Category: Forward Look

On looking ahead and info about plans being made

50th Celebration date

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date December 7, 2011

Our Celebration Theme and Logo

The other day Steven and I were talking about the actual birthday of Community Wesleyan Church. We knew it was Easter 1962 but we did not know the date. So I reached for my copy of the Book of Common Prayer which has an Easter date table in it and looked up the Easter date for that year. My eyes widened, I’m sure, and I let out a shout of surprise as I discovered the answer. Easter in 1962 fell on April 22 which is the exact date we have chosen for our 50^th Anniversary celebration in 2012. We did not realize that correlation when we chose it. Rather we just picked a Sunday a couple weeks after this coming Easter so that the celebration would not get lost in or detract from Easter and so previous attenders now attending other churches could be here without missing Easter service at their current churches. But now it is discovered that we will be celebrating God’s faithfulness 50 years later to the day. What an added blessing!

Tags Church 50th Anniversary, date of Easter

Forward Look Journal

Advent Christmas series titled The Light of the World

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date November 21, 2011
1 Comment on Advent Christmas series titled The Light of the World

Every year as we approach the Christmas season, we automatically focus on Bible passages in Luke chapter 2:1-20 and Matthew chapter 2:1-12 where the Christmas story is found. As I was thinking about the Advent/Christmas messages for this year I thought about the fact that the gospel of John also introduces the story of Jesus in its own rich way. It would be different, and enlightening to explore John 1:1-18 during the Christmas season and allow its deep theological themes to weave in and out of the Christmas narratives in our minds and holiday celebrations. So, after prayer and study, that is how I’ve designed the Advent/Christmas series for this year.

Advent/Christmas Series – The Light of the World
A study of Jesus in John 1:1-18
Date	Title/concept	Text	Suggested carol(s)
Nov. 27	Way Before Christmas	John 1:1-3	Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne (169)
Dec. 4	The Word	John 1:1	What Child Is This (180)
Dec. 11	The Light	John 1:4-9	Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (181) O Little Town of Bethlehem (192)
Dec. 18	Not Received Well	John 1:10-13	We Three Kings (197) I Heard the Bells (196)
Dec. 24	The Word Made Flesh	John 1:14	Gentle Mary Laid Her Child Angels, from the Realms of Glory (182)
Dec. 25	Gifts of Grace	John 1:15-18	O Come All Ye Faithful (178)

Tags advent, Christmas, light of the world, sermon series

Forward Look Journal

On the nature of blogging today

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date October 6, 2011

100^th comment from Germany

I received my 100th comment on my blog today. It was a TrackBack. I left it up because of its significance. It was from an advertisement site, but the interesting part was that the site was in German. That is quite significant. My count statistics plug-in tells me that the number of visitors to my blog from Germany is equal to about one third of the number of visitors from the United States. Visitor count from the third-highest country, the Ukraine, falls off quickly to one third of that from Germany. The third-highest number of reads comes from Hong Kong. I am amazed to discover that the total reads outside the United States is approximately equal to the number of reads in the United States. So my 100th comment reminds me that I blog in a very international setting.

100^th comment a precisely targeted ad

Secondly, the advertisement is for a Kindle reader and it is attached to the article I wrote about whether physical libraries are already becoming obsolete. Much of the spam I delete from my blog is attached almost randomly to any article that the spammer thinks may attract attention. But this trackback ad was different. It was targeted very specifically to the relevant article on the topic addressing the exact issue that fitted the item being sold. This shows the true power of targeted Internet connectivity. I predict more advertising money diverted from the scatter-guns of mass mail and broadcast media to the focused targeting potential of the Internet.

Tags advertising, blog, blogging

Forward Look Journal

October messages planned

In an article written before hurricane Lee, Atlantic magazine had already called 2011: the year of the disaster. Even without the difficult economic times of our year, and the sobering reminder provided by the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the natural disasters of the year have given us all pause to think. I feel led during the month of October to examine the writings of an ancient prophet who spoke to Israel in a time following a natural disaster. The series will begin October 9 and is called the Power of Prayer. The prophet’s name was Joel. October 2 is World Communion Sunday so together with Christians around the world we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper then.

Date	Sermon plan	Scripture
Oct 2	Message: In the Name of Jesus – because of relationship, according to his character, made possible by his provision	Heb. 10:19-25; John 16:23-28
Oct 9	Start a new series from Joel called: The Power of Prayer. The first message: Speaking in a Day of Disaster	Joel 1:1-2:11
Oct 16	Rediscovering the sacred assembly	Joel 2:15-27
Oct 23	Personal repentance: What is it? Pastor Eric preaching	Joel 2:12,13
Oct 30	The valley of decision	Joel 2:28-3:21

Tags disaster, joel, prayer, repentance, sermon series, sermons

Americana Forward Look Journal

September sermon series to be called Preserving America

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date September 7, 2011

I’ve been planning our September service emphasis to go along with the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 which we are all marking this next Sunday. Most of us remember exactly where we were when we first heard the news of the devastation caused by the terrorists’ depraved acts. The tragedy moved us all to greater prayer and increased awareness of our collective spiritual needs. Suddenly prayer and patriotism were close companions. Had we known at that time the 10 years of war and trouble which the enemy’s actions have precipitated, we would have been even more dedicated to prayer than we were. Yet, unfortunately, such openness to God and dedication to prayer have not been maintained or nourished in most of our cultural landscape. Instead we have seen unprecedented decline in moral values and an increasing chasm between government and faith. Now the occasion of this 10 year remembrance provides a time for us to regain our perspective; to once again call upon God on behalf of our country, and to draw closer to Him for ourselves as well. I am praying that this series will help us to regain our spiritual fervor.

September sermon series – Preserving America
Date	Title	Text	Key Question
Sep. 11	Remembering	Ps 37	Who does God say inherits the land?
Sep. 18	Recommitting	1 Tim. 2:1-8; Titus 3:1-8	How do we live in a post-Christian America?
Sep. 25	Protecting and Preserving	Eph. 6:10-24	How do we protect and preserve America?

Tags 9/11, prayer, sermon series

Forward Look Journal

August Messages Planned

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date August 3, 2011

During my days off in the Adirondacks I had a chance to read the book Starting Your Best Life Now, a condensation of Joel Osteen’s best-selling book, Your Best Life Now. I was sufficiently captivated by several of the key concepts that I felt impressed to pass them on to our congregation. I believe the chapters I’ve selected will form the basis for a very uplifting and encouraging series during the month of August.

August 7 Begin series from selected chapters in Joel Osteen’s Book Your Best Life Now — God has more in Store – chap 3 Scriptures: Heb. 11:1-12; Proverbs 3:1-10; Jer. 29:4-14; Eph. 3:20,21

August 14 (Communion Sunday) Become what you believe – chap 9 Scriptures: Negative side – Jer. 2:5; Ro. 1:21; Ps. 115:8 (could read 1-11); positive side – Rom. 12:1,2; Matt. 9:18,19, 23-33; Mk. 9:17-29; Jn. 14:9-14

August 21 The Power in Your Words — chap 14 Scriptures: James 3:3-18; Prov. 10:10-21; 12:13-22; Rom. 10:5-13

August 28 The Purpose of Trials — chap 23 Scriptures: 1 Peter 1:3-9; 4:12-19; Isa. 64:8; Phil. 1:29; 2:12,13; Rom. 8:18-39

Tags Planning, sermons

Forward Look Journal

Winds of Refreshing Series Modified

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date April 7, 2011

I have decided to change the message for April 10th. Here is the new chart.

Tags sermon series, Winds of Refreshing

Church Leadership Forward Look Journal Joy Notes

Celebrating a Unanimous Decision

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date April 6, 2011

Our Celebration Theme and Logo

What a joy it was to lead the special church conference this evening in the consideration of the 50^th Anniversary Project. I had felt that there was a positive feeling about the various parts of the project but one always wonders if everyone is speaking up. There was good attendance at our meeting. This was gratifying since I had postponed it due to weather one time. But sometimes good attendance means sharp division of opinion. In this case, however, it quickly became obvious that good attendance signaled a strong excitement and a unanimous enthusiasm for the project.

Tags carpet, Church 50th Anniversary, kitchen, lighting, paving project

Church Leadership Forward Look

A key idea behind the two service system

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date March 30, 2011

I’ve written a new essay explaining a fundamental change in thinking that is needed in smaller churches if they are to successsfully fulfill the great commission in the area of service to which God has assigned them. I am excited to share this insight. It is really a distillation of things I have learned over the years. I hope it is helpful.

Because it was a docx document containing smart art, diagrams and tables, I have saved it as a pdf and am experimenting with a new way of embedding it here.

http://learntobewise.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Viewpoint-for-Moving-Forward-Beyond-One-cell-Church.pdf

Tags 200 barrier, church growth, two services

Forward Look Journal

Lenten & Easter Message Series Depends on the Wind

Post author By pastorkelvin
Post date March 5, 2011

What comes to your mind when you think of wind? I think most of us have many associations as wind is a big part of our lives. One association for me centers around a childhood memory. My bedroom as a boy was on the West side of our house and the cold winter winds whistled in the window. Here in Kirkville, I often think of my neighbor’s cheery wind chimes blowing in the breeze. Sometimes I think of the warm southern breezes that bring warming temperatures and birds flying in from the south in the spring. Today wind is in the news often as a power generation source. March is the month most associated with wind.

Exploring the Bible’s use of wind images will be exciting.

This year at Community Wesleyan during March and April, we plan to explore the Biblical imagery of wind. Three of the most defining Biblical passages for understanding how the Bible uses the idea of wind to teach us are the creation story, the prophecy of Ezekiel over the dry bones and the event of Pentecost. Because of Pentecost we cannot help but associate wind and God’s Spirit. These three Bible passages will play a big part in this series.