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
by Pastor Rick | Aug 19, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Morning MABC!
Was thinking about the fifty-seven cents that started a movement with Temple Baptist Church from yesterday’s message. Fifty-seven cents doesn’t get you much today. Every once and a while I will feel the need for something sweet when I stop to get a fountain drink at QuikTrip and will get a Chick O Stick…not the full size one but about a two bite size. I think it costs fifty-five cents. Around the time of our story of the little girl and her fifty-seven cents, she probably could have bought 57 peppermint sticks with her money. For a little girl living in the tenement of Philadelphia that would have been as good as gold. However, she had her mind set on something more important than the satisfaction of a candy stick. She had her mind on others.
I then got to thinking about another child offering up what little he had. Jesus was teaching on the far side of Galilee. A large crowd had followed him and it was getting late. Jesus turned to Philip and asked where they could buy enough food to feed them. Philip said “no, way Jose! We could work months and wouldn’t be able to afford food that much food.” Andrew then says that there is a boy with five loaves of bread and a couple of fish but then commented what good is that? Well, if we have read the story in John you know that Jesus took what the boy offered and fed 5,000 men plus who knows how many women and children.
Or what about the young girl in Nazareth? She was seemingly insignificant because everybody knows that nothing good comes from Nazareth! She had caught the eye of one man though. Joseph saw something in her that would make a good wife. God saw something even greater in Mary and chose her to be the mother of His son. Mary had a hard time comprehending how it could happen because she was “inexperienced” in that area. The angel said she had found favor with the Lord. Mary then gave the greatest gift she could give. She had no money, nothing of material value but she gave her life. In Luke 1 she says, I am the Lord’s servant.” Mary even refers to herself as a lowly servant girl (Luke 1:48).
The greatest thing we can offer up to the Lord is ourselves. He doesn’t need our financial offerings. In Psalm 50:12 he tells us that everything in the world is his already. If he can create the earth and everything in it, I am absolutely sure he could make a little more money if he needed. Our government does it all the time! God wants you…all of you! He wants you to love him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). If you love the Lord, he wants you to serve him with all your heart and soul (Deut. 11:13).
What do you have today to offer to the Lord?
Remember this week I will be in the office around 10:00 am until 2:00 pm today and on Wednesday. Sherry and I will be gone this Sunday. Have a great week! Tell Pastor Fred “hi” for me!
P.R.
by Pastor Rick | Aug 12, 2024 | Click Date to Respond
Good Monday morning MABC!
It is another cool morning before the temps begin to rise in the middle of the week. I am thankful for the rain this morning and hope you are too!
We will take a break from our study of Acts for a time but I want you to remember one thing. Just because we are taking a break from the Book of Acts doesn’t mean we are taking a break on the work of sharing the gospel and discipleship! As you read on in Acts you will see the church in Jerusalem is growing…and growing…and growing. It wasn’t just a one-time event in which 3000 were added to their numbers. In subsequent chapters we see it reported that the Lord added to their number daily, many heard and believed, more and more men and women believed in the Lord, in those days the number of disciples was increasing, the number of disciples increased rapidly, and men and women believed and were baptized. And that is just in the first eight chapters covering the spread of the Gospel in Jerusalem! In chapter 9 we find that the “church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria grew in numbers.
Here is What I believe to be the key for the early church and it is the same for us today. Throughout the first couple of chapters we see that the early church was together praying, sharing in life, and ministry. Acts 1:14 says they were all joined together constantly in prayer. Acts 2:1 says they were all together when the Holy Spirit appeared. Acts 2:44 says they were together and had everything in common. That just didn’t happen the first couple of days after the Holy Spirit emboldened them. Zoom ahead a couple of chapters to chapter 4 and we find that all the believers were one in heart and mind. This unity was constant as was the act of prayer. So should it be with us. I know that there had to be things they probably weren’t in complete agreement on but they must have been all of one mind when it came to following the Great Commission and Jesus’ command to be his witnesses. We must be mindful of Jesus’ words that the days are short, the harvest plentiful but the laborers few. Let that not be said of us.
Here is a reminder that volunteer sign up for Lawrence Elementary School can be found here: https://www.usd259.org/Page/8946 or go to Wichita Public Schools and search “volunteer”
To get involved with the international student outreach go to isiwichita.org/Friendship-Partner
Also, Sherry has asked me to let you know that we have plenty of wipes and size 1 diapers for Ashley so if you still want to contribute please help with size 2 and up diapers.
One more thing! This past Sunday If you noticed that the communion table was missing it was. We are experimenting with the look of our video stream and creating some space. At times it looks very crowded and confined. This week on our Facebook posting we will start inviting people to our YouTube channel as a means of introduction to MABC. Watch for the post on Thursday or Friday and then share it PLEASE!
Have a great week!
Pastor Rick
