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!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Last Night
We had a great time together last night!
We began by briefly talking about the grossest/worst place we had ever slept. It was interesting and at points disgusting, but fun.
Then, continuing our attempts to find different ways to notice God and celebrate how awesome He is, we enjoyed "worship on the move" by walking outside. There, outside the McAllister center, we noticed some of the many things around us...like the songs of the birds, the blessing of living in a town like Lafayette, the feel of the wind, the sound of the harley on the street nearby, among others. In these we celebrated the awesomeness of a God who gives us such wonderful gifts and is so big that He makes everything else in life come into better focus. As we begin to live lives noticing things like this and thanking God for them, our worship becomes less and less of a "Sunday only" thing and more and more of the way we live every day.
After this time of worship and thankfulness, we spent some time sharing needs together and then praying for them. We do this because we really believe that God cares about the things that we care about and that talking to God about our concerns invites Him to join us in them. We also beleive that God responds to our praying for each other by helping us in the middle of our concerns. We do not understand this completely, but we have seen it happen time and time again that people's lives change for the better when other people pray for them.
After prayer, we followed up on the last teaching we had from Stephen Murphy by talking about how pursuing the "more" of money in our day to day lives can be so very destructive and how having God in your life can help bring balance to everything, including money. This was illustrated using the song Cats in the Cradle,by Harry Chapin
Cats In The Cradle Lyrics
My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad
You know I'm gonna be like you"
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today
I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok"
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him"
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and said with a smile
"What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?"
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"
And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
Obviously, the dad in the song valued money and success more than his son and that is the sadness of this song. It is easy to see here, and if we look, all around us, that in American society, we talk about "the important things" like family, etc, but more often spend most of our time and energy getting enough money to pay for what we want, instead of living investing in the "the important things" with our time and energy. Serving God allows us to be free from the tendency to overspend and search for opportunities to get wealth. He brings perspective on the money or lack of money in our lives, as Stephen so perfectly spoke about last time.
We ended our time together with communion. We shared some of Melissa's home made southern pound cake and juice!
It was a really good time together. We will be meeting again at McAllister Center in 2weeks - 7/10, 6:45-8:00PM. We look forward to seeing you there!
We began by briefly talking about the grossest/worst place we had ever slept. It was interesting and at points disgusting, but fun.
Then, continuing our attempts to find different ways to notice God and celebrate how awesome He is, we enjoyed "worship on the move" by walking outside. There, outside the McAllister center, we noticed some of the many things around us...like the songs of the birds, the blessing of living in a town like Lafayette, the feel of the wind, the sound of the harley on the street nearby, among others. In these we celebrated the awesomeness of a God who gives us such wonderful gifts and is so big that He makes everything else in life come into better focus. As we begin to live lives noticing things like this and thanking God for them, our worship becomes less and less of a "Sunday only" thing and more and more of the way we live every day.
After this time of worship and thankfulness, we spent some time sharing needs together and then praying for them. We do this because we really believe that God cares about the things that we care about and that talking to God about our concerns invites Him to join us in them. We also beleive that God responds to our praying for each other by helping us in the middle of our concerns. We do not understand this completely, but we have seen it happen time and time again that people's lives change for the better when other people pray for them.
After prayer, we followed up on the last teaching we had from Stephen Murphy by talking about how pursuing the "more" of money in our day to day lives can be so very destructive and how having God in your life can help bring balance to everything, including money. This was illustrated using the song Cats in the Cradle,by Harry Chapin
Cats In The Cradle Lyrics
My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad
You know I'm gonna be like you"
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home dad?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
My son turned ten just the other day
He said, "Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let's play
Can you teach me to throw", I said "Not today
I got a lot to do", he said, "That's ok"
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah
You know I'm gonna be like him"
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
"Son, I'm proud of you, can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head and said with a smile
"What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?"
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"
And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then
Obviously, the dad in the song valued money and success more than his son and that is the sadness of this song. It is easy to see here, and if we look, all around us, that in American society, we talk about "the important things" like family, etc, but more often spend most of our time and energy getting enough money to pay for what we want, instead of living investing in the "the important things" with our time and energy. Serving God allows us to be free from the tendency to overspend and search for opportunities to get wealth. He brings perspective on the money or lack of money in our lives, as Stephen so perfectly spoke about last time.
We ended our time together with communion. We shared some of Melissa's home made southern pound cake and juice!
It was a really good time together. We will be meeting again at McAllister Center in 2weeks - 7/10, 6:45-8:00PM. We look forward to seeing you there!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Thursday Night 6/26
Well, Thursday we will be meeting at McAllister 6:45-8:00Pm as usual - see previous posts for directions. We will be planning on a whole new type of noticing for our time in worship. Then we will have time to pray for each other (I have been praying for these 2 weeks for the things you asked me to pray about). Then we'll be jumping off from where Stephen finished last time for our teaching. It will be an awesome time - we hope you can make it!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
6/12 - Last Thursday
Last Thursday's time together was really a good time, worshipping, praying and then learning. To begin, we got to know quite a few new people by talking about and around the topic: My favorite cartoon - I know it sounds kind of silly, and it was, but it was tons of fun!
After settling in a little, we worshipped to the theme "Things that are free." We basically either talked about, or drew pictures of or wrote about things in our lives that we wanted to thank/praise God for that cost absolutely nothing. It was a really good time of praise - it was amazing how many things we were able to come up with!
Then we had a time of prayer with everyone who wanted to writing things they are feeling worried/stressed/bothered, etc by and handing them to me to pray for for the next 2 wks and we shared prayer together.
Then, we were blessed to have Stephen Murphy talk to us about his life. I will let him give you the full story sometime, but the end summary was kind of like this: "I have lived a successful life grappling for money and success, and in the end it was all for nothing. My joy now is in God and that is fulfilling all the other areas of my life and giving me joy beyond what I have ever had." This is my paraphrase - please post Stephen if this is not accurate!
It was a powerful time of learning real-life lessons from a real-life hero!
If you were there, we're so glad you shared the time with us, if not, we hope you can make it on on June 26th at 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister Center - see the previous posts for directions!
After settling in a little, we worshipped to the theme "Things that are free." We basically either talked about, or drew pictures of or wrote about things in our lives that we wanted to thank/praise God for that cost absolutely nothing. It was a really good time of praise - it was amazing how many things we were able to come up with!
Then we had a time of prayer with everyone who wanted to writing things they are feeling worried/stressed/bothered, etc by and handing them to me to pray for for the next 2 wks and we shared prayer together.
Then, we were blessed to have Stephen Murphy talk to us about his life. I will let him give you the full story sometime, but the end summary was kind of like this: "I have lived a successful life grappling for money and success, and in the end it was all for nothing. My joy now is in God and that is fulfilling all the other areas of my life and giving me joy beyond what I have ever had." This is my paraphrase - please post Stephen if this is not accurate!
It was a powerful time of learning real-life lessons from a real-life hero!
If you were there, we're so glad you shared the time with us, if not, we hope you can make it on on June 26th at 6:45-8:00PM at McAllister Center - see the previous posts for directions!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Thursday 6/12
We hope you can make it this Thursday for a great time. We will be expanding on the last discussion about the failure of so many of the "mores" of our society- the things we work for and search for in life. We will be having an interview/discussion with Stephen Murphy who is going to be talking about his searching for money, where it led him and where he is now!
If you have this feeling that there must be more to life than this...or maybe you are wondering what the point of it all is anyway...or maybe just are curious about God, but not into church, or had bad experiences in church, or with church people, you should come - we think you'll love it!
It will be at McAllister Center in Lafayette 6:45-8:00 PM - see previous posts for maps/directions and there is, as always, free childcare.
Hope to see you there!
If you have this feeling that there must be more to life than this...or maybe you are wondering what the point of it all is anyway...or maybe just are curious about God, but not into church, or had bad experiences in church, or with church people, you should come - we think you'll love it!
It will be at McAllister Center in Lafayette 6:45-8:00 PM - see previous posts for maps/directions and there is, as always, free childcare.
Hope to see you there!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
