January 2010 Archives

Life @ Montrose

 

January 20, 2010

 

 

Gunnison* & Montrose (11 AM): Pastor Campbell is preaching a message based on Revelation 4 entitled "Majesty." 

*This is our second Sabbath streaming live video for the sermon from Montrose to Gunnison.

This coming Sabbath there will be a potluck after church in Montrose followed by a Bible bowl in the church at 3 pm. We are going to have seven teams who will be tested on their knowledge of the books of Daniel, Hosea, and Joel. Last year our club was able to participate  in Grand Junction. This is the largest regional Bible bowl with this many teams that they have ever had so please come out and support our young people. You will also notice extra young people along with their leaders at church on Sabbath, and a few clubs will be staying on Saturday evening for a supper and some recreation after Sabbath in the school gym. For more information contact Heidi Campbell (240-3412 or heidi.c.campbell@gmail.com).

This last weekend we planted the first seeds in our peat pots for our garden this coming summer. If you enjoy gardening and would like to both get a great deal on seeds while at the same time support our Pathfinder club you can order your seeds from any one of our Pathfinders or one of their leaders. Packets of seed are $1.50 and the order form (which is also available in your box at church) can be downloaded at: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/forms/montrose.pdf

This last week we had a much smaller order of fruit (about sixty boxes) but if you missed the chance to order your citrus fruit the next order date is Feb. 22 (fruit will be received March 4-7) and the last order we will do is on April 5 (with fruit to be received April 12-16).

Last Thursday I had the privilege of meeting with our Association of Montrose Churches (AMC) for our monthly meeting. I was able to sign up (with Alice Carpenter's blessing of course) for our church to host the AMC meeting again this coming April. I'm so thankful for this group of pastors who truly are concerned and committed to helping people in our community. Some of you are aware that one of the primary purposes of AMC is to provide an avenue for our churches here in Montrose to collectively help those who are in need. In our last church board, pursuant to what we have voted, we extended another $1,000 to help the AMC benevolence fund for people in our community who need help with anything from their utilities to transients who need a place to sleep. In addition, AMC vets all their requests for help through the police department. I also enjoyed our meeting because they asked me to share with my pastoral colleagues at this last meeting about my trip to India last October.

Last Thursday evening we had school board and it is no secret that we have some financial challenges with regard to our school. We are behind in our worthy student funds. So if you feel so impressed I would encourage you to give to the worthy student fund to help our young people receive a Christian education. I want to thank our church for your collective support of our Adventist education.

On Saturday evening Heidi and I had the privilege of enjoying some supper with our Adventurers who were doing a camp-in at the school. I had a great deal of fun playing games like "Simon Says" and an egg on a spoon race. We finished up the evening by watching one of the old Herbie the car movies (about as good of a movie as you could ever hope to have shown to our kids). I think a good time was had by all, but if you get a chance extend some appreciation to our Adventurer leaders who really go the extra mile to disciple our children.

Another personal highlight for me was last night. We had our first monthly worship and music committee. One of the areas over and over again in surveys and from church members that our church would like to see growth in is the area of our worship, and in particular, making our church services more friendly and dynamic. This coming Sabbath I am going to preach a message laying a Biblical foundation for what true worship really is. Last night as we had worship and music committee I asked each person around the table (and we had a diverse group which represented our entire congregation, young and old, new and veteran church members) what they liked about our existing worship service and what was one thing they would change. As a result of a rather cordial conversation together it was agreed to change the order of worship, which we will do beginning with the first Sabbath in February. One of the goals is to emphasize a couple of things: (a) our church services need to be better planned so that when we stream video live to Gunnison they are not waiting; (b) our church services need to be friendly times when people feel welcome so the group unanimously voted that we be intentional about making time for people to greet one another every Sabbath; and (c) one of the highlights of worship is the opportunity to sing, both praise songs as well as hymns and more traditional music. So three praise teams have been organized with several more that we are working on (if you are interested let me know) and we are looking for people who play musical instruments to please let one of the worship committee members or me know (plus there will be rehearsals on Friday evenings at 7:30 pm). Ultimately I am thrilled to see our congregation try a new order of service. We have made modifications to our worship service several times since I have been here, but these latest changes I believe will meet the needs of our congregation that so many have asked for over and over again.

January 13, 2010

 

 

Gunnison & Montrose (11 AM): This coming Sabbath we will try to do a streaming worship service from Montrose. Pastor Campbell will be preaching on Romans 12:1-2 in a message entitled "Living Sacrifice."

 

It is time to order your citrus fruit once again! The funds raised helps our Spring Creek Adventist School. Although the orders are due next Monday, since it is a holiday on that day, we are asking that you turn in your orders if possible by this Friday (Jan. 15). This is a chance to enjoy some delicious citrus fruit. Please encourage your friends, co-workers, and neighbors to order fruit, too! (and by the way, I checked with Golden Harvest this morning and the recent cold weather has not affected their fruit crop.)

 

I'm sure most of you have heard by now about the tragic earthquake in Haiti were presumably hundreds of thousands of people have died. ADRA, our Adventist Development and Relief Agency has an emergency fund for responding to this diaster. You can contribute online by clicking on this link: https://secure2.convio.net/ccadra/site/Donation2?df_id=1740&1740.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=ngjivvlo22.app7a

 

This coming Sabbath is the annual religious liberty Sabbath. Although we do not have a religious liberty director we will have brochures passed out and show a brief video. Across our conference our religious liberty department has made it possible for people to continue to keep their jobs and observe the seventh-day Sabbath. Just in the past year we have had several dozen cases here in Colorado alone so please considering donating to this worthy cause.

 

On Saturday evening our church in business session voted to update the school constitution (a new copy of the constitution is available through the church office). There weren't any major changes in my opinion, but just some clarification and updates to keep it current. In addition, our church voted a couple of additional things: (1) to set the quorum for church board meetings at 51 percent; (2) to approve removal of the overgrown shrub/tree on the side of the church where the trash cans are kept; and (3) to proceed with pursuing a radio station application as funds are donated.

 

This morning I was overwhelmed with the horror of the devastation that has occurred on the island nation of Haiti. When I was much younger I had the privilege of traveling to the Dominican Republic for a mission trip (the Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti). On Sabbath afternoon we had an opportunity to travel across the border and see the nation of Hatii. We thought the people were in desperate need in the Dominican Republic, but when we traveled over to Haiti I was apalled at the overwhelming poverty and destitution that we saw there. I hope you will consider donating funds to ADRA to assist with the recovery efforts.

 

On Saturday evening, after church business meeting, I was able to travel up to Glacier View Ranch for pastor's meetings. Dr. Joe Kidder, a professor from Andrews in the Seminary, was our guest speaker and he talked with us about the importance of prayer, worship, and forgiveness. I was inspired by the opportunity to pray with my fellow pastoral colleagues from across our conference. I also learned some new ideas and was challenged to spend more time in prayer. Although I have prayed regularly I have not made a commitment to pray systematically. Dr. Kidder shared how his church had lots of fighting and bickering until he learned to pray. He was so discouraged he was ready to throw in the towel and his wife told him to go to the church to pray. The next day he went to the church. He prayed for about two minutes. And then he fell asleep. But he tried again the next week and it worked. Over the weeks and months his church experienced a revival as he prayed. So, revival starts with each of us, and I want to see revival take place in our church. So I want you to know that I am going to try to do better about praying for each of you, to pray for our community, and to pray earnestly for God to work mightily on our behalf. One of the ways I am going to do this is to schedule time each week to pray in the sanctuary of our church and to pray in each pew for the families who sit there.

 

Yesterday afternoon we had a powerful time together with our new conference president, Elder Gary Thurber, who shared with us his vision for the future of our conference and some expectations he has for each of us. What I really appreciate it is that he affirms that the pastor is the leader of the local congregation and as such he or she is the expert on what is going on there. He gave some expectations of areas that he wants us as pastors to work on: to come up with a plan for our churches, to exercise regularly, and to make time for family time (I learned that pastors, unlike Adventist church members in general, in the latest Adventist health study do not live the additional 6-7 years that the average church member can expect to live long by adhering to the Adventist lifestyle). So Adventist pastors as a whole are very overburdened and stressed. I like his spiritual focus and that he gives us room as pastors to let the Holy Spirit lead and work in our lives. At the same time, because we have had different leadership models, he is taking the best of the TeamOne focus on accountability and applying it to all of us as individuals so that we are accountable to conference leadership so that we are striving for excellence. He also shared how there was a lot of pain because another church leader was not sitting in his chair and that he was sorry for that, but we have to move forward. This became an opportunity for us pastors to share testimonies, appreciation for Elder Thurber's ministry so far, and even for some pastors to ask forgiveness of one another. It was a very special time as we pastors prayed for one another. One of the challenges has been because there have been differences, rumors and gossip have abounded, and feelings hurt, that we as pastors need to make sure that we focus on the work the Lord has entrusted for us, and when their our problems we need to not talk negatively of other parts where the Lord is working because we have enough to do and pray for where we are at, and to instead follow the principle of Matthew 18 to go to that person if we do have a legitimate concern. So, my heart was warmed because I sensed the presence of God as we covenanted together as pastors to go out from our pastor's meetings more united than ever before and to strengthen each other. While we may not always see eye-to-eye we need to do everything we can to build up the Lord's work here in Wyoming, Colorado, and northwest New Mexico across the vast expanse where our primary focus has got to be telling the world about Jesus. As we left we had a picture frame with a picture that we took of all of us pastors where we covenanted together to become more like Jesus and to let the gospel change us and our ministry. This was a pastor's meeting unlike any I have ever been to before.

 

Because the meeting got done so late yesterday afternoon we didn't get back until late last night. This morning, as I have been catching up in the church office, I pray that God will bles our church family. If you have started reading the 40 Days of Prayer please keep reading. If you haven't, it isn't too late. Please call me and I can help you get a copy of the book. I am looking forward to an opportunity for us to come together for a week of prayer from February 7-12. We need to pray more for one another as a church family and for God to truly transform our lives.