Posted by admin on October 31st, 2011 in church
Jeremiah wrote, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His companions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamen. 3:22-23). I saw God’s great faithfulness in evidence at SCF on Sunday!
I appreciated Mike extending the praise time because “we weren’t there yet.” As he led us in waiting on the Lord, God faithfully brought us into His presence. There we could worship Him and allow the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts for His Word.
I was blessed to see the expressions on many faces as I taught the message on sharing Christ. God was faithfully teaching us that we need to step out of our comfort zones! Sharing Christ is a privilege, and there is no joy like seeing another person’s spiritual lights come on! We are called to plant the seeds; God will take it from there. He is faithful and will bring the seeds to fruition in His season and in His time.
Our “Wild West Fall Fest” was a success beyond our expectations! There were many people from our neighborhood and community in attendance and that was such an encouragement to my heart. In fact, as I sat down for the fellowship meal, there were probably more people I didn’t know than I did know! I met as many as I could, but I know there many I didn’t get to meet. But God is faithful. Seeds of SCF as “a place of connection” were planted and we can trust Him to bring those seeds along.
As we move toward the end of the “Radical” series, the staff is already strategizing on how we can write what we are learning into our DNA as a church family. We refuse to let this just be another “series” that we can shelve and go back to “business as usual.” That simply won’t cut it any more! Please pray for us as we seek God’s heart as we move forward.
Let me end as I began: I stand in awe of our faithful God. He is worthy of our praise, our time, and all that we can devote to His kingdom! It is a privilege to serve alongside you - to the praise of His glorious grace!
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on October 24th, 2011 in Uncategorized
It was a good weekend at SCF. This one did not involve food, but it was still a good weekend! My heart was encouraged on several fronts.
It was a joy to be part of the “N-72 Crew” working on the playground equipment Saturday! The larger of the two units is nearing completion and it won’t take much longer for the smaller unit to be done, either. Many men have stepped up to get this project finished and it will be a blessing to the kids for years to come. My heart is encouraged to not only see many men come together on a common project, but to hear some of the conversations and see relationships being formed.
I thought the Praise Team did well on Sunday morning in leading us before the throne of God. There was good energy from the Team and it was matched by energy from the congregation! That is always encouraging. To see people connecting with the heart of God brings a joy to my heart that almost defies words!
Kiran did a great job in sharing not only some of the work of the Grace Orphan House, but also his heart, as well. He has an obvious passion for this work, and for the lives that are being touched because of the work. And now we have the chance to celebrate that partnership over the next month. I challenged the SCF family (myself included) to watch the discretionary spending for a month, scale it back and bring the savings in as an offering to the Lord for the orphans on November 20th. I look forward to seeing what we can provide, not even out of sacrifice, but out of reducing our personal indulgence. That will be the first step to greater management of the resources God has entrusted to us and that blesses my heart no end!
I was blessed at our Community Group on Sunday night to see one of our Elders already taking up the challenge. Robin had a big glass jar on the shelf that will store his discretionary savings for the next month. It was such a good idea, I am going to do the same thing! Why don’t you join in the challenge and we’ll have a stage full of jars on Nov. 20th! What a blessing that will be!
God is pouring out His love and blessing on SCF. Let’s continue to seek His heart as we grow together, to the praise of His glorious grace!
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on October 18th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Sitting in the pews for an entire Sunday service is a rare occurrence in my life! But it sure gives me a different perspective. I enjoyed it. Not saying I want to make it a regular habit but it was refreshing.
To join with the SCF family to declare “You Are My Strength” was a blessing to me. Even when our strength fails, which it will regularly do, God’s strength is a constant. It is in the fullness of His grace, in the power of His name, that we are lifted up. Paul says we are raised to be seated with Him in the heavenlies (cf. Eph. 2). What a privilege to rest in His strength and to find a power beyond my wildest imaginations.
Pastor Mike did a good jog in teaching about “Radical Discipleship.” As he was teaching, I thought about what it would mean for SCF if we started asking each other, “Who is your Paul, your Barnabas, your Timothy?” We would be committed to the discipleship Jesus stressed in the Great Commission, if we could have an answer to the simple question, “who’s next?” It doesn’t matter where you are on the spiritual continuum of maturity, there will always be someone “behind” you, with whom you can start a relationship for the purpose of discipleship. My vision is to create an atmosphere where “who’s next?” is regularly asked and readily answered!
I encourage you to also regularly check the SCF facebook group page. I am going to try to have a couple of answers a week posted to the questions that have been texted in to our anonymous line. The number will continue to appear in the Connection and on the teaching slides. If a question comes up during the message or during the week, text it in and we’ll try to get it answered.
God is doing great things in SCF through this Radical series. This will not just be “a fall focus” and then we move on. This needs to become part of our DNA as we seek to make disciples in NWA and around the world. I want us to be known as a radical church - to the praise of His glorious grace!
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on October 11th, 2011 in Uncategorized
I still smile when I think about Sunday at SCF! I will have to admit - it was one of the better days I have experienced in a while.
First, I was blessed by the worship service. I thought the Praise Team did a great job in taking us to the throne of God so we could worship Him and bask in His glory. But I will have to admit to a little bit of “fear & trembling” as Mike and I started the message. We had received a few questions via text message during the week, but I didn’t know what to anticipate throughout the message. As Mike and I responded to the questions, more questions started to come in. There was a total of 26 questions received during the service! We are now looking at how best to respond to them.
We talked in our staff time and in our elders meeting last night about continuing to use the text number and encouraging people to text in their questions during the messages. I am convinced that the church has, by and large, not handled questions well. But we should never be afraid of honest and legitimate questions! They can be a tool God uses to cause us to grow.
The Fellowship Team did a great job serving “the family meal.” It was a joy to see so many stay for lunch and for the dessert auction. And what fun that was! I really wanted Nan’s “mocha cappuccino chocolate cake,” but Sharon Hendricks was not to be outdone. In the end, she secured the cake but the real winner is our team going to Macedonia next summer. Almost $900 was raised through the auction, and there have been other donations, as well! Praise the Lord!
I left the SCF campus on Sunday full of joy. And as Nehemiah says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehe. 8:10). I pray you find His joy so you can experience His strength.
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on September 12th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Sunday was a good day for SCF! We got our new teaching series based on the book Radical by Dr. David Platt started . I will be taking some of his most challenging ideas and running them through the Scriptures and through our life setting here at SpringCreek. I am excited about what God has in store for us!
We had several first-time visitors yesterday that stayed after the service to meet with me in the Rose Room. Interestingly, two of the families had read Radical already! We were able to have a great conversation as a follow-up to the message. I just smiled and thought about how good our God really is!
At our small group last night, we had a “lively” exchange about what we are processing in reading through the book. It is not easy to take an honest look at how much of our understanding is more cultural than it is Biblical! But that is when true growth happens. God has to prune some things away so that He can make us even more fruitful for His glory. Remember - we follow Him not because it is worth it but because He is worthy!
I am looking forward to getting some things around the SCF campus “spruced up” this weekend. The men will be assembling the new playground equipment and the women will be restocking the kitchen after the remodel is completed. Both should allow to serve our community more effectively.
God’s goodness is on display here at SCF! We need to keep our eyes on Him and allow Him to grow us during this teaching series. In the end, it is all about Him and His heart for His church - as we live to the praise of His glorious grace.
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on August 23rd, 2011 in Uncategorized
It was good be be back and worship with my SCF family! While we enjoyed our time away with family and our chance to worship in another context, it was a blessing to be back and connect with God will all of you!
God fastened a question in my heart several weeks ago, and I couldn’t get a way from it. The question is simple and yet has profound implications: “What will your legacy be?” I have been challenged to ensure that the way I live matches what I say I believe. I want to know that if those around me grasped and lived my actual priorities and not just my stated ones, that would God be pleased. “What will your legacy be?” That has become the central question of this next teaching series.
I was blessed by the ministry of the praise team as they led us before the throne of God. I was blessed by your responsiveness to the Word of God. I was blessed to see people kneeling at the altar for prayer and ministry. I was blessed to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with those God has woven into the fabric of my life. I came away thinking that God has us “on the edge” of what He has been wanting to do in and through us for some time! I am excited for what God has in store for us.
The next teaching series will start on 9/11. While the mention of that date brings back memories of terror attacks, we are going to use that date to launch a new wave of faithfulness. This series will be based on the book Radical by Dr. David Platt. I encourage you to get a copy of the book and read it along with me. We are also encouraging our small groups to use that for their study time through the end of October. This will enhance the impact of the principles we will be studying on Sunday morning.
God is good and He is moving through SCF. Together we can create a legacy of faithfulness that will touch lives long after us - to the praise of His glorious grace!
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on August 1st, 2011 in Uncategorized
God is good! And sometimes, changing things around is good, too! And such was the case this past Sunday at SCF.
Pastor Mike was to start the new series, “UNDER the ARMOR of God.” And I thought he did a great job! It was clear he had been refreshed by the time in Colorado with the youth at Summit Ministries. But since he was serving as the primary teacher for the morning, I “switched” and played back up with praise team. Hadn’t done that for a while! I thought I had built my callouses back up so my fingertips wouldn’t hurt - wrong! They are still pretty tender, but it was worth it.
I was particularly blessed by the hymn “Before the Throne of God Above.” The words, the theology of that song is pretty amazing. If you are not familiar with it, you can listen to it on the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xUK2Dx5RkY. One of our young adults commented to me this morning how that song had blessed his heart. It is a good summation of our standing in Christ.
Our small group last night had a follow up discussion of the topic of spiritual warfare. The Apostle Paul says in II Corinthians 2:11 that we are not unaware of the devil’s schemes. But we admitted to each other that we pretty much are unaware! While we don’t want to ascribe more power to him than we should, we also don’t want to ignore him and be caught unaware. And that is what makes this current series so vital! We have to be dressed in the armor of God!
I am excited about what God is doing at SCF. I am looking forward to getting everything back in full swing - new fall series based on the book Radical, new small groups being formed, new ministry teams being added, new interns on staff. I will say it again - God is good! Let’s continue to follow and serve Him together - to the praise of His glorious grace!
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on July 25th, 2011 in Uncategorized
When I finally left the church campus Sunday afternoon, this Scripture text was running through my mind: “Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you” (Psalm 116:7). I felt like I was being washed in the goodness of our God. What a great feeling!
Gracie and the Praise Team did a good job adapting to some last minute changes and then leading us to the throne of God. I was particularly blessed by the songs “Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)” and “I Lift My Hands.” The Lord used both to minister to my heart. I found myself just wanting to be still in His presence, to rest my soul in His goodness, as the Psalmist instructs.
I have been challenged by the text I have taught from the last two weeks, “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). I have had to answer the same question I raised for everyone else - am I happy with who I am becoming? Does that person reflect the glory of God in an increasing way? I felt God moving during the teaching time, calling us to leave the mediocrity of nominal Christianity behind and to press in to Him. I am not sure where He wants to take us right now, but I am excited about the journey! I judge He is preparing SCF for some pretty great things, that will be expressions of His goodness.
It was nice to share lunch yesterday with several of our recent visitors. It was encouraging to hear them say how God has used SCF to bless and minister to them. To know that God trusts us with these precious new souls is a real blessing. That, in and of itself, is an expression of His goodness!
For right now, my soul is at rest in His goodness. While my level of “resting” can and does change, His goodness is a constant. And that calls me to continue to pursue Him, and to invite others to do the same, as we live and serve together - to the praise of His glorious grace!
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on July 18th, 2011 in Uncategorized
Another good morning at SCF! I appreciate Gracie leading worship in Mike’s absence, and LeeAnne stepping in as Rhonda was home sick. It is great to have that kind of flexibility, and a team of people willing to be used of the Lord. I was particularly touched as we sang “Be Thou My Vision.” The climax of the song declares that He is indeed the ruler of All, and no human decision can ever affect that!
There was several comments about the message yesterday, especially about adding the dimension of being “still before the Lord” to your quiet time. We even picked up that theme in our small group last night! And here is our conclusion - for the most part, we are not good with “quiet!” No startling revelation there, but just a recognition that everything in our culture teaches us to fill the air with noise. Being still and quietly waiting on the Lord is so antithetical to our “normal” that it is incredibly difficult. Here was our other conclusion: God is more willing to speak than we are willing to be still and listen. Sounds like a teaching for another day . . .
I am encouraged about what God is doing at SCF! I see it His joy in the faces of many, and in the faces of the many visitors He has brought our way throughout the summer. If you are new to SCF, plan on staying for our “Meet the Pastors” luncheon on Sunday, July 24th - it is “on us!”
Join me as we celebrate the One who is “my refuge, my portion in the land of the living” (Psalm 142:5b). I want to make Him know to the ends of the earth - to the praise of His glorious grace!
Pastor Rick
Posted by admin on July 11th, 2011 in Uncategorized
What a great day in the Lord! I was blessed by the worship time as we together declared the glory and the greatness of our God. Each song seemed to bring me closer to the heart of God. To sense His presence and to see saints lost in worship is a joy and an encouragement to my heart!
I was also blessed as Ryan Blackstone shared his heart and the Lord’s word with us. God has moved on that young man’s life! His challenge reminded me of I Peter 1:16: “Be holy, because I am holy.” We have allowed a false dichotomy to define what is “sacred” and what is “secular.” For the child of God, it is all sacred, in that all we do is an expression of the holiness of God in us! We live as missional people when we are gripped by truth that we are Kingdom agents in each of our spheres of influence. If you weren’t here to be blessed by Ryan’s message, I encourage you to listen to it online. It will be posted on our website for the next several weeks.
I came away from the Rose Room on Sunday, after chatting with some of our visitors, with the feeling that God has something great in store for SCF! I can’t help but believe that we are on the edge of a powerful movement of God! I am excited about the direction the Lord is charting for us. We have to continue to walk faithfully into His calling for us - to the praise of His glorious grace.
Pastor Rick