Blog
News • Devotions • Articles • Music • Books
10% of every dollar you give to Red Hills supports missions efforts around the world. One of those efforts is the A21 campaign. This organization works to free slaves, disrupt the demand, and end human trafficking around the world. They are an amazing, Christ centered, organization and we love supporting their work.
They recently released a report of their work for 2019 and we wanted to share it with you. Click the button below to download the PDF.
Greetings!
I have some important information for you about our weekly Sunday gathering. Following the Phase 1 opening of Florida, our church has resumed in-person gatherings for Sunday mornings, but gatherings will look a little different for now. Until further notice, we will not have nursery, kids’ church, greeters, or coffee/tea. These areas will be added back eventually, but for now, we are keeping them postponed.
We are still meeting at 10 am. When you arrive at church on Sundays we will have rows of chairs set up, six feet apart. But, we meet in a gym, so you are also welcome to grab a chair and sit anywhere you like. We even encourage families to bring their camping chairs and huddle as a family. All ages are welcome to join us for worship, prayer, and Bible teaching; and the gathering will last about one hour.
I understand that getting back to normal will look different for everyone. Some of you have family members that are in a high-risk group for this virus and will choose to stay home until Florida hits Phase 2 or 3. Please know, whatever decision you make for your family is supported by your church. I trust that you will do what is right for your home, and my prayers are with all of you. My goal is to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry” by making a Sunday gathering available, and I encourage you to join us as soon as you are able.
God bless!
Pastor Marshall Ochs
Hey everybody!
Chris and Lacey here. We have an awesome update on what God has been doing in our life. Since we got back from China last August, we’ve been praying, seeking, and searching for where God was going to lead us next in our missionary journey, and we are excited to share that with our Red Hills family. We will be partnering with an organization called To Every Tribe (www.toeverytribe.org). For our first two years with them, we will be splitting time living in South Texas and Northern Mexico, where we will learn from and partner with veteran missionaries, undergo in-depth biblical training and help plant churches in some of the unreached portions of Northern Mexico.
The original plan for us was to dive right into support raising, with the goal of arriving in the field in late August. With the current difficulties we are all facing due to COVID-19, that timeline is now pushed back to February, although if the Lord wills and provides, we’ll still head out in August, or whenever we hit our support raising goal between this August and next February. It would mean everything to us to have our Red Hills Family supporting us, in these ways:
1. Prayer Support. We encourage you guys to read over To Every Tribe’s website (toeverytribe.org) to get familiar with who they are, what they are about, and a little bit about what we’ll be doing with them as we seek to see our king Jesus worshipped among all the nations. We experienced firsthand what having a strong prayer support system was like while we were in China, and we definitely can’t say enough about how important that is.
2. Financial support. We are so blessed to have the support of Red Hills as a whole, but we need a team of monthly supporters for this to work. We have a direct giving link for our ministry on the to every tribe website, and we would love to meet face to face with you guys and explain in-depth what that would look like, and of course more about our and to every tribe’s story. Unfortunately, our current situation makes that difficult, but we would love to set up video calls, phone calls, or direct messages until we can get back to all being in the same room together.
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions you might have. We love getting to know everyone and sharing what God has done and is doing! We love and miss you guys, and can’t wait to gather together soon!
-Chris & Lacey Ryan, Missionaries to Northern Mexico
I have some updates that will affect how and when we gather as the church for the next few weeks. As you may know, the CDC has issued recommendations to limit gatherings of people larger than 10. I have spent time in prayer and had multiple conversations with our leadership team about these recommendations. I believe it is wise to follow these instructions; therefore, we are postponing all in-person gatherings until further notice.
Even though we will not be meeting in person on Sundays, we are still the church. The church is not a building or location; it is a people, redeemed by God through Christ! Therefore, I would like for our church to continue with our weekly habits of worship and study of His word. We will make an online church gathering available utilizing a link on our website. On Sunday mornings at 10 am, click the link on our website and join us for a time of worship and study. Please know, this is not a substitute for gathering as instructed in the New Testament, but I believe it is a way for us to worship and learn from God’s Word during this unique time in our world.
As a final note, we are living in a world of deep darkness. Empty grocery store shelves and doubt at every turn seems to be the new normal all around us. Please remember who we are as the people of God. We do not broker fear and live in anxiety as this world does. We are ambassadors of hope and ministers of reconciliation. Jesus told us there would be famine and rumors of wars as we inch closer to the return of our King. Do not be surprised or worried about what will happen. Do not spread fear and uncertainty on social media. Instead, spread hope and share the Good News of Jesus! Nonbelievers are thinking about matters of death and faith, whether they want to or not. Instead of adding to the panic, speak life, and steer conversations toward God. This is our time to shine bright, not hide our light under a basket of worry.
So, fix your eyes on Jesus, gather with me online this Sunday, and shine bright, people of God!
– Pastor Marshall Ochs
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:1-10
Tallahassee, FL, Hot Yoga Studio. Three lives lost.
Sandy Hook Elementary School where over 27 children and teachers died.
Tree of Life Synagogue, 11 people dead.
Parkland High School, 17 students and staff members
Las Vegas, 58 innocent lives taken
Pulse Night Club, 49 dead.
Burlington, Washington, 5 dead. Sutherland Springs, Texas where 26 members of a Baptist church were killed one tragic Sunday morning. Santa Fe, Texas, Roseburg, Oregon, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. There are many others too. Hundreds in fact.
Over the weekend in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, we are once again left to mourn the loss of innocent lives. Over thirty people are dead, with many more wounded, and just like the events of the past, there are no answers for our questions. Heartbroken I read the stories of a mother who lost her life sheltering her two-year-old from harm. Arturo Benavides, 60, was grocery shopping on Saturday at the Walmart with his wife. He was paying at the register when the shooting happened. Mr. Benavides was an Army veteran and a bus driver for Sun Metro, El Paso.
In Ohio, the victims were Monica Brickhouse, Nicholas Cumer, Derrick Fudge, Lois Oglesby, Logan Turner, Beatrice Warren-Curtis, Thomas McNichols and Saeed Saleh.
These were mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. All fellow image bearers.
At some point this week, you may find yourself with the opportunity to engage in heated debates over the cause of these tragic attacks. It will be tempting to defend a political party or a closely held right. Most certainly emotions will run high, blame will be assigned, lines will be drawn, and mourning will turn to anger.
As those who carry the name Christian, we must pause in these moments. We should not shrink back, but provide wisdom amid the shouting. Certainly, there will be a time for action, but today I’m reminded of what the Apostle Peter urged those who he called “sojourners and exiles”.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:9-12
As the body of Christ awaiting our King to return, we are sojourners and exiles living in a home that is not our home, and as such, we are called to be at all times sober-minded and full of grace. (1:13) Paul even warns Timothy not to engage in senseless debates and arguments because it could potentially damage the hearer. (2 Timothy 2). Our motivations should be different. Each conversation with a family member, co-worker, or some random person on the internet is a chance to share wisdom and grace. This is how you act when you are living in a foreign land. Your language is not their language so your approach should mirror the Kingdom of God, not the culture of this world.
As Christ’s example to the world, we should take time to pray. We should also search the depths of our heart and repent if we have been complicit in the continuance of racism or the dehumanizing of any people group. We should pray for the victims and their families, pray for our cities, our neighborhoods, and our churches. We should pray for wisdom on when to speak, and grace for what to say. Let us mourn for those who cannot mourn, become peacemakers in a time of strife, and hunger and thirst for righteousness in a wicked world.
Don’t use this time to add confusion and personal opinions to a lost world, use this time to pray.
-Lyell Walker
