Steadfast in 2024

Introduction

“Don’t touch anything until year 6.” This was a consensus of advice I was given from various retiring pastors when I first took the pulpit here. The wisdom is found in the way that often young guys go in guns blazing that try to fix everything and end up burning the people, themselves, and then flaming out after 2 years. And if you don’t believe me you can ask people who have been on pastoral search committees. You find guys who have serial 2-3 year stints everywhere they’ve been because they can’t leave things alone.

What you should do instead is get to know the people. Get to know the community. Get to know the rhythmof the church and the schedule. Love your people and allow them to get to know you. That said, I think I’m gonna break some of that advice and ask us to grow in a couple ways this year which brings us to everyone’s favorite word: Change.

Tension

the running meme in Southern Baptist life is that change is a four letter word that brings about cold sweats in everyone, including those who said 2 weeks ago that they were on board. Change can be a difficult thing for all of us, me included. I remember back when Saturday Night live was actually funny and I think gen Z culture is garbage. Why is every woman a queen and why is everything that they do “slay-queen-slay”. I haven’t heard a good song in years and that’s why I still go back to the 80 and old country music. I hate change too, we all do. And if you don’t give it 5 years and you’ll start having something that you really like go away and then you’ll join all of us on the front porch angry that there is a new weather man because we liked the other guy.

So, I’m going to talk today about the state of the church, some changes we can look forward to this year, and I’m going to ask you to have open ears, and open heart, and that you would join me in praying that God would reveal to you and your family what your part in all of this could be. This year is going to be a year when God can do amazing things in your life and in your family tree if you will join him in the adventure. Are we willing. Let’s pray and we will get started.

Pray

Truth

If you are new here or have been a member for a number of years it is always helpful for us to put our finger on the pulse of the church, our purposes, and see how we are doing. We go to the doctor to check out our health and likewise, the church must look regularly at what we are about to see where we are measuring up.

Our church, like all NT churches are founded on the guiding principles that Jesus laid out for us. The way that we have framed that at our church is revolving around 3 main purpose statements.

Love, Grow, Glow. So lets check our pulse on each one of these purposes.

Love: God and our Fellow Man.

This comes out of a familiar text found in

Matthew 22:36-40

Matthew 22:36–40 (ESV)

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

38 This is the great and first commandment.

39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

This year, we want to keep The love of God and the fellowship we have with one another as a priority. How?

We want to continue to make worship center stage in all we do and who we are as a church.

Remember: Worship is not a time on the schedule or a set list of songs, it is when we choose to choose His ways over our own.

Not neglect meeting regularly.

3 things from all church members

Participate in worship- When you miss, you are missed by others. Doing life in community requires all of us to be present in the community and we want you to come along with us.

Find a ministry that allows you to pour into others. Do you like teaching? Games? visiting and encouraging? Cooking and feeding people? can you drive a van or greet people at the door? find a way to serve people and see what happens in your life.

Find a ministry that pours back into you. You can only pour out of your cup so long until you run up dry. If you serve on Wednesdays find a group that meets on Thursdays or Sundays, or make one that fits your schedule and invite others who don’t meet. Get involved in a study that has you talking and interacting with other believers.

Make the decision of be at church unless you have a reason you can’t. Invite your friends and family to come with you.

Fellowships

Soup-er Bowl Party in February 10th 5-7pm. soup and trivia.

Spring Potluck

Church picnic and swim party this summer.

Winter Holiday Meal

Grow Self and Family.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Deuteronomy 6:6–9 (ESV)

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Last year we finished up our teaching series: “Worthy” primarily speaking about Biblical worship; focusing on the biggness of God and his worthiness to be praised. This year our focus is going to be on discipleship and the way that we walk out the faith he’s called us into in a series we are calling: Disciples making Disciples. What is a disciple? What does one do? How should my life look because I follow Jesus? How should I be at work? At home? As a dad or mom? A son or daughter? How should I care for my friends? My family? My spouse? My enemies? What kind of citizen should I be? What does it look like to be a member of a New Testament church and what should I be doing? These are all questions we’ve all had at one time or another.

You see, the struggle is that evangelicals sometimes have been guilty of putting so much emphasis on the gospel, getting people saved and baptized, that we have unintentionally de-emphasized the life change and process that takes place after Christ has saved you. He invites you into this new life because you’ve now become a new creation and it makes total sense that you we would have some questions. After all, our old life, our old flesh, the old man that I used to be lived life in a way that required a savior in the first place. Following Jesus into this great adventure can feel like you are a fish out of water at first but eventually you come to find that it fits like a hand in a glove.

In order to help point us in the right direction we will be preaching through the book of 1 Corinithians in our times here on Sunday morning. The text has big conversations on so many of the struggles we have in following Christ but it also encourages us to keep pursuing holiness and keep our eyes and hearts fixed on Jesus. I will be taking some time each sermon to help unpack what it looks like to do the things these texts speak about as we focus on being disciples that are actively making disciples ourselves. Jesus invited us, more so commanded us to be disciples who devoted our lives to making more. Will we brave the deep and unfamiliar waters again and learn? because this year you will learn how to.

So that is what we have to look forward to here on Sunday mornings but we also have other ways for your to grow as individuals as well as help your family grown in your faith.

Kids and Youth Classes.

ABF’s. If you are still without a group of people to join with for Bible study then this is your year to find one. I mean it. This is the absolute best way for you to find a group of people that will help you walk in step with the Lord. When we say things like “find a group of people to do life with” these are the people we mean. If you’re a parent of little we have those people too. Young married? College and careers? Retired and empty nesters. We have all of those people who are going through the same life stuff you are. They pray for and take care of one another. They open the bible together and grow together in it. They become your people and church, frankly we could all use someone in our corner. Find a group this year and get involved. Try 2 or 3 and pick one. You won’t hurt anyone's feelings. Just find a place to grow.

Women’s Ministry is one of the most active groups in our church. March will be the Ewoman Conference in Tulsa, the Lawrence Country Women’s Retreat in August, Fresh Grounded Faith in Springfeild in November as well as fellowships and fun throughout the year. Keep your ears perked up and when you hear of one of these things coming jump on board. Gentlemen, I want to encourage you/scold you a bit here. Do everything in your power to allow your wife to go to one of these things. Take care of the kids, bring in some help, get inlaws, run the carpool. Mom needs some time to spend every once and a while with the Lord and join me in making it a priority this year to free up your wife to make at least one of these opportunities.

Men’s Monthly Breakfasts . Justin, Adam, Red, Rich, Mike, Phil, Jeremy, Ted, we all make killer breakfast and have great discussions that you will want to be apart of. I get it, Saturday mornings are hard to get up but if you’re anything like me, the girls don’t let me sleep in anyway so you might as well come and have some bacon, a cup of joe, and learn a couple things in a very sweat pants kind of way with real guys talking about the scriptures and living this thing out. Our next one is coming up January the 20th and I want to see you there. We will also be planning a men’s BBQ and a Guys and as Adam calls them “primitives” fishing trip to Roaring river this summer. Keep your ear to the group and pull the trigger. Show up and be apart of this brotherhood.

Wednesday Evening classes with Jessica Kasper for ladies going through the book of Samuel, and Phil Howe is leading a Study through Romans. They do a great job and there is always room for one more person around the table. Pick a day when you drop your kids off at Awana and go try out one of these classes this month. Bring a friend with you. Come and see what the Lord could show you.

This summer we will be offering an intensive study over Apologetics.

What is apologetics? Worldview, Existence of God, The Bible is True, Who is Jesus?, False Religions, Cults, and Christian Sects, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s witness’s. Our hope is to have childcare available and have to snacks around tables as we teach and talk through why we believe what we believe and what reason supports it. Its a time that you will want to be apart of and one that will challenge and build up your faith.

Get discipled 1 on 1. This spring I’ll be taking a group of men and women through a course on the nuts and bolts of these structured relationships. Most of us sitting in this room where invested in by someone in our lives who showed us the way. Maybe it was your wife, or your grandma, or a pastor, or a friends but someone showed you what those numbers were in front of the words and how to find the table on contents. Someone answered your questions and helped you find your way. And if no one has ever done that for you, these men and women are going to be on the look out for you. You see, one of my goals for this year is to embarrass us all with how easy it really is to make disciples. It requires two people, truth, honesty, and time. If you have never had anyone do that with you, please be on the look out this spring for your opportunity to find a partner to walk with you for a while. You won’t be disappointed.

Alongside of that, this fall I will be starting the first pilot program of what I’m calling our leadership pipeline. Have you ever wondered what it looks like to be a good leader according to the Bible? And I don’t mean signing up to become a pastor or a deacon either. Many in, not just our church, but every church have great potential to lead and serve God in the church family and in their communities but they’ve never been given vision or permission to pursue those things. Or maybe they have the passion but no one has ever shown them how to apply it. This course is all about help people look at themselves and how God has wired them. Gifts, experiences, personality, passions, abilities. Putting all of those things on the altar in front of the Lord and giving him permission to use us where we can make the best impact for his name and for his Glory. Coming soon, this fall.

Glow: Light your world.

Matthew 5:16

Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Our Ministries and Partners

The old question is asked: if your church were suddenly put a for sale, sign in the front yard, pack it in and quit Services; would your community even notice? That statement is one that is sobering and helps us really evaluate where we are and how we are REALLY doing. Are we being faithful and enthusiastically open to the callings the Lord has placed right in front of our eyes?

Awana- Our Awana program is booming and all it takes is to sit in this doorway on Wednesday nights to feel it. You’ll get run over so fast it will make your head spin. We teach these kids Bible verses, yes, but we also teach them what they mean and give them opportunities to ask real questions. From the nursery to littles to tweens we have such a need for men and women of the Lord to step in and show up regularly in their lives to show them that we take seriously the call that Jesus gave to bring the little children to them. Get involved and help us set the tone for a kiddos life as they learn from the Bible, many of them for the first time, and you get to be there when the light bulb goes off in their heart and head. It’s magic.

Youth Department- Depending on the week we can have between 15 and 35 teens downstairs who for the most part, all willingly show up here. They have 1000 other things they could be doing but they choose to come here and that isn’t lost on us. They show up because what is happening in our basement is valuable. Adults who care for and coach these kids towards a relationship with Christ and what it really looks like to follow him. Our youth workers are some of the best people we have to offer and if you join with them you get to sit down with teenagers and watch the Lord come alive in their lives. After 14 years of doing student ministry I can tell you that if you are looking for a place to grow and have your faith come alive you won’t find a greater opportunity.

Pregnancy Care Center- This year the center will continue to offer free services for women who need help. It’s one thing to say that we are pro-life and another to show up for those in need to prove it. In 24’ a new ministry center will be expanding to Monet and more to come in 25. There are ways for you to volunteer as well as some part time teaching opportunities inside of schools that you can get more information on.

Hope Center- Our hope center is probably the most central hub of help in this town. If you volenteer at the Hope Center would you stand. We have so many people who give their time and efforts to making that place a great source of help and hope in our community and I want to say thank you and challenge the rest of us to call and see when and where we can be a help. Maybe you’ve been wanting to clean out that garage or get the closets organized. Drop those donations by the center and let them use them to bless others.

Cindy Short to Honduras again this year.

Timothy Project in Lesotho

Grace Connection in New York Mill, MN.

Canvas Church in Oak Bay, Victoria. British Columbia. Pastor Mike Blackaby

Operation Christmas Child distribution trip the week after Thanksgiving. these are all opportunities that you can Pray for, give to, or go yourself so start praying now if the Lord might be calling you to some of these projects.

Opportunities that the Lord has given to us.

Our school district

This year we had the opportunity to serve lunch to our school district and it was a lot of work but an absolute blast. I can’t say thank you enough to all of those who helped but also to just convey to you our church how much of a blessing it was to serve those who serve our kids. We want to continue that this year and potentially expand it.

MBCH

Speaking of which: One of our goals as a church is to be a light in this dark world when it comes to caring for kids and their families. We all hear the stories on the evening news and the articles that show up that shine a light on just how much our world has fallen and how much we need Jesus. In order to help us keep our eyes on the prize, to help create environments as a church that promote safety and accountability, we will be hosting a training on January 21st, 4-6pm put on by the leadership of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home called Stewards of Children. The goal is to help, not only our church, but other churches in the association start looking proactively at our Children’s and youth ministries and keep them as above reproach as we can. Because when we make a kid and their family feel safe, trusted, and valued, we can show them how much they are valued by Jesus.

Foster and Respite Opportunities. In the next few weeks dates for classes to get involved in traditional foster Care and respite services will come out and I will let you know that its a hard ministry but one that calls out the best in Christlikeness from us. Whether that is having a kiddo come live with your family while home gets sorted out, or becoming that kids family, we have so many kids who have lived a life that would make many of us shudder. But, God could be calling you and your family to be apart of the solution. Pray and seek his face.

Division of Youth Services

Meals and fellowships- this fall a group of ladies and I descended upon all the boys and their staff armed with double smoked ham and brisket and church-lady-ed them. Yall they weren’t ready. Those boys ate until they almost exploded. The following week the entire Zenith house took time to write us some cards thanking us. I’ll have them on the front row so you can read them but one I want to read with you all, if you’d allow me.

Bible study opportunities. I have been thinking that there might be some potential to go in a start a bible study with those guys once a month but I’d need the right 3 guys to make it happen.

Show us something-boys have no life experience and would love someone to show them anything. Bbq, change oil, wood working.

Disaster Relief.

Training for: Chainsaw, Fire and flood recovery, Running shower houses, laundry trailers, child care, communications and radio equipment, and mass feeding. If you have a pulse they can use you.

Dates

March 8-9

April 5-6

Sept 6-7

Oct 4-5

Whosoever in Stott City and Miller. Those struggling with homelessness and getting out of prison have a program they can get involved with, support, structure, and help to stay clean, and Jason Robbins can’t do it all alone.

Place to stay, transportation to work, court, parole meetings, food, and basic needs.

$7000 in vehicles, insurance, and gas just to get everyone around.

Lack of cars available gives us the opportunity to help people out.

Oil changes, check ups, winterizing.

Service projects and days.

Moving, cleaning, organizing, maintenance and repairs. We need people to put themselves in the hopper to be ready when these items come up.

Sign up to coach kids ball this year. They are so desperate for coaches. Set the tone and example for the kids and their parents of what a man or woman of God looks like.

Open your home to your church family and those who you share your life with.

Landing

And there is still more that we could say! You see what I mean. There are all kinds of ways for you to glow and light up your world for Christ right here in our back yard. But lean in friends, I need you to hear me, your pastor say this too you right now and I need you to realize I’m not talking to those other people who really need to hear this, I am talking to you. Where is God leading you to get involved right now, because he is telling you to get involved somewhere. We weren’t saved to sit. So church are you ready? Are you in? Are you ready this year to get in the game and follow where he leads?