Prodigal Sticky Notes

Sunday I talked about the importance of being a prodigal friendly church. It is important that to remain kingdom focused, we must be about seeing the prodigals come home. In the story of the prodigal son we see the spirit of the elder brother who did not accept his brothers homecoming. It is important that we do not allow the spirit of the elder brother to come into our church. I was deeply moved to see all the names on the sticky notes that are stuck all along the steps on the stage. We will be praying for those names on Thursday Night at 7 p.m. My prayer is that we will see many of those prodigals come home and be welcomed back to the family of God.

Membership Classes

Just a reminder that tonight and Saturday is our first membership classes. This is an exciting time for CommunityHope because in July we will be officially a soverign church and no longer under District supervision as a church plant. We will be discussing what it means to be a part of the local church in the membership class. Make plans to attend one or the other.

ACMR Report

Every year the Assemblies of God has you fill out a ministries report of your average attendance in various ministries. Here are the numbers for 2006:

Average Attendance- 116 (previous year was 90)
Sunday School- 60
Sunday Nights with Celebrate Recovery and Youth is a combined 37.

To God be the glory for all He has done!

SNOW DAY

I love snow days, EXCEPT ON CHURCH DAYS! I hate making the decision to cancel church. It could of went either way but the DOT was saying not to travel on the roads. I love church, I love the people and I love the Spirit of getting together and worshipping. When we don't have that, it just seems like something is missing during the week. I guess that means I will just be twice as pumped next Sunday.

Sectional Meeting

Thursday we had our pastors sectional meeting here in Montezuma. The pastors in our section were here to check out the church and all that is going on. They had a lot of questions about the church and what has happened here the last three years. I give God total credit for what has happened here in Monte. It is truly incredible to see the growth and God's awesome power displayed. This last Sunday was a great example of that. God's spirit was strong during our time of worship that I was just in awe of Him. Let us continue to keep God at the focus of everything we do and as long as we do that, I believe God will continue to bless.

Proactive with the Kingdom

I was listening to a church planter in Illinois this week that started a church over five years ago. One of the things he said was that when they started the church, they decided to be proactive instead of reactive. In other words, they decided to be on the offensive instead of the defensive. He said that when they started two services, it wasn't so much that the sanctuary was totally full but they had decided as a church that if they were going to reach more people, that was a way to do it. This church has also started multi-site ministries in other towns as well. They did this to be on the offense. The more I look at the Kingdom of God, the more I see that Jesus talked about being proactive with the kingdom. Jesus told Peter that He would build His church and that the gates of hell would not prevail. The church is not in a defensive stance against the gates of hell but we are rather on the offensive battling against the gates of hell. What would happen if the church took an offensive stance this year and actively pursued the kingdom of God? I believe that great things could happen!

Nashville Stars

What an incredible day its been. I got a call from my neice about my nephew Josh being on Nashville Stars tonight. I havn't seen my nephew for ten years due to some unfortunate circumstances. Anyways, she told me to check out an article on the Des Moines Register. I couldn't believe it. I'm trying to get in touch with Josh just to let him know that we support him. You can check him out tonight on the USA Network at 9 p.m. And oh yeah, give him a vote as well!

Kingdom Focused

I am really excited about our new sermon series called "The Kings Kingdom". I really believe that there is a move of God that is happening in pockets around the world. This revival of sorts is something that we may not recognize because this revival is unlike any revivals from the past. This revival is a Kingdom revival. Over a year ago, I heard the Lord speak to me about Community Hope being a "Kingdom Focused" church. At the time I wasn't for sure what that meant but over the year I have studied what it means to be about the Kingdom. Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom of God and what it means to be kingdom people. Jesus even said that we should pray "His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What does the kingdom on earth look like? For the next few weeks we will be discovering more about the Kings Kingdom at CH, don't miss it!

2007 is here!

Just want to wish everybody a Happy New Year! I am excited to see what the New Year is going to bring. God always goes beyond our expectations. I believe that a good way to start your New Year right is through prayer. Let us all be on our knees for the New Year and praying that God will begin to do a New Thing in our midst. Remember that we have prayer on Thursday Nights at the church. All revivals of the past have come through men and women on their knees. God moves when His people pray!