Jude: Contending for the Faith

09 Sep Jude: Contending for the Faith

By Phil Waldron, CEO

Our church at Villa Belén in Santa Rosa continues to grow. Numerically, however, the past couple of years have often felt like a pattern of three steps forward and two steps back. Thankfully, we are seeing genuine spiritual maturity develop in a good number of our members.

As missionaries, we long to see that maturity spread throughout the congregation. I feel this desire especially keenly in my role as an elder of the local church. We celebrate those who are taking giant steps in their spiritual and emotional growth, even as others sometimes seem “stuck.” As shepherds, Jon Stacy and I try to create as many opportunities as possible to feed and exhort our members. Our annual family retreat is one such opportunity.

This past month, we were blessed to bring Enrique Vizcaíno, a Venezuelan-Colombian missionary with Great Cities Missions, to serve as the keynote speaker at our church family retreat. The retreat was held at the same location we use each January for our three weeks of children’s Bible camp.

Enrique lives and works in Armenia, Colombia, with his wife, Ana. She is due to give birth to their first child, a daughter they will name Olivia, at the end of September.

Over the weekend, Enrique spoke on the epistle of Jude. He explained its message in a way that challenged and encouraged every participant, from teenagers to older adults. He began by saying, “I really wish I had been assigned a different topic,” echoing Jude’s own words in verse 3:

“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.” (Jude 3)

Among the many questions and challenges he posed to us were these:

If God is calling you, what exactly is He calling you to?

Are you fulfilling your role?

Sometimes we have great “heavenly knowledge,” but our minds remain carnal, or earthly, in perspective.

A good example does not make a lot of noise. What kind of example are you setting for others?

Enrique’s approach throughout nearly four hours of teaching was practical and grounded in the daily life of a disciple of Jesus. In all, 126 adults and children participated in the retreat.