Pastor Steve's thoughts

Sunday May 6th

Normally, I'm up at 6 and down to the church by 6:45. I spend some time praying and then I review the sermon. The slides have been prepared and emailed to me so I proof those. I spend 20 minutes praying for people. I try to picture people by where they sit in church.

Home by 12:45

Five teens invade my home and play baseball on my front yard. I love it. Even the amazing Lucas Weidenhaft shows up to hang out.

Our small group meets on Sunday nights. Tonight we meet at Bob Kintigh's home. Bob will give our group a tour of his garden and he loves every minute of it.

---I'm already thinking about Monday; appointment at 7 am with Tom Berglund and Eric Peterson and Tracy Sims to talk about missions---Then with Dan Morehouse about the building. I'll need to meet with Jason Schar on Monday to talk about Tuesday's elder meeting. I want to make the Monday list and start next weeks sermon.

Saturday May 5th

I have a counseling appointment with a couple at 9 am at the church. This is a pre-marital counseling situation. I arrive around 7:30 am to go over the sermon.

--my mind is occupied with all of my relatives in Greensburg Kansas. 95% of the town is destroyed. Through the internet, I'm watching a television station in Wichita. I can't believe the scene...I can't even recognize the town. I was just there in November to eat dinner with my some of my relatives. Everything is gone. We (my sister & brother) decided to give $1000 to my uncle to help him for the next few weeks. No phone service in Greensburg so I'm not sure what's happening with my relatives. I do know they survived.---

I wrap things up at church around 12:30 and head to a baseball game. Both my boys are playing in a double header for Sheldon...they lost both games.

Back to the church at 7 pm for the banquet. I decided to honor Bruce and Charlene at the banguet. On Friday, I had purchased a few things and wrapped a box for them.

All in all...on Saturday, I spent 8 hours at the church.

Friday May 4th

Friday the office is closed and I try to stay away. Mary works on Friday so I try to do stuff around the house and run errands. I jotted down a few notes about Sunday's sermon. I decided to explain how our church structure works.

On Friday night, Mary and I went to play pinnochle with Rodger and Lisa Terrall. Rodger and I won the match with great humility.

On another note: I received a phone call from my sister-in-law at 10 pm. This is unusual because they live in central time. She told me my aunt's home was destroyed by the tornado in Kansas. Most of my relatives live in Greensburg Kansas. In this town of 1500 people, I have 25 relatives. My uncle (age 79) had his home destroyed. My aunt (Age 82 had her home destoyed). Five of my cousins had their homes destoyed. Two other cousins had damage to their homes. As far as I know, not one of my relatives were injuried. My brother had been on business in the area and stopped by to see my uncle that evening. They rode out the storm in the basement of the house.

Thrusday May 3rd

Every Thursday I attend a men's group. Rodger Terrall leads the group and we meet from 7 to 8. We read a chapter from the book of Matthew and discuss it. I enjoy the group for several reasons. The guys are awesome to be around and we have some good discussions. I don't have to lead the group which I enjoy.

I've been sick this week which means I'm behind. Patty needs the sermon outline by noon. I had it done in time and did the small group questions in the afternoon. I met with Jon Green for nearly two hours. We reviewed his yearly goals, touched base about the worship service, and talked with Lori about teacher appreciation day.

If only I had the sermon done for Sunday. Most of it is done...so now comes the really hard part. I try to let it sink into me...I let things simmer. For the next few days, I'll content with scripture text and I'll contend with the best way to communicate it. At the bottom of my sheet it says "NOW WHAT" I need to answer this question because I believe the goal of a sermon is transformation not just information. In other words, will I challenge people to change a behavior? Or to change an attitude? or to think differently about an issue?

Here are some questions I ask myself in the sermon development process:
1. Will people believe this? (last week I said that God's purpose for our problems is not to deflate us but to inflate us. This concept is contrary to popular opinion so I wanted to show how it was true
2. Now What?
3. What does it look like?

So I'll be in prayer about this for several days...

Wednesday May 2nd

On Wednesday I feel the pressure to get a sermon completed. I need to have the outline done by noon on Thursday for the program & the small group questions finished on Thursday afternoon. I had the flu yesterday (which I didn't mention earlier) and I tried to work from home this morning. Therefore, I've lost about a day in my sermon preparation.

Communicating well on Sunday morning is a priority. So I'm staying late at the office. I've got a rough outline finished and I know the big idea of the message (Leaders connect people and they help people connect with God). I try to make sure one major idea permeates a message. The text is 1 Peter 5:1-5. I've read the passage over and over...in various translations. Usually, I print out several translations on paper. Then I take a pen and start making notes and comparisons. I pray before starting...I pray during...This sermon will be focused on the role of church leaders. The challenge will be to engage the folks who don't see themselves as leaders. They might tune me out in the first minute. "I'm not a leader and this sermon isn't for me." I have some ideas to make the message relevant to everyone.

Normally, I'll spend 10 to 20 hours a week on sermon preperation.

The good news this week is that I finished everything on my to do list from Monday.

Tuesday May 1st

Tuesday is my meeting day. Normally, I meet with Lori Keebler at 9:00 am then Tracy at 10 and Eric at 11 am. A staff meeting with everyone is held at 1:30 After this I try to grab some time with Jon Green.

Working with our church staff is a priority for me. So I expect to be in meetings all day on Tuesday. This Tuesday was a little different. I started at 6:30 am by listening to a seminar on CD then I had a meeting with Tracy at 8:30. For the past few weeks Eric and Lori have been meeting with me at the same time. We are discussing the transition of 5th graders into the youth ministry. This discussion has led to conversations about curriculum.

In the evening, we had a calendar planning meeting. About 30 people attended. I shared our vision for the future and the emphasis for the next year. We will meet again on May 15 to put events down on the calendar.

Monday April 30th

Mondays are an unusual day for pastors. I’m still tired from Sunday and you remember everything you did wrong from the day before. From talking with other pastors I’ve learned this is normal. Maybe this is the Monday morning blues.

Every Monday I make a list of things to do for the week. The first item is ‘make list’ and then I can cross it off right away. At least I did something this week. Answered emails and made a few phone calls. On Monday, I try to get some administrative work accomplished and put some study time in on 1 Peter.

On my mind is the passage I'm preaching from next Sunday: 1 Peter 5:1-4

I met with Ken Carson and talked about a variety of things from our church, a potential 3rd service, moving the institute to Sunday morning, and postmodern philosophy. Another meeting of the day lasted 3 hours. Our consultant reviewed our Growing Grace Campaign. We discussed the timing of our next campaign to increase the size of the auditorium. I left the meeting with some apprehension over the current project. Soon, our monthly mortgage paymenet will be going up as we borrow money to finish the project. However, I'm committed to the vision of building into the lives of people. The current construction is just a tool to be used. Our new facilities will be used to do ministry and this is important.