Imago Dei Community

We are so excited to welcome the newest member of our Imago Dei staff team, TJ Harris! TJ will be our new Youth and Young Adults pastor, and we will be sure to introduce him on as Sunday in the coming weeks. Our team conducted a competitive search process for this important role which included several amazing candidates, and we feel so grateful that TJ and his family accepted the offer and are moving to Portland for the job. Please pray for his family and our amazing middle and high school students during this exciting time of transition!

We are incredibly grateful for the more than 60 people who came out last Friday for our annual Serve Day with the Bible Project.

This group worked HARD without complaint. These teams:
-Moved seven of our kids classrooms around (not to mention up/down three flights of stairs) to grow in our ability to serve our kids and youth
-Made even more progress in our beautiful Prayer Garden on the corner of 15th and Ankeny
-Trimmed hedges and spread bark dust around the back parking lot
..and more. Thank you to everyone who participated, and what a joy it is to continue to steward the beautiful space God has given us!

This weekend we begin a new teaching series on the Holy Spirit called, "The Giver of Life." In some of the earliest creeds, this is the name given to the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. Who is the Holy Spirit and what does he offer those who trust Christ? We are told the Spirit will mediate the presence of the Father to us, that he will empower us to do God’s will, and that we will do greater works than Jesus through His Empowering Presence. Is this kind of life really possible? Join us Sunday at 9 AM or 11 AM as Pastor Michelle Jones kicks off this series. We look forward to how the Lord will shape us through this season.

There is truly nothing that compares to the joy of witnessing people say yes to Jesus and step into the waters of baptism. Something transformational is being communicated to the Church as we witness the symbol of being dead to sin and being raised with Christ. We are celebrating the 25 people who said yes to baptism on Easter! Would you be praying for them, church family?!

Our next round of baptisms will be this June!

Join us Sunday for our new sermon series, "American Gods." Life in the United States involves an inculcation of culture we do not often recognize. It’s hard to know what’s in our air. The gift of Scripture is to show us that which we are blind to. Each culture has certain things it prizes as “ultimate”: the final goal of life. In America, it is s*x, money, and power—the three “gods” we have made ultimate. Surprisingly, Scripture does not demean these three as “bad,” but rather as creational goods we have made supreme. Tim Keller says that an idol is “a good thing that we make an ultimate thing.” How might we hear Scripture speak to the inherent goodness of money, s*x, and power, and also to the danger in making them supreme?

Easter is coming on April 5th, and we can't wait to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with you! Children and families will all worship together for two special services, each including baptisms. Plan to stay after either service for fellowship and special treats in our newly renovated Courtyard Room, plus bounce houses for the kids right next door in the gym. If you're new to our church, visit idcpdx.com/easter for more information about what to expect.

At Imago Dei, we are always looking for ways to steward the space God has given us for His Kingdom. Over the past six months, one way we have been blessed to do this is by offering our facility to Trinity Oromo Evangelical Church, a new Ethiopian church plant in Portland. This growing and beautiful congregation has been holding their Sunday worship gatherings in Room 101 on Sunday afternoons. We have loved hosting them! Thanks to your generous giving, we have been able to grant them this space for free. This past Sunday was their last Sunday with us, as they found a new space that will accommodate their exponential growth. We are praising God for their time at Imago Dei and want to encourage you to pray for them as God continues to grow their church!

We are excited to share an update on the ministry of our elder-on-mission, Dr. Garry Friesen, in East Africa.

Dr. G started All the Bible in Community, which exists to wipe out biblical illiteracy in Rwanda and is now led by a team of Rwandan leaders that have joined Dr. G in bringing the fullness of scripture to their home. In addition to pastor trainings, scholarly conferences, and more, this team has been working for many years towards the goal of creating the largest theological library in East Africa.

This month they managed to surpass their goal and now run the largest theological library in the entire continent! This was made possible by purchasing the John & Mary Mitchell Library from Multnomah University and shipping the books to Rwanda in 5 massive shipping containers. This past Saturday the containers arrived and the team and volunteers spent four days straight unloading the boxes. Praise God for this historic occasion!

Imago partners with this organization through financially supporting Dr. G out of tithes and offerings and is honored to hold Dr. G and the leaders of ABC in prayer. You can learn more about All the Bible in Community at allthebibleincommunity.org