportu-
nity to minister in music. These four
teams are rotating Sunday nights,
Wednesday nights, and Friday
nights. On Sunday morning, all
groups minister together.
Each lead worshipper seems to bring
a different atmosphere of praise and
worship, and it has been great to
give all of the musicians opportuni-
ties to minister as well as be minis-
tered to.
We still have room for you! If God is
leading youo to join the worship
team, please contact Christi Horton
or me. The team meets on Thursday
nights at 7 pm. We would love to
have you!
Can’t wait to worship with you again!
Becky
When CommUNITY groups begin in
June, Becky will be the leader of the
Worship group. They will meet at
6:30 PM Thursday and have devo-
tions and then spend the time in wor-
ship. Even if you are not part of the
worship team, you can come and
soak in God’s presence.

The Perfect Gift

The God inspired jewelry creations of
Karyn Shay are back in the Resource
Center!
Karyn is donating 100% of all her jew-
elry sales to the building fund…but only
while supplies last!
So not only do you give the gift of
beauty and blessings by purchasing the
jewelry, but you also bless the entire
church body by giving to our building
fund.
And so the guys do not feel left out, pur-
chase and FFLC Destiny Mug for $10
and bless our visitors with a free one
filled with goodies!!!
Family Family Tshirts are in!!! $15

Senior Saints Dinner We Value

This month the Keen-Agers
will be having dinner at Coy-
ote Canyon, May 11th at
6:00. If you have any ques-
tions, please contact the
church office.
we value God’s inspired Word we we value fervent prayer and
value God’s presence in all areas of intercession we value integrity we
our lives we value the family we value relationships we value
value unity of the spirit and principle excellence we value reaching the lost
we value the moving of the Holy Spirit we value the Kingdom of God
we value dynamic praise and worship

Page 2 F A I T H F A M I L Y U P DA T E
CommUNITY:Discipleship
We’re a commUNITY of
people at different places
in our personal spiritual journey.
Some of us are just beginning to ask
spiritual questions.
Some of us are getting
to know God for the
first time. Some are
trying to go deeper
after many years of
following Jesus. No
matter where you
are on your journey,
you’re welcome
to join us.
CommUnity groups. We were
created to live in commUNITY and
help one another grow. We be-
lieve that growth happens in the
context of relationships with other
believers. Within a commUNITY
group, you can grow and mature
in your walk with Christ side-by-
side with other believers. God
wants us to love Him and to love
people. Why not do both at the
same time? Starting in June we
will begin our commUNITY
groups. We will meet in homes or
other locations, in small groups on
different nights of the week and
weekend-whatever works best for
your schedule. More information
coming in the disciple atlas com-
ing May 24th. Make plans now to
attend the commUNITY service
and BBQ at the May 31st evening
service.
FYI
The Leadership and Training meeting
is the first Tuesday of the month at
6:30 PM. Dinner is served. All lead-
ers, deacons, teachers, commUNITY
group leaders and anyone interested
in training please attend.
May 7th is the National Day of
Prayer. We will be meeting at the
south side of the capitol at 3pm
May 9th, The Daughters of Destiny
mother, daughter luncheon at noon in
the fellowship hall. Tickets $10.
May 24th right after the service we
will be having a BBQ for the Vets and
Bikers. Followed by a motorcycle
ride and no evening service.
The quarterly Leadership Connection
meeting will be May 26th at 7pm in
the sanctuary for all ministry leaders
and deacons. It will be led by Pastor
Phil.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Birthdays

05.01 Amy Torkelson 05.21 Debbie Allen

05.02 Kristin Bradford 05.22 Nicole Cutshall Anniversaries
05.03 Randy Bruno 05.22 John Schutter
05.16.81
05.03 Paula Cannon 05.23 Jamon Evans
Debbie & Michael Allen
05.04 Lily Greene 05.23 Randy Price
05.16.98
05.04 Mark May 05.23 Julie Price
Jennifer & Jason Hollis
05.05 Meagan Norris 05.25 Vickie Palmer
05.06 Abbygail Leigh Wathen 05.27 Lori Higgins
05.09 Don Garner 05.27 Emily Price
05.10 Mike Horton 05.27 Brent Swanson
05.10 Sue Jacobson 05.27 Jennifer Frickey
05.10 Kristy Price 05.28 Dennis Laughlin
05.10 DaNette Schutter 05.29 Brylie Price
05.11 Dale Lewis 05.30 Farrell Fouts
05.13 Ken Oldridge 05.31 Frank Butts
05.16 Jolie Regnier 05.31 Skyler Price
05.17 Clare Walton

A C HU R C H OF DE S TI NY Page 3
 FA I T H FA M I LY L I F E
CENTRE Our Mission is

3710 NW Topeka Blvd. Giving of ourselves to God and our generation

Topeka, Kansas 66617
Phone: 785.286.0429 Building our relationship with Jesus Christ
Fax: 785.286.4619
Email: info@faithfamilylife.com FULFILLING KINGDOM DESTINY

Every Life Counts for the Kingdom

Return Service Requested

Sunday
9:30 a.m. SSALT (adult/youth) & JAM (children’s)
(our version of Christian Education)
10:45 a.m. Worship Celebration
Crosswalk Children’s Celebration
6:16 p.m. Outpouring Service
(Following God’s lead in worship and Word)
Wednesday
noon Prayer in the Prayer Room
6:00 p.m. Prayer in Sanctuary
7:00 p.m. Ministry and Classes for All Ages
Thursday
7:00 p.m. Worship & HOPE Team Practice
Friday
6:00 p.m. Worship/Prayer
7:00 p.m. Prayer 101/201 Classes