Next Thursday is our second community outreach night. We are meeting at McAllister and going to Becky Livingston's house. This is a really cool somewhat older (sorry Becky)lady who hs had an absolutely tough year. She lost her husband and then got flooded from the river. She has now moved and could use some serious help getting her house in order. It will be a great time of hanging out and helping Becky - hope you can make it!
It is also an option to meet there, for those of you who might want to. She lives at 10 Kenosha Court, Lafayette, 47909
Here is a link to google maps
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=104664840198049025171.0004524273690944e51e8&z=15
We will probably get there about 7:05PM or so. Please bring your kids.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
What's been going on?
Well, here's the scoop,for those of you who weren't able to be with us last week and for those of you who are up for hearing what is coming up next week.
Last Thursday we had a great time. We like to begin by sharing something of how great God is with each other. It is fun and encourages us all a lot to celebrate how huge and awesome our God is. So, we began by taking 5 minutes to find something that appeared insignificant to everyone else, but was an object that, upon thinking about it for a little bit, produced a voice of joy for how great God is in our hearts. One of my examples was a charred plastic safety plug from my son Nathan's room. You see, our house was struck by lightning last week and Nate's plug was blackened, and it blew a hole in our gas line, but no one was hurt, there was no fire, nothing serious (only some seriously fried electronics). So, this simple plastic plug, while seeming insignificant, made my heart want to sing for joy at the way God protected my family and, particularly, Nathan! We shared around the group a wide variety of simple, seemingly insignificant things that raised our wonder and awe of a God who is so big that He can be praised in the smallest things! You should try it at home sometime. Find something that is entirely insignificant and think about it for a little...begin to notice the wonder of God in the everyday things. If you begin to do this regularly, you will find that living a Christian life all week long comes much more easily.
After our time of worshipping, we had a time of sharing things that were bothering us. We think it is really good and helpful to share, in some way, the problems we are facing. We care about each other, and God cares about all of us and when we share our issues, God hears. Plus when we pray for them, it invites Him right into the middle of them. We believe that praying for each other really helps! So, this time, since we all knew each other pretty well (and this is not something we will do every time, by any means) we exchanged the concern, written on a piece of paper, with someone else, with the committment that we would be praying for that for the next 2 weeks.
Next, we had some time to discuss, in our continuing on the topics of the "mores" that we as Americans, spend our time and energy going after, the pursuit of money in our lives. You see, it is clear that many of us are not obsessed with money. But, at the end of the discussion, it became clear that we often place ourselves in "prisons" by our overbuying, overextending, over using our credit cards, etc. - this is pursuing money and stuff past what it should be and it destroys other areas of our lives. The prisons are our inability to spend more time with family, establish deeper friendships, care for those around us, serve the needs of our neighbors and communities, etc, etc, etc because we must work unbelievable hours to just make sure that everything is paid for. American logic says we are just "trying to get ahead" but the truth is, we are walling ourselves in. I see people often in my office who are middle aged and doing well financially, but regret the overpursuit of the American Dream. The wonderful thing about learning to pursue the Christian God is that He can bring focus to our money and help us balance all the things in life,releasing us from our prisons.
If you find yourself hemmed in by your extention financially, consider simplifying. Begin talking to God about the priority of money and stuff in your life. Ask Him to help. He will. And, don't forget, we care about you too - you can ask us to help. We will.
At the end we listened to a song "American Dream" by Casting Crowns
Here are the lyrics
“American Dream”
All work no play may have made Jack a dull boy
But all work no God has left Jack with a lost soul
But he's moving on full steam
He's chasing the American dream
And he's gonna give his family finer things
“Not this time son I've no time to waste
Maybe tomorrow we'll have time to play”
And then he slips into his new BMW
And drives farther and farther and farther away
Cause he works all day and tries to sleep at night
He says things will get better;
Better in time
[Chorus]
So he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin' crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
Well his American Dream is beginning to seem
More and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
"Daddy, can you come to my game?"
"Oh Baby, please don't work late."
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away
'Cause he works all day and lies awake at night
He tells them things are getting better
Just take a little more time
[Chorus]
So he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin' crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
He used to say, "Whoever dies with the most toys wins"
But if he loses his soul, what has he gained in the end
I'll take a shack on the rock
Over a castle in the sand
Now he works all day and cries alone at night
It's not getting any better
Looks like he's running out of time
[Chorus]
'Cause he worked and he built with his own two hands
And he poured all he had in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are coming crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
All they really wanted was you
All they really wanted was you
All they really wanted was you
We ended with communion. It was Melissa's homemade zucchini bread - a great way to celebrate the wonderful love of God!
Last Thursday we had a great time. We like to begin by sharing something of how great God is with each other. It is fun and encourages us all a lot to celebrate how huge and awesome our God is. So, we began by taking 5 minutes to find something that appeared insignificant to everyone else, but was an object that, upon thinking about it for a little bit, produced a voice of joy for how great God is in our hearts. One of my examples was a charred plastic safety plug from my son Nathan's room. You see, our house was struck by lightning last week and Nate's plug was blackened, and it blew a hole in our gas line, but no one was hurt, there was no fire, nothing serious (only some seriously fried electronics). So, this simple plastic plug, while seeming insignificant, made my heart want to sing for joy at the way God protected my family and, particularly, Nathan! We shared around the group a wide variety of simple, seemingly insignificant things that raised our wonder and awe of a God who is so big that He can be praised in the smallest things! You should try it at home sometime. Find something that is entirely insignificant and think about it for a little...begin to notice the wonder of God in the everyday things. If you begin to do this regularly, you will find that living a Christian life all week long comes much more easily.
After our time of worshipping, we had a time of sharing things that were bothering us. We think it is really good and helpful to share, in some way, the problems we are facing. We care about each other, and God cares about all of us and when we share our issues, God hears. Plus when we pray for them, it invites Him right into the middle of them. We believe that praying for each other really helps! So, this time, since we all knew each other pretty well (and this is not something we will do every time, by any means) we exchanged the concern, written on a piece of paper, with someone else, with the committment that we would be praying for that for the next 2 weeks.
Next, we had some time to discuss, in our continuing on the topics of the "mores" that we as Americans, spend our time and energy going after, the pursuit of money in our lives. You see, it is clear that many of us are not obsessed with money. But, at the end of the discussion, it became clear that we often place ourselves in "prisons" by our overbuying, overextending, over using our credit cards, etc. - this is pursuing money and stuff past what it should be and it destroys other areas of our lives. The prisons are our inability to spend more time with family, establish deeper friendships, care for those around us, serve the needs of our neighbors and communities, etc, etc, etc because we must work unbelievable hours to just make sure that everything is paid for. American logic says we are just "trying to get ahead" but the truth is, we are walling ourselves in. I see people often in my office who are middle aged and doing well financially, but regret the overpursuit of the American Dream. The wonderful thing about learning to pursue the Christian God is that He can bring focus to our money and help us balance all the things in life,releasing us from our prisons.
If you find yourself hemmed in by your extention financially, consider simplifying. Begin talking to God about the priority of money and stuff in your life. Ask Him to help. He will. And, don't forget, we care about you too - you can ask us to help. We will.
At the end we listened to a song "American Dream" by Casting Crowns
Here are the lyrics
“American Dream”
All work no play may have made Jack a dull boy
But all work no God has left Jack with a lost soul
But he's moving on full steam
He's chasing the American dream
And he's gonna give his family finer things
“Not this time son I've no time to waste
Maybe tomorrow we'll have time to play”
And then he slips into his new BMW
And drives farther and farther and farther away
Cause he works all day and tries to sleep at night
He says things will get better;
Better in time
[Chorus]
So he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin' crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
Well his American Dream is beginning to seem
More and more like a nightmare
With every passing day
"Daddy, can you come to my game?"
"Oh Baby, please don't work late."
Another wasted weekend
And they are slipping away
'Cause he works all day and lies awake at night
He tells them things are getting better
Just take a little more time
[Chorus]
So he works and he builds with his own two hands
And he pours all he has in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are comin' crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
He used to say, "Whoever dies with the most toys wins"
But if he loses his soul, what has he gained in the end
I'll take a shack on the rock
Over a castle in the sand
Now he works all day and cries alone at night
It's not getting any better
Looks like he's running out of time
[Chorus]
'Cause he worked and he built with his own two hands
And he poured all he had in a castle made with sand
But the wind and the rain are coming crashing in
Time will tell just how long his kingdom stands
His kingdom stands
All they really wanted was you
All they really wanted was you
All they really wanted was you
We ended with communion. It was Melissa's homemade zucchini bread - a great way to celebrate the wonderful love of God!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Thursday 7/10
Hi everyone! We will be meeting Thursday night at McAllister Center, see previous posts for directions. It will be a great time to figure some things out about God and learn to notice and worship him in new ways! We hope you all can make. As always, there will be free childcare!
Hope to see you there!
Hope to see you there!
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