Jubilee Celebrates 10 Years!

We have been going to Jubilee Fellowship Church for five years now - half of the time that it has been in existence. Words can’t even begin to describe what a blessing JFC has been to us.

We had been at our previous church from 1990 to 2003. Christina was a toddler and I was very pregnant with Elissa when we started there. Gary was on staff as a youth minister for many of those years. We had so many close relationships (and still maintain many of them) that it was very difficult for us to leave. Our children were VERY angry with us for leaving the only church that they ever really knew. . . . for a little while. In less than a month, our children were thanking us on almost a DAILY basis for bringing them to JFC.

I have never experienced a church like ours. There is so much life, so much freedom. The sermons completely fill us each week. In fact, we regularly listen to Pastor John for fun. Daniel (13) will pop in a Pastor John cd more often than he listens to music. For those of you who haven’t heard one of his sermons, I’m sure that you think that makes Daniel a very strange child. For those of you who have, you understand. And I am NEVER disappointed when Pastor Bob Smith, Pastor Dan DeMey or Pastor Terry Hilgers preach either. The preaching at JFC is second to none.

We feel so loved and cared for by the pastoral staff and other members of the church. We’ve gone through some very tough times (because, let’s face it: life is tough) since we have been part of JFC. Without doubt, I can say that we were never alone in those times. The church has stood with us and even held us when things got bad.

Because it is made up of a bunch of sinners (just like any other church), it isn’t perfect. People get hurt. I’ve been hurt. But there will never be a place this side of heaven where that doesn’t happen. Not everything the church offers works for everyone in our family all the time - but it is a place full of life and freedom. A place where the depths of my soul can experience God. I am so grateful.

Isolation

Pastor John, from Jubilee Fellowship - the greatest church in the history of the world, ever - is preaching a sermon series about deadly emotions. He was preaching about depression and I have definitely been in some strange sort of funk lately which is a least bordering on depression. (I am hoping this goes away when I develop some sort of normal sleeping pattern again.)

He talked about how some of the most isolated people in the world are young mothers. Okay, so technically I am NOT a young mother but I am a mother with young children. I couldn’t agree with Pastor John more. And why is it so easy for people in this situation to become depressed? Because there are so few grown-up voices speaking into our lives. I need these grown-up voices for balance.

I didn’t realize how out of balance I was until I became part of a grown-up conversation last week. I was in a group of people and a very sweet woman mentioned how frustrated she was about a certain situation in her life. Another woman, who was definitely in some sort of bondage to the issue that the first woman brought up, proceeded to pretty strongly condemn her for being in that situation. I interrupted the condemnation and spoke life and encouragement into the first woman. The issue at hand was one that almost every woman struggles with and I had truly resolved this issue in my heart years ago.

After I came home from this conversation, the enemy of my soul started condemning me with that very same issue. It was easy for me to see what had happened in that conversation and the reasons behind it. Why on earth, would I listen to and accept that condemnation? The answer: Isolation. Since adult conversations tend to be a rare commodity in my life right now, my mind easily focused on the negative voice because there simply weren’t enough other voices to listen to.

The solution: Annette MUST get out more and have more grown-up conversations.