Anniversary thoughts

Today, Dana and I are celebrating our 33rd anniversary.  5 kids, 2 grandkids, over 60 vehicles, 8 houses, and a bajillion bicycles and skateboards later, I couldn't think of a better place to be.  We had no idea that we would end up living where we live and doing what we do.

We have been going through a study on Matt 5 which includes the beatitudes.  You know the ones; Blessed are you when this or that...  Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those that mourn; bless are the persecuted; blessed are the insulted.  Doesn't sound quite right to me.  Juxtaposition for sure.  Some interpret "blessed" to mean happy.  To me, this doesn't seem to fit.  Be happy when you are persecuted sounds insensitive at best. When I say, "God bless you," I am not saying, "God, make you happy."

I wonder if we struggle to understand words like this (even when we go back to original languages) because it is so hard to describe God with language whether it is english or hebrew.

So Lee, how would you describe "blessed?"  I think it means to be in the place where God wants us.  In any situation, we need to realize that we are where God has placed us.

God blessed our marriage.  It didn't always make us happy.  When we gathered on a cold Saturday afternoon in the cold of Michigan in a small church, we had no idea what we were getting into, but God blessed us. He had us right where he wanted us.  I am so glad God is bigger than my understanding.

God bless you.

2014 Advent

I'm working on cleaning my desk, getting ready for this next year. As we all get ready for 2014,  I want to share what I preached yesterday at church as a New Year's devotion:

I love advent.  For 4 weeks we dwell on Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love.  These are the 4 things that make our relationship with God and our lives complete.  Christmas comes and goes and our reflection is over and we move on to New Years.  Happy New Year!  During New Years, we reflect more on making resolutions and how we are going to improve this next year.  Lose Weight. Exercise more.  Get out of Debt.  Spend more time with family. Drink less Pepsi.

As we all make this transition from remembering Jesus to how we are going to live in 2014,

I was thinking of a passage that encourages us to get back to what is important, back to advent.

After reminding the Christ followers of Jesus’ great sacrifice for us, we are reminded in Heb 10:22-25 to get back to the things that will help us live this God-Life.  I have preached on this before, but as I looked at it this time, I noticed an obvious connection to advent.

Hope, Joy, Peace, Love.

Heb 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

This is our Joy.  We can draw near to God!  Jesus takes away our guilt!  Our bodies are cleansed!  Our faith should bring us Joy!  When you think of how God has restored our relationship with Him through Jesus, it should bring joy to your heart and life.  It should bring a smile to your face!

Heb 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

This is our Hope.  Hope is not just a wish.  “I hope you have a good day.”  “I hope my car keeps running.”  Hope actually means anticipation or expecting good.  If we say we believe God will save us, that God will forgive us, that God will use us, we should also expect God to be faithful.  Our hope is more than a wish. We have to believe with everything we have.  That is hope.

Heb 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

This is our Love.  The great command is to love God and then love others.  The best way to love God is to love others and the best way to love others is to show them God.  We need to be creative and inventive in looking for ways to help each other be better, helping each other grow, helping each other see God working in our lives.

Heb 10:25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Here is our Peace.  There is safety in numbers.  When we are together in Jesus name, He is with us.  Too often, this verse is used to somehow guilt us into coming to church more.  I believe when we get together for any reason, we can have church!  Sure, we are encouraged when we worship and study together.  We need to look to ways to encourage each other when we work together, when we play together, when we struggle together, when we eat together, and on and on.

How will you apply advent to 2014?

How will you write this into your New Years’ resolutions?

May we draw near to God so much that it brings Joy.

May we believe God’s Word and promises that it brings us Hope.

May we love each other and our neighbors that we experience real Love.

May we live together each day to bring about real Peace in our lives and in our world.

May God use you greatly in 2014!

            

Join us in our neighborhood Thanksgiving Feast!

November Newsletter

Prescott Community Outreach
Lee and Dana Trotter
Making life better for our neighbors 
November 2013

A few weeks ago, I preached on generosity. I didn’t preach on giving, I preached on generosity. God is more concerned with us being generous than He is with how much we give. Being generous is connected to our loving relationship with God and with others. I want to be a more generous person - being kind, loving, and giving with my life.
As I was pondering this, our supporters came to mind. Your prayers and financial support are given out of your generosity. We know they are from your love for God, your love for us, and from your love from our neighbors and community. Since this is November and we are more mindful of Thanksgiving, we want to express how thankful for you and our friendship and ministry together.

We love you all and are very thankful for you!

La Paz House
On Halloween, we partnered with the church youth group and had a Harvest Party with games, crafts, food, and a “haunted” La Paz House. We had over 100 neighbors attend! I am glad that the kids have finished off all of their candy. I’m sick of picking up candy wrappers.
This past weekend, I had 30 high school students from Basehor, Bonner Springs, and Tonganoxie fix our playground fence and mulch the swing set area. It is great to come up with projects to get teens to serve and help our ministry at the same time. Another group coming next week….

 

Thanksgiving
I am always looking for new ways to reach out to our neighborhood. We are always looking for opportunities to meet physical and spiritual needs, and build a bridge between them and the local church. This year, I am organizing a Community Thanksgiving Feast on Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving Day was never meant to be a day where we hide in our own homes, overindulge, and watch football. It is a day to come together and celebrate and give thanks to God for his blessings this past year. I plan on cooking a bunch of turkey and hand delivering invites to all of our neighbors. A few years ago, we hosted a family in our community and they told us that they had never had a traditional American Thanksgiving meal before. Help me bless our neighbors. Here is a flyer for our event. Dana and I would love to have you join us! Just let me know.

          With thanksgiving, 
               Lee & Dana

___________________________________________

Support gifts should be made out to “National Christian Foundation” and are fully tax deductible. We receive 99% of the funds you donate. Please designate

“Prescott Community Outreach Fund #935502” on the memo line.

Use the enclosed envelope or send to:

Prescott Community Outreach Fund #935502 c/o National Christian Foundation

706 North Lindenwood Drive

Olathe, KS 66062

 

Hit a wall

"I was going at a great pace until I hit a wall."  If you are a runner or a cyclist, you surely can relate.  Everything seems to be going great and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you are out of energy and it seems like you can't go on.

I hit this wall a week ago.  I'm sure you understand that ministry in the city can be hard.  We knew that when we signed up.  Most days I'm OK with that.  I have been running hard trying to keep peace among the neighborhood kids, help my son redo some stuff in his new house and trying to fix a car for Dana to replace the one that was stolen.  That day, I had just got the new engine in and it wouldn't turn.  It was bound up on the torque converter somehow and needed to come back out. Perfect.  I started to pull it out and the lift bracket broke, dropping the engine.  Not cool.  I broke down.

Yep, I broke down.  God's man, called to bring the love of Jesus to this neighborhood, just couldn't handle it anymore.  Maybe it would be better to quit.  Maybe it would be better to get a "real" job.  Maybe I should be a pastor or some join ministry that is steady.  At least I'd have Pastor Appreciation month.  Poor, poor me.  Have you ever thrown a pity party and no one shows up?

After crying and shouting to God my favorite "I give up" statement, "Are you freakin kidding me?", I realized once again that I can't do this.  I realized that not only can I not do this; maybe I'm not the one who is suppose to do this.  It is so easy to do things in my own strength.  It is so easy to come across like, "It's cool, I got this."

Once again, my lesson was to learn to rely on God and not myself.  Will I ever learn?  The often misquoted, "I can do all things through Christ" verse comes into to play.  Paul's context was more life's circumstances than some superpower.  He could live in affluence and the good life, but he was saying that lately it wasn't like that.  He was in need and was outcast and even beaten.  He can "do all things" because of his trust in God.  Anyway, things have calmed down and are looking a lot brighter.  Ministry is going well, Josiah is moved in, and the car that was my breaking point is now running and we love it.

Apparently I can't do this, but that's OK.
God, please be my strength.