e-news for week of 10/14/07 - 10/10/07

“I’m never disappointed in a movement of God.”

Sometimes I don’t think people know how to take me or what my expectations are. This past Sunday, we had people being prayed for – people making decisions, both where they stood and down front. I had one person communicate that this was the most life changing series of sermons she had ever encountered. Here’s the deal: God works on all of us in different ways. Sometimes I think that many people want to have cookie cutter experiences and everyone respond to God in the exact same way but the reality is – that’s not how God works on us. Look at the book of Acts and you will see all kinds of experiences of people encountering God through preaching and the scriptures, and life change occurs. Bill (that would be Fussner) and I talked Sunday afternoon about what had happened Sunday morning. Bill used one of his famous Billisms, “I’m wrecked.”(meaning that we prayed for so many people face to face and some of those encounters were very personal and emotional.) We then conversed about what God did that morning – we refreshed prayer for a lot of people – we thanked the Lord for allowing us to be a part of what He’s doing at Forum. Gang, let me make myself plain and clear: my expectations are for God to work among us, to change our lives, and for His purpose to become our purpose. If God calls one person, one hundred people, one thousand people, or one hundred thousand, God’s plan for us is accomplished.

I want to take a moment and highlight our staff. October is “pastor appreciation month” (for the record – as though anyone is keeping it – I think it’s a month where holiday sales lag so card companies and stores invented it for greater revenue – but hey – no one ever accused me of being too sentimental. I mean when is there a “doctor appreciation month, lawyer appreciation month, dentist appreciation month, professor appreciation month, taxicab driver appreciation month, custodial workers appreciation month, etc.” – I mean, hey, we must be really special. Just curious – is there an elder appreciation month – talk about at times thankless service, deacon appreciation month, those who work in the preschool areas, the children areas, the youth sponsors, etc.? Okay – you’re right – I’m on a rant – but it’s a rant wrapped in truth) Bottom line reality – we’ve got a great staff that God has blessed us with. I want to thank Bill, Jared, Jessie, Jody, Justin, Lance Tamerius (campus minister at Campus House), Steve Hagemeyer (another campus houser) and Ted for the teaching and leading they do. I want to thank from the whole ministry staff all the incredible work that Carolyn, Helen, Marlowe (he’s our “DO” guy – director of operations – bottom line – he “DOes.”), Melanie, and Melinda do in making the operations and a lot of the mechanics of ministry happen. I also want to welcome Pam Tamerius on as our interim children’s director. I’ll share more about Pam and what all is occurring in this realm over the next couple of weeks.

Along those lines, you have a great opportunity to serve the children here at church by helping out with the annual Fall Festival. It will be Wednesday, October 31st here in the Family Life Center from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. There will be bounce houses, games, food and (of course) plenty of candy. If you could help, please give Jessie Spellman or Pam Tamerius a call. They need lots of help to make this a fun night for the children.

As ever – we are going through some “new and improved” elements within our ministry. We strive to do it better, cheaper, faster when it comes to connecting people to Jesus. Here’s some quick highlights:
· This weekly update is now on blogspot. They’ll be archived to reference previous ones. It gives it a much quicker load as well as a cleaner look.
· We’re adding lessons to the blogspot for life groups or individuals to use either prior to or post sermon to keep the conversation connected to where God has Forum flowing.
· In the area of evangelism – we’ve started dropping umbrellas at the homes of many of our first time visitors that we are now getting names on via the new sheets.
· As you’ve noticed and appreciated – we are using more worship leaders and have taken an eclectic approach to worship. This is intentional and it is purposeful. The word “eclectic” traces common roots from the Greek word “ecclesia” which simply means “the called out ones” or more commonly “the church.” We are truly the eclectic ones. For me – as I stated in the very first sermon I preached here – God’s vision is to have a church on earth that resembles heaven –every tribe, every tongue, every nation. Columbia contains the world. Forum can and should resemble God’s planet – do you know that weekly we have a multinational assembly? We are the eclectic ones – God’s mosaic. Bottom line – this will play into our long-term vision to connect Columbia, MO to Jesus.

This week please remember our Taiwan mission trip team. Max Sell, Bill and Carol Paten, Diana Guidry, and Rachel Paneck are finding out first hand about two of the missions that we support on a monthly basis. Pray for a great trip and be ready for many wonderful stories of God at work in Taiwan.

This week we start a new series called “Heroes.” Let me see how you do with this one. Fill in the blank – “Save the cheerleader, save the ___________.” (Yeah, I didn’t know it either – it’s not like I actually watch TV) Heroes (so I’m told) is a relatively new television show where people are discovering they are heroes with powers that will help to save the world. Christ followers, this should not come as new revelation for you. We are to be about God’s business – saving the people of this planet. We’ll camp out in Hebrews 11 for the next several weeks and explore the great heroes of faith. First chair believers we can imitate. I can’t wait to have this conversation. See you Sunday.