March 5, 2015
Dear Eastridge Church,
This week Josh and I have been traveling to Hutchinson each
day to attend meetings for pastors. The meetings
have been pretty intense and lasting all day with homework. Needless to say I’m pretty tired but one of
my homework assignments was to share a vision for our church. Here is what I shared today
I have a dream...
To see the church, experience the healing of God’s
transforming Grace to become one family, Jews and Gentiles under one Lord King
Jesus.
I have a dream to see the church reflect the community where
we live.
I have a dream to see Sunday morning NOT remain the most
segregated time in America. Over 90% of
American churches draw 90% of their people from one ethnic group and only about
8% of American churches can be called multi ethnic or multi-racial.
I have a dream like the apostle Paul who laid down one of the
most brilliant lines in the history of mankind, which reveals God to grand
social experiment called a church.
These lines reveal what God wants the church to be and therefore how the
Christian life is to be understood.
There is
neither Jew nor Gentile (ethnic),
Neither
slave nor free (social or socio-economic class),
Nor is
there a male or female (gender).
Why is there no ordering of life on the basis of ethnicity
class or gender?
(Because)
you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
I have a dream to see the "differents" gets
connected, to see the “unlikes” form a fellowship and the formerly segregated become
integrated. They are to be one in Christ
Jesus who holds the "differents" together.
There are different cultures, there are different
socioeconomic classes, and there are different genders. And there are different educations, incomes,
kinds of work done, and preferences in music and art, worship style and sermon
length. And they are all together at the
table, thrashing it out with one another. That thrashing it out is what the church is
about — and that is what the Christian life is all about: learning to love one
another, by the power of God’s grace, so we can flourish as the people of God
in this world.
May our church be questionable, may our lives be questionable as
we live out this new community dream (1 Peter 3:15). Let’s be the church that God has called us to
be!
Prayer
On Saturday morning at 9am Pastor Daniel leads a prayer
meeting. On Sunday morning at 8:30am
Pastor Josh will lead a prayer meeting before the morning worship service.
Movie
Night
Pastor Daniel and Gloria are having a movie night at the
church where they are showing Courageous on March 7th at 5PM
Board
Meeting
Sunday afternoon at 4:30 we will have our monthly board
meeting.
Easter
Egg Hunt/Easter Breakfast
We are planning on having our annual Easter Egg Hunt at the church
on Easter Sunday, April 5th.
We will need small wrapped candy donations again and this year we are
going to make the plastic eggs available for you to take home and fill the eggs
with candy. This will cut down our time
stuffing eggs. On Saturday March 28 at
noon Stephanie will be serving lunch while we gather to stuff eggs with candy.
The Stewards are planning on having an Easter Breakfast before
the morning service at 9:15-9:45. We
will have more details in the next few weeks.
Easter is one of our big four outreach events to invite people
to attend the services who do not have a church home. I encourage you to pray about who you may invite
to join you on Easter Sunday this year.
Prayer
request
Diana Haworth had surgery yesterday where they discovered
tumors on her liver baseball and golf ball size. We need to continue to remember Diana and
Pastor Will in prayer.
I received word this week from Larry Arnett, here is what he
reported: Judy has water on the
lungs with cancer present in the exterior lining; cancer showed 10- quarter
size spots on the liver; numerous nodules on/across frontal
and side portions of the abdominal cavity; and some spots on the
right pelvic bone area. The doctor was “shocked” at how fast this occurred.
Prime
Time Banquet
On April 24th 6PM at Wichita First Church of the
Nazarene, The Burchfield Brothers will be in concert at the banquet. The cost for the tickets is $13/per
person.
MNU Night
at Worlds of Fun
MNU Night at Worlds of Fun is Friday, April 24th, 2015 from
6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. This event will
once again be one of the many fun-filled activities of our MAX event. Join in the great times of fellowship and
support for MidAmerica Nazarene University to make it a wonderful 41st
year! By attending this year’s MNU Night
at Worlds of Fun, you will not only have fun, but will help present and future
students attend MNU.
Visit www.mnu.edu/worldsoffun to order your ticket
online. Online tickets are printed
instantly from your home or office, so be sure to have a printer handy. No
refunds or credit will be issued for unused online tickets. Online tickets are $26.50 (plus tax) prior to
Wednesday, April 4, and $30.00 (plus tax) after April 4
Favorite
Quotes of the Week
“Faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain. Imagine
what it can do in your marriage.” – Tony Evans
“May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where
you are meant to be.” - Teresa of Ávila
I’m looking forward to worshipping with you on Sunday,
Pastor Andy
I had no idea that there were so few churches that have people from more than one ethnic group. Church is good for a lot of people. Religion is one of those things that some people need in their lives to keep them going. Living close to one really does help keep you involved. The farther you have to go to church, the less you are probably going to go. http://chcus.org/mission-statement/
ReplyDelete