I am pretty sure most of us have never experienced life in a kingdom. Nope, Disneyland does not count. But the people who heard John the Baptist preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near,” (Matthew 3:2) knew all about kings and kingdoms. They knew kings had absolute power over the land and people. They knew that once a king took control over a nation the only way he could be dethroned was by force. So when they heard that the Kingdom of Heaven was drawing near, they probably expected God to come in power and in glory. They expected God to take over by force because, that is what kings did.

They did not expect Christ to establish His kingdom by first becoming a helpless baby, leaving the glory of heaven to come to earth in the form of a human like you and me. They did not expect Christ to preach salvation to all who would simply repent of their sins and call on His name. They definitely did not expect their Messiah, their Savior, to be arrested, crucified, and killed, only for God to raise Him triumphant after three days. And even though we don’t know much about kingdoms, this probably still seems like a strange way to establish one!

But God chose this Way of humility and of love because that is the Way He calls us to follow as His children. God does not force us to make him Lord, but He calls us to humble ourselves and turn everything over to Him. Being a Christian is a daily choice of putting God above everything else because, as Dr. Hamilton preached last Sunday, the kingdoms of power and legalism which rule the world still try to influence us. They tell us to put our own desires and interests first, to compare ourselves to others and judge them, to take care of “number one” before everything else.

This Advent season God is asking us once again to invite Him into our hearts. He is asking us to live in the Way that Christ lived, loving God first and our neighbor as ourselves. He is asking us as a church to pray as one, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done….”

Pastor Samuel

As I read about Jesus’ birth in the books of Matthew and Luke this season of Advent, one thing that stands out to me is the kind of people we get to meet in these stories. These people don’t stand out because of their great riches, their impeccable resumes, or their incredible deeds. They stand out because of how ordinary they were. God could have used the kings and wise men in the stories, so isn’t it incredible that He chose ordinary people, like you and me, to bring about THE plan that would alter the course of history and bring salvation to our world?

As the Bible shows us time and again, God has a way of choosing ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary purposes. Like Mary, these people are often young and inexperienced. Like Joseph, they are often asked to go against the common beliefs of their culture and society. However, God always promises to be with them. In the Bible many of these godly people came to be known not for their talents or deeds but simply for the fact that God was with them.

God does not worry about who we are or what we have done. All God asks of us is that we have faith. But the faith God asks for is not a, “this makes sense so I will do it” faith, or an, “I can see exactly what your plan is so I will do it” faith. Like Dr. Hamilton preached last Sunday, the faith God asks from us is the kind of faith the writer of Hebrews describes as, “the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see.” (Hebrews 11:1, CEB)

So, what reality is God challenging you to hope for and live out this Advent season?

Pastor Samuel

Happy New Year!
I’m really not a month early; though you could argue that I am 3 days late. Those of you who were with us this first Sunday of Advent know that the reason we can use this greeting during this time of the year, is because the first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the Christian year. So, Happy New Year to you!

Isn’t it interesting that as followers of Christ there are many things we do in ways that often makes the rest of the world think we are just a bit strange? We do not curse our enemies, but we love them and pray for them. We do not strike back in anger when someone hurts us, but we turn the other cheek. We do not measure our lives by our own accomplishments or our own self-worth. We measure our lives by what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross and by the worth we gain in being adopted as God’s sons and daughters.

As the apostle Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, we do all this because, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20, NLT) So in this season which is often marked by the rush of shopping and the false happiness that comes from material goods, let’s do things a little bit differently. Let’s slow down. Let’s take time to remind ourselves where real joy comes from. Let’s prepare our hearts once again for the coming of our Lord and Savior.

May each of you experience God’s grace and peace during this Advent season,
Pastor Samuel

Dear Church Family,

As Thanksgiving Day approaches I continue to be amazed at the ways God is working in the life of our church. I am thankful for little things, like finding the thermostat that controls the heat to our church offices and the Children’s sanctuary. Thank you Ray Gabeheart for climbing into the church’s attic to discover this! Working from the church offices this winter is going to be much more pleasant now.

And I am also thankful for big things, like: 1) the way our church family has continued to be faithful in giving and tithing during this time of transition (in addition to our regular tithes and offerings, we raised over $750 for the Harvest 2011 offering), 2) the prayerful approach our church’s Focus Team is taking as they go through the pastoral search process, 3) Dr. Mark Hamilton, who is faithfully bringing us God’s Word every Sunday, 4) the way in which people are responding and volunteering to cover various ministry needs (and we can always use more!).

As we spend time with family and friends this week, I know that we will be praying for God´s direction and provision, and for the leader God is already preparing to be our next pastor. However, before we present any of these requests, let us remember to first take the time to give thanks for all God has already given us in Himself and through His church.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Pastor Samuel

Prayer is the lifeblood of Christ’s church. In the book of Ephesians, after Paul gives instructions to the church to put on the whole armor of God, he finishes by emphasizing, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” (Eph. 6:18-19)

As Dr. Hamilton has been emphasizing on Sundays, God is calling us to a life of obedience, and we can only we obedient if we are spending time in the presence of our Father. We could hire the best pastoral staff in the world, start every kind of church ministry, and plan all of the special events we can think of, but if prayer is not at the center of our church life we will simply be following our own desires and not the will of our Lord Jesus.

There are two central parts to this life of prayer. One is personal prayer. I encourage all of us to find a consistent time when we can be alone with God. And when we have found that time, let’s do everything we can to protect it. Please feel free to talk to any of us on staff if you need direction in this area, or reach out to those people who you know are prayer warriors in our church. God has provided us with all the resources we need to be obedient to him!

The other part is group prayer. While this definitely includes the times of prayer we have on Sundays during service, I don’t think we can limit it to that. That is why I would also encourage all of us to connect with a weekly prayer group. In addition to the small groups that meet during the week, we have also set apart times every week for us to come together in prayer:

Monday through Friday at 6:30am in Peculiar Campus – Contact Randy Strickland.

Every Wednesday at 6:15pm in Special Needs room – Contact Pastor Samuel.

Every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month at 7pm in Peculiar Campus – Contact Missy Parrott.

Through this time of transition and beyond, may we as a church be sustained and united through prayer!

Pastor Samuel

Right now there are four main ministries that take place out of the Peculiar Outreach and Ministry Center. The first is the BackSnack program, led by Missy Parrott and her mom Dee Wilbanks. Through this program 20 low-income elementary school children are given backpacks filled with food every week to ensure they will have something to eat over the weekend. All of the food is provided by Harvesters, a food bank based in KC, but all of the labor is provided by the people in our Peculiar campus. The program has been such a success that the school told Missy and Dee that, if they provide the people, the school will provide the money so that 20-30 additional children can be reached through the program.

The other three ministries are: a small group which meets Wednesday led by Ray Gabehart, a women’s Bible study which meets Thursdays led by Tammy Gabehart, and a prayer time which is held every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. And plans are already on the way to partner with Harvesters in another program, called Project Strength, by early next year. Missy and Dee see this as an incredible opportunity to have families from all walks of life enter the doors of our Outreach Center.

I hope that all of us are excited about what God is doing through our church in Peculiar. If you would ever like to help, know that there are a lot of ways for all of us to plug into these ministries:

1. Missy and Dee always need volunteers who will help unload the food-truck from Harvesters, help pack the backpacks with food, and take them to and from the school

2. While Harvesters provides most of the food, donations are always appreciated.

3. If you live north of Harrisonville and are looking for a small group to join, this is a great place to find fellowship and form relationships.

4. There is still work to be done on the storefront itself. Paint needs to go up, outlets need to be covered, and lights need to be fixed so that the space can be used to its highest potential. For this reason, next Saturday, November 19th, we will be having a Work Day from 9am to 1pm at the Peculiar Outreach and Ministry Center. As a church staff, we invite all of you who can help to come ready to paint and work.

In this time of transition, let’s not forget the mission of our church, and let us find every opportunity we can to reach our world by loving God and loving one another.

Pastor Samuel

With over 50 cars in the event, perfect weather, the KC Wolf bringing some fun, and over 400 people enjoying the festivities it was a BLAST!

Want to make sure we give a special thanks to Ron and Rindy Finley for all of their hard work in making this such a special Sunday for us all. This was a ministry on Ron’s heart for years and he has been at the forefront making this a reality and we are blessed by his obedience. However, they could not make it happen alone. Butch and Nancy shore, Don and Pat Stark, Les and Bonnie Unruh, Dave and Lynn Kauffman, Dave and Mary Lutrell, Walt Doll, Scott Ricker, Deb Gill, Amy Byerley and many others gave up countless hours to minister to all of us. It is truly amazing what happens when we come together for the kingdom. God uses things like vintage cars to bring people closer to Him.

What an AWESOME God we serve!!!

For all of you who invited friends, passed out fliers, prayed for God’s spirit to move and showed up and had fun, thank you, thank you, thank you! I truly believe one of the greatest ministries we can provide is showing
our world that life with Jesus is the most fun. Thank you for being you!

Expecting God sized things,
Pastor Jimmy

There are God sized things happening at the Naz, come join us!

Pastor Jimmy

Introduction: It is one of the most irritating moments in life, that time when someone decides to give you advice even though they have no idea what you are going through . Don’t you just love when people open their mouths concerning your life when they have never experienced what you are facing? Uhhggg! Sometimes it feels frustrating to turn to Jesus because, after all, he was God’s Son, how could he relate to anything that I am dealing with?

Text: Turn with me to Matthew chapter 4. Jesus is just about to begin his ministry. He walks to the wilderness to find his cousin john and there he was baptized. Jesus himself was baptized. This Easter we are going to have a baptismal service, if you have never been baptized and would like to be you can mark your connection card and we will get you information on how that takes place. In the waters of baptism Jesus himself discovered what we each discover, it is there that our identity is confirmed. As he came out of the water the heavens opened up and God said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy!” Isn’t that awesome! That is what God says to all of us in baptism, this is my child who brings me great joy! Isn’t is powerful to know you bring joy to your heavenly Father? In my house my boy says, “That gives me heart tingles.” I think God was saying, this is my son who gives me heart tingles.

Then, immediately, Jesus is led into a wilderness where temptation surrounds him. How did it happen for you? Do you remember the first time you chose to follow Christ? For some of you that was just last Sunday Amen? Isn’t it true that for most of we soon found ourselves surrounded by temptation? There is a reason for that. Read v. 3. Understand the scene, in baptism heaven opened up and God himself declared, “this is my boy who gives me heart tingles” and in a few short days, in the grind of life Satan shows up and says, “If you are REALLY the son of God.” God says you are I am not sold. At its heart that’s what all temptation is about, whose are you really? You say you are following Christ, in fact the name you use starts with his, “Christian” but, the devil would say, “I am not sold. I still think you can be bought. I mean, come on, whose are you really?

V. 3. Jesus has been in the desert for some time, he is hungrier, than a teenager in a pizza shop. His stomach is rumbling like Midwestern thunder storm. In his state of vulnerability the enemy slithers in and says, “Why don’t you just turn these stones into bread? I mean, you are the savior of the world, you are no good to anyone if you are wasting away from hunger. Besides, you deserve it, you have fasted for days.” You can almost hear him can’t you? You know why? Because the same thing has happened to me, and to you.

Satan comes and tempts with something seemingly innocent. Is there anything wrong with eating bread? Is it a sin for Jesus to be hungry? No. Nothing wrong here. Come on Jesus just do it. After all you have done so much good praying already. Lysa Terkeurst in her book, “Made to Crave” said, we are often tempted to reward ourselves with our area of struggle.” Isn’t that true? We excuse bad eating by saying, “I have been good all week.” We justify spending more money by saying we haven’t spent any if a while. We try to save money but reward ourselves by spending it. We try to eat better but reward ourselves by eating poorly. It happens in every arena of temptation and it happened to Jesus. Satan came to him in a time of fasting and said, “Come one man just one piece of bread.”

Jesus says, “No!” Then he quotes scripture, “Man does not live by bread alone.” Jesus was saying, you are trying to make this about bread but this is about a lot more than that.

V. 5-6. Jesus resists the temptation of bread and Satan replies, “oh yeah, you are right scripture is of primary importance. So if you are God’s son why don’t you prove it by throwing yourself off this cliff, after all, Scripture says the angels will protect you. When people see how miraculously you are protected by your Father, whose word you trust, they will follow you wherever you ask them to go! People love a good show, just jump down and when they see you safe and sound they will flock to you. That is what your heavenly Father would want, a big crowd. If you need a verse to help you jump here is a good one.

V. 8-11. Now the mask came off. The devil who had spoken ever so subtly now stands face to face with God’s son, “You have to know what lies ahead for you is anything but pleasant. Following God is not an easy path, but I can make your life easy peasy.

“You know, don’t you, that I own the world!?!? It rests in the palm of my hand. Look around you and see. Is this a world ruled by God? If so, he is certainly a strange sort of God to permit – no, to even bring into being — such a terrible state of affairs as you see spread before your eyes as you stand here surveying all the kingdoms of the world. Wars and rumors of wars, famine and floods, sickness and death, corpses cluttering the landscape, troubles of every sort . . . all are marks of the world. And, if I may boast a bit, they are the works of my hands. I have wrested possession of this world out of the hands of your Father whom you call good. And you will have to pay a terrible price to get it back from me. I mean its going to cost you EVERYTHING!!!

“Be clear on this: it is mine to do with as I will. I stand as prince of this world and none can challenge me.

“But . . . now let’s talk common sense here . . . if you should really want it bad enough I would gladly hand it over to you lock, stock and barrel simply to have the pleasure of hearing you admit that I am sole possessor of this ‘mess’ you call the world. Just say the word. Admit that this world belongs to me and as a reward for that honest evaluation I shall turn everything over to you. You can clean it up, straighten it out, make of it what it was when first I encountered it long, long ago. I ask little and offer much.”

Jesus replies, “Get out of here! You must worship only God!” After all that’s what this has was really about wasn’t it? That’s what temptation is always about, who are you going to worship, whose are you really?

Application: Isn’t it frustrating when people try to give you advice when they have never been where you are living? It always helps when someone has walked in your shoes, felt what you feel, and seen what you see. My friends, Jesus understands temptation. He has been there, done that. In fact, can’t you almost hear the conversation going on in this Scripture? Why? Because it has happened to each of us right? The enemy comes and tempts us with something innocent and seemingly harmless. If he came to you and said, “Go bomb Garden City, you would laugh him right out of the room so instead he comes when your guard is down and says, “go ahead, watch that movie, you have been good all week.” You went to church this week you deserve one trip to the bar, go for it! Turn those stones into bread.

If that doesn’t work a few Scriptures that will support your justified actions start rolling through your head, like God loves giving you the desires of your heart! Then, if all else fails he extends that give a little to gain a lot card. If you just keep from tithing for the next ten years I will invest that money then you will have millions to give away! If you start dating them you can bring them to church! Rationalization and justification run rampant in the final stages of temptation and do you know what? Your Lord and savior knows. He has been there! He understands.

Some of us think if we follow Jesus it should make life easy, in fact sometimes we are tempted to act as if we are above temptation. Isn’t that right? That would be the sin of pride by the way because even Jesus was tempted and apparently wasn’t ashamed of that fact. Think about this, he was alone in the desert. No one around, no cameras running, no announcer commentating. How do we know about Jesus’ temptations, His weakness, His vulnerabilities? He told us. He had to share this with Matthew and the other disciples. By his own admission God’s son was tempted. You will be too. The prayer is not, Lord take all this away from me but Lord deliver me from evil. The author of Hebrews said this, We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Not only does Jesus know and understand the frustration of temptation he knows you can live without giving in. Amen? With Him you can be victorious, Amen?

When temptation comes follow Christ and first, admit this is not about anything immediate, this will impact the ultimate. Its not just about bread, or a movie, or a date it is about whose you really are. Secondly, be in the word, use God’s word to respond. Finally, resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). If the devil does not flee then you are the one who has to flee. Either he leaves or you leave but either way someone is fleeing! With His help you can obey God and show you are His child even in the face of temptation.

Communion: Obedience led Christ to the cross. It was there that he made it possible for us to obey no matter the cost. Will you come and receive his grace to forgive you and his power to enable you to live like Him? When you come today I pray you will hear all over again, “You are my child who gives me heart tingles.” Amen.

Benediction: In all things we are more than conquerors through the one who loved us (Rom 8:37).