With the new year 2020 fast approaching, many experience a call to “start anew,” whether it be through resolutions, habits, or even lifestyles. In the spirit of thoughtful reflection and great change taking place during this time, we’re excited to share an inside look into singer Jen Aldana’s original music video: “Heaven Rejoices.”  Jen is a Boston based singer-songwriter and worship leader at Impact Church in Medford, MA. She was also a singer in UniteBoston’s 3rd annual Celebration of Worship and in the blog below, she also shares about how her experience in the band shaped her understanding of different denominations within the Church.

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Released on November 1st, “Heaven Rejoices” captures the stories of those who may be struggling or feel disconnected, but ultimately find their way back to a state of grace through facing their fears and reconnecting with God. These stories are shown from the perspectives of three primary characters: 

1. The “Happy” Couple, played by Jen’s Impact Church friends Saskia and Jalen, focuses on a woman who feels tied in an unhealthy relationship with her significant other, but finds the strength to walk away after realizing “she deserves better than this” because she is “beautifully, wonderfully made and loved by God.” 
2. The Dreamer, played by Jen’s song producer Danny Godwin, touches on struggles with anxiety, prescription drug addiction, and emotional disconnection from friends–culminating in a “moment of relief” when the character lets go of his addiction in order to “give it up to God.” 
3. The Runaway, played by Jen’s Impact Church friend Brittany, serves as the most abstract character “running away” from an unseen fear in the woods, but eventually “brings the whole video together” through her “rejoicing” and “dancing.” 

According to Jen, the video’s anecdotes are adapted versions of her own experiences building her relationship with God through challenging circumstances, but are told in a broader “fill in the blank” framework so viewers can relate them to their own lives. “With the video concept, I didn’t want it to be like ‘let’s show a bunch of people in a group and suddenly they get saved,’” Jen said. “It’s beautiful when that happens, but I also wanted to show imagery of struggles that relate to my story as well. Man and women alike can relate to the stories displayed in the video, and how easy it is to get tangled in these situations.” 

Tying it all together, the chorus of Jen’s song “Heaven rejoices when the lost are found” acts as a thread woven throughout that inadvertently communicates the ever-cited hopeful perspective that ‘that it’s never too late to start anew.’ That said, Jen is quick to point out that the characters’ illustrated scenarios are complex, that their transitions are based on individual decisions rather than A-to-B transformations, and that the struggles represented may still continue even while walking with God. “I wanted to show for the people who already believe that this walk is not easy,” Jen said. “You’re still going to struggle, and tough things are going to happen, but God is always present”. 

Jen’s motivation to share such individual experiences stems from her drive to communicate topics “that are not openly spoken about or shown in art or music you would put under a ‘Christian’ category. “I’ve always been a person to tackle a heavy topic, and I wanted to express myself the same way I would artistically if the music wasn’t faith-based,” Jen said. “So I just want to show, this is what real life looks like, but God is still there. He can still be there for you, and present in your life if you want him to be there.”

Inspired by Luke 15:10, Jen sees her own music work in close alignment with UniteBoston’s mission for “Christian unity” because the underlying themes of ‘rejoicing’ and ‘starting anew’ ring “true regardless of denomination.” Reflecting this back to experience at this year’s UniteBoston Celebration of Worship, Jen said her “awesome conversations about Jesus” with fellow singer Lucia Maria were “very unifying” because they had the “same heart rooted in Jesus, originating from different denominations (Protestant and Catholic).” “Heaven still rejoices when you choose God, when you accept Him into your life,” Jen said. “Every church home offers a different thing, but Jesus is all the same, the same God that we serve. And I think that pretty much embodies what UniteBoston is about: breaking barriers and bringing people from different denominations and church homes together. It was just such a beautiful moment for me.” 

This week, we feature two Christmas reflections written by local Christian leaders: Kelly Madden, Director of the Boston Fellows and member of the Church of the Cross, and Sherami Hinders who is on staff at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and a member of Highrock Arlington.  These are timely reads as Christians throughout the world celebrate the significance of God becoming human in the person of Jesus Christ.

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How Long Did Jesus Live as a Man?

By Dr. Kelly Madden

God became man. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Luke 1:31

O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“How long did Jesus live as a man?” I often ask, when teaching.

“Thirty-three years,” my hearers obligingly answer.

“No, it’s a trick question,” I warn them, with a smile.

(But it’s not, really; it’s no arcane bit of theology.)

“He is still a man. He still has a body.”

If this idea is new to you, too, then let me say, first: This is not controversial. Not a “Some-scholars-would-say” technicality. No, this is as biblically-basic and historically-orthodox as it gets.

He was conceived and born and lived in a body, suffered and died in a body, was buried, rose again in a body, ascended to the right hand of the Father in a body, and will return again to judge the living and the dead in a human body.

That’s bare-bones Christian teaching and if you don’t know it, then I hope this provokes a couple of reactions in you.

First, I hope it makes you a little angry that no one has ever taught you this foundational truth. I hope it causes you to wonder about what other basic beliefs have eluded so much of the church today, despite our claims to hold the Bible as our final authority.

Second, I hope it will spur you to pay attention to what I’m going to say next. Because this matters.

God took on human form forever. He chose to live as a human being, not just for a few decades, but for all of eternity forward.

That shows the level of his commitment to us, of his love for us.

Of course, we must soon go on to talk about the cross and his ultimate demonstration of love for us. But not today.

Today, just let such thoughts fill your mind and emotions during this season, as they did Mary’s, as she tried to grasp, in faith and wonder, what the angel was telling her, and the meaning of later events.

Ponder. What difference does it make?

It says everything about God’s commitment to our physical and material well-being. Don’t let the perversions of the prosperity gospel throw you off here. Jesus became man to save us.

Save us from what?

Well, whadya got? He came to save you from that.

From sin and judgment. But not just to save some narrow, invisible, interior part of you, apart from your daily indifference to God and the challenges of a boss who’s a jerk and financial slavery and a child in need and personal tragedy and that nasty habit that’s keeping you from joy in Jesus and a dull sense of desperation about where your life is headed and a fear of being alone and the injustices you see in your own life and others’ and in society and… and….

No, he came to save you—to save all of us, in our lonely-together lostness apart from God—from all that. From that.

The Gospel of Luke is not talking about salvation from injustice and disease and suffering as merely spiritual metaphors. Jesus is Lord and Savior of the hard-edged realities we live every day.

We have been saved, we are being saved, we will be saved. “Advent” means “coming” and is a season of looking and longing and preparing for his second coming, as much as his first. Maranatha. Already, but not yet.

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Kelly Madden, PhD, MDiv, is Executive Director of the Boston Fellows, a nine-month fellowship for Christian professionals from Boston-area churches of many denominations.  It seeks to help the churches equip their emerging leaders with a theology of vocation, work, and rest and the spiritual disciplines necessary for workplace excellence in service to Christ and the world. 

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The Wonder of Christmas

By Sherami Hinders

“The Lord answered Job… ‘Where were you… when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?’”  ~Job 38:1, 4, 7

I spent this Thanksgiving at a home in the woods, and when I retrieved my overnight bag from the car that evening I had a moment of silence, away from the pie-scraped plates being washed and the giggles of children running circles while they burned through their sugar rushes.  And, in that moment of quiet, wooded silence, I looked up. Heaven’s skies proved faithful once again, and there I noticed Cassiopeia… that famously W-shaped constellation.  

“Lift up your eyes on high and see:  Who created these?  He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.”  ~Isaiah 40:25-26

I was immediately taken back in time:  one of my most real moments from my second summer in Mongolia as a college student involved Cassiopeia.  I was at a camp in the wilderness with dozens of beautiful children, orphaned and aching for love (yet somehow filled with so much of it to give).  And as I looked up into the camp’s night sky, I saw it. My eyes took Cassiopeia in, and I marveled… What a creation God has made, that this simple constellation I saw all my years in Iowa also glows across the seas in this foreign land, for these little ones to see.   

“You must be so big, God.”

And here I saw it again… this same constellation, nearly two decades later, on the edge of the Atlantic.  In my limited awareness, I assume the stars remain silent. But truth is, Cassiopeia witnesses to its Creator without missing a day.  Sometimes hidden from sight, sometimes because I forget to look up… but if I still myself enough, if I remember to look for God’s glory around me, if I step away from the noise of artificial light and hurried clamor, I find it again. 

I wonder at the wisemen so many years ago, who journeyed by way of a mysterious star… A star whose witness announced the greatest mystery of all:  God has come into our world! As one of us, in form of tender babe.  God has come into our world to live with us, die for us, rise and rescue us… a mystery more real than all my mechanical assurances with which I try to surround myself.  

May God’s good mystery kindly overwhelm us this Christmas season, that our bend toward the mechanical and controlled may straighten.  May we stand a bit more upright… so we might take in God’s stars, our ears ever closer to hear the songs of heaven. 

“In heaven… they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy… because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’”  ~ Revelation 4:1a, 5:9-10

What incredible news these heavenly choirs proclaim!  

What memories linger for you from 2019 when creation (light or land, skies or seas, animals or Adams) witnessed to God-with-us? 

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Sherami Hinders works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA as a National Scripture Engagement Specialist and a New England Coordinator for Spiritual Formation and Prayer. She is certified as a Spiritual Director and will complete her Master of Arts in Theology this spring.

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The UniteBoston Board is an incredible team of clergy, leading Christian communities from a diversity of denominational and ethnic backgrounds. Together, we seek to model the unity we have in Jesus Christ amidst our ecclesial diversity. You can meet the entire UB Staff, Volunteers, and Board here – and below are the board profiles for our two new board members, Pastor Robin Lutjohann from Faith Lutheran Church and Father Tom Ryan from the Paulist Center.

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Pastor Robin Lutjohann

Ministry Roles:

“I am glad to serve as pastor to a quirky and lovely little church in Cambridge: Faith Lutheran Church. It’s a community full of grace, which I believe is desperately needed in an often grace-starved world. It’s also a church that somehow its able to hold a variety of theological perspectives, age groups, and ideological commitments in one body. To be sure, we are very flawed, but we mostly know it too. And from that self-awareness, we can appreciate God’s lavish kindness and pass it on to others.”

Why Robin enjoys serving with UB:
“I am impressed by UB’s ability to bring very different followers of Jesus together. In fact, our church has already benefited from this in a number of ways. I believe in the unity of the church, not just as an aspiration, but as a present reality. In my own Lutheran tradition, we have a somewhat minimalist conception of what “church” means. Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed and people gather to share the sacraments — there is the church of Christ. So, I see UniteBoston simply manifesting what is already true about the Body of Christ. Our unity is not something to achieved — it’s something to be lived! And I want to be a part of that.”

About Robin:
“I am a native of Berlin, Germany. I came to this continent for college and stayed because I fell in love with my wife Heather and with the city of Boston. I am a proud Allstonian and can be found cycling manically to and fro various coffee shops, bars, churches, and museums. I grew up unchurched in a loving family of musicians, bartenders, poets, hippies, and trouble-makers. When I was in college, Jesus decided to blindside me with the full heft of the Gospel and plunk me into an ecumenical community of Christian students. My best friends were the daughter of a Pentecostal missionary, a Catholic woman with a conflicted call to the priesthood, a environmentalist who had recently converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, and an aspiring Jesuit brother. Through many conversations and countless long nights of reading and praying, I ended up in the Lutheran church (ELCA). I was baptized in the Charles River, not far from one of the boathouses in Cambridge. Ever since, God has been throwing me into the wonderful company of the saints, and I am beyond grateful. After some time of study at Harvard’s Divinity School and a brief stint of appeasing the needs of a Lutheran education in the Midwest, I have found myself right back where it all started, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

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Father Tom Ryan

Ministry Roles:
Executive Director, Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, located since 2016 in downtown Boston

Why Tom enjoys serving with UB:
‘The ecumenical movement has produced volumes of dialogue Agreed Statements over the past 50 years, which by and large are gathering dust on bookshelves. Those Agreed Statements need to find concrete expression at the grassroots level among church members, and that’s the significant and vitalizing contribution Unite Boston is making in neighborhoods and congregations in the region.  My passion too is grassroots engagement, and it is a deep joy to join hands in the gospel work of this Holy Spirit-animated network, responding in concrete, practical ways to Jesus’ prayer for his followers that ‘they all may be one’.” (Jn 17:21).”

About Father Tom:
A member of the Paulist Fathers, Fr. Tom did his theological studies at the Washington (DC) Theological Coalition, the University of Geneva and the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute of Bossey in Switzerland. He directed the Canadian Center for Ecumenism for 14 years; founded and directed Unitas for 5 years, an ecumenical center for spirituality co-sponsored by 8 denominations in Montreal; then founded the Paulist North American Ecumenical Office where he has served the past 20 years in NY City, Washington DC, and now Boston.  Among the 17 books he has authored are Tales of Christian Unity: The Adventures of an Ecumenical Pilgrim; A Survival Guide for Ecumenically-Minded Christians; and Christian Unity: How You Can Make a Difference. He leads ecumenical workshops and retreats across the U.S. and Canada.

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Peter Seremetis is the Content Writer on UniteBoston’s Creative Team. Peter is a second year student at the Boston University School of Theology. Coming from a Greek Orthodox background, he drafted social media campaigns and newsletters for this year’s Celebration of Worship: “Engage Boston.” Peter is a native of New Jersey who received his BA in Journalism from American University in Washington DC. Prior to coming to Boston, Peter had interned at the Washington National Cathedral and the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. 

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As a person who studied journalism, I have the privilege of hearing people’s inspiring stories, and sharing those stories with the world. It is rare, however, to see so many different contexts come together in one space–particularly to worship the love of Jesus with each other. Yet, that was my experience writing for UniteBoston this summer, and volunteering for their Celebration of Worship on August 17th. Writing the content for Facebook posts, emails, and newsletters brought me in touch with musicians and directors from all walks of life, revealing firsthand how UniteBoston’s underlying goal of fostering a sense of unity amongst diversity not only lived and breathed through every aspect of its organization, but also reflected the vast openness of God’s love for all people. As LuciaMaria Hernandez, soprano singer for the Worship Band, described “We have a loving God who is open to everyone, and having a place where people can come together is a great way to show this.” 

To me, the Celebration of Worship bared the fruits of layers upon layers of relationship-building that UniteBoston had built over the years. Anyone walking through the Boston Common that day would have witnessed an event that lived up to its name: showcasing a wondrous variety of innovative worship performances and prayers from different cultures, denominations, and neighborhoods throughout the Boston Metro Area. Christian music of different genres and languages resounded from the stage, dancers performed amidst the crowd, a row of painters drew inspiration and captured the moment on canvas, 33 ministry table sponsors of all denominations shared the work that their churches and organizations were doing throughout the city, all while audience members connected and built meaningful relationships with each other. Romans 12 points to the different gifts we each bring according to the grace given to each of us, and nowhere were such gifts more present than at the Celebration of Worship. To see such variety was to see UniteBoston live out its mission of “nurturing Christian unity through relational connections” in the Boston community. 

As I walked through the crowds, gathering feedback from people worshiping and enjoying the event, I was truly touched by what I heard, and how people were passing along the message of Christian unity to each other. Chase Marso from Mosaic Boston Church, for example, enjoyed the Celebration so much last year that he invited his friends, Trevon Hansen and Evan Stieler, to experience the event this year. Chase described how what drew him both times was how, “in a city where it can be hard to see Jesus Christ day in and day out, to be able to come together with Christians from all throughout the city in so many different denominations is a very powerful way to celebrate Christ’s love for us through worship.” Trevon, as a first-time participant, felt that, “It was very inspiring to bring God’s word to the city. With people of all colors and backgrounds, it’s important for us just to be together and be able to edify together.”

Rev. Vernon K Walker, Program Manager for “Climate Crew” who was also attending for the first time, described the worship performances as “powerful, uniting, uplifting, inspiring, and moving.” When I asked him what was different about this worship experience, and how this deepened his understanding of God’s presence, he said, “What I see that’s different is that there is a diversity of culture: people from all walks of life from different spaces and places coming together to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to thank Him for what he has done. For me, these songs emphasize God’s love, God’s Grace, God’s mercy, and I think for people who walk by the Common that are not Christian, that this will attract them, and perhaps make them curious about why all of these people are singing, standing together, listening to the worship.”

It has been a life-changing experience to write for UniteBoston and be part of a Celebration of Worship that has brought so many people together in such inspiring ways, and I look forward to what this uplifting organization has in store for next summer. 

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Here at UniteBoston, we love to see churches collaborating together, and we are excited to have Melissa Lowther as our guest blogger this week. Melissa is the Ministry Associate for Discipleship at North Shore Community Baptist Church in Beverly, MA, as well as the coordinator for the North Shore Gospel Partnership – read below to learn about the incredible gospel movement that God is birthing on the North Shore!

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About four years ago, five pastors serving on the North Shore of Boston in churches of different denominations gathered together in recognition that the lostness in our area is greater than what we could ever reach on our own. God’s heart is that the earth would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:4). Currently, less than 3% of the people in Essex County have a living, authentic relationship with Jesus. We knew that if we kept doing things the way we were doing them, we would not see that number significantly increase. If we continued focusing simply on building our individual churches, we could all triple in size and still not even be close to seeing the landscape of our area transformed by Christ.

The North Shore Gospel Partnership

We knew we needed to be working together if we wanted to see a movement of God on the North Shore that would result in thousands of people meeting Jesus, growing as disciples, serving in gospel-centered churches, and living on mission every day. As the North Shore Gospel Partnership formed and began talking about what we can do better together than separately, three specific areas surfaced: mobilizing prayer, developing leaders, and starting & strengthening churches.

Mobilizing Prayer

No revival or awakening in history has ever taken place without kingdom-centered, corporate, bold, prevailing prayer. About two years ago, we began Scattered Prayer, where we reserved locations on a specific night in public spaces (libraries, town halls, etc.) across the North Shore and encouraged our church members to attend the prayer gathering closest to them. As we prayed in our towns for our towns, Christians who attend different churches but live in close proximity to one another came together to seek God for his Spirit to move in our neighborhoods. As the season of Scattered Prayer has come to an end, we are now working toward establishing 24/7 prayer for the North Shore.

We have also partnered together in praying for the foster care system in our region. As we’ve been praying weekly over the last year, God has raised up more Christian families who are opening their homes to foster children or stepping up to support other families who are fostering. The Department of Children and Families office near us has started noticing this shift and relying on local churches for support and care. Praise be to God!

Developing Leaders

Our instinct as leaders is to jump into action. However, the North Shore Gospel Partnership has found it essential to take time to clarify our process for action-taking.   We have been receiving coaching from Christ Together – a national organization that helps mobilize the greater body of Christ for mission in cities across North America – on establishing a common lens for how we approach saturating our area with the gospel. We held a two-part Gospel Saturation Conference early in 2019 that enabled us to cast this vision more broadly to church leaders across the North Shore. As we grow in defining our common vision, we are now able to consider other practical initiatives that will help us build up disciples and leaders in our area.

Starting & Strengthening Churches

Renewal in our region will only take place if we are multiplying disciples, developing leaders, and planting and revitalizing churches. Our hope in the coming years is to establish a residency program where potential church planters and revitalizers can be raised up from within our churches, receive targeted training and experience, and be sent out and supported by a partnership of churches seeking to see God’s Kingdom expand.

As more churches continue to partner in a desire to see the North Shore saturated by the gospel, pray with us that God would be increasing our burden for the lost and building up his church so that every person around us will have repeated opportunities to see, hear, and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.