Ezekiel 17 ( The Connection)

After several prayers and discussions about name and purpose we have decided on a name for our new church.

The Connection
Connecting with God. Connecting with People.


I like the use of this symbol of the Trinity with the name. I love the idea of living our lives in connection with the Lord through the grace of Jesus Christ. And that connection is the basis for all of our relationships and efforts in this world.

I guess I will be changing the name of this blog soon. But now it is time for bed. I was just too excited about the name decision to wait until tomorrow to post it.

Good Night and God Bless!
John

This coming Sunday, May 7, we will meet at Linda Spurlock Park on Glenview. Bring your lunch, if you want to, and meet with us at about noon (we will probably start our worship time at about 1:00). We will eat, play, and worship together. I'm really looking forward to it!

Last night we had a great discussion at our house. I'm sorry that we could not all be there, but the group that was there made some real headway concerning the development of our new church community. We discussed some the the things that I had written down and handed out on my development proposal. We also talked about church names. We decided to make a final decision this coming Sunday. In our discussion two names seemed to resonate with everyone:

1. The Connection
2. Sanctuary

We also talked about using a tagline that describes our desire to be a gracious Christian community. We have not ruled out all other ideas, but these two rose to the top for us in our discussion. If you have other ideas, please bring them Sunday. If you can't make it Sunday, call and let us know any ideas you might have.

Please continue to pray and ask the Lord to open doors for the message of Christ through us (Colossians 4:2,3).

God Bless!

John

We will meet this Sunday, April 30, at 1:00 p.m. in our basement. I am really looking forward to it. This Sunday I will be teaching from Matthew 5:17-20. In this text Jesus says that our righteousness needs to surpass that of the Pharisees. Think about that. The Pharisees had dedicated their whole lives to being righteous. What do you think Jesus means by his statement...

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. -- Mt 5:20

I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this on Sunday as we share our thoughts together.

Last night Tom, Steve, Devon and I met with a few guys from the Southlake Blvd Church. They are interested in what we are doing and want to be supportive. It was a good conversation and I thought it was helpful for us. It was good to hear what everyone had to say about our new church and philosophy of ministry. The guys from Southlake shared some of their thoughts with us and were very encouraging.

A few people have given me their ideas of who would make up a good leadership team. I hope to hear from more of you about this.

I had an idea about a name for our new church. It is based on the Beatitudes...Blessed are the peacemakers for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The name is MAKEPEACE CHURCH (or Makepeace Christian Community or something like that). God has called us to be peace makers...making peace with God and making peace with people. This seems to me to fit well with our thoughts about Ezekiel 17 (the tree of God's peace where all birds come for refuge) and Isaiah 11 (the mountain of God's peace). I have been hearing some other good names. Why don't you bring your ideas this Sunday and we will write them all on a poster for us all the pray about and consider.

Don't forget to pray for our new church fellowship.

God Bless!
John

One of the greatest blessings about church is the atmosphere of community. But we have to realize that to function as a community in our society is a real challenge. So, I would like to spend time this coming Sunday (April 23) discussing issues of community relationships and how we can best work together. My hope is for us to deal with Spiritual Gifts and Personality Types this Sunday. I plan on having some tools for us all to use so we can discover and discuss Gifts and Personalities as they relate to our new church community. I would love to get your input on how best to do this.

I ran across a good description of how God has designed each person to fit into a group of people who all have different designs. The following 6 points come from the book Doing Church as a Team by Wayne Cordeiro. I think these areas will help us to talk about how we all can work together for the Lord...

• Desire: What is your passion? What would you choose to do? God has placed certain desires in you as one way of telling you what he wants you to do. Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. (NLT)
• Experience: We all have been through things that have shaped our lives. Most of us had families that focused on a particular kind of work, education, and recreation. All of these experiences contribute to our personal design. And then we have experiences of success and failure as well as joys and struggles. All of these work together to make us uniquely qualified to bless other people. God does not waste the years of our lives, but uses each experience to train us (“God doesn’t waste a hurt!”). Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. (NLT)
• Spiritual Gift: The Holy Spirit is given to each believer. The Spirit works in our lives to bless other people and build the Kingdom of God in this world. While some of the gifts might overlap into areas of natural ability, the spiritual gifts are developed by spiritual growth. 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4
• Individual Style: Each person has a unique personality. Of course, there are categories of personality, but each person has a set of traits that no other person has…each one is truly an individual. Some are introverted and some are extroverted. One person is in tune with others’ feelings, while another is focused on details. Some are leaders, some are followers. And everyone is created just like God intended! Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
• Growth Phase: Life is a journey and we are not all in the same place. We are growing and developing. Some grow quickly, while other people grow deeply. Some start the journey early and some start it late. And Jesus taught us to respect everyone’s faith in various places on the journey: Children (Mark 10:14,15 be like a child), Outsiders (Luke 10:25-37 the good Samaritan, etc.). In 1 John 2 there is a great poem about the value of each stage of life.
• Natural Abilities: People have natural abilities that make them good at particular tasks. We notice that people are artistic, mechanical, literary, musical, philosophical, athletic, or academic. Knowing these things about ourselves and others is important to our DESIGN!

I see our discussion about Gifts and Personality as a first step. After that we could put together a small leadership team (about 3 or 4 people). This team would have the task of seeking the Lord and writing down some visions and plans for our new group. Then they would bring their ideas to the whole group for discussion. I don't see this as a group of directors but as a way to facilitate direction. What do you think about this idea?

My prayer today is that we grow more and more as a community of Jesus...a family of God...living closely together to be the body of Christ in and for this world.

God Bless!
John

It's Tuesday...and our Holy Week plans have not come to fruition. Maybe we can make better plans for next year.

I started working for my brother this week. He was very gracious and asked me to work with him in his Law Office...that's right my brother's an attorney. The only drawback to this job is that the office is in Dallas and it takes me about an hour and 15 minutes to drive it. I may try to ride the train and a bus to get there, but that takes over 2 hours. Anyway, the Lord has blessed me with some gainful employment while we are working to get our new fellowship started.

On Easter Sunday we have decided to visit family churches (or other churches that we are interested in), and not meet at the park or our house. Our family will be attending the Firewheel Church in Wylie, TX. Sherrinda's sister and her husband work with this church and they are dedicating a new building on Easter. I know others are excited about being with their extended family to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. I also know that some in our group are not all that happy that we are not meeting, but I really appreciate the good spirit of everyone in this.

For those who would like to, we are going to get together for sharing and prayer this Wednesday at about 7:00 pm at our house. Come on over if you can make it.

Last Sunday we talked about being Salt and Light in this world (Matthew 5). For this to happen we need the Lord to melt our cold hearts and make them like his heart of compassion. Here's a picture of Malcom and Luke meditating as they gaze on the big block of ice that is slowly melting. Sometimes it takes time for the Lord to do his work on our hearts...so keep praying and seeking the the kingdom.

God Bless!
John

Luke 5:16 ...Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Acts 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 4:2-4 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

James 5:13-16 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

The Apostles clearly believed that they should be a people of prayer. And they expected the Lord to respond to their honest expressions of faith in Him. They started their ministries with intense times of prayer together. They believed that the Lord would open doors of opportunity in response to their prayers. They carried out their pastoral service to people in need through prayer. And they were convinced that a person’s spiritual growth was bound up in their prayer life. Prayer was a foundation stone in the building of God’s Kingdom.

As we begin our new community we need to focus on prayer…together and alone. We need to encourage each other in prayer. We need to call for the prayers of the church in our specific needs. We need to be willing to pray when we are asked to. And we need to expect that prayer will be a central part of our ongoing ministry.

Growing in the Spiritual Discipline of Prayer:

• Pray for 10 minutes a day, about an hour a week
• Seek solitude for time to pray
• Have a Prayer Friend – to talk about prayer life
• Pray with people who ask for prayer
• Encourage and participate in community prayer

Jesus asked his disciples if they would pray with him for one hour. Of course we all know the story...they fell asleep. They were tired. Prayer is not an easy discipline for us either. But let's make intentional plans to pray with Jesus and pray for his kingdom to come.

God Bless!

John Ketchersid

I am so glad April 1 did not fall on a Sunday. We are crazy enough as it is...we don't need any temptation to fool around more.

I was really glad to pray with everyone Sunday. I was blessed by the expressions of community. One of the things that really touched my heart was the openness and willingness of the group to pray in pairs and small groups. It is so important to share our lives with each other and the Lord...that's almost the definition of community! When we do share like that and support each other it is such a powerful witness to the hope that is in Jesus.

This Wednesday night at 7:00 we will get together for prayer and sharing at our house. The focus of this time of prayer is to seek the Lord's guidance for developing our church community.

Here are a few pictures from Sunday, April 2 (I think Melissa has some others that we can post later).


Laurie, Sherrinda, and Elyssa have a quite moment before the gathering. (I think you can click on the picture to see a larger version)



Eric and Melissa serve communion.








Charlie walks!


Greg and Brooke smile.







Looks like fun, doesn't it! Stay in touch.

God Bless!
John

I want to thank all of you for your prayers and willingness to be open to the Lord's leading for this new community of Jesus. Here is what I would like for us to do in the next few weeks.

1. Spend the next two weeks in prayer and worship. I would like to focus our gathering times to seek the Lord about how we should move forward as a community. I think it is important to be in tune with the Holy Spirit...The Wind is Blowing!!! So, I would like for us to follow this schedule: Gather on Sundays (April 2 and 9) at 1:00 pm for worship and prayer. Also, come together on Wednesdays (April 5 and 12) at 7:00 pm for worship and prayer. We can also focus our daily prayers on seeking the Lord's guidance for this new community.
   
2. Plan special events for this new community for Holy Week. We could host a Messianic Passover celebration. We could plan to meet at the park on Easter Sunday (maybe the weather will cooperate) and have a worship gathering, picnic, and egg hunt.
   
3. The following week we could make some specific decisions and plans about this new community of Jesus: God's calling for us, Practical Mission focuses, Leadership and Structural issues, etc.
   

As we go through a process of development, it is important for us to be sharing together. So, feel free to come over and visit, call, email, and blog. We need to intentionally function as a community! Let me know what you think.

God Bless!

John Ketchersid

I really thought the time of worship last Sunday was good. I love to express my thoughts and thanks to God in tangible ways. The art wall and the prayer station really helped me do that. And the band (thanks Devon, Cole, Thomas, and Becca!) playing made a beautiful atmosphere for the gathering. Also, all the set up helped us experience the reality of God's presence (thanks Tom, Laurie, and Sherrinda). It was good for us all to be together and share with each other.

We need to carry on the conversation about what the Lord is calling us to be and do. What is the Lord impressing on your heart? Sherrinda and I just watched the movie Chocolat. I thought it was great, have any of you seen it? It reminded me of Babette's Feast. And it really awoke in me a desire to live in the fullness of life that God gives.

We have been having discussions about some foundational ideas for our new community. I wrote some things and Devon has added some of his thoughts. Now I think it's important for us to continue the conversation. So, here are some of the things we've written down as basic characteristics of a community of Jesus...

The Gospel - The Gospel message is that God came to live among us in the person of Jesus Christ and that His life, death, and resurrection are the actions of redemption and restoration of all creation. We trust in Him and His work for our salvation. We accept this Gospel story as the true story of our own lives. We read scripture with the Gospel as our method of interpretation. Therefore we are followers of Jesus.

Life Transformation – People are transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in this world. That begins with us as we live our lives trusting in Jesus as the source of real life. Therefore we will pursue spiritual disciplines so that our lives will be wholly given to following Jesus. Then our evangelism, witness, and service are not activities or programs that we participate in but they are a constant result of the character that the Holy Spirit is producing in us. We also seek to be honest with every part of our lives. We refuse to live in the false dichotomy of the sacred and the secular. We aim to fuse our work, play, art, and education into one seamless life in Christ.

Community – God dwells in relationship and community (theology of the Trinity) and we are being renewed in his image. So, we too live our lives in relationship and community. We love and support each other. We read and interpret scripture together and understand it as a body. We pray together to be in tune with God’s purposes. We worship together as a communal expression of what God is doing in our lives. We believe that the way the kingdom of God shows itself on this earth is through compassionate community. As we live within the Gospel story through the power of the Holy Spirit in the context of community, we are moving together more and more into the Kingdom of God.

Continuing the conversation....

John Ketchersid

We will meet at our house this Sunday to eat and worship together. Just bring a lunch for you and yours...last week some brought fast-food and others brought brown bag. We will eat at noon and then go down in the basement to pray and worship together.

The Southlake Blvd Church gave us some folding chairs to use! Thanks to Steve, Evan, Aaron, Thomas and Caleb for helping me pick them up yesterday.

We have some great plans for the worship gathering this week. We pray that it will be an honor to God and a blessing to you. Remember, we are a body worshipping together! So come prepared to share your heart and be a blessing to others (1 Corinthians 12:27).

See you Sunday (if not before).

God Bless!
John

If I haven't talked with you and you plan on coming please give me a call. That way we will know how many to prepare for. I am really excited about this time of prayer and discussion! We trust that the Lord will lead us in our Visions and Dreams for a community of Jesus in this area.

God Bless!
John

We had our first gathering today! It was a great time in the Lord. Everyone brought their own lunch and we ate together. Then after eating we went down into the basement for a worship time. We had a wonderful time of prayer and talked about the Kingdom of God...It's within YOU!!!! (that almost sounds like a Gatorade comercial) The communion time was really a blessing (thanks Steve and Denise). It was all very cool but we hope to have live music in the near future. Here are a few pictures of our time together.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! We are going to meet and talk about purpose and direction for our community of faith this coming Wednesday (March 22) at about 6:30 or 7:00. We will meet at our house and get some pizza.

Several of us went to Veritas yesterday. If you are interested in checking out an "emergent" worship gathering, this is a good one. They meet every Saturday night at 6:00 in the Richland Hills United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. I met up with Rev. Mike Baughman who leads it. He was interested in what we are doing, too. You can check them out at xanga.com\veritasgathering.

May the Grace and Peace of our Lord be with you this week!

John Ketchersid

So...maybe the park idea was a bad one. Due to rain and cool temperatures we will meet at our house at noon. Go ahead and bring your brown-bag lunch here and we'll have an indoor picnic. After we eat we will have a time of prayer and worship. See you tomorrow.

Here is a picture of the big evergreen tree at Linda Spurlock Park.



It looks like it might be too wet and cool to meet at the park this Sunday. So, the backup plan is to meet at our house. But doesn't this tree look inviting?!

God Bless!
John Ketchersid

I think I need to spiritually relax. I have so many preconcieved ideas about church and being a Christian that I confuse business with faith. I recently read an article that a friend recommended...Detoxing from Church. It was really helpful to me. Maybe it will be helpful for you, too...http://www.theofframp.org/Detox.html.

I am really excited about starting a community of followers of Jesus in a new way, but I have to say it's not easy for me. After 20 years of ministry in traditional churches...I have the old-dog-new-tricks syndrome. It will be good to meet at the park this Sunday and do a new thing (I sure hope it doesn't rain). Speaking of rain...if it does rain then we will meet in our basement.

I am also reading a great book called Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger. The book gives a definition of Emerging Churches that I think is helpful and expresses what I have in mind for a new community of Jesus...

"Emerging churches are communities that practice the way of Jesus in
postmodern cultures. This definition encompasses the nine practices.
Emerging churches (1) identify with the life of Jesus, (2) transform the secular
realm, and (3) live highly communal lives. Because of these three activities,
they (4) welcome the stranger, (5) serve with generosity, (6) participate as
producers, (7) create as created beings, (8) lead as a body, and (9) take part
in spiritual activities." (Gibbs and Bolger, pp. 44, 45)

I know these nine things sound kind of like what church has always been. But as we talk about them more, I think we will see a new and fresh expression of the kingdom of God emerge. More later.

Does it sound like I am relaxing yet? Well...maybe not relaxing, but I am really enjoying the ride into new dreams and visions of following Jesus Christ in this world.

Peace!
John

Huurraaay!!!!! Anyone who wants to make a comment can post their thoughts...even if you do not have a Blogger account. And I really would like to hear from you! Also, if you have a blog somewhere else that we can all read, please let us know where we can find you.

God Bless!
John

Ezekiel 17:22 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.

Wow! What a great vision of God's Kingdom. As we begin a new community of faith in Jesus, let's pray for and seek this kind of kingdom to be lived out in us every day.

Plans:

• Many of us are praying and fasting this week as we begin this new community. We want to listen to the Lord for guidance. You might want to post a comment and let us all know what the Lord is saying to you.
• This Wednesday night (March 15) at about 7:oo the Ketchersid Basement will be open for a prayer and worship. Don't feel any pressure to come, it's just a time for spiritual contemplation, meditation, and lifting up our hearts to God. We thought that since our kids will be going to the church youth and children's program we could use that time to seek the Lord.
• Our tentative plans for this coming Sunday (March 19) are to gather at Linda Spurlock Park on Glenview Dr. at noon. We plan to gather at the big evergreen tree. Bring a sack lunch and maybe a blanket or chairs. We will have a time of fellowship and worship together there at the big tree. Be sure to check back later in the week for finalized plans.

Let's live in the peace and joy of the new kingdom of Jesus this week!

John Ketchersid