Practice what you preach

It has been such a blessing to have Pastor Tom as the Interim Pastor. I was able to take a few days off after he started to spend time with my family and rest (although going on vacation with Sharon usually warants a 2nd vacation to actually get some rest!). I (mistakenly) thought that with Tom's arrival things would slow down. Wrong!

It's not just ministry that has been overwhelming. Tax day was painful, kids have a million different things going on, sick kids, a really stiff neck (maybe snow tubing was not such a good idea after all), Sharon getting laid-off, trying to refinance the house, plus everyday life have all accumulated to a sense of being overwhelmed.

Having just finished a series of finding our sufficiency in Christ, I have been reminded that I must practice what I preach.

I have been blessed and encouraged by a passage found in Deuteronomy 30 delivered by Moses just before the Israelites were to enter into the promised land (without him).

15"See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;
16in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.
17"But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.
19"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

I would ask that you please pray this passage of scripture for me, particularly the aspect of worshiping and serving other gods. Ministry demands, the chaos of life, physical pain have at one time or another become more important than my relationship with the Lord, thus contributing to, as my wife says, "a cranky, tired toot". My desire is to walk with Him, love the Lord and choose to obey Him. Please pray that I will be the godly husband and father I must be while balancing the demands of ministry.

I know, long and a little rambling, this post is just a reflection of my current brain status - scattered!

Thanks for praying

Pastor Jeremy

The Stirring

I can't thank you men enough for your commitment to pray for me, my family and our church. As I have told some of you, a friend of mine listened to one of my messages. He said "you must have a lot of people praying for you" (I think it was a compliment). It was awesome to be able to say "a lot!"

I wanted to invite you to join me Thursday at 6:30pm in the Worship Center for The Stirring. This will be an amazing time of worship through song and prayer. Our focus will be on our amazing God that we worship plus praying for our church as we begin the next chapter in the book called Arcade Church.

2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us - "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

Prayer requires an important "if." If we humble ourselves and pray, if we repent from our evil ways, God promises to heal our land. I know there are still many hurts that exist within our church. God has given us a path towards healing. Let's see what God can heal!

I would ask that you pray that I remain humble and praying. Check out the church website blog for an example.

Thanks for praying and I hope to see you Thursday at 6:30pm. Childcare is available.

Pastor Jeremy

Last minute request!

I am hoping some of you see this before tomorrow morning. Please be praying for the Johnson family. We have had a flu bug hit the house! Praise God Sharon seems immune. I have been sick for a couple of days, Sophie has a fever of 104 tonight, Chloe has been asleep for the last two hours (it is 7:00pm) and Noah is feeling terrible.

I know that one day, after the kids are gone, we will not have bug after bug in the house. I am convinced that children are God's best means of transmitting contagion (germs)!

Please PRAY for me for tomorrow.

Pastor Jeremy

Thanks!

I cannot adequately express my gratitude to each of you for your prayerful support and encouragement. Our time together Saturday morning was a blessing. I have been so encouraged by how God has been so faithful in hearing and answering our prayers during this season we find ourselves in at Arcade.

Please continue to pray for my son Noah. It seems the more doctor appointments we have the more questions that arise. Noah is a special young man (I know I'm biased) and I have been amazed to see God working in his young life. Pray for peace for him. He is not particularly found of needles and phlebotomy and with a number a tests upcoming that involves needles he is fearful.

Please pray for my family as Sharon has just received her layoff notice from the San Juan School District. I am grateful in that this opportunity affords us the chance to put into practice what I have been preaching from Colossians.

Again, I value your support through prayer. Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord and your commitment to prayer for me and my family.

I did want to re-issue my challenge from Saturday. If you're not involved in a weekly time of corporate prayer, try it for a month, see how it changes your life. You can join me on Sunday mornings at 6:15am in the Bride's Room, and Fresh Encounter is available Thursdays at 7:00pm. There are also times of corporate prayer on Monday mornings at 6:00am and Tuesday at 6:30am in the Bride's Room as well. If you are already participating then I would challenge you to invite another man to join you. Remember, prayer is not taught, it is caught. In order to catch it, you need to be exposed! Don't forget the next Stirring is happening on 3/26 at 6:30pm. Our focus will be on 2 Chronicles 7:14. Please plan on joining us.

Living Connected,
Pastor Jeremy

Housing Update

Hello men-

Just wanted to give you an update on our current housing drama. :-) as it stands now, we are putting another offer on a different house today (the one from last week didn't work) - so I would really appreciate your prayers as we move forward. We love this new house, it is in the same neighborhood that we are in now and we think it could be a great fit for us. So please pray as we listen to God's guidance on this matter that loan stuff/escrow stuff/inspection stuff all goes well and pray that God will make it obvious to us that we are supposed to be there or not.

I am extremely grateful for all of your prayers for my wife and I as we journey together as a church. May God grant you his peace this day and may you seek opportunities to worship him with your life today!

Peace and Wholeness to you all -
Pastor Jasen

Not feeling good!

The previous two weeks of ministry have quite possibly been the most physically and emotionally challenging time I have had in ministry. What a blessing it has been to minister to these various families.

I don't know if it due to some exhaustion, contact with lots of people (should have never mentioned the hugging thing because many have now made it their mission in life to turn me into a huggermugger :) ) or if I am just plain sick. I have a nasty sore throat, ears popping, sinuses congested.

Please be praying for strength and health. Marion Imel would be proud of me this week. I said no to a funeral (John Cassidy covered it) and I am staying home today. Marion's mantra - "no is a Christian word!" Thanks Marion.

Looking forward to seeing you all on the 7th of March at 7:30 am. I want to encourage you to invite someone to join you at P3 on the 7th. Prayer is not taught, it is caught and in order to catch it you must be near it! I know there are a number of corporate times of prayer available throughout the week. If you are not involved with one I want to STRONGLY encourage you to find one and give it a go. Try Fresh Encounter Thursday nights at 7:00 pm, join me for Sunday morning prayer at 6:15 am in the Bride's room. There are men who gather at the church on Monday and Tuesday mornings to pray, you can also participate in Powerhouse Prayer during either one of The Gatherings on Sunday morning. They meet in the staff kitchen and pray during the services.

As a note of encouragement, I wanted to let you know that I met with another pastor in town this week. He mentioned he had listened to a couple of my messages. He then asked something amazing. He asked "do you have people praying for you before and during the services?" It was great to say yes!

I am so grateful for your prayers, words of encouragement and how so many of you have just been pouring your love out to me and my family. I am truly grateful.

Pastor Jeremy
Matthew 20:28

Hi guys - thank you again for your continued support for me and the entire pastoral and elder teams through prayer and encouragement. I count it as a genuine privilege to be prayed for by you and to serve in the capacity that God allows me to serve in.

Sunday afternoon, Sharon and I had the pleasure of speaking at The Master's Class Valentine Luncheon at Wolf Mountain. Hanging out with our senior saints was awesome, but what I really enjoyed was the 3 hours or so Sharon and spent in the car together to and fro Wolf Mountain. I know I am biased, but God has blessed me with an amazing wife! She is wise, compassionate and loving. I love her! I can honest say I belong to the "men who married up" club.

I want to encourage you men, if married, to make the time to spend ALONE with your wife. I want to encourage you to pray with your wife everyday. I want to encourage you to love your wife unconditionally (you know, like God loves us!). It's not a matter if you can or can't it;s a matter of if you will or won't. Want more intimacy in your marriage? Spend alone time with your wife, pray together and read God's word together and God will bless your socks off!

This week I would appreciate you praying for me in the following ways:
1) First, I praise God that I did better on the ministry/family balance and boundaries this past week. I had to say no to some things but it was definitely worth it.
2) My family is in Southern California this week, please pray for their safety as they travel today and Friday. You might want to pray that I remember to feed Chloe's fish.
3) Ministry wise, this has been an interesting time to say the least. Please pray for continued strength and wisdom as I prepare to lead The Stirring (along with Jasen), for Jim Flanagan' service and Sunday's messages.

I want to strongly encourage you to join me at The Stirring Thursday night at 6:30. I also want to ask that you invite someone to join you. In this season at Arcade, it is critical that we gather to pray and worship together.

Blessings to you,
Pastor Jeremy