I have been rehashing yesterday’s message in my mind thinking about the disciples’ ministry in their “neighborhood.  Acts chapter 2 says they shared with those in need, worshipped together, shared their meals and enjoyed the good will of all the people.   And each day it says that the Lord added to their number.  In Acts 5 we find them all together again and the people held them in high regard.  They were reluctant to join the disciples as followers but…yet more and more people believed and joined the “crowd” so to speak.

What is it that the neighborhood around MABC needs?  What needs do we as a church need to meet in order that our neighbors know that we love them?  It would be interesting to see how many of you who attend MABC actually live in the neighborhood boundaries.  The Delano District’s boundaries are Meridian Ave on the west, the river to the north and the east and then Kellogg to the south.  How many of us in the Sunday morning crowd live within that 1.6 square miles?   I don’t ask that to be mean.  My point is that we have to work that much harder to be a “neighborhood” church when we aren’t in the neighborhood!   We really have to be intentional in what we want to see take place.

I have been looking at demographics this morning trying to get a picture of the neighborhood.  In terms of age, the greatest population group looks to be 20-30 year olds followed by a smaller group of 35-45 year olds.  The population appears to be 60% male to 40% female.  Therein lies a little bit of a struggle for us as MABC.  The neighborhood has an extremely small population of people from 65 on up whereas we are heavy in that age group.  Again, not a bad thing but not representative of the neighborhood makeup.  And, we are probably 60% female and 40% male.  Again, not saying that is a bad thing but we do not look like our neighborhood.

We need to do some soul searching and pray for wisdom and guidance as to where we focus our energies in the future.  I have always been a “let’s get the kids and mom and dad will follow” kind of guy.  However, when we look at our neighborhood, only a quarter of the residents are married couple families.  And out of those couples, only half of them have children.  The average household size in the District is 2.5 people.  That tells me there isn’t a lot of children in our neighborhood.  Does that mean we don’t do children and youth?  No, it means that we shouldn’t expect high numbers at this time.  We take care of the kids we have been given.  On Monday night, our Awana numbers will consist mainly of grandkids of members and those grandkids don’t live in our neighborhood.  Grandma is bringing them.  I love them to death and I try to bring my grands when they don’t have anything else to do.  There just aren’t many in our neighborhood.

Would you please be in serious prayer about what God is asking us to do? He has placed us here in the Delano District and there has to be a reason for us to still be doing ministry after nearly 100 years.  I recently read that there is 3 church closures in the US for every church plant.  We aren’t in that statistic and I don’t believe we will be if we are earnestly seeking God’s will for MABC here in this neighborhood. Not our will but his.

Have a great week!  Be blessed but by all means, be a blessing to a neighbor in some way.

P.R.

Brrrr…Good (?) Monday Morning,

If you are out and about this morning bundle up and be safe on the roads.  I will not be in the office this morning but will be in for an extended period tomorrow and then back in town for the Centennial Anniversary meeting Wednesday night.

Being a good neighbor is our focus right now just in case you seemed to have missed it.   Sherry and I were having a cup of coffee this morning discussing an offer on our house in Augusta as she opened her YouVersion Bible app. She said maybe you are on to something. Listen to the verse of the day…

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.     Rom 12:10

In this verse, love is the philia or brotherly love the Bible speaks of and that fits well with the honoring part of the verse.  If you recall yesterday’s message, philia is based on mutual respect and admiration for one another.  The Greek for honoring here means the price of something or to value.  In other words, we are to value one another for what each of us brings to the table.  Everyone has something of worth to offer…EVERYONE!  As a loving neighbor, we should make it our mission to discover just what that is in those we are called to love.  This covers the L and the V in our L.O.V.E acrostic from yesterday – Learn and Value.  Is it going to be difficult to learn these things and value others? Yes!  That is why Jesus commanded it and not just merely suggested it.

In a Harvard study released last October, 1 in 5 Americans reported feeling lonely.  This is amazing to me considering all the technology we have designed for social connectedness.   Of those who reported being lonely 81% said the experienced anxiety or depression, felt like they had no purpose in life and that their place in the world was not important.  In addition, 67% felt like they were not part of a meaningful group and 61% said they lacked close friends or family.

Here were some of the key recommendations to overcoming the problem:

1.  Promote a culture of care and service.   I wonder why “one another” is mentioned approximately 100 times in the Bible. If we do the “one anothers” in the Bible we could move this along.

2.  Take time to reach out to friends and family.  I would include take time to reach out to your neighbors.

One more solution was to create more community activities for your neighbors.  We mentioned that yesterday as well.  The MABC Leadership team has been discussing the idea of trying to do a community activity at least once a quarter in this new year.

There are no easy solutions.  We will all – young, old and in-between – need to play a part in this. Start today.  Reach out to a neighbor and check on them.  The weather, as much as we hate it, gives you ample reason to check in…”How are you doing in this cold weather?”

Pastor Rick

Good Monday morning,

It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.

Recognize those lyrics to a television show theme song?  Yep, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” from the Mr. Rogers Show. Statistics show that these words ring more true today than ever.

In a U.S. News & World Report from a year ago, it was reported that about one in three U.S. adults said they feel lonely at least once a week. Even worse, the report said was that one in 10 Americans say they feel lonely every day.  The article went on to say that younger people are more likely to experience loneliness, which is defined as a lack of meaningful or close relationships or sense of belonging, according to the American Psychiatric Association’s latest Healthy Minds Monthly Poll.  About 30% of those surveyed between the ages 18 to 34 said they feel lonely every day or several times a week.  A CDC report from May of 2024 on mental health found that about 1 in 3 U.S. adults reported feeling lonely and 1 in 4 reported not having social and emotional support.

I also found some information on how people battle loneliness and of course things like watching a TV show, turning to alcohol and/or drugs or using social media helped.  Feeling connected and belonging help the most and those surveyed said that their greatest sense of community comes from being among family, friends, and neighbors.  Loving your neighbor is one way to help ease the epidemic of loneliness in our country.  And in doing so, it is my hope that we introduce our neighbors to Jesus.  Our world needs Jesus, our city needs Jesus and our neighbors need Jesus.  Let me leave you with this thought for the week:  It is no accident you live where you live!

In his great wisdom, God ordained that you should live where you live and who you were going to be neighbors with.   He knew that loving your neighbors was important thousands of years ago and how much more important it would be now.  Over the course of the week I will share more information about being a good neighbor on our Facebook page.  Start today though by thinking about those who live near and around you.  What are their names?  What are their stories?  What might they be going through that having a good neighbor might be a comfort? Can you identify one neighbor who might need and extra “boost” of love this week?

Be intentional.  Have a great week!
P.R.

Hey there MABC family & friends,

I wanted to start out by saying “Good Morning” but when it “feels like” -15 degrees outside that is hard to say!

Yesterday morning on Facebook I did a live feed with a devotion about the patterns of life.  Every year we hope for a better year than the year before but every year follows the same patterns.  We will have opportunities, struggles and loss, and ultimately some victories.  Good years, bad years – doesn’t matter.  I think how we approach those things is the biggest determination on good and bad.  You can see the video by going to this link that Les shared in his Monday update: https://www.facebook.com/MABCWichita/videos/476201291853440

It is the opportunities area I want to focus on this morning.  I mentioned that we need to be intentional about taking advantage of opportunities to grow both mentally and spiritually but I feel like the greatest opportunities we have to take hold of this year are the opportunity to serve and to share the gospel.  I think the importance of these two activities are summed up in the Great Commandment:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two
commandments.”

Matt.22:37-40 NIV

If we love the Lord, we will serve him.  If we love others, we will serve them and share the gospel with them.  How can we truly love others if we aren’t willing to meet their needs and share the hope of Jesus with them?

This coming Sunday I will share more about my thoughts on this for us a church family in the coming year.  I have been doing a lot of reading on this subject lately! Right now, I want to give you a hint about Sunday’s message by sharing a couple of verses. These are from the Message version which is not my favorite but there is an interesting word in these passages I want you to take note of.  See if you can figure out which word I am referring to! (There might even be a hint in the Great Commandment passage which is from the NIV)

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

John 1:14 MSG

Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge: “Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here.

Matt. 10:5-8 MSG

We have been together for a year now so it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out!
P.R.

Good Monday morning!

Here we are…the last Monday of the year 2024. I am guessing that a few of you have New Year’s resolutions in mind but I would venture to say that most of you don’t!  I am not a fan of resolutions because they are often “pie in the sky” without any real plans or intentions of making them into life-long changes.  Most resolutions have to deal with our physical health. Many people will make a resolution to lose weight or to go to the gym only to fall away in a month or two. They lack a plan to be a good steward or manager of their wellness.

The Bible calls us to be good stewards. There are hundreds of verses in the Bible that speak to the idea of stewardship and it is more than just our finances.  Charles Bugg defines stewardship in the Holman Bible Dictionary as “Utilizing and managing all resources God provides for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation.”  Some of us do a great job of being stewards financially.  Some of us do a good job about being stewards of earthly resources.  How many of us think about stewarding our bodies?

God gave our bodies to us, and He wants us to take care of them and avoid anything that might bring them harm. Many of the laws that God gave to the ancient Israelites in the Old Testament were meant to help them stay healthy and avoid sickness. God knew about things like blood borne illnesses and dietary issues long before modern science came up with them.  Jesus devoted much of His ministry to healing the sick and restoring them to health because he understood the importance of physical health. The Bible says that when we give our lives to Christ that includes our bodies:

 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, 

who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong

to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must               

honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT

Wellness is an all-encompassing field that includes not only the physical aspect of the body but the intellectual, emotional, social arenas and yes, the spiritual as well.   As Christians we always strive to be good spiritual and financial stewards but do you realize that not taking care of the other areas of our wellness can cause us stress, using valuable resources that could go to further the kingdom?  For example, most of the money spend on health-related issues that are a result of lifestyle choices that we make…not being good stewards of our body.   And the toll health issues take on our mental and emotional well-being?  That can be even greater than the financial stress.

God is the commander of the heavenly armies and like the United States Army, He wants you to “be all that you can be.”   I want you to “be all that you can be” because I care about more than just your spiritual well-being.  I am willing to help you come up with a plan to be intentional in your stewardship…just ask.  We all need to be “all we can be” to do the kingdom work of sharing the good news of the Kingdom.  We need to care for ourselves so that we can take care of those God entrusts to us.

Have a happy and healthy new year.

P.R.