Spiritual Stimulus Package

Paul is going to be speaking on receiving a Spiritual Stimulus Package. The four main parts of the stimulus package are:

1. Being Centered in Christ
2. Putting prayer first and then going out into ministry.
3. Having self-control and purpose to our lives.
4. Hope continues: Light out of the darkness. There is hope!

We are going to use this next blog to add comments to the idea that we had at creative arts team meeting.

We are going to use the idea of a large gift box (package) and it is going to be delivered to different people each week and then they will read a letter that is attached each time. Christy Garau is going to start with ideas for the letters and dialogue and then we all need to help and chip in.

Get it going people!! :)

Lord Of ALL

Okay!
1. I just realized I haven't posted since November. (bad me!)
2. My brain is smudgy. (Is that a word?)
3. I'm just thankful to be alive and that the boys are okay. (Thank you, loving Lord:)

Now two weeks ago, our truck was struck as we were crossing over I-30 by a semi, that the driver said he was trying to stop and ran the red light. Lots of things went through my brain in a very short time. (Which many of you know is not an un-normal thing for me, haha!) But they went quickly but in full picture. And then turned into reality.
1. What in the world, why is he coming through the intersection.
2. Oh crap, he's not going to stop!
3. I need to turn the truck so that he doesn't hit Parker!
4. Wow! That hurt!
5. The boys! Are the boys okay!
6. God sent an angel in the body of BJ Riley.
7. God sent ALOT of angels, like off duty police and firemen, some lady that ran across the road to help, other policemen, EMT's in the ambulance, husband, friends, parents, doctor, nurses, children, WOW on overload!
8. Thanking God for putting an Angel bubble around us! (that's what Jonathon and I have decided!)
9. Seeing the truck and thanking God for letting us walk away from the wreck!!
10. Going home having amazing parents, family (husband), and friends taking care of us all!

Story #1 - Jonathon's recollection of the wreck to his Aunt Erin
Erin asked, "Jonathon did something happen yesterday?"
Jonathon said, "Yeah! Mom was driving the truck, and the light turned green and the semi came flying in and mom said, 'oooh, crap' and then he hit us!
Erin called me and told me the story and then told me that she was really impressed that that was all that came out of my mouth! haha!

Story #2 - Parker Baker to Cindy and others.
Parker said, "Yeah, Heidi was driving, she swerved thetruck and then she said, 'oh, CRAP!' and then we got to ride in the ambulance!

Both stories were quite similar but also interesting in their differences, and it just amazed me what they noticed compared to what I remember. (Especially the part that I just said, "oh, crap!" I thought I said it in my head, not out loud!)

If you know me at all, you know that I like to just move along and not stop to long, because I just need to move and keep going. So as I've been dealing with everything that happened, especially the insurance part of it, (NOT FUN!) I hadn't really stopped to let things hit me. Noooo, I waited to do that last Sunday morning as we were leading worship. Wrong timing for me, and the poor congregation! But as we were finishing, "Jesus Messiah" the last words are, "Lord of All!" Everything hit me like a brick as I watched Parker and Jonathon jumping around and singing during worship and knowing that Chase was singing for others at the Huntington Nursing Home. He is Lord of All! He kept us safe! He put that, "angel bubble," around us. We were alive because He took care of us! LORD OF ALL! Hello! Came at me like a speeding freight train as I started to pray and those were the only words I could get out. I grabbed a hold of Kara's hand, and tried to start again but couldn't so my amazing sister Erin just picked it right up and prayed beautifully. As the band started the next song, and Dan looked back at me to start, all I could do was nod my head and barely get out, "Holy, holy, holy!" As we finished up and I was able to help finish. Paul started to pray for the offering and Becky sat me next to her on the piano bench and just hugged me. We started to walk out and my sister grabbed my hand, Amy hugged me, Mike hugged me, Amy, Erin and I went into the restroom to try to pull myself together, Liane came in to check on me. WOW! Family and friends are amazing! God has truly blessed me with amazing people in my life! They definitely took care of me!
We had people calling, sending cards, stopping by, people stopping me and the boys giving us hugs and telling us, "how glad they were that we were okay," and many other amazing things and experiences. It was a very humbling, and overwhelming feeling.
As we have gotten ready for the Community Christmas Concert I have felt and received so many prayers and help from so many people and I don't know what I would of done without them. Working through the pain and being reminded to slow down, I've just pushed through in my normal way.
Then we got up to sing last night and I was struck again! Lord of ALL! I looked up at this amazing choir and looked at the smiles and light coming from them, watching my son sing and speak, listening to the actors speak, watching the guys in the booth and knew that He is Lord of ALL! We can try to take charge as much as we can, fight with Him over who's in control, but then BAM! It hits you that He is Lord of All, and that we just to get to sit back in awe sometimes.
I couldn't stop smiling and trying to sing (as quietly as I could, haha,)crying, and directing and realizing that when we keep Him in the middle of what we do, anything is possible! Lord of All!
As we approach Christmas there are so many things I am thankful for:
-That we are alive and able to worship our Lord and share the beautiful story of His birth!
-That I have family and friends that are amazing! And I thank God for them everyday!
-That we can sing, share, pray in a free country!
-That I can CHOOSE which church I want to attend, and CHOOSE which service I want to go to.
-That I have an amazing church family!
- AGAIN! That I have an AMAZING family and friends!

He is Lord of All! We need to stop, sit back, and be in AWE of what He has done! He loves us ALL! That means the WHOLE world! So, let's join together, sit in worship together, join in small groups together, share together and ask each other what we are thankful for and how we feel blessed. Let the love of God pour over you, flow through you, come from you! Bask in the amazing glow of our God's love and how He showed that love in the birth of His son, Jesus Christ! Then take that love and SHARE IT! Let the crazy, hectic, overworked, negative, overwhelming feelings flow out and the love of God flow in. Remember that we are TRULY blessed! Now go share it!! Thank you to all of those amazing family and friends! May you all be truly blessed!

Throw away the negative, latch on to the positive

I've been really busy in my brain for the past two weeks. For some reason I haven't been able to stop my brain to concentrate, but all of the sudden it has become very clear and the two words screaming in my head are POSITIVE and NEGATIVE.

Being constructive, working towards solutions, finding new ways to accomplish the mission and vision that God has set before us, working on the positive. I know how easy it becomes to fall into the, "what if this had happened, we used to do it this way, we've always done this, this certain way." Our world is changing, our country is changing, our state is changing, our city is changing. Our lives are always in a constant state of change, sometimes we don't want to see it, or we try to fight it but is an inevitable thing. Change is not the enemy. It is good to have tradition, we can not move forward without looking back from where we came. But then we have to look towards the future our we get stuck in the past. Today is the day to grab a hold of what He has planned for us and tomorrow is the future that He has promised us. But we must always remember that it doesn't stop with us! That is part of the future, "to go and make disciples."

So how does this tie in with being positive or negative? We as the church collective get bogged down with, the way things "used" to be done, or "we've always done it this way." That is not always being negative, but it doesn't always help in being positive or trying to reach out to newcomers. Speaking from experience, when you are trying to get involved with some new group and they constantly speak about things that "used" to happen, then the new people that are trying to get involved can feel lost, and or realize this is not the group for them. Reminiscing is fun, but if we stay back there, we're going to lose out on what's happening now, and what new people and new experiences can bring.

Let' talk POSITIVE! "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever shall believeth in Him will not perish but have eterenal life." (memorized that from the King James version, can you tell. haha!!) How can we get more positive, or feel a deeper love than that! In the song, "Jesus Messiah" by Chris Tomlin and friends, they write:

He became sin, who knew no sin
That we might become His righteousness
He humbled Himself, and carried the cross
Love so amazing, Love so amazing

Jesus Messiah, Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel
The Rescue for sinners, the Ransom fom Heaven
Jesus Messiah, Lord of all

His body the bread, His blood the wine
Broken and poured out, all for love
The whole earth trembled, and the veil was torn
Love so amazing, love so amazing

All our hope is in You, all our hope is in You
All the glory to You, God, the Light of the world

Jesus Messiah, Lord of all
The Lord of all, the Lord of all


"The Rescue for sinners, the Ransom from heaven, Jesus Messiah, Lord of all!"
We have our lives and everything in them BECAUSE of Him! Because He sacrificed Himself, God sacrificed His Son, so that WE may have eternal life! THAT IS HUGE!! That is POSITIVE times infinity!! We all win! But we owe it to Him, we owe EVERYTHING to Him!

We are all negative, we are all human, we get caught up, pulled in, drug down into the muck and the mire. But, what we need to keep reminding ourselves is that we have been given a gift, a very precious gift. We are preparing ourselves and the world for the remembrance of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But it didn't stop there, He grew, He changed, He helped change and miracles come about. He has asked us to share that, "Good News." To shout it from the rooftops, that Jesus is Lord and that He came for you and me, and us all.

So wake in the morning, and tell the Lord thank you for this day, and pray to Him to give us the strength and guidance to meet the day with a smile and a positive attitude. We will stumble and we will fall, but He is always there to pick us up.

I'm going to begin my positives for the day:
1. Experienced the Lord in two amazing services. The choir sang with all their hearts, (in tune,) and I felt the Lord's presence with us as we sang for Him. The praise team played their first accoustic set and we could hear the congregation singing as one, praising our Lord, and my heart was so full that I was moved to tears of joy at what wondrous acts our Lord provides.
2. I was able to see a friend at church that I haven't seen in months and reconnect.
3. Enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with a growing and chaotic Palmer family.
4. Was able to close my eyes and rest fo 20 min. before practice as our boys had quiet time as well, (and were actually quiet! hehe!) and my husband was doing the laundry,
5. Enjoyed putting a service together with the praise team that is well thought out and keeping Him in the center.
6. Sitting and watching my youngest sleep and rest. (Now that is a positive!)

So, my question to any and all of you is:
How are you going to "latch" onto the positive?

Extravagant Passionate "Thankful" Worship

I went to our Cluster Charge Conference yesterday at church and have been chewing on some things during the day. Parts of it were not extremely stimulating, but a few things that our District Superintendent, Cindy Reynolds said, really stuck with me. She was talking about Passionate Worship. (I'm paraphrasing.) She was saying that when we come to worship it is not a time to complain, about the color of the room, that some new person sat in my seat, that I don't like the sermon, or music, (you insert,) because we have 6 other days of the week to complain. On Sunday, we are supposed to come ready to worship, to be passionate in our worship, and remember why we are there. I have thought about this today, while sitting at Jackie Gotz's funeral, and then being with Jonathon all day, and working at the farm store, things started connecting. Jackie, if you didn't know her, was an amazing woman. I remember her always having a smile on her face, she loved to sing and praise her Lord through singing with the choir, sharing with the children of the church, and many, many other things. But, she did this all EXTRAVAGANTLY, because she was making her life a continual praise to her Lord. Today, (everyday :) !!) with Jonathon, he lives life EXTRAVAGANTLY AND PASSIONATELY, as many of you can attest! Tonight he prayed as he does now, to keep his Papa Kenny in heaven, so he will stay healthy, (he used to pray that God bring him back to us,) and then tonight he did something new, he said, " thank you," for so many things and people. My son is learning to be thankful, THANK YOU, LORD!! So many days of the week, I go, we go, hardly ever hearing a heartfelt, "thank you!" So many days, our Lord goes without hearing a heartfelt, "thank you!" What Cindy Reynolds said about coming to worship not to complain, (but as I add my spin,) it is a time to say a heartfelt, extravagant, passion-filled, "THANK YOU!" Kara Szyarto has on her blog the acoustic version of Lincoln Brewster singing, "Today is the Day!" We just sang that song this weekend as well, and as Kara has been telling me what an impact that song is making on her, it has helped just put one more piece in the puzzle for me. Live every day for, "Today IS the DAY!" We are called to live EACH and EVERY day for Him. Extravagantly, Passionately, and Thankful for HIM! And, especially on Sunday, when we are coming, supposedly, to focus on Him, we are to do it, "with all heart, all our mind, and all our strength!" No where in the bible, that I know, does it say that when we come to worship it's a time to complain, or be-little, or put-down, or crab, etc., you get the idea. (And we are all guilty of it in some way, if we are honest with ourselves.) It is sooooo, easy and simple to get caught in the day to day and forget why we are here, and what we are called to do. So my challenge to myself and I hope for you, as we get ready for the thanksgiving service this weekend and Thanksgiving in just a few weeks, is that we live our lives each and every day, and especially when we worship or are preparing to worship, that we remember a very simple thing..."it's not about me." That we remember that it's about our Lord, and bringing all of ourselves to extravagantly, passionately, and with a thankful heart to worship our Lord, and Savior! This IS what it's all about people! "Today Is The Day!" each and every day! So, the next time, I or you, start to complain as we enter worship, or we hear someone else start to complain, let's just remind ourselves, "this is not the time to complain, we have six other days of the week to complain." (and hopefully, we cut down on those days as well.) Now is the time to praise and worship our Lord, extravagantly, passionately and with a thankful heart!

I'm Not Ashamed

"When you found me, my whole world changed, I'm redeemed by your life. Let the earth see you are freedom, turned my darkness to light! You welcomed me in with open arms, into unending life! I'm not ashamed of the gospel Lord, Your power, Your love, that saved my soul, now I'm alive in You, I live in the risen Son!" During this time of upheaval, change, stock market ups and downs, etc., everyone has an opinion on everything. Sometimes when we feel okay with things or even when we don't we have a tendency to stay with the "status quo" or the"don't rock the boat" syndrome. Now we could get into a whole debate on the political issues of everyone but my point is about our faith and how we decide to live our everyday lives. DON'T BE ASHAMED! of who you are and what you believe in and shout it from the rooftops that God is our Savior and there is GOOD NEWS! That He has come for all of us, not just for those of us that sit in the pews every sunday morning. He changed my life and so many around me and we are not only called, but commanded to go and share the good news, to go and make disciples. Jesus is freedom! He has brought the Light for us and we NEED TO SHARE IT! We need to remember to share the Light in our everyday lives as well. When the kids are screaming their heads off, our or spouse does something that truly annoys us, or you need to just listen to a friend and be there for them. It's hard sometimes to remember to be the Light in the small things. (I know I seem to be rambling today, but I have a lot flying in my head, hehehe!) Overall, we are taking baby steps to reaching out to those within our church and how we can reach out to those outside the four walls. My challenge and question to you is: How do we share the Light, how do we share the Good News? Be specific, I'm not talking, "what if's" , or "if we could only's!" Let's think BIG, and DON'T BE ASHAMED to SHOUT it from the rooftop ideas.
We need your input, let me hear your voice. For example my sister has been talking with the director of the Terrace Park Apts. about a coat and that drive but then also other events that we can get people out of the church and into the mission fields. Let me know your ideas on how to reach out with our praise team and services. Please check email as well for more business issues.

Follow the Light

"Just follow the Light that shines through the darkest night. Just follow the Hope that brings vision to our sight. Just follow the dream that leads to the Prince of Peace. Wherever you are, look to the star and follow the Light." That says it all folks! A simple enough task right? If I know one thing with absolute certainty, it is that we as humans make "simple tasks," VERY DIFFICULT!
I've been listening over and over to the Christmas musical and so many things stick out to me each and every time, but one of the insistent ones at this time is, "just follow the Light." This makes so much sense, but yet we get so confused and allow ourselves to get, "Lost in Translation." We've been brainstorming and discussing in many meetings, "how do we help reach people?" "What do we do to reach the people that are here?" "What do we do to reach the un-churched?" And I think we get so caught up in pleasing everyone sometimes that we forget to do that simple thing, "just follow the Light!" Follow the Light! Follow our Lord, look at His life, see how He reached people? He spoke in parables often, He met with people that were, unseemly, or considered bad, lowly, unclean, etc. He communicated in many ways, he would draw pictures to help the disciples and others understand. He made things, "Come to Life!" They believed what He was saying because He made it believable!

As I've been explaining to people why we are doing the Christmas Musical/Cantata on Christmas Eve at 10 pm and for the community on Dec 18, I realized I kept using the phrase, "Make the story come to life." I was reading Mark Need's blog, and he was saying something that I had been thinking as well. I want to share it with you. (If I get a few words wrong I apologize Mark, I couldn't get it to "copy" into my blog. (I'm still learning, hehe!)

Words of Mark Need:
"As I continue to try to improve my preaching, I ran across a thought that struck me. The idea goes something like this: If you generalize about something you make it seem far away, but if you are very specific it seems close...We speak of God and Heaven and Salvation...Yet, they seem so far away. We speak of a God that did amazing things...years ago. We preach about a Heaven...in the skies. We accept a salvation...for the future. My aim is to narrow the gap. What is God doing, RIGHT NOW! Where is Heaven, RIGHT HERE! What does salvation mean for our lives, RIGHT HERE AND NOW!..For teachers and pastors, our aim continues to be that of offering a better glimpse of God at work in the people's lives...Not just long ago...Not in others' lives...Not in the future...but God at work and play, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" (I didn't include everything in the post so I encourage you to look at the rest of his post and his blog. It will make you think! You can click on his link from my page.)

YES!!!!!!!!! That's it! We need to bring things to the HERE, the NOW! And make them come ALIVE!! I feel that it is our job to help come along with the pastor's and help "bring Heaven down to earth, " to use a Granger phrase. We are all a team, and we have all been, "called" to help make disciples. So, here is my question.
How do we continue to make our services, traditional and contemporary, bring Heaven down to earth, and make the gospel come ALIVE?
I would love to hear all of your ideas and see us get a good discussion going so that we can start acting. To close with another phrase from the Granger conference, so that we can, "Stop Talking... and Start Doing!"
God Bless You All, I look forward to hearing from you1
Heidi:)

"The Best Life Ever" Use of Time, Talent, & Treasure

As we get ready for this week we focus on the, "Use of Time," as I said in my e-mail to the praise team, we need to remember as the hymn says that we need Him every hour. We need to remember Him in everything we do and take the time to stop and remember that we can, "stop the merry-go-round and get off!" He will help us if we choose to let Him.
I would like to ask for ideas for the upcoming sundays, because I know that He is leading you, just as much as He is leading me. Here are the upcoming dates, themes and scriptures:
Nov. 2 - Use of Talent - (also emphasizing Spiritual Gifts) I Cor. 12:4-6 and I Peter 4:10 - music so far, "Father, Spirit, Jesus" "I'm Not Ashamed" the Cherub choir will be helping for this sunday.
Nov. 9 - Use of Treasure - 2 Cor. 9:1-7 and texts on contentment
Nov. 16 - Thanks Be To God! All church Thanksgiving Event - Psalm 100- We will be having one service melding both traditional and contemporary together for this service from 10:10 am-11:30 am. The Thanksgiving Dinner will follow the service.
Nov. 23 - Christ the King Sunday - Matthew 25:31-46 "A Kingdom of Service"

I will add Advent Season soon. And for those of you that weren't at rehearsal on Sunday I need you to check your calendars for either Dec. 17 or 18. We are looking at doing a community service of the Christmas Cantata/Musical and then doing it for the 10:00 pm Chritmas Eve service.

I am eager to hear your ideas and I leave you with this question to ponder.
How can we reach people? In and out of our church, what can we use? Music, video, drama, readings, testimonies, the arts, etc. Let me know your ideas on these services.

God Bless!!