Jeff Vanderstelt is a pastor at Soma Communities, an A29 church in Tacoma, WA. He is leader of leaders and a coach and trainer for church planters. His background includes music, business management, working with youth, training youth workers in North America and Europe and starting new churches. Jeff moved to Tacoma from Chicago with his wife Jayne to begin planting Soma. Jeff leads a Missional Community and the Downtown Expression, and he serves all of Soma in the areas of vision and teaching. Jeff is also on the Board of Acts 29, a church planting network. Jeff and Jayne have been married over 15 years and have 3 kids: Haylee, Caleb and Maggie. He loves watching movies that make you reconsider your worldview.
Jeff’s Thoughts
Anytime you put your hope, your sense of significance, your sense of purpose, is in anything other than God and what He has done, you are choosing the world over God.
What if we start looking at our neighbors as the lost children of God?
What if you start loving other kids like you love your own kids?
We want the world to know what our Father is like. He is the father to the fatherless.
Most of our lack of love for other people is our lack of understanding of God’s love for us. Do you truly understand the depth of God’s love? You can rest, you don’t have to hide, you don’t have to perform. His love is unfailing.
We are called to be advocates for the voiceless, like Jesus was an advocate for us. Stand in the gap. Exercise advocacy. But don’t do it out of a need for advocates. Do it because some advocated for you.
Don’t let need motivate you. Let the Gospel motivate you. We are not called to be replacement saviors for the world. They aren’t going to get any help if they don’t get Jesus.
You are never going to be ready. You don’t have what it takes. He never calls you to do what you can do. He calls you to do what He can do. So that afterwards you can say,”I don’t know how we did it. But I know God was in it. May He have all the glory.”
You will never properly care for the least of these unless you realize you were the least of these.
Don’t hold onto your life. Don’t be motivated by guilt or shame. Don’t ever think that you don’t have everything you need. Love in the same manner in which you have been loved.
Let love be our motivator. And Love be our method.
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