January 2008 Archives

WORSHIP WITH PASTOR CAMPBELL
This Sabbath is religious liberty Sabbath so we will reflect on what it means to experience religious freedom. Our sermon, "Living the Mystery in Unity" is about the freedom we can have in Jesus Christ. What does this freedom look like in our every day lives? I hope you'll come as we continue our series on the book of Ephesians. Plus, we can be proud of the efforts our church continues to make around the world in the area of religious freedom.
 
CHURCH TOWN HALL MEETING
Once a year for the past couple of years our conference leaders have been putting on a day-long seminar. I want to encourage you to try to make it up there for the afternoon presentations. At the end of the day there will be a special town hall meeting where you can ask questions to our conference leaders. For directions to our church in Cedaredge click here.
 
PRAYER MEETING
We're now half way through the series entitled "Just Walk Across the Room" by Bill Hybels. I was blessed two weeks ago as we reflected on God's journey across the universe to save us, and this past week Norman Graham continued the series. If you are interested in introducing your friends to Jesus this is the series for you. Incidentally, our next prayer meeting series will begin on Feb. 12. The theme is healthy marriages and families.

PASTOR'S BLOG FOR JANUARY 24
On Monday evening I flew out to the General Conference for a strategic planning meeting after a church member gave a large donation. Various departments at the General Conference are trying to come up with ideas about how they can best use the funds. The only restriction on the funds, placed on it by Jan Paulsen, is that the money be distributed to projects that are mission driven. So I was able to spend the day brainstorming with other creative individuals. It was a lot of fun.
 
On the airplane I met a Christian financial consultant who was flying home with his wife. It was really neat to hear a Christian perspective on the economy. His burden is to help Christians become more stable with their money by encouraging them to save. I met another lady on my trip who is looking for a church family. I was able to invite both sets of individuals to come to our church. Despite what may or may not happen to the economy, I want to lay up my treasure in heaven--how about you?
 
Last night we took about 30 Pathfinders and Adventurers to the Montrose Hospital emergency room. Thankfully, no one was hurt! The kids loved touring the trauma room with all the fancy equipment, and we were fortunate to have an ambulance in the bay so that the medic could take kids in and show them what an ambulance looks like from the inside. I'm thankful for such great youth leadership in our church, and I can tell the kids are having lots of fun, too.

Pastor Michael Campbell

WORSHIP WITH NORMAN GRAHAM
Whether we like it or not we are already charging full speed ahead with the New Year. This Sabbath we will have a spiritually nurturing worship service with Norman Graham about "Embracing the Promise." I invite you to come and learn how to stay "steadfast" with Jesus this year through the daily choices we make.
 
PATHFINDERS
Last Sabbath we had a potluck group that discussed the beginning of our new Pathfinder club, and yesterday our leaders got together to talk about the many things involved with starting a club. The name that I think is going to stick is the "Montrose Mountain Lions." We will have registration on Wednesday, Jan. 9, beginning at 6:30 pm.
 
PRAYER MEETING
Prayer meeting will resume on Tuesday, Jan. 15, with a new series on friendship evangelism. We're going to do a four-part series based on some new friendship evangelism materials that my friend, Ed Keyes, shared with me at the recent West Point of Evangelism seminar. Some of our upcoming series that we are looking at for next year include: Christian heroes in the history of Christianity, a series on families and family life, and a series on the life & teachings of Jesus.

PASTOR'S BLOG
Heidi and Emma ended up staying in Chattanooga for an extra week since she was feeling sick and the airline let her change her ticket at no cost. So I've been "batching" it for another week! Thank you for your hospitality, food, and for some of you, taking me to the ER on New Year's Eve (or, as I like to refer to it, a "progressive party"). On Monday I had a fun day skiing at Telluride but somehow managed to break my wrist.
 
I've had a lot of fun getting to know many of you much better as I've been able to make progress on pastoral visits. Thank you for inviting me into your homes, and for the opportunity to pray together. I praise God for the wonderful church family that we have. Yesterday was especially significant because I got signed up officially to be a chaplain at the hospital. This will be nice to rotate with the other chaplains, minister to people in our community, and I even get a badge so I get a discount in the cafeteria--their veggie burger is quite good.
 
I fly out tomorrow for one of my close friend's ordination in central California. I'll be preaching at his church on Zacchaeus Sabbath morning, and participating in the afternoon ordination service. I'm looking forward to spending Sunday at Alcatraz for my day off (hurray, another National Park!) before heading back home for pastor's meetings. Weathering permitting, Heidi and I plan to both be home next Thursday.