Worship

CJ said it best on Sunday night, “We’re here for two reasons. We love Jesus and we love San Francisco.” And what a different environment San Francisco is. Everyday we are living among a heightened amount of tempting idols. Whatever idol you struggle with, SF vibrantly displays it. Even in our interactions, success and what you do is so easily worshiped. It’s often either, “I have a really cool job at a really cool company,” or “I am working hard so that I can get that job.”

CJ talked on worship sunday night and encouraged us to cast away those idols by worshiping Jesus at all times. He then posed a brilliant question by D.A. Carson, “How do we engage in something we don’t do during the week?” Meaning, why are we worshiping a God once a week when we longs for us to worship him at all times?

Living in SF has developed my concept on idols. I came from a small town in Virginia where there was no Apple store, nice cars, and fancy restaurants. And in spite of location, Jesus is our constant. I can marvel in that. Simply by waking up and realizing who I am, a fallen man, and who God is, I can start my day worshiping the God who created me.

-Brian

New to the City – Dan Birch

We are continuing our “New to the City” series with communications intern, Dan Birch. Read about Dan’s first couple months in the city.

REFLECTIONS ON MY TIME IN SAN FRANCISCO

The last couple months has been crazy to say the least.  It’s been so exciting to begin planting Redemption San Francisco but at the same time been a learning and growing experience in my own life. I have been challenged in my relationship with Lord and with the idea of what it practically looks like to live missionally for Jesus in my community.

Reflecting on my experiences so far in San Francisco, these were the ideas that I have grasped the most in the early stages of planting the church.

EVERY MOVE MATTERS:

When you move to one of the most expensive cities in the country you realize that getting there is no small task.  You also realize that people who actually live in San Francisco have a story behind getting their place because of the extreme high demand.

In casual conversations with people you can feel a sense of bonding when telling each other stories and mutually appreciating that every move matters.

As a believer it’s been an area of gratitude in my relationship with the Lord. It took me over a month of looking at places and constantly applying before God lead me to my apartment.  And I have heard from so many other christians a similar story of intensely feeling God’s provision before even actually living in San Francisco.

MISSIONAL LIVING IS UNPREDICTABLE:

I had been looking forward to living missional in the city for quite some time but had not prepared for the unpredictable nature of actually living that out.  Not to give any glory to myself but I think the unpredictability of living missional for Jesus was never more evident than in my first whole week living in San Francisco.

My first week in the city started with praying for two movers that unloaded my stuff, later that week I got into an interesting conversation with a passionate atheist while playing pickup basketball, and ended the week outside a grocery store praying with a homeless man who shared with me his powerful ministry and belief in Jesus.

I would love to say I sought out these people and experiences out as a missionary for Christ but in reality these gospel conversations were very unexpected in the moment.

All that to say, I am really taking to heart Apostles Paul words to Timothy

“Preach the word; always be ready, in season and out of season.”  2 Tim 4:2

Sometimes missional living for Christ is very intentional from my perspective but other times God will bring opportunities and experiences at any given time and I have to be ready.

ONLY GOD IS EVERYWHERE:

In a city statistically 65% single and unmarried you can only imagine the amount of social activities happening at any given time.  My first week I said yes to everything and undertook a pace that even as an extrovert was exhausting.

I felt like I had to go to everything but quickly learned for the long haul I had to set boundaries with others and with myself because only God is everywhere.

When social events and invitations come up it’s been an opportunity to trust in God’s sovereignty and pray the Lord would give wisdom and discernment on where to direct my energy.

All in all, it’s been a great adventure getting to San Francisco. The Lord has been very active in faithfully getting me to the city and I pray I will continue to experience his presence throughout the whole of planting Redemption San Francisco.

New to the City – Suzie Berndt

Continuing in our “New to the City” series, Suzie Berndt shares her experience.

“I will just cut to the chase – these past 2 months of living in San Francisco have been the most unrelenting test of my faith thus far in my life.  When I moved out here, I became fixed on the idea that, I would, by God’s grace, land a job, be able to go back to Arizona to get everything I left in storage, be in a new apartment with my then-roommate in the Haight, and would be more or less “settled.”  But after a month, I was still jobless, my roommate had decided to move to Orange County, I didn’t have another apartment, my stuff was still in Arizona, and was far from the lifestyle I had envisioned as “settled.”  I was, however, provided for.  I grew closer to the families here with the church plant in the process of being open with them about my circumstances.  I found a sublet through the middle of August in an incredible part of the city.  I started getting interviews, and developing truly awesome friendships through random and various encounters.  I learned how I had wrongly put stock in how I thought moving to San Francisco would pan out.  I was sad, frustrated, and distressed at how God didn’t make things work out the way I thought He would, which I justified by the truth that He’s the God of impossible things.  People told me it was going to be hard moving out here, but, as I discussed with a friend the other day, it’s a lot easier on the outside of it to romanticize about how “hard” San Francisco is going to be, until you find yourself looking at the $300 remaining in your bank account, being rejected by jobs you interviewed extremely well for (according to my interviewers themselves), and being asked by a friend how he should tell the church he’s attending that he’s a Christian gay male.

So now, on Monday, August 6, I don’t have a job, nor a permanent place to live after August 15, nor definitive answers for the scenarios I just shared (and faced within this last week).  But I do have, today, on Monday, August 6, a bed to sleep in, food in the fridge, clean clothes, amazing friends, an unbelievably supportive biological family and church family, and a God who hasn’t gone anywhere or altered His plan for me this whole time, His nature, nor His faithfulness.  Two months and one week after moving out here to help with Redemption, I have learned in a very real way that God allows our circumstances to be quite unexpectedly bleak in various (and even frequent) seasons of our lives to show us who we’re truly putting our trust in.  He pretty much uses every aspect of my life to point me back to Him daily.  He’s still taking care of me in this city that I am confident I am supposed be in, and very much want to be in, and He will continue to do so, in ways I can’t possibly create myself.  I’ve learned to be both patient and steadfast in these trials, and persistent in prayer, so that I can learn to love and serve this city faithfully and selflessly.

Please pray for Redemption in San Francisco.  Pray for strengthened partnerships among churches in the city, and for God to change the heart of a city that is very hurt by and cold toward Christians, namely in the LGBT community, historically speaking. There’s so much more to share, but for now, thank you so much for your prayer and support.”

New to the City – Brian Rather

Today, we continue our “New to the City” series with Brian Rather.

Today marks 1.5 months of living in San Francisco, and I often still feel like a tourist. There is so much going on at all times that I imagine it will be a while before I can call myself a true San Franciscan. However, that’s part of the charm. I am fortunate to live on Telegraph Hill as did some of my literary heroes, as well as down the street from arguably the most influential bookstore in the US. With all that to say, among the hustle and bustle of the city, it’s easy to see that the Gospel has mostly been shoved to the side and forgotten. One way to illustrate this is through an interaction I had a couple of days ago.

I met a man who had been living in San Francisco for more than 35 years with his partner. We talked for about an hour about the city. He shared his pessimistic views as most do when reflecting on the “good times”, but brought up a good point. He said that in San Francisco, people have to work so hard to maintain their desired standard of living, that time for anything else is rare.

The team at Redemption SF recognized this before we all moved out here, and what this man said helps me more clearly define my purpose in the city. I am here to reveal the Gospel to those who are blind to what it offers, and bring those people on a journey with Christ, so that they can do the same.

New to the City – Pastor CJ Bergmen

It has been surreal these past 2 months as we get settled in the city of San Francisco. There is so much to take in, so much to absorb. It is obvious that this city is dense with history, culture, food, ethnicity, and language. It is a bit overwhelming, and yet, one thing is clear, this feels like home.

As a young Christian I tended to focus far more on the spiritual and future nature of God’s kingdom, as opposed to a physical and present reality of it. This emphasis caused me to miss the deep reality that I am a physical being, created in God’s image, and that I am inside of time, and standing on the earth. I recently read, and I forget where, that in our existence we can only inhabit one small piece of the earth at a time, and that the place we are is sacred, and appointed to us by God for that moment. I think this is good, healthy, and Biblical. San Francisco is our physical as well as Spiritual reality, and we are loving every minute of it.

One of the things I have shared with a lot of people over the past weeks is how the geography of the city has affected the way we view ministry. We come from Phoenix, a city that spans over 500 square miles, and has over 3 million people. San Francisco, by contrast, has just over 800,00 people, spread out over only 50 square miles. This has had enormous implications for us. Namely, anyone I meet in the city lives close enough to me to cultivate a friendship with. This has played out in several examples thus far, all the way from friendships with co-workers, to meeting a couple across town at a coffee shop, striking up a conversation, and setting up a time to get our families together. This idea that everyone I come into contact with I might actually see again has been transformational and really life giving.

Some highlights so far for us in The Inner Richmond neighborhood:

Lou’s sandwich/coffee shop just around the corner
Joe’s ice cream in walking distance
Velo Rouge coffee shop at Cabrillo and Arguello
Hanging with our new pals from Christ Church 4 blocks away from our house
Walking to Golden Gate park to the Blue playground with Keane

Building Authentic Community

I want to continue to express how grateful I have been for your prayers and support during these early stages of planting Redemption San Francisco.  It is so encouraging to have you apart of what God is doing in the city.

One of the big ways we are building momentum for the church is to hold social gatherings throughout the summer. It is a great way to establish community with our core team as well as create new relationships with San Franciscans.

Recently, we celebrated 4th of July at C.J. and Renee’s Bergmens house.  It was a great night to connect and invite new people into our community at Redemption SF.

Much of the focus will be to create authentic communities in different neighborhoods of San Francisco. These communities will be a powerful tool to engage San Franciscans with gospel content.

Please pray the Lord would give us wisdom as we continue our community events this summer.  And most importantly that Redemption San Francisco will be making disciples of Christ throughout the process.

Moving Forward

We want to give you an update of the status of the Redemption Church San Francisco plant. We are in the middle of a few different things. Here they are.

CORE GROUP

We are currently meeting every Tuesday evening with people who have expressed interest in being part of our core group. We are taking this time to get to know each other and to talk about church planting in San Francisco.

We are also praying a lot. Planting in the heart of San Francisco presents significant challenges on every level. Our core team is strongly committed to regular prayer for the city, for finances and for the Holy Spirit to break down the spiritual strongholds that are in San Francisco.

FINANCES

We are also in the middle of fundraising. Redemption Church has been extremely generous but San Francisco is an extremely expensive city. We are currently reaching out to family, friends and other churches to help us get over the hump financially. We are currently at 50% of our financial goal.

MOVING

Justin Anderson and his family are moving in the middle of April and they are currently trying to sell their home in Tempe, AZ. Ryan Eland and his family will probably be moving in June. CJ and Renee Bergman have already moved and are staying with family while they look for work and a place to live in the city.

We are continually committed to helping the people of San Francisco know Jesus.

Please be praying!