Week of the One Year
- This is a big week…exactly one year ago our family made the westerly pilgrimage from Ohio to Missouri. And wow, what a journey it has been. In some ways it has been one of the most challenging years of our lives…in other ways it has been the most rewarding year of our lives. There are so many incredible lessons, blessings, and moments in the last year…God has demonstrated to us his faithfulness and goodness over and over again. We are blessed with friends that we love and love in return. We are filled with hope about the future that God has in store. We have witnessed amazing life-change in people. And we have watched God deliver just in the nick of time. This has been a year that will shape the rest of our lives…and we are very humbled and thankful for everyone who has had a part in it. Thanks!
- I guess “I just want you to wash the dishes” really wasn’t as good as a punch line as I thought…
- Looking forward to “living it out” within our community on Wednesday night at 7pm. Be here.
- This week we will be “going live” with a couple of new on-line additions to our ministry. The simple “scaled-down” version of our new church website and our internal church management software. It will take a few weeks to get everything aligned and working…but I am stoked about getting the ball rolling.
- Next Sunday we are celebrating Pastor Bill’s contributions to nbc over the last 5 years. Bill and Mel have given of themselves to our children and church…and I hope that we can give a little back this next Sunday.
- I am working on a new series for late summer…the idea is to gather questions from the audience and talk about it and check out what the Bible says….I am wanting to call it something like “your questions” or “your sermon” or “I wish I could ask…”. BUT I need your help. First, help me name this series. Second, what questions do you have or wish you could ask about the Bible, God, Christians, life, or the church….???
- Oswald Chambers – “The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you.”
Blah…
Here is the blah floating around in my mind today…
- I am super hyped about this “live it out” series. It is a slow motion view of what it means to follow Christ. What does it look like to serve selflessly, cultivate community, give generously, and worship wholeheartedly? What does it look like to actually live out the ways of Jesus?
- I think I yelled a lot yesterday…seems to be true when I am most passionate about some truth…I hope it comes across as sincerity and passion. I will warn you…the next three weeks are filled with the same…a calling to live out the ways of Jesus.
- Two lines from yesterday that people keep quoting back to me…”I don’t even like feet!” and “I feel like a donkey.” You should know that only one of those lines came from me.
- The wisdom of a 4 year old: This past week for some reason I decided to ask Sam what makes him happy…he didn’t hesitant and replied, “Nothing makes me happy, I make me happy.” Hhmmm…
- I am learning that perhaps one of the hardest ways to “live it out” is within Christian community. To cultivate community with the church isn’t going to be easy. To build community means to lead people to think about the needs of others before they think about their own needs. It means to ask for people to sacrifice, to learn to appreciate the discomfort of being with people who aren’t like us. It means that we must die to ourselves for the sake of others, to understand that community is a greater goal than our own individuals needs/wishes. Living it out isn’t always fun and easy.
- Read this somewhere, “Love is always right…but always being right isn’t love.”
- I am needing some good summer reading…do you have any suggestions? It has been a long time since I read fiction. Also would love to read some history…or maybe a good biography.
Livin’ it out…
Tomorrow we begin our summer series called “Live It Out.” We are going to do far more than just talk about service…we are going to actually…live it out. Coupled with this series are two opportunities to serve selflessly. July 8th and 22nd we will be serving our neighborhood through compassionate service. We hope that you and your family will join us as we live out the ways of Christ!
I hope for…
I have a hope…a hope to experience Christian community like found in the book of Acts. A hope to witness a church that values and practices pure, simple, togetherness…koinonia. A true communion of believers living out an extravagant act of giving and receiving. A place for plain old human conversation, friendship, and a safe place to openly admit our failures and pride.
I hope for a place where people willingly and eagerly seek out relationships to help them cope and grow in their present life stage. A place where we seek to be fed via our investment in the community, rather than the investment of others in us.
I hope for a place full of contagious acts of love and honor for one another, a place that spills out into our everyday living causing people all around us to desperately want to be part of this same fellowship.
I hope for people who long for nothing but Christ and live every moment of life seeking to be just like Him.
Your turn…finish the sentence: “I hope for…”
Monday Morning Musings
- Yesterday was awesome! We baptized and celebrated stories of life-change within the church. One of the stories we celebrated was Brandon. God is at work in this guys life…and seeking to make a leader out of him.
- I love this story of Onesimus…and perhaps…just perhaps…it can be your story too.
- Next week we wrap up our “changed” series…and I am telling you, you will love the ending to this story in the book of Philemon. God is ironic and amazing…seeking to restore us from broken wandering people – to healed leaders for the Kingdom.
- Loved having the teens back from camp yesterday…great stories about the Prodigal Son theme this year. I am geeked when I see the teens leading participation in worship and service at the church. Way to go guys…
- We are nearing the end of the “church year” for our church. We are spending extra time the next few weeks evaluating some of the needs and dreams within the church.
- We are getting very close to launching the new NBC website…gonna be sweet…
- Get to camp out this Friday night with little Sam for the first time…I wonder how long he will make it through the night…he is already asking, “how will we keep the snakes out?” Not a good start so far….
- Gonna be a great week…taking control of my thoughts and making them obedient to Christ…”perhaps, you can think of it like this…”.
