Pastor’s Blog

We are now well into our journey to be not just fans of Jesus but completely, committed followers. I hope the “not a fan.” series is having a profound affect on our church family. Denying self is at the core of what it takes to be a follower. The following is part of an article I would like to share with you from well-known author John MacArthur.

Great scientists often risk their health to make important discoveries. Great medical researchers risk exposure to deadly disease to save thousands of lives. Great artists and musicians sacrifice their social life to practice and perfect their craft. Great athletes constantly train their bodies, denying themselves pleasures most people take for granted. The easy way is never the way of success.
That was true of John the Baptist. Jesus questioned a crowd who had followed John, “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in king’s palaces!” (Matt. 11:8) His question reveals an important characteristic of John’s: his self-denial.
John’s life could never be described as easy. He wore “a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.” (Matt. 3:4) He was God’s messenger, but he didn’t live, dress, or talk like the other religious leaders of the day. John’s garment was practical and durable, certainly not comfortable or fashionable.
John’s very dress, food, and lifestyle were a stern rebuke to the self-satisfied and self-indulgent religious leaders of Israel—the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests. Both physically and symbolically, he separated himself from the hypocritical and corrupt religious and political systems. He was so consumed by God’s calling he was not attracted to the world’s enticements. His devotion to ministry completely superseded any personal interests and comforts.
John’s self-denial was also a rebuke to those people who longed for their leaders’ comforts although they couldn’t indulge in their leaders’ privileges. . . But his lifestyle was a dramatic reminder that worldly lusts and pleasures prevent people from following God’s will completely and humbly.
John’s life-long, voluntary self-denial was the ultimate act of devotion to God and is a great example for us to follow.

Have you risked anything to fully follow Jesus? The easy way is not the road we’ve been called to travel. But the destination is out of this world!

Praying for You,

Tim

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I know. I know. You’ve been asked this question before. Because it’s so familiar, there is a tendency to dismiss it. Not because it makes you uncomfortable. Not because it’s especially convicting. The question is dismissed mostly because it doesn’t feel necessary.
One of the most sobering passages of Scripture tells of a day when many who consider themselves to be followers of Jesus will be stunned to find out that He doesn’t even recognize them. In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 7, Jesus tells of a day where everyone who has ever lived will stand before God. On that day, many who call themselves Christians and identify themselves as followers will stand confidently in front of Jesus only to hear Him say, ” I never knew you. Away from me.” If you’ve just assumed you are a follower of Jesus, I pray that the video series produced by City On A Hill will either confirm that confidence, or it will convict you to reevaluate your relationship with Jesus and bring you to a commitment to follow Him.
(Introduction letter to readers from Kyle Idleman of not a fan. video series.)

Katy Fellowshippers, our word for the year is FOLLOWER. Completely, committed FOLLOWERS. I hope you will commit to attend these six weeks of not a fan. beginning February 13, 2011. Our format will include prayer, a short welcome, some worship time, and an intro to the video before we watch it. We will end each service with a prayer of commitment.

For the next eight Wednesday nights, we will focus our Incense prayer service on praying for revival in our church. Revival comes to a church when its Christians experience again what it is truly like to commit to be followers of Jesus. Above knowing your role as a follower is knowing intimately the one you are following. Our priority should always be for revival and spiritual awakening. We can still be excited about building a facility and will trust God on that journey, but let us continually keep asking ourselves, “Are we truly followers of Jesus?”

Praying for You,

Tim

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“The parents and child stand at the side of the car as he prepares to go off to college. There’s no time to teach new truths. There ‘s no time to instill values or lay foundations. There is only one word that can be said–Remember. Remember who loves you. Remember what matters. Remember what is right and what is wrong.”*

Remember.

In Deuteronomy, God tells his children to remember. Israel is about to make a transition. For forty years, they have wandered. Now they are about to settle down in a new land. It’s a time of transition. From Moses to Joshua. From the wilderness to the Promised Land. From nomads to farmers. From people with no land to people of the land.

God wanted them to stay faithful, stay distinctive. So Moses spends forty days reminding them of God’s law. This would be the second hearing of the law. [Deuteronomy is Hebrew for "second hearing of the law."] God didn’t want them to forget.

Hopefully you, Katy Fellowshippers, have a rock somewhere in or around your home to help you remember what God has done for us. I want to share an excerpt from the January newsletter article I wrote one year ago. We had been praying and waiting for years for property to build on. Below is what I wrote:

“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?”

What an AWESOME GOD we serve! November 21, 2010, we set up stones to remember God’s power, provision, and plan. Let’s be careful to remember what God has done and what He has taught us this year. Remember to be at AMC Theatre #10 on January 9th for the 2011 Word for the Year. I would LOVE for you to be there to see where God is leading us.

Praying for You,
Tim

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“Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

Christmas is a time for love and giving. God set the example by loving us so much that He gave His only Son, who came in the form of a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. Jesus loved us, and he gave himself for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. We enjoy the love of family as they gather for the holidays to give and receive gifts. Christmas brings out the joy and love for giving.

Katy Fellowship’s word for 2010 was LOVE. We began the year with the challenge to live a life of love and to do that as Christ did as a beautiful offering to God. He gave, in the deepest way possible, sacrificially. Throughout the Bible, we are instructed in the art of giving in love. Jesus used the example of the widow’s sacrificial gift (Luke 21:2). Paul commended the church in Macedonia for an overflowing joy to give generously even though they had very little (2 Corinthians 8:2-3). We have just celebrated the miraculous gift of 7.4 acres on which to build our own house of worship. This act of love was done out of obedience, yet with great sacrifice. Could the Katy Fellowship family now close out 2010 with an act of love by each family giving a sacrificial gift to move us toward the building of our church home?

December 19th is our KCF Family Christmas service. We will provide a special love gift envelope to each family that morning. We will receive those envelopes that day and through December 31st as a year-end “gift of love” for our building fund. Please make this gift a matter of thought and prayer. Plans for the building will begin in 2011, along with the plan to raise the finances necessary as the Lord provides. The apostle John defined living a life of love this way, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us,” and, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16, 18). May God bless you with a very Merry Christmas!

Praying for You,
Tim

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Most of us have been asked on occasion to take some time to pause and reflect on just how much we have been blessed. If not, then allow me to encourage all who read this to join me in taking some time to “praise and reflect” on the goodness and greatness of our God. November is the month that we celebrate this act of thanksgiving and reflection. It is not by accident that our Forty Days of Praise will continue through this month. Sunday, November 21st will be the fortieth day and will be a great day to praise and reflect on the miraculous gift of property for our church building! Dedication of the 7.4 acres to God is planned on that Sunday morning at 10:30 as we gather on the property to express our gratitude to God for the gift of His Son Jesus Christ and for the land.

Immediately after the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and began taking possession of the promised land they had waited forty years for, they paused to praise and reflect upon God’s provision. They built an altar out of rocks and placed them there as a remembrance of what God had done and promised to do. (Joshua 4)

Katy Fellowship will place a rock of remembrance on our promised land, and our dedication service will include each family in attendance placing a rock there with the large stone as an altar of praise to God. What a great day that Sunday before Thanksgiving will be for KCF. Please make plans to participate. Here is the development plans that include our property. Take a moment right now to praise our God!

Let me take just a moment to also thank God for my precious wife Polly and our children Tara and Trey; our KCF staff—Marcus, Chris, Pris, Marla, Stacey, Gail, Penny, and their families; our Elders, Trustees, and their wives; our Promiseland, Remixed, and Handmade by God teams; our worship teams, Incense intercessors, LIFE Group leaders, and hosts; our numerous volunteers; and every one of our precious Katy Fellowship HELPERS. I am blessed to serve a wonderful God who has given me the privilege to love and care for such precious people. I take time to praise and reflect over you!

Tim

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Each summer Polly, Tara, Trey, and I meet up with Polly’s family for a week at the Frio River. One of the many activities is the traditional “putting the puzzle together activity.” During the week, family members can at their leisure sit down and put pieces of the puzzle together. Occasionally pieces go missing by someone unknowingly knocking pieces off the table where they become hidden under furniture. Or there have been times when some of the youngest family members intentionally hide pieces so as the picture in the puzzle gets more defined, they have a piece to put in. (Some of you are smiling because you’ve done the same thing!) When pieces do go missing and are never found, the puzzle is incomplete.

The church is the same way. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans that we all form one body and we each belong to all the others. In other words, Katy Community Fellowship is like a puzzle, and each family member is a piece of that puzzle. When a piece is missing the puzzle isn’t complete. I saw this line awhile back: CH__ __CH What’s missing? Followed by the letters U R.

The month of October, Katy Fellowship is putting together a church puzzle. Each family should receive a puzzle piece to bring with you to church on Oct. 17th. Make sure U R not missing that day! (We’ll also have opportunities on the 24th and 31st to assemble the puzzle.) A great celebration is planned for that Sunday, so make every effort possible to be there with your family. That evening, we will have a family picnic at Mary Jo Peckham Park. There will be lots of food and games for everyone. RSVP to the church office so we will have plenty of food. It will be a great day!

Praying for You,
Tim

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“I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.” – Jesus

Life Quotes:

“Life is good.” “Life is what you make of it.”
“Life is but a game . . .” “Life is short. Pray hard.”

How is life going for you? Is your life everything you thought it would be? Is it “good” or is it the “pits?” I
imagine most have figured out life is definitely not a game. For many people life has offered many disappointments and heartbreaks. For others, exciting moments and opportunities. Life can be what you make of it but Jesus has offered life to the full for those who are willing to follow Him.

Life can best be experienced with others. For those who choose to do life on their own it can be a lonely and difficult journey. Living life within the church was what God had in mind for us. Ephesians reminds us that we belong in God’s household with every other Christian. Life is better together. Ecclesiastes teaches that if one falls down, the other can reach out and help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, there is no one to help him. We need to encourage one another to love and good deeds as Hebrews instructs us. Proverbs tells us that people learn from one another just as iron sharpens iron. Fellowship is an important aspect of life. But fellowship is hard to develop in the short window of time that Sunday morning worship service provides. That’s why we have LIFE Groups. A place to fully experience life (to the full) the way Jesus intended. Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to teaching, and to fellowship, and to eating meals, and to prayer . . . and they were testifying of God’s goodness.” That is exactly what LIFE Groups consist of at Katy Fellowship.

We are spotlighting each month a ministry that gives the opportunity to love God and others. This month we
spotlight our LIFE Group ministry. Jesus came that we might have a full life and a love for life. I hope you will
keep cultivating your love for God and for others and add to that a love for learning His Word and a love for life.
Get in a LIFE Group today!

Praying for You,

Tim

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Mark 10:13-16 MSG “The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: ‘Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.’ Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.”

Remember the song we sang as little children? “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” I also loved singing the kid’s song, “Jesus Loves Me This I Know.” Loving children was something Jesus made a priority. He always took time for and blessed them.

I love kids! I look forward to Sunday mornings and greeting the children as they come into the AMC entrance and run to their pastor with open arms to get their hug. I want children to be a priority at Katy Fellowship. I believe that loving children is demonstrated through the unselfish giving and hard work of our Promiseland team. I am so proud of all the ladies and men and teens who serve in Children’s Ministry. Each month for the rest of the year, we are spotlighting a ministry that is “living out” LOVE. This month is Promiseland.

The vision of Promiseland is: To partner with the family to raise up “children of promise” for our world. We can accomplish this by helping them understand God’s purpose for them today. God’s purpose for each child is to love Him and to love others. Joining with parents to teach children to love is one of our main missions.

Would you pray and consider becoming part of the Promiseland ministry? We are already gearing up for the coming school year and seeing this ministry grow. Jesus has called us to love the children. Adults of all ages can live out love through loving kids. Take time to take them in your arms and bless them.

Praying for You,

Tim

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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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