Holy Week

For those of you out there that claim Christ as your Lord and Savior, this coming Sunday marks the beginning of a very sacred time for us. We call it Holy Week. This Sunday in churches around the world the message will go about Christ's entry into Jerusalem or maybe you will hear about the Cross of Christ. That is where Dutchtown will be focusing. As we traverse through this week and we come to Thursday, otherwise known as Maundy Thursday by the Church. A variety of services will be held on that night centering around The Last Supper Jesus had with His disciples. We Brethren call it a Love Feast. At Love Feast embodies we share a simple meal together, we talk around the tables, we celebrate Communion together and we practice serving one another by washing feet, just as Christ did for His disciples on that night. Friday for us is called Good Friday, for on this day we give thanks to God for His one and only Son dying on the Cross for you and I. Milledgeville, like many other small towns will have a community service. Ours is at the United Methodist Church here in town. Then comes Sunday! Easter Sunday, the day we celebrate Christ's Resurrection from the tomb! A day of rejoicing in song and word. Well there it is, Holy Week in a nutshell.
But for most of the world around us this is just another week. Oh, our stores will be advertising to get you to buy new clothes, but those commercials will be filled with pictures of Spring time and Easter Bunnies, with no mention of Jesus coming back to life. You are the ones who will have to set this time apart as holy! To give God His due. So I invite you now to do just that. To commit yourself and your family to make these worship opportunities apart of your week. To let the world know that you are a follower of Christ and that you will show them this by how you live. A wise man once said, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord".
Have a blessed and joy filled Holy Week! Pastor Rick Koch Dutchtown

The Price we put on People

In the last few weeks I have been able to watch my two oldest grand kids, Ty & Emma, participate in basketball & soccer. What a joy it is for this grandpa, as it is for all grandpas and grandmas, to be able to watch our little ones as they seek to impress us & show off their shooting & passing skills. Ty & Emma are already learning that their worth to the team depends on just how well thy play the game. The more points they score the more appreciated they are by teammates, coaches and we as parents and grandparents. It's too bad we cannot simply find value in our children and grandchildren for them simply being them.
Just last night an old dear saint of the church passed away. She had been in the Nursing Home for several years and with each passing month her physical & mental health diminished with time. To our corporate world and to much of our Godless society her value was limited. What did she have too offer in a constructive way anymore? Shame on us! But who of you out there does not find your value in the way other people look at you, perceive you, respect you? When we allow our own self esteem to go on this roller coaster ride, we find ourselves craving appreciation so that we feel of value to others and on the other hand our self esteem is easily shot down by one cruel word from our boss or a so called friend.
But now listen to what Jesus says about our worth & value, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not reap or store away in barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. (Listen closely to this next part) Are YOU not much more VALUABLE then they?" Friends, our true value (and I'm not talking about the hardware store here) is found in the loving eyes of our Farther God. He values you and I enough to have given to us His only Son, Jesus, to die upon the cross for our mistakes and to raise us up with Him through the power of the Resurrection!
This Easter, remember that amidst this cruel world bent on beating you and your self-esteem down, forget what they say and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ loves you with all of His heart just as you are!
May the Joy and Hope of Easter embolden you in your faith! Pastor Rick Koch Dutchtown

Polarizing People

Well the Peyton Manning saga has now come to an end and he is a Denver Bronco. And that meant of course getting rid of Tim Tebow, a person whom many sports writers and newscasters call "A Polarizing Figure". Do they call him this because his Quarterbacking style is so unorthodox, I think not. For there ae many good Signal callers out there today who do not fit into what is the proto-typical QB. Instead I believe they call him Polarizing because of his Christian faith. Mr. Tebow did not set out to purposefully ruffle the feathers of of every ESPN, CBS and NBC sportscaster alive. No, instead he chose only to truly live out his faith in Our/Your Messiah, Jesus Christ. He never asked Jesus to help him win a game, or to make someone else lose. No he only sought to give Him glory through the athletic gifts given to him. For this he is called "Polarizing", when in all truth it is the those whom wish we Christians would just live out our faith quietly, making no waves. Brothers and sisters, it is because we have for far to long not lived out our faith publicly that we now live a a world that fails to recognize Christ as God's Son.
When people around us, who know that we are Christians, do they see us in any different way from the rest of the world? Hear the words from First Peter 2:11 & 12: "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in this world to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits." Aliens & Strangers to this world we are to be. Aliens & Strangers sounds to me like "Polarizing People". Not people who choose to be pain in the necks, but people who chose to live out their faith unapologetically. I know that I have a long way to go here, how about you?
Love you All, Pastor Rick Koch Dutchtown Church

Holding Hands

Years ago there used to be a sure fire way of telling if a couple were really in love. A way that all the world could see and know that that man and that woman cared for each other. What was that sign of affection, it was "Holding Hands". Strolling down the street together or while window shopping in a mall, you could tell those who were really in love by seeing that thier hands were clasped together as tight as can be. The world is different now and not a good different in my eyes! Now when I see young couples walking together, there hands are still clasped tight but this time around around a "Smart Phone" of some sort. It is like a new appendege that has grafted itself permenitly to there fingers. It is a new love affair of sorts that has spread throughout the land. And with it comes the ability to have multiple conversations at one time. Both male and female can be talking with oneanother, while at the same time texting someone else. The new word we have for that is "Multi-tasking'", but it used to be called rude! It happens everywhere! At ballgames no one can clap because they are holding their phone! In theaters and in Churches it is hard to shake hands when a phone is in it! Now do not get me wrong, I too enjoy some of this new technology. I even find some of it fun. Shoot this message you are getting today could not of happened if I had not embraced apart of our new electronic world. But there should be a few boundries. One I will set for myself today is this. If my phone rings or vibrates while I am visiting with you, it will just have to keep doing so! For in the world I grew up in doing such a thing would be rude to you if I answered it. For you are where God has called me at that moment and you deserve my full attention. I like this "Blog" thing and I also like e-mails. But I would much prefer to have personal comversations with you. This machine I peck on right now, nor my cell phone will never will never be my friend. They will never draw me closer to Christ. So I invite to "Clutch Fast" to God's Word and maybe even carry it around on occasion. For I have found that the wisdom in it far outweighs that of any 4G phone you will ever find! Love you all Pastor Rick Koch Dutchtown Church

Basketball Mania

For those of you who know me fairly well, you know that I enjoy my sports. Sports of all sorts! I am an avid St. Louis Cardinal & San Fransisco 49er fan with more Niner and Redbiird clothing items then a man my age deserves. I enjoy watching our Church youth participate in their athletic endeavors and I watch more then my fair share of ballgames on my TV. And now the NCAA Basketball tournement, well I will have my remote set-up so I can see four games at once. The other night though as I was watching yet another basketball game on the tube, there came streaming across my screen the on going saga of where quarter back Peyton Manning might need up playing this season. Beckie looked at me and said someting to the effect of wondering how ths story was getting so much coverage. I am not sure what I said back to her, but it has caused to to ponder the idol, or god I and many others have made sports into. I have more channels on my TV dedicated solely to sports then any grown man could ever watch. I have a Channel dedicated solely to helping me know how to fill out my Basketball brackets and another that keeps me posted on the Free agents out there in the NFL. Enough is enough!
What if you and I spent only 25% of the time we now spend talking sports, watching them on TV or reading about them in the paper and we gave that time to God? Time spent reading the Bible, in worship on Sunday, in prayer each day or in fellowship with other Christians? Now does this mean I am going to go "Cold Turkey" and give up one of my favorite pastimes? No, but the Holy Spirit is working on me about using more of that time I spend how to be a better Fantasy Football and to give that time to better get to know Jesus, the Son of God. To care a bit less about knowing each Cardinal pitcher and their era, but to care more about building a better relationship with my Savior Jesus. Anyway, a few ramblings from this sporstsminded Pastor who knows that Christ will Never frustrates me, unlike our beloved Illini Basketball team has this past season.
So, go and enjoy your sports, our youth on the fieled and court, but go forth as well and give God His the glory He deserves and get to know He and his boy better.
Love ya' All, Pastor Rick Koch Dutchtown Church

My Two Cents Worth

A few weeks ago at our Churches Executive Committee meeting I shared with the folks how I felt God calling me to give up control of several things I am doing in the life of the Church and to delegate that stuff out to others who can do these things. I want to do this, I even need to do this, but oh it is not easy! Why? Well they may not carry out this responsibility like I would. Or Sometimes I would find myself doing something I should delegate out, but it just seemed quicker and easier to do it myself. Any of you ever do been there? And then there are times I tryed to take control of an issue we might be facing as a church and I thought I had just the right answer, that is until I would get to a Board meeting and wow so many of the board members had much better ways of handling an issue then I did. It seemed as if my two cents worth at times wasn't even worth two cents. All because I am finally trying to give up my controlling nature. Now I have a longggg way to go in this area, but with the work of the Holy Spirit I am making headway. What about you? Are you afraid to give over the reins to someone else at work, are you listening to a different way of thinking from your spouse or a friend of yours. There is a popular contemporary song out right now called, "Jesus Take Control". Boy if I would only let him do that more often life would be so much better and less stressful!
Have a Joy Filled day and remember to Bless Christ! Pastor Rick

Lukewarm Coffee

Hello Faith Filled Friends!
I am a coffee drinker. And I will drink it in a variety of ways. I will take it hot, just black or with cream and sugar in it and I enjoy as well one of those new fancy flavors you can squirt in it. I also have developed a taste for Iced coffee, especially when it is warm outside. BUT, I cannot stand it when I am working at my desk at Church and I reach over to my well worn Pioneer mug and I get a gulp of "Lukewarm" coffee. It makes me want to gag! Yuck!
It is at those times when I am reminded of Christ's words in Revelation 3:15-16 to the Church at Laodicea and to churches just like yours and mine. Those words are, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
Yikes! I know how much I detest lukewarm coffee and now to understand that our Lord and Savior feels the same way about you and I when we only give lip service unto Him. When the deeds of our lives and the deeds of His Church do not match up with what He desires for us. That at this point in time He aches and sighs over us. It calls upon us all to take stock of where we are at in our faith and then to allow the Holy Spirit to renew and to revive us, to be the Children and the Church He knows that we can be! May we all allow the Holy Spirit to move mightily among us being the that Hot cup of coffee or tea if you wish, to the world in need around us.
Your Brother in Christ, Rick Koch

The Stability we find and need in God's Word

This weekend I ran across one of my favorite, but little know sci-fi shows, "Firefly". It is a story that takes place on a spaceship and on this ship are a whole host of different characters including a man they call Shepherd, who is actually a Pastor of sorts, who follows the Bible, and a young lady, Willow, who has gone thru mind altering treatments. One day the two of them are left on the ship alone as the others are away searching for work. In one scene the Shepherd can hear the young lady mumbling to herself and from time to time he hears what sounds like pages being ripped from a book. He turns to find Willow tearing pages out of his Bible because to her they cannot possibly be true! Pages torn out for they differ with the images that have been implanted into her mind. At one point she exclaims, "This Noah story cannot possibly be true!" Shepherd then explains that he accepts it all by "Faith". He does not need some scientific theory to prove the Biblical stories to be right. Faith in God is what it is all about!
In the midst of the chaos that fills our lives today, I am grateful for the "Stability" of the Word of God. I am grateful that God's Word never changes. There are times when we try and change God's Word to suit the choices in life that we have made, to go along with what we want it to say, so that we do not have to change. Instead we are to look into the pages of this holy book and allow it to change us! To make us a people of faith that our Father can be proud of. Today, read God's Word and then allow it to change your life in ways that you could not dream possible!

P.S. Beginning today this Blog is not just going on Dutchtowns face book page and our website as well as being set by e-mail to you Dutchtowners. Today I am including another group of you in this mailing, my friends with in our District and a few others. For those of you who get this for the first time let me know what you think.
Your brother in Christ Rick Koch Dutchtown Church