Life @ Montrose, January 20, 2010

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.