by Pastor Rick | Sep 23, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Monday Morning,
This is just about the best time of the year! The mornings and evenings, cool…almost chilly, and the afternoons in the mid-70s. Sherry and I shut down the A/C yesterday when we got home and opened the windows. It was great sleeping weather.
As I sat down this morning to begin writing, I thought for a minute about Peter and the lame beggar from Acts 4. The miracle of healing the lame beggar opened the door for the gospel to be shared and share it Peter did. So, if struggles and troubles open the door to the gospel, should we be praying for trouble? That we might be able to share the gospel? And as I pondered in my heart (Luke 2:19), I came to the conclusion there was no need to pray for trouble. Our world is filled with trouble already and our job is to pray for awareness, sensitivity to those around us and BOLDNESS to share Jesus we called upon to respond. May that be your prayer today and tomorrow and the days to come.
Yesterday, we talked about those times when we are feeling overwhelmed with our troubles or the troubles of others and how we respond. I want to elaborate a little on the responses to feeling overwhelmed.
1. First was seek community. God made us as relational people and we aren’t to do life alone. Find a group of people that share your faith and then maybe even hone it down to one or two really close confidants. Jesus had twelve in his faith group but in certain instances he turned to three. An easy way to find community is your church family. Gather on Sundays.
2. Pray! Start your prayer not with your troubles but with gratitude. Thank God for all that you do have and all that he has done for you. I have been fortunate enough to travel to places where they have very little…no running water, dirt floors, sketchy electricity and persecution. Those trips were some of the best times for Sherry and I to be thankful for what he had.
3. Focus on mission. Finding time to serve others is a great way to combat your sense of being overwhelmed. See number 2 above but also consider the impact your actions have on others. You can find a sense of fulfillment and purpose in life when you do that. Also, remember that the apostle Paul said that we are to comfort others as God has comforted us in our troubles. (2 Cor.1:4)
4. This is a freebie…didn’t mention it yesterday. USE technology. If you have a smartphone, you can carry the bible with you everywhere. Sitting in the doctor’s office for the third time this week? Pull up some scripture and read. Have a note-taking app on your phone? (Most phones do as a standard feature.) Use it to record some prayer needs from others and for yourself. Check your email for Les’ Monday Morning Update and pray for those on praise and prayer list. Sitting at the tag office with 50 other people? Pull up some praise music. You don’t have to blast it but someone sitting near may hear and ask what you are listening to – open door to share! Send a text or an email to someone you have in your contact list telling them you are praying for them.
Start with just one of these if you have to and add others as you go. Have a great week!
Pastor Rick
by Pastor Rick | Sep 16, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Morning all,
Saw this in one of my news feeds (Christian Post) after worship yesterday. A Seattle pastor, Pastor Matthew Meinecke. won a significant legal battle with the city of Seattle over his sharing of his faith publicly in the summer of 2022. He had been arrested for reading from the Bible and handing out faith based literature at a pro-abortion rally. He received some monetary compensation but the big win was that the city had to acknowledge that they were in the wrong for suppressing speech, his first amendment rights.
It reminded me of another story I had followed closely. While pastoring in Augusta I was asked to help coach the high school football team. We prayed before practice every day and before games. We made it perfectly clear that it was strictly voluntary and you didn’t have to join us. In 2015, Joe Kennedy, a Washington state high school football coach, lost his job for praying on the 50 yard line after games. After the game, he would go to mid-field and take a knee to pray. It was just a solitary activity at first but then students started joining him. The school district asked him to stop because it gave the appearance of school sanctioned prayer and that as a coach students may feel coerced into joining him. He refused saying it was his right to do so and that any action by students was clearly up to them. It took seven years of legal battles but in 2022 the Supreme Court ruled the Bremerton School District violated the coach’s rights, saying prayers amounted to private speech and could not be restricted by the school district. Here is a quote from Coach Kennedy:
“As I have demonstrated, we must make a stand for what we believe in,” he continued. “In my case, I made a stand to take a knee. I encourage all Americans to make their own stand for freedom and our right to express our faith as we see fit.” (emphasis mine!)
As the percentage of Americans who feel their faith is highly important to them continues to dwindle and the number of those who feel their faith is “somewhat important” or not important increase, we can be sure that we will see more and more opposition to faith-based activities in public spaces. And if we don’t raise up a generation that is prepared to take their faith serious, we are failing the Great Commission to go and make disciples. I was greatly encouraged though last Thursday. I am coaching on my grandson’s middle school football team where he is an 8th grader. Before the 7th grade team took the field one of the players gathered the team around and asked them to kneel in prayer. I think every last player joined him. There is hope.
This week I will be in the office on Wednesday morning and then again on Thursday morning. Today we have a follow up doctor appointment for Sherry. Thursday morning I will be in the office after a morning meeting at Lawrence Elementary school.
Should the opportunity to stand strong for your faith arise, remember that Jesus has not given a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Tim. 1:7 NLT)
Praying that God blesses your socks off this week!
P.R.
by Pastor Rick | Sep 12, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Morning MABC family,
I love this time of year. This morning as I had my cup of coffee on the porch it was a cool 58 degrees but this afternoon will be in the high 80’s. And, it’s football season!
First things first! I will be doing some work from home this morning but will be in the office tomorrow and Wednesday instead. One, I want to be home with Sherry one more morning as we strive to get back to pre-surgery routines. Two, I am trying to combine trips to Wichita more efficiently. Tuesday is our men’s lunch at the Copper Oven at 11:30 am. Men, hopefully you can join us there. Wednesday is a men’s lunch at Newspring that is usually attended by around 500 men. I have invited a couple of younger men to join me there for lunch. Men, if you can’t make it Tuesday morning, maybe you can join me and others at Newspring at 11:45 pm. If you want a lunch you need to register ahead of time otherwise it doesn’t cost anything. I have been emphasizing with our men the need for us to disciple other men. Who is that man you have some connection to that could use good biblical encouragement alongside other men? Let me know if you decide to go so that I can look for you!
While sitting on my back porch having a cup of coffee this morning I was reading a couple a couple of insights from other leaders and church related research. Yesterday I mentioned the culture shift in our country and how it seems to be moving further and further away from the principles we try to live by as followers of Christ. I use the term followers because I really don’t like the word “Christians” any more for a couple of reasons. One was mentioned yesterday in Luke 14 as Jesus talked about the cost of being a disciple. Verse 25 says a large crowd was following Jesus. Jesus turns to the crowd and essentially says it is not enough just to follow me around for the “show.” He boldly tells them what he is interested in – committed followers – not just big numbers of “fans” so that he can post on social media how many “followers” he has. I use “followers” loosely there! He is interested in those who want to help him further the kingdom no matter the cost.
George Barna, Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University says “’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ.” The CRC’s research says that despite 69% claiming the faith, in reality only a tiny minority of American adults (6%) possess a biblical worldview and demonstrate a consistent understanding and application of biblical principles. This research was done in 2021 and it falls right in line with the Gallup Poll numbers mentioned yesterday from 2013 suggesting fewer than ten percent of evangelical Christians could be called deeply committed. Gallup stated that most of those who profess Christianity don’t know basic teachings and don’t act differently because of their Christian experience. Maybe I can speak to that more next week.
Next week, we will take an even deeper look into culture and Jesus as we move forward in chapter 4 of Acts. Yesterday as I was reading chapter 4 again, doing some research and praying, I have come to the conclusion it will take two more weeks – maybe even three – to get through this chapter. I have to tell you that really throws off my tentative schedule for sermons for the rest of this year! Read ahead and pray about verses 5-21. On this beautiful morning, that’s what I hope cover. Let’s see what the Lord says!
Pastor Rick
by Pastor Rick | Sep 2, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Morning MABC family!
I hope you are enjoying your Labor Day Monday! With the break in the heat, it is a great time to enjoy some natural Vitamin D…sunshine!
Last night I was reading in Matthew chapter 4 about Jesus beginning his ministry. He calls his team together beginning with Peter and Andrew, then James and John. What struck me last night, even though I have read this passage so many times was that both sets of brothers immediately or at once dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus. I am sure that in the time since his baptism by John the Baptist that Jesus had been teaching and doing many works that were being spoken of but to just drop everything at the invitation from Jesus? Kind of mind boggling to me.
It got me thinking though. What was it about Jesus that so moved these men to act as quickly as they did and maybe even irresponsibly in the minds of many? There had been others who people thought were the Messiah. The Pharisee Gamaliel named two others of note in Acts 5:33-42. They turned out to be fraudulent. So, what was it about Jesus that drew men to him? It couldn’t have been his movie star/celebrity appearance. Scripture is very clear about that. Isaiah 53:2 says “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.” Couldn’t have been his physical stature like Saul that made him standout (1 Samuel 10:23).
We must look at the gospels and study the nature of Jesus. We study his life and way of living. I don’t have the time to include all the scripture references here but he is described as having compassion for people by feeding them and healing the sick. He is merciful and forgiving. Just think of his words on the cross in regard to those who crucified them. He was a man who came to serve and not be served. He came for those who were “sick,” not the healthy. He came to seek and save the lost. He was loving. He had great character. Character is defined as “qualities of honesty, courage, or the like, integrity.” He was a strong but humble leader. What I notice most is that he was relational. He had an intimate relationship with his followers and those he engaged with.
Our goal as a follower of Jesus is to be more like him. Would those around you say that you display the same qualities as Jesus? Would they say that you demonstrate some of the qualities? Any of the qualities? Is there any particular quality of Jesus that you need to work on, to improve in? Would you say from Matthew chapter 4 to Acts 3 we have seen Peter become more like Jesus? If we are to make a difference in our “neighborhood” and in the lives of our “neighbors” we must strive or press on toward the goal…of representing Jesus to those who need our message of hope and love.
Pastor Rick
by Pastor Rick | Aug 26, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Hey all!
Thank you for the Sunday off! We had a great time with our kids and enjoyed a wonderful message in Lenexa at church. Sherry and I hope Pastor Fred blessed your socks off! I haven’t had time to watch the service yet as we didn’t get home until right before our small group was to meet at 6:30 pm. We had just enough time to straighten up a little and get some snacks out. I thought about watching after but we didn’t get our group completely cleared out until 9:15 pm!
This morning I want to share more with you about this idea of community and small group. Our small group consists of five couples at this time. In our group, besides Sherry and me, we have four younger couples (younger than the Neubauers that is). It is a great range of ages. All of them have something going on in their lives. The wife in the youngest couple is a neighbor and we have known her since she was in elementary school as her family attended FBC El Dorado with us back in the day. That couple has had some health issues with their parents that have worn on them quite a bit. One couple experienced some major health issues with the wife suffering a brain aneurysm and nearly dieing and then her husband was diagnosed with cancer. They were someone we knew and weren’t really going to church but we invited them in. The husband in another couple has battled debilitating migraines for nearly his whole life. The other couple has their struggles right now as the husband is in round three of 12 chemo treatments for a kidney cancer and now has to be tested for prostate cancer. Wow! It is a lot but let me tell you one thing about this group. They are there for one another. Meals if needed, babysitting if it helps, co-laboring on house issues. Whatever it is that needs to be done gets done. Two couples go to one church, another couple to a different church, the other couple is not going anywhere right now since we left Augusta. They are searching for a home but all of them agree that the small group is important to them in their faith life.
This is what the early church must have looked like in Acts. They didn’t have a formal church for people to gather in on Sunday mornings. They met in homes, cared for each other, looked after each other. I am not sure yet where Fred took you all in “My Church” yet but you need more than just an hour in the pew on Sunday morning to be in community. You need each other. If you are not part of a small group, I would encourage you to reach out to someone and get one started. You don’t have to be a theologian or a scholar or a pastor to lead…you just have to love people. You can focus your group on a particular book of the bible or a topic. Get a devotional or buy a study and go with it. Find answers together if you are not sure. And then grow.
In the near future, considering that Sherry and I are moving to Andover, we have asked the group to consider finding another couple of two to join them and multiply. We will do the same in our new Andover neighborhood. This is how the Kingdom church grew in the early days. I bring this up because this morning I saw a study that said only 40% of Americans said their faith was of great importance to them and another study showing only 35.87% of Kansans said their faith was of great importance to them. Church, we have a problem! And we tackle it the same way you eat an elephant…one bite at a time. Find someone who needs community and then find someone else. Start developing relationships and discipling others. What if each one of us reached one other person in the next four months of 2024? And then repeated that in 2025? In 2026? Welcome to the church in the Book of Acts.
Don’t just talk about church…be the church!
Pastor Rick
