Pastor Campbell: March 2008 Archives
WORSHIP THIS SABBATH WITH NATHAN CRANSON
This Sabbath we have a special guest speaker, Nathan Cranson, who will be preaching from Matthew 6:19-34 about "Distraction." We have a lot of things that distract us, but the good news is that God calls us to seek the kingdom of God. Jesus is offering to take your burdens and come to Him. I want to invite you to come this Sabbath and be blessed by this young person from Paonia.
COOKING SCHOOL
Would you like to learn how to cook and live a healthier lifestyle? This coming Sunday is the last of our four week series on vegan cooking (thank you Lorena and Gordon!). Each week our church showcases delicious dishes and recipes. Please join us as we learn about how to live and eat more healthfully. Contact Lorena Gladding or Gordon Reichard for more information.
ShareHIM LAY EVANGELISM RALLY
Gordon Reichard is going to take a small group with him to the ShareHIM Lay Evangelism Rally in Phoenix from April 10-12. The only cost for the trip is the cost of your hotel room. Contact Gordon Reichard if you would like to go. The Rocky Mountain Conference is sponsoring a group of pastors this fall to hold evangelistic meetings (through ShareHIM) this October. I'm one of six pastors signed up to go. If you would like to participate in overseas evangelism this would be a really great opportunity to learn more about how you can get involved.
PASTOR'S BLOG
Did you know that our church raised enough money in our religious liberty campaign to purchase 250 subscriptions? I'm particularly pleased that our church has rallied with support to help raise the collective conscioussness of leaders in our community, state, and elsewhere with a better understanding about religious freedom. A special thank you to Kay Mason for calling our attention to this important part of our church.
This has been a fun week because we have had two friends of ours, Dan & Becky, come out to visit us from Wisconsin. They are close friends of ours from when we lived at Loma Linda. Last night for Pathfinders we had Dan, an avid geocacher, teach the geocaching honor to our Pathfinders. I also had the Pathfinders hold up the 1822 Teal Bible, the same Bible (the actual one she held is in the White Estate) that Ellen White held up in vision. It weighs 18 1/2 pounds and our Pathfinders had fun trying to see how long they could hold it up with outstretched arm. Joey holds the record for our church by holding it for 35 seconds.
Another important item is that our elders voted to invite Jonathan Gardner to be our Bible worker this summer. Jonathan is finishing up his freshman year as he studies theology at Southern Adventist University. He will be starting in mid-May and continuing to help through mid-August. Jonathan is Heidi's cousin so I asked our elders to interview him, and they voted unanimously to have him work at our church this summer. I'm excited because one of my dreams for the Montrose Church is to see our church grow. I believe this is an important step to helping us move in this direction. If you know of anyone who might be interested in Bible studies, please inform me so that we can begin preparing names of people for Jonathan to work with.
Have you enjoyed the warmer weather lately? Our family is excited because several of our flowers are poking their way up through the soil. We have a hydrangia that is starting to bloom. It smells wonderful. Spring is coming. I'm especially looking forward to the bountiful flowers we are going to have this Spring from all the extra snow this winter. I praise God for the beautiful things He has made.
This Sabbath we are blessed to have our Adventurer Club lead out in worship. Last night I watched them as they rehearsed in preparation for this week's worship service and I know we are in for a real blessing. Staci Nelson will be giving a sermonette about the names of Jesus. Let's learn about Jesus as we learn the many names by which we call Him Lord.
COMMUNITY EASTER SERVICE
This Sunday at the Pavillion at 7:30 a.m. there will be an early-morning Easter Service sponsored by the Association of Montrose Churches. Please come and join in a community wide worship service as we reflect on the death and resurrection of our Lord.
COOKING SCHOOL
Would you like to learn how to cook and live a healthier lifestyle? We're now half way and the first two weeks we had a really terrific attendance by our church family and members of our community. Please join us as we learn about how to live and eat more healthfully. Contact Lorena Gladding or Gordon Reichard for more information.
OPERATION ANDREW
A series of training modules will be held this year at Glacier View Ranch (the first meeting is April 4-6). The topics include: dealing with feelings, art of listening, boundaries, crisis theory and practice, caregiving by telephone, ministering to those experiencing grief, how to make a first caring visit, and many more. There is no cost for attending other than for transportation. I'd like to see a group from Montrose sign-up (space is limited!). So if you're interested in please contact me ASAP.
ShareHIM LAY EVANGELISM RALLY
Gordon Reichard is going to take a small group with him to the ShareHIM Lay Evangelism Rally in Phoenix from April 10-12. The only cost for the trip is the cost of your hotel room. Contact Gordon Reichard if you would like to go. The Rocky Mountain Conference is sponsoring a group of pastors this fall to hold evangelistic meetings (through ShareHIM) this October. I'm one of six pastors signed up to go. If you would like to participate in overseas evangelism this would be a really great opportunity to learn more about how you can get involved.
PASTOR'S BLOG
This morning I got up early because our church hosted a community Easter service this morning. We had about 70 people participate. It was really neat to fellowship with believers from across Montrose. I know we had a number of dedicated individuals who love Jesus and who stepped into the doors of an Adventist Church for the first time. One lady said she is going to come this Sabbath and worship with us because of our service this morning. I also learned from David Tabor, our Montrose Clergy president, that our church hosted a similar Easter service in 1977. It was there on the right hand side, fifth pew back, on the end, that Pastor Tabor was sitting in our church when He felt the call of Jesus to go to the mission field. They went. That was the impact our church had from a similar worship service. The same Jesus is at work today and I can't tell you how many people told me how blessed they were by our church's Easter Service program this morning. I want to also take an opportunity to thank our deaconesses, Judy and Jerilyn, who served food. I had so many people come up and compliment the good taste our ladies had in both the presentation and declious food that was served. Thank you, Judy and Jerilyn.
Yesterday I was playing raquetball with our principal, David Swinyar, and another person who lives in our community. We had a great time and before we left we started talking about God. It was really interesting because He is a devout Catholic. In fact, he had studied for the priesthood. Now he is living in the area and we had a common interest in church history. I was encouraged, although we disagreed obviously, to be able to talk to someone about spiritual things. It really is amazing how the Holy Spirit opens opportunities to talk with people about Jesus.
This week I've had a little more time on my hands than usual because I had planned on attending a retreat at Glacier View Ranch, but late Sunday evening I received word that our meeting was canceled. It looks like we will be following up our meeting with another one some time in April. I've managed to keep busy nonetheless. Tomorrow I'm planning to attend the Montrose Police Department's Meth Coalition meeting, and I've been asked to make a pastoral visit to someone who is incarcerated. Plus I've been able to work on a couple of new articles that I'm writing for the Adventist Review and Ministry. God is good and I look forward to seeing how God will continue to bless our church and community.
This Sabbath I finally get to preach on Ephesians 4:17 through 5:4 about how to live in the Spirit (a special "thank you" to Norman Graham for filling in for me two weeks ago when I was sick!). Paul talks about how we are asked to wear new spiritual garments, and specifically calls for five things that the Lord asks of us.
PRAYER MEETING
Prayer meeting is canceled next week (March 18). Students, enjoy Spring Break!
COOKING SCHOOL
I was so delighted to listen to Carol Sikora present last Sunday night about healthful living (and I was glad to see several men from our church in attendance!). We had a good group with a large number of people from our community who participated. I hope that if you are interested in healthful living or know of someone who might benefit from this seminar series that you will invite them to come and join us this Sunday evening at the church. Contact Lorena Gladding or Gordon Reichard for more information.
CHURCH WORK BEE
This Sunday we are going to have a church work bee. I want to express my appreciation to our church family for the wonderful job our members each week go the extra mile to keep our facility neat and clean. You can certainly tell that this is a church that cares about its facilities. This is a great opportunity to get those hard to reach areas and do some "spring cleaning" as we continue to take care of God's house.
OPERATION ANDREW
A series of training modules will be held this year at Glacier View Ranch (the first meeting is April 4-6). The topics include: dealing with feelings, art of listening, boundaries, crisis theory and practice, caregiving by telephone, ministering to those experiencing grief, how to make a first caring visit, and many more. There is no cost for attending other than for transportation. I'd like to see a group from Montrose sign-up (space is limited!). So if you're interested in please contact me ASAP. So far I have 3 people signed up who want to go.
ShareHIM LAY EVANGELISM RALLY
Gordon Reichard is going to take a small group with him to the ShareHIM Lay Evangelism Rally in Phoenix from April 10-12. The only cost for the trip is the cost of your hotel room. Contact Gordon Reichard if you would like to go. The Rocky Mountain Conference is sponsoring a group of pastors this fall to hold evangelistic meetings (through ShareHIM) this October. I'm one of six pastors signed up to go. If you would like to participate in overseas evangelism this would be a really great opportunity to learn more about how you can get involved.
PASTOR'S BLOG
Today I am in Minneapolis, Minnesota, attending the Mid-America Union ASI meeting. I'm giving two presentations tomorrow morning about Ellen White and Adventist history before I catch a noon flight home to Grand Junction. I've especially enjoyed the opportunity to spend the day together with my sister and brother-in-law who live out here. I don't get to see them as often as I would like so today was very special (plus we got to visit two National Parks!).
This evening the Minnesota Conference president, Tom Lemon, spoke about the life of Paul and the hierarchy of life. He noted how God wants to use each one of us in ministry for Him. He also expressed his appreciation for the many things that ASI is doing to make a difference across the midwest. I don't know how may of you may have heard of ASI before but it stands for Adventist Services & Industries and is an opportunity for Christian business people to be involved in our church. Collectively ASI raises millions of dollars each year for mission projects both here in the United States and around the world. We have a strong representation from the Rocky Mountain Conference. I saw another pastoral colleague, and Karen Lewis is giving a seminar about witnessing after my talks about Ellen White tomorrow morning.
Next Thursday we are going to be one of five churches in town hosting an Easter week prayer service. It is lay led beginning at 7 AM and lasts about half an hour and will be followed by some light refreshments. I hope you'll come and join one of the prayer services across town, and if you can only make it to one, please come Thursday morning as we fellowship with other Christians during this special time of year when the world reflects upon the Passion of our Lord. I'm also pleased because next month our church is also going to host the monthly Montrose Clergy meeting. One of my strategic goals as the pastor is to increase our visibility within our community.
This Sabbath we are blessed to have a special guest speaker, David Olson (my father-in-law) who will be speaking about "Heaven is Better Than Disneyland." I want to go to heaven, don't you? I hope you'll come and learn from God's Word about where we want to spend eternity. Are we headed to a better relationship with Jesus Christ? If we're going to spend eternity with Jesus then we need to each have a personal relationship with Him. PLease join us this Sabbath as we learn about heaven as we grow in our relationship with Jesus.
PRAYER MEETING
Prayer meeting is canceled for the next two weeks (March 11 & 18). Students, enjoy Spring Break!
COOKING SCHOOL
Would you like to learn how to cook and live a healthier lifestyle? We're going to launch a cooking school at our church beginning on Sunday, March 9. I hope you'll come and join us for this interactive and spiritual series (which will last four weeks). Come support Lorena Gladding along with the rest of the Personal Ministries team as we create opportunities to better the lives of those who live in our community (as well as in our own church family). Contact Lorena Gladding or Gordon Reichard for more information.
CHURCH WORK BEE
Our church board voted to have a church work bee on Sunday, March 16. A special thank you to our deacons and deaconesses who do so much to maintain our facility. But, it isn't enough each week, some times we need to get those hard to reach places we just can't get to all the time. I want to invite our entire church family to come join us as we seek to take care of the wonderful facilities God has blessed us with.
OPERATION ANDREW
A series of training modules will be held this year at Glacier View Ranch (the first meeting is April 4-6). The topics include: dealing with feelings, art of listening, boundaries, crisis theory and practice, caregiving by telephone, ministering to those experiencing grief, how to make a first caring visit, and many more. There is no cost for attending other than for transportation. I'd like to see a group from Montrose sign-up (space is limited!). So if you're interested in please contact me ASAP.
ShareHIM LAY EVANGELISM RALLY
Gordon Reichard is going to take a small group with him to the ShareHIM Lay Evangelism Rally in Phoenix from April 10-12. The only cost for the trip is the cost of your hotel room. Contact Gordon Reichard if you would like to go. The Rocky Mountain Conference is sponsoring a group of pastors this fall to hold evangelistic meetings (through ShareHIM) this October. I'm one of six pastors signed up to go. If you would like to participate in overseas evangelism this would be a really great opportunity to learn more about how you can get involved.
PASTOR'S BLOG
I'm finally starting to feel better. Thank you for your prayers, phone calls, and an extra special thank you to the person who brought by some soup and corn bread (you were a life saver). It is so nice to experience the love and care of our church family. One of the things that I especially appreciate is what a caring church we have. Thank you for your patience for those of you whom I had hoped to visit and had to cancel--I hope to visit with you soon.
Have you ordered your garden supplies yet? I love gardening and one of the things that I am especially looking forward to is having the space in our yard to plant fruits, vegetables, and flowers. I'm getting the potting soil out and the seeds that we ordered back in January so we can begin to plant the seeds in little pots. Each little seed is a tiny little miracle. As we water it, keep it in a warm place, we know that the seeds will begin to sprout. It gives me hope of life and that there will be an end to winter when life is renewed. What a wonderful God we serve who causes the seeds to sprout.
I'd also like to call your attention for our Religious Liberty campaign which Kay Mason has worked so diligently to call our attention to. This coming Sabbath is the conclusion of our campaign and so far we've raised enough money for 190 subscriptions. Our goal is to raise enough money for 350 subscriptions (a subscription is $6). Would you consider making a difference in the life of one of our thought leaders by donating a subscription? I have a dream that our church will rally in support of religious liberty and reach our church goal.
