Pastor's Blog

OK, I am not ashamed to admit it, I was moved to tears during yesterday morning's worship service (02/24/2013). I was so blessed that I could not adequately put into words how I felt at the time, but as the hours have passed, I believe I can better articulate what it was that so moved me.

A couple of month ago the members of the NYI group came to the board meeting and asked permission to begin, hopefully on a once-a-month basis, leading the worship service. The board immediately approved their request, and they began planning for their first service. That service was yesterday morning.

Four of the young ladies led the song service, Lindsay Poninski, Rebekah Mondy, Shaniah Ilberry, and Summer Melton. Anthony Lashbrook participated by welcoming the congregation, making the announcements, and praying for the offering. Meghan Lashbrook and Jaren Estep served as ushers, Jacob Higgins became the greeter for the day, and Greg Johnson prepared the PowerPoint for the worship service and manned the computer throughout the worship service. I still have trouble expressing just how moving it was to see all of them in action.

As a pastor, I often go for weeks or even months, without seeing immediate gratification that I am making a difference in the lives of the congregation. Face it, that is the nature of the position. I preach/teach, visit, counsel, etc. but most of those things do not bring resolution or closure. They are part of a process of trying to help others on their journey toward spirtual maturity. But yesterday, I did have that moment of witnessing the fruits of my labor. Eight young adults stepping up to take part in a worhip service in ways were outside of most of their comfort zones. They did so, not because I asked them to, but because they have sensed the leading of the Holy Spirit calling them to get more involved.

With smiles on their faces, and perhaps a bit of trepidation as they took their postions, they young adults all stepped out on faith to serve God because they wanted to, not because they had to. I cannot take sole credit for this growth and process, I actually did not have a lot to do with the actual planning or execution of the service. What I realized, the thought that moved me to tears, was that there is spiritual growth and formation that is taking place in the Centralia Church of the Nazarene. It is not me who causes the growth, but I do believe I am a vessel that God uses to accomplish His purposes, and to that end, I was richly blessed to see that while I may not be responsible for all of the growth, I am responsible for helping nuture a congregation who is willing to let God move them out of their comfort zone to build His kingdom. In that moment, I sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit, gently re-assuring me that this is not about me, this is about the Kingdom. I have a role to play, and in His goodness and mercy, God allowed me to receive a glimpse of what He loves so dearly: His children obediently following the leading of His Spirit to become what He sees fit.

I would like to take just another moment and thank everyone one of the NYI members who participated, and Jeff and April Johnson for so faithfully leading this wonderful group of young adults. They are not the church of the future, they are the church of today, and I was truly blessed to see them accept that role. If you were not able to attend yesterday's service, I implore you to go to the Sermons page and listen to the song service recording. I believe you will be blessed beyond belief.

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I wanted to make sure anyone who might be interested can find the online registration for Team Day 2013. I have created a button on the home page that will take you directly to the Illinois District Team Day 2013 information page. On that page you will find course descriptions, schedule of courses, and an online registration form. You can register online and pay when you arrive the day of the event. The registration fee of $15 includes your lunch. Please take advantage of this event as there will be a lot of valuable training presented at this event.

Also, we will be having an encore performance of last year's Easter cantata, O What a Savior on Easter Sunday. This is a wonderful program and it will be a blessing to you if you can attend.

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Isn't is amazing how quickly seems to pass? It seems as if it were just a couple of days ago and the New Year holiday was upon us. We turn around a time or two and it is already the beginning of February. Where did the month of January go?

The Lenten season is rapidly approaching us, and Easter will be here before we know it. I am really looking forward to the sermon series in this year's Ashes to Fire devotional. I believe it is a good tool to help us move through the life of Christ and not become so bogged down in a few passages right at Easter. I have never really utilized a lectionary approach before the denomination developed Ashes to Fire, and I don't utilize it as rigidly as I could. I basically try to read the devotions to have fodder for my mind, and then ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me through the passages. Typically, I preach the prescribed passage for each Sunday through the season, and I have noticed that what this allows is a bigger picture to develop of who Jesus was and still is.

Don't let time pass you by. Start digging into the Scripture pertaining to the Passion, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Don't wait until Easter morning to think about what the Resurrection of Christ means to you, allow the Holy Spirit to begin working in your life now. I believe you will have a deeper, more meaningful Easter celebration if you will draw closer to Christ on the journey to get to that day.

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I am trying to be more pro-active in using the internet to pass along information. To that end, please keep an eye on the church's Facebook group as I am trying to keep it updated as quickly as possible since it seems more people read Facebook posts than website posts. Hopefully, I will be better at keeping both up to date in the coming weeks than I have been in the past.

One of the most important things I want to put before everyone is that we are planning to have a Valentine's banquet on February 2, at 6:00 PM. The teens will be serving/helping/cleaning, because this is going to be a fundraiser for them. We are asking for a $5 per person donation, which will go to the NYI department. The men of the church will be cooking the meal that evening, and it will consist of roast beef, baked potatoes, corn, green beans, salad, bread, and desserts. We will have a sign-up sheet at the church on Sunday, Jan 20, and we ask that you please sign up before Wednesday, Jan 30 so we can have an accurate count to prepare the proper amount of food. This is open to all, it is not strictly for adults. If you wish to attend and do not have the $5 donation, you are still welcome to attend, but we must still ask that you sign up in advance.

Another item I will pass along, we are planning to have an encore performance of last year's Easter cantata, "O What A Savior". Because Easter is relatively early this year, we did not feel we could properly learn a new program, but the desire is present to have a cantata. The solution was to do an encore performance of last year's program. If you did not participate by singing last year, you will be able to join this year's performance if you would like. If you sang last year, you are encouraged to participate again this year as we need people familiar with the music to help others learn the music. More information about this will be coming in the next little bit, but I wanted to give you a heads up that it is on the way.

A last item of note, I have been in contact with Kim McLean concerning a revival this year. We have gotten all of the details worked out, as of this morning. Kim, her son will, and Devon O'Day will once again join us for a revival this year. The revival dates are Wednesday, July 31 thru Sunday, August 4. More information on this as time passes, but please begin praying now for the revival that is coming.

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It has been a few months since anything has been updated on the church's website. Well, it is time for the updates to begin once again.

I will be updating the sermon page on a weekly basis once again, beginning with the first sermon of 2013, and each week I will be loading the previous Sunday's morning service. If you can be in service, I highly recommend you attend, but if you are not able to be present, I hope you will give the service a listen to have some spiritual nourishment each week.

Beginning this past Sunday, we have taken a more focused approach to children's ministry. We have purchased materials to have a children's Sunday school program that will also be extended into a children's church service. The material will allow the teachers to present the lesson during Sunday school, and then use children's church time to reinforce the lesson. The children will be spending time singing, interacting, praying, snacking, and learning in an all encompassing program.

For the adults, Sunday school will continue as it has been on Sunday mornings. On Sunday evenings, we are going to begin small group studies which utilize video based materials from well know speakers. The first program we are going to use is titled "Soul Detox" and is presented by Craig Groeschel. The material is very good, and presented in an eye-opening fashion.

On Wednesday evenings, we are studying the people of the Bible. Beginning with Genesis, we plan to study one person, or group of people each week. The first lesson was on the Trinity, and this week's lesson will be on Adam. Next Wednesday we will be looking at Eve. The idea is to move through the people as they are presented, and see how they are interwoven throughout Scripture.

I hope you will be able to attend some of these services. The desire is to help people grow in their spiritual lives, and the church board has actively prayed and sought God's direction in how to best facilitate this growth. Please take the opportunity to allow God to work in your lives through these programs.

One final thing to note. I am trying to create a link to a daily devotional. If you click on the daily devotional link on the homepage, it will take you to a Facebook page for "My Utmost for His Highest". On that page, there is a link to their main website, which has not only My Utmost for His Highest, but a couple of other good devotionals. I am not sure of the copyright information of copying their material, so I am linking to Facebook, which gives you a daily update rather than a direct link because I can only figure out how to link to a specific day if I do it directly. That may change if I can figure it out, but at least for the time being, I can get you connected to a good devotional going this route.

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