Pastor’s Blog

Ephesians 5:2 MSG “Keep company with [God] and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”

Living a life of love starts with keeping company with the author of love, God. He enables us to truly love. June marks the halfway point in 2010 and our word for the year – LOVE. We’ve tried to discover what love is and how to love. We’ve identified people God has called us to love. Now is the time to live it out.

Over the next six months, Katy Fellowship will be highlighting ministries that are “love givers” and identifying places and needs for us to love like Christ.

Our 2:45 fund is a ministry to help those in need experience the love of the body of Christ. Acts 2:45 says, “Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” KCF now has a team in place to minister love by way of financial assistance to those who have a need.

Sunday, June 6th, we will highlight a ministry that has been in place for several months. James and Amy Dean along with their daughter Janelle prepare and serve sandwiches each Saturday to the day laborers along Roberts Street.

Our Worship Pastor Chris Jones and Joanna will leave June 6th for Zimbabwe for nearly three weeks to show the love of Christ to people in Africa. Our student ministry will take two groups to Galveston in June to continue the rebuilding of homes destroyed by Hurricane Ike. A missions team led by elder Allan and Caran Peterson, along with Dallas and Denielle Golden, will be organizing a mission trip to Guadalajara, Mexico in October.

Each month more ministries will be highlighted and hopefully some will begin that allow KCF HELPERS to live a life of love. Jesus did not love cautiously. Neither can we. He loved extravagantly, not giving to get, but giving sacrificially. My prayer is that Katy Fellowship can love like that.

Praying for You,

Tim

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John 19:23-24 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” So this is what the soldiers did.

There were several key characters in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Pilate, his wife, Judas, Peter, John, Jesus’ mother, Mary Magdalene, Simon of Cyrene, the two thieves, and the soldiers. I would like to examine the perspective of the soldiers and the role they played.

For them, the crucifixion of Jesus was just another aspect of their jobs. Let’s observe three reasons the soldiers dismissed Jesus as just another criminal.

#1 – Familiarity – they had seen all this before. Death by crucifixion was common in the first century. These soldiers had probably performed so many crucifixions that it was methodical for them. It was no big deal. Just another day at work.

#2 – Prejudice – they were turned off by God’s people. The Romans and the Jews hated each other. The Romans looked down on Jews as inferior people. Either group couldn’t stand the other. The soldiers were so prejudiced against the people of God that they couldn’t see the Savior dying for their sins.

#3 – Distractions – they were focused on other things. The soldiers were preoccupied with who would win the garment that had been taken from Jesus. Perhaps all the uproar surrounding this so-called “King of the Jews” led to their thinking that Jesus’ robe may be worth something. Thus there at the foot of the cross they are focused on winning the piece of cloth.

Maybe like the soldiers you’ve dismissed Jesus. Maybe you’ve heard the Easter story so many times that familiarity has bred indifference. We’ve viewed and heard so much about the cross we are no longer moved by it. Or perhaps you’ve dismissed Jesus because you’ve developed a prejudice against those who claim to be His followers. Maybe the church has left such a bad taste in your mouth. The value of putting our attention on what is of first importance is that it focuses us on what really matters and keeps us from being distracted or preoccupied with what is not. Would you stop for a moment and look up at the cross? Even if you have heard the story a thousand times, even if you are turned off by Christians, even if you’ve go a lot going on in your life – would you turn your eyes upon Jesus and accept the gift of His love and forgiveness? What’s your perspective?

Praying for You,
Tim

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If you’re a sports fan, you know about March Madness. If you’re a Katy Fellowshipper,I want you to know about March Gladness. Some great things will be happening this month. A new opportunity for prayer will begin on Saturday, March 6th. From 9 a.m. until noon the Katy Prayer Room will be open to pray for the Katy/West Houston area. The focus in March will be praying for unsaved people to experience Jesus Christ in a real and powerful way in every life-giving church in Katy on Easter Sunday
(April 4th).

March 8-9 the pastors of Katy will meet for 24 hours of prayer, seeking God for our city. Eighty pastors and ministry leaders are expected. This year members from several churches have asked for the chance to come take a one, two, or three hour time slot to pray over this event. If you would like to be part of this prayer opportunity contact the church office.

Sunday, March 7th I will introduce a series called The Easter Experience. City On A Hill Productions (H2O series) produced this study of the Easter story from the perspective of those who were closely related to Christ in the last hours before his crucifixion. The following two Sundays, March 14th & 21st, we will watch and experience the pain and suffering that Jesus endured and rejoice in the victory and hope that came with his glorious resurrection.

Palm Sunday will be a very special service as the director and lead actor will be at Katy Fellowship to share his experience of portraying Jesus Christ in the series. Shane Sooter (see bio on page 3) is also the founder of City On A Hill and will be sharing his testimony of how he met Christ. A great opportunity to invite someone to church that day is to tell them that Jesus will be there in person!! Best of all, we have the opportunity to experience each day in March the love God has for His children and then express that love to each other and to those who have not yet accepted God’s free gift. Should make for a great reason to be glad!

Praying for You,
Tim

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Galatians 5:6 “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

The year 2009 took us through a study on the word FAITH. Now, in 2010 we will have a chance to express our faith through LOVE, our word for this year. The question for us might be this, “Do we live as though faith, demonstrated through love, really is the only thing that counts?” I must admit, much of my life I didn’t. The LORD, in His great patience with me, gently reminded me through this passage that loving God and loving others should be what my faith is about. God assesses our lives based on how we love.

We began the our study by asking how God defines love. . .

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Those words have grown tired and overly familiar, haven’t they?

Let me challenge you with a little exercise with the above verses. Take the phrase Love is patient and substitute your name for the word love. (Example: “Tim is patient . . .”)

Do it for every phrase in the passage.

By the end, I felt like a liar. How about you? If I am meant to represent what love is, then I often fail to love people well.

Following Christ isn’t something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are.

If we are to love our God with all our heart and love others, we are to surrender ourselves totally to God’s purposes. I would like you to join me in the pursuit of making the only thing that really counts is expressing our faith through love. The journey will not be easy or comfortable. The cost could be extreme but isn’t that what Jesus showed us?

1 John 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

God will bring you the most pleasure in this life and the next as we love the only way that counts.

With a pastor’s LOVE,

Tim

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1 Thessalonians 3

5 When I could stand it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out about your faith.
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love.
7 Therefore, brothers, we were encouraged about you because of your faith.
…
10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

When the apostle Paul sent this letter with Timothy to the young church in Thessalonica, his first questions were not if the church had grown, if the offerings were up, if they had started building, he didn’t even ask if they were behaving in a proper way. His first concern; how was their faith? Paul was anxious to find out how the spiritual health of the people was. He was so encouraged to hear their faith was growing, and assured them that he would continue to pray where their faith was lacking.

We have spent all of 2009 desiring to deepen our faith. Praying, practicing, and persevering in faith has made for a special year. Personally, I have made strides but I have also experienced stumbles. Yet God has been so faithful to encourage me to keep going and was quick to steady me when I stumbled. Katy Fellowship has learned many faith lessons throughout this year.  Faith is more than spoken words, more than our works; faith is walking daily with Jesus. When we can’t always see where the path is leading, or the hills and valleys that await, faith is believing that God is who He says He is and will do all that He has promised.

I confess to you that I believed that 2009 would be the year Katy Fellowship would finally move forward with property and begin the building process. Am I disappointed that it didn’t happen? Yes, but certainly not discouraged. I know that our prayers and perseverance are tied to His promise, and I ask you to join me in 2010 to see that promise come to pass. Our word for 2009 (FAITH) could have very well provided the preparation necessary to be realized in the tenth year of our existence. The leadership of our church is seeking God and by faith, working towards something definite to happen soon. Would you join us in pursuit of God’s plan for KCF? What a great way to celebrate our tenth year by experiencing the faithfulness of God through His provision of property! How’s your faith?

Our 2010 word for the year will be revealed on Sunday, January 10th. I have faith that this word will propel us forward and keep us focused on what matters most to God. Come find out what that is!

Praying for You,

Tim

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Let me begin with a question. How many people does it take to make  Sunday worship services at Katy Fellowship happen? (No, it’s not a “How many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?” joke.) Think about the children and student ministries teachers and helpers, the volunteers who set up equipment, tables, and chairs, along with information tables and the coffee and donut table. Then there are the worship team and crews that set up and operate the lights, sound, and video, then after two services, tear it down and put it away. The greeters and ushers have important parts to play as well. All together, each Sunday we need at least fifty-one people to make our services happen with excellence. We have over 130 adults and young people who serve at Katy Fellowship in at least one area.  I thank the Lord for all of them because they are the pieces that fit together to make a beautiful picture of worship and celebration happen.

To have excellent ministry fifty-two Sundays a year we need at least fifty-one people each week. But during the Christmas holiday weekend, we have a difficult time filling the places needed to make our services happen. Christmas time with family is very important and that is one reason why we are going to dismiss our Sunday service on December 27th. We do that so people can make plans to spend that Sunday morning with their family. The second reason is that we want our volunteers to take a well deserved rest. Spending that morning worshiping at home with their family is a great way to conclude the Christmas holidays and close out 2009. (The staff will make available a devotional to use that morning with your family. )

The third reason is to take the last Sunday of the year to prepare us for 2010 and our tenth year as a church energized, excited, and anticipating a new word and new opportunities. The staff, elders, and trustees made this decision together—to give our volunteers a rest (dismissing 12/27/09) and challenging us all to give our best (beginning 1/3/10). Merry Christmas!

Praying for You,
Tim

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One of the songs I remember singing in church growing up was “Count Your Blessings.”  The words of the chorus reminded me to count my blessings and name them one by one. I must confess to you that occasionally after singing that song I would use the rest of the service to list out as many of the “blessings” I could count and not listen to much of what was being preached. (Please forgive me dad J)!  November encourages us to give thanks. I would like to take a few moments to count my blessings and thank some very important people in my Katy Fellowship family!

• First to my wife who serves beside me with incredible love and patience. She has loved and raised our children as well as loved and taught our KCF kids faithfully.
• Tara and Trey are precious gifts to Polly and me. They have both worked in the ministry by serving, not because they had to, but because they wanted to.
• The KCF staff of Marcus, Chris, Priscilla, Marla, Stacey, Gayle and Tammy.   All gifted with a heart to love, encourage and serve.
• Our leadership team made up of the elders and trustees with their wives, and some key servants who seek God’s wisdom to lead Katy Fellowship to be the church God’s called us to be.
• The Student Ministry, Promiseland and nursery teams who wear the iTeach, iServe, and iRock shirts with conviction and purpose. Each of you have already and will continue to impact this young generation in great ways!
• Our adult and student worship teams who give of their time and talents to lead us to God’s throne in praise and worship.
• Our wonderful volunteers who work so faithfully and tirelessly to set up, tear down, greet, make events happen, mail, copy, compute and maintain our website, etc. etc. etc. You all make a difference!
• The LIFE group leaders, facilitators, hosts and hostesses. Each are so appreciated and necessary.
• Our Incense intercessors who continually keep KCF bathed in prayer.
• The community of HELPERS who make up Katy Fellowship. You listen, encourage, love, pray, equip, reach, serve as well as attend and financially support your church. You are loved!
• And finally, but most importantly to our GOD from whom all blessings come. As the song goes, count your many blessings see what God has done! You have done so much. Thank You!

Praying for You,

Tim

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Genesis 1:2 – “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”

Numbers 20:8 – “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water.”

Genesis 7:7 – “And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.”

Psalm 22:14 – “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.”

Psalm 23:2 – “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters”

Isaiah 55:1 – “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;”

Jeremiah 2:13 – “You, my people, have sinned in two ways– you have rejected me, the source of life-giving water, and you’ve tried to collect water in cracked and leaking pits dug in the ground.”

Ezekiel 36:25 – “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.”

Zechariah 14:8 – “What a Day that will be! Fresh flowing waters out of Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea, half to the western sea, flowing year-round, summer and winter!”

Matthew 3:11 – “I baptize you with water for repentance.”

Matthew 10:42 – “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Matt 14:28 – “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

John 4:10 – “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’”

John 7:38 – “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

Ephesians 5:26 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word”

Revelation 21:6 – “He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.’”

Water was in the beginning, a quenching drink, a life giving component, a tool of judgment, a cleansing agent that came out of a rock, was a place of quiet peace, a source of refreshing beauty, a baptismal water, a New Testament thirst quenching drink, joy flowing out of the heart, and a source of eternal life.  I love water.

Praying for You,

Tim Barker

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Matthew 7:28-29 the Message When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.

Speaking to the heart was the method Jesus used so effectively to communicate to the masses. How did he do it? Simple. He told them stories that related to their life. To his soon-to-be disciples, he called these fishermen to be “fishers of men.” To the people throughout the countryside who farmed for a living Jesus taught using stories of planting seed in good soil. When referring to himself as being the true shepherd and the only gate, Jesus was undoubtedly teaching to families that raised sheep. The Master Communicator knew how to capture and hold the people’s attention. He spoke to their heart and not just to their mind and intellect as the religious teachers of their time did.

What does that mean for us today? Statistics tell us that there are over 100 million un-churched people in the United States. Of those who are between the ages of 18 to 29, the top three answers given to the question of how they would describe church, was judgmental, out of touch, and the number one answer, boring.

Over the next 10 weeks Katy Fellowship will go on a mission trip. Not to a third world country ridden with poverty and disease. Not to countries where sharing the gospel could land someone in jail or cost them their life. But our mission field is to part of that 100 million that reside right here in the borders of our own community. Our approach? Two services each Sunday morning designed to communicate stories that will be relevant, non-judgmental and certainly not boring. The method, though different than we may be used to, is the method that those people are more likely to respond to. One that can change their lives.

People came to hear Jesus not because of advertising and marketing strategies, but at the invitation of someone they knew who had experienced the good news spoken to their hearts. Sunday, September 13th the story will begin to unfold. Make it your mission to bring an un-churched friend, neighbor, co-worker, or family member. They may come to the same conclusion as the people described in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, bursting into applause.

Praying for you,

Tim

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1 Corinthians 15:12 (NLV) We preached to you that Christ has been raised from the dead. But some of you say that people are not raised from the dead. Why do you say this? 13 If the dead are not raised, then Christ was not raised from the dead. 14 If Christ was not raised from the dead, then what we preach to you is worth nothing. Your faith in Christ is worth nothing. 15 That makes us all liars because we said that God raised Christ from the dead. But God did not raise Christ from the dead if the dead do not come to life again. 16 If the dead are not raised, then not even Christ was raised from the dead. 17 If Christ was not raised from the dead, your faith is worth nothing and you are still living in your sins. 18 Then the Christians who have already died are lost in sin. 19 If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are more sad than anyone else. 20 But it is true! Christ has been raised from the dead! He was the first One to be raised from the dead and all those who are in graves will follow. 21 Death came because of a man, Adam. Being raised from the dead also came because of a Man, Christ. 22 All men will die as Adam died. But all those who belong to Christ will be raised to new life.

This year’s word for us is FAITH. This month we will celebrate Easter. In this article, let’s look at how the message of Easter has an impact on our faith and why and how our faith impacts our life. Using the above passage from 1 Corinthians, we will see at least three ways Easter has a positive impact.

1) Easter faith allows us to live confidently. 17 If Christ was not raised from the dead, your faith is worth nothing and you are still living in your sins. 19 If we have hope in Christ in this life only, we are more sad than anyone else. 20 But it is true! Christ has been raised from the dead! He was the first One to be raised from the dead and all those who are in graves will follow. Having confidence in the promise that Jesus is alive today and has defeated sin and death will keep us on the right path.

2) Easter faith reminds us to live gratefully. 21 Death came because of a man, Adam. Being raised from the dead also came because of a Man, Christ. Our roots all trace back to Adam and Eve. Because of their sin, we were born with a sin nature with the consequence of death. Our sin nailed Jesus to the cross. Each of us deserve the penalty of death. But God loved us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us. And because of that love we should live each day with a grateful spirit.

3) Easter faith enables us to live hopefully. 22 All men will die as Adam died. But all those who belong to Christ will be raised to new life. My mother’s family just buried my grandma. Our hope is that we will see her and all our loved ones again. Death for believers is not the end. Doctors say that when a patient maintains hope, they often can continue to live. But when they lose hope they soon die. We must always keep our hope in heaven.

The question we should ask is, “Do I have Easter faith?” If so, we can live each day confident, grateful, and hopeful.

Praying in FAITH for You,
Tim

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