Here I am facing my computer on the first Monday of the year. It is not only the first Monday of the year it is the first Monday in which we are facing real winter weather. December was incredibly mild in temperature and precipitation. So here we go with some musings …

-I made another major goof yesterday. I got the correct outline in the bulletin but I was watching the wrong clock. Just before the worship service began my wife pointed out that the clock at the back of the sanctuary was about 8 minutes slow. We didn’t have time to get a ladder out and correct the clock. So we just reminded ourselves and others that the clock was off and not to count on it. I got into my message and completely forgot that the clock was wrong. I finished at our normal time, only it wasn’t. It was actually 7 minutes past our regular. I felt terrible. People didn’t seem to notice and they weren’t staring at their watches. But I didn’t need those extra 7 minutes, so I felt terrible.

-We had a great time of worship during the music and prayer times. It was a great way to begin a new year.

-We had a lot of people out with illness and I am guessing a few of our older people stayed home because the roads were a little slick. It was the first Sunday with any winter weather.

-Even with all the illness and the condition of the roads our attendance was well above a year ago.

-Our small group met last night for the time in 3 weeks. It was great to be back together. We had some fun conversations, some great laughs and some very deep sharing as well. That is a definition of a great small group meeting.

-The message series that I began yesterday is entitled “Directions” Finding your place in God’s plan. I am very excited, and burdened, for this series of messages. I am convinced that this is critical for how our church will impact our community this year.

-I am approaching my one year anniversary at this church later this month. As I look back I am humbled to see how God has worked in our church this past year.

-We are beginning to pray for our Revival services that will begin in 2 months.

-I am encouraged as I hear that several people in my church are seeking to read the Bible a lot more this year. Getting the Word in people is always a positive thing.

Here’s hoping that you are looking forward to this week and that you can find a few people to encourage.

Dennis

Oops! I had a big oops yesterday, but I did not know it until it was mentioned at lunch. I usually put an outline of my sermon in the bulletin. It has the title, scripture, key points and some blanks you can choose to fill in. It goes along with the power point on the screens. Yesterday I inadvertently submitted my outline from the week before. I don’t look at the outline in the bulletin on Sundays because I don’t need it. I noticed some people looking more intently than normal at the screens when the sermon began, but I didn’t think much of it. I got no clues from people, including my wife, that the printed outline didn’t match what I was saying or what was on the screens. My wife said she assumed that she had somehow picked up a leftover bulletin from last week. I don’t like that it is possible to pick up a bulletin from the week before. (Note to self: besides getting the correct outline in the bulletin, make sure the ones from the week before are no longer available.) The good people in my church didn’t even mention it as they spoke with me following the service. Oops!

Now for some musings from the last Sunday of the calendar year …

-Even with my big goof on the sermon outline people seemed very engaged during the message. Maybe they were having to focus a lot more without the correct outline.

-We did much better with our tech issues this week and my mic even worked. It helps when no one messes with every knob, button and slider on your sound equipment during the week.

-I loved hearing the congregation participating as we sang.

-We had a very good prayer time.

-Attendance was down again as illness and travel continued to have an impact. Even with the lower attendance we still had some new people.

-We have several people going through some very difficult situations. It is a wonderful time for the church to be the church to these people.

-I am beginning a new message series this coming Sunday entitled “Directions”. It is studying and finding God’s direction for each individual. I am really excited for this series. I outlined the series a few weeks ago when I was awakened in the middle of the night.

-It is difficult to see some of our older members going through tough physical issues.

-We had a very positive night on Christmas Eve as individuals and families came to take communion. It was so moving to share with these small groups and reflect on what God is doing in their lives at this time.

-We have been very fortunate with the early winter weather. I don’t expect it to continue, but I am going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Here’s hoping that you have a great time of reflection on this past year and an encouraging time of looking forward to the New Year.

Dennis

I want to start off today with a Happy Birthday wish to my daughter in law. It is actually a slightly belated birthday wish, as her birthday was yesterday. She loves Jesus, she loves my son, she loves my grandkids and she politely endures me. It was so wonderful to spend about 10 days with her and the family recently. Happy Birthday Nicki, sorry it is a few hours late, love you.

Yesterday was a day with some tremendous highs and several low moments as well. Here’s some musings …

-My wife and I cooked breakfast for the church yesterday. We, meaning my wife, went all out. There were special decorating touches on the serving table and there was a wide variety of food choices. There was 3 kinds of egg caseroles, there were sausage links, there was banana bread, there was also pancakes with 3 kinds of fruit toppings, with choices of syrup, peanut butter or chocolate chips as well. I helped her with some of the set up and I made and cooked pancakes for an hour.

-It was fun to let people know that this was our Christmas present to the church and a way of saying thank you for their help in getting us to, and supporting us on our trip to Kenya.

-Someone had messed with our sound system and it took more than 30 minutes to figure out what all had been done to the system before we could do sound checks and have a little practice time. The system was all set and working fine on Thursday evening. This was very frustrating.

-I also had to spend several minutes yesterday morning doing some cleaning and straightening up from someone coming in and allowing kids to mess up the nursery and toddler rooms. I have had to do something similar many times in my years of ministry but for some reason it really bothered me yesterday.

-It was encouraging to see our people sitting around talking, getting to know each other better and having real fellowship during the breakfast.

-We had several people not present due to illness and some family situations. As a result we were going to have the children stay in worship for the full hour. When the children heard that they were going to have listen to me instead of their regular children’s workers they begged to have their full children’s church time. I loved hearing that they love their workers and their ministry that much. I choose not to focus on the fact that they didn’t want to be with me. We have great children’s workers and the kids are loving the changes we made several weeks ago.

-On top of our sound system woes my headset microphone chose yesterday morning to not work. Don’t know if it was related to whoever messed up the system or if it was something else. Whatever it was I had to preach holding a mic. I can’t preach with a mic on a stand because I walk around too much.

-In spite of all the sound system stuff the worship service went well. People were engaged during the message and we had a good spirit throughout the service.

-I think the effects of the jet lag from the t Kenyan trip has finally ended. I am very grateful for that fact.

-Our attendance was way down. It appears that illness and some Christmas travel took its toll on the numbers.

-My wife and I enjoyed a great time with one of our Sunday School classes at their Christmas dinner and party yesterday. It was a great cap on the day.

Here’s hoping you are reflecting on the birth of the Savior today. Take time to remember the Christmas season is about life and hope. Smile at someone today who isn’t smiling.

Dennis

Yesterday was a wonderfully difficult day. It was filled with some great high points and a few low ones. In many ways that is how most Sundays could be described when you are a pastor. Let me share with you how this one came about …

-We had some of the worst technical problems we have had since I have been here. (And that is saying a lot.) The front projector that shows announcements, words to the music and some of my sermon points went out as we began to sing our first song and we never got it working again. This was made even more painful by the fact that the first song was a new one being taught to our congregation.

-The new families that have visited recently have continued to attend and talk like they have chosen to become a part of our church. This is a real encouragement to me, and the congregation, as we have made some changes in our ministry to reach more families and have been praying to impact more families.

-In spite of the technical difficulties during worship there was a wonderful spirit during the entire service.

-I was sick yesterday. In fact I was sick all last week but felt the worst on Sunday. I have a nasty cold that is knocking me for a loop. If I don’t have a cough drop in my mouth or liquid in my throat I cough something terrible. That presents problems while attempting to teach or preach. Thankfully I didn’t have any full blown coughing fits while teaching my class or preaching. I am fearful that if I had everyone might have left.

-Our new approach to Children’s Church is working very well and has been a major factor in attracting a couple of our new families.

-Our small group did not meet last night because my wife and I didn’t want to expose them to our germ infested house since she is also not feeling well. I really missed meeting with them, but I would have been of little value as I was wiped out from the morning.

-We have so many wonderful servants in our church. Yesterday was another time that highlighted their dedication. As many of them were here early to make sure the change in weather with a significant drop in temperature and some light snow would not cause a problem. Week in and week out we have many people at church an hour or two early getting prepared for the morning ministries.

-I love watching our people welcome the newer families to our church. They are warm, genuine and go way beyond just shaking hands.

-The information class I taught the past few weeks to give people more insight into what we believe and the vision of our church has gone very well. It has increased in attendance each week and people have asked great questions.

-We had more in attendance for worship yesterday than we had on Easter Sunday. That is pretty cool for a cold November Sunday.

-I decided to make my sermon a two part message. I didn’t make that decision until about 3/4th of the way through it yesterday. I realized I wanted to go a little further and really lay out some practical steps for them. The message was on “The Key to Live Powerfully”.

-In 2 weeks and a few hours my wife and I will be with our son, daughter-in-law and 5 grandkids in Kenya. We haven’t been able to hug them for nearly a year and half. To say that we are excited about this would be a major understatement.

Here’s hoping this cold moves on. Here’s hoping that you are encouraged today. Here’s hoping that you recognize God’s presence in your life today.

Dennis

Yesterday was a very good day with some tremendous things for which to give praise. I really needed this day. Last week was a struggle for me. I had trouble focusing, had a lot irritating little things happen and still haven’t been able to replace our van that died (see the post from Sunday 11/2). Car shopping doesn’t usually leave me in a good mood and especially when it comes 1 year before I was planning to shop for a vehicle. The great news is that God is faithful and He reminded me of his faithfulness many times last week and especially yesterday. As for the musings ….

-We had a memorable Church 101 class with a couple of new people in attendance. I am impressed by how interested this group is in the church, what we believe and where we are going.

-The best part was seeing someone come back to Christ. That never gets old!

-People were engaged during the music part of worship. I love hearing the congregation sing praises.

-I sang a little of the Spice Girls (see previous post) as part of the sermon. Judge me if you feel the need. Can’t say I don’t keep it interesting and have people always wondering what might happen at church.

-The congregation was very engaged during the message, and that always makes it easier to preach.

-We had another brand new person in attendance.

-1 of the new families from last week returned.

-The attendance in worship was exactly the same as last week which was a good number.

-We had a Concert of Prayer last night. The attendance was more of a small group but the atmosphere was great and it was a very encouraging time of prayer. A few of those attending are already asking when we are doing this again.

-Had a very strange physical thing yesterday. I had felt fine all weekend and Sunday morning. Took a short nap in the afternoon and awoke to feeling lousy. Scratchy throat, cough, runny nose, etc … It just came on with no warning whatsoever. That was just weird.

-3 weeks from tomorrow my wife and I will see our son, daughter-in-law and 5 grandkids who are serving in Africa. We have not been able to squeeze them for 17 months. We are very excited.

-I heard a couple of great reports yesterday of how people are growing in their faith and how God is working in their witness. I really needed to hear those updates.

Here’s hoping you are reminded today that you are not alone, that you are loved and that God has a great plan for you.

Dennis