My Halloween Perspective

You ask anyone about how they think Christians should view Halloween and you will get a broad spectrum of views. Allow me to offer up one to you. It's not a time my wife decorates for. We don't attend Halloween parties. But, I enjoy this evening that only takes place once a year. Up where we live, the Stover Additon as it is called , we get a whole bunch of children and their families walking around the neighborhood. And this year was no exception. Actually it was the largest Halloween I can remember. I can say this because I keep track of our Trick or Treater's and what Dutchtown kids stopped by. Well over 180 kids this year and almost 30 little Dutchtowners! I enjoy sitting outside, weather permitting as it did this year. I enjoy visiting with each and every family, not just our Dutchtowners. I always offer a candy bar to the parents and many accept. For me it has become a great time of fellowship with my community and Church Family. I am blessed through it and I hope that others are blessed who stop by. And one other great blessing that came our way this year was that we had a couch to get rid of, as we are getting a new one. earlier that afternoon I had some high school boys help me get it outside and then placed a sign on it, "Free Couch! You haul it away!" Not only did it get taken, but I was able to visit with a new family in our community that does not go to Church and guess where they live, Betty Diehl's old house! At the end of the evening, Beckie had a sigh of joy and said, "My couch is in Betty's old house"! So say what you want about Halloween, but this old Pastor will continue to hang-out each year with his community, pass out a little candy and be blessed in the midst of it all.
Love you all! Next Holiday up, my favorite, Thanksgiving!

Taking a Good Walk

We live in a time where many health contious people take daily walks as a part of trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. We do it to burn off a few calories, to strenghten muscles and to keep our heart in good shape. But let me tell you about a "walk" I encourage you to consider so that not only will you be healthier physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. That walk is the distance between the pew you sit in on Sunday morning and the Altar at the front of the sanctuary. A walk I am going to invite to take this coming Sunday so that Christ Jesus can begin the emotional and spiritual healing your lives need as well. At the end of that short walk a service will takeplace that God has called His priests to perform centuries ago and still calls us to take part in today, The Anointing service. A time for you to take that short walk to the altar and let us anoint you with oil on your forehead. Three little drops of oil that symbolize the forgiveness of God, the healing of God and the everlasting presence of God in your life. Then hands will be laid upon your head and shoulders as we have a brief time of prayer for you. A time to be made whole physically, emotionaly and spiritualy. This coming Sunday I encourage you to take that short walk down the asile and to allow our Lord to minister to you through His anointing. He will be there waiting for you as will members of your faith family!

The Face of the Homeless

Hey Church, I am sure that at one time or another you have been somewhere where you encountered someone who was Homeless. Maybe you were driving down a busy big city street or possibly you have volunteered at a homeless shelter. But most of us in small town USA don't have daily contact with those we call Homeless. I am no different, that is until today. Earlier this morning a broken family sat across from me in my office seeking help. A family originally from the Milledgeville area. A family whom I have known ever since I moved here. A family whose rented home was condemned and is now trying to put together funds to live in a motel for a month. After that month they have no plans. A house filled with several generations, with grandma having to care for several of her grand kids because the mom is in prison. These are only a few of the hard facts that they live with daily. They are the face of the Homeless. I sit here consumed by their dilemma. I put together a little help for them, but their need is immense. Not just the physical needs but the emotional and spiritual ones as well. They leave my office and moments later the phone rings with another one time proud Milledgeville resident now hiding out in a Domestic Violence Shelter, looking for help to her heartaches in life. The physical, emotional and spiritual pain she has endured brings back vivid and painful memories of my own childhood where my brothers and I often sought refuge from the violence in our own home. Once again I could offer only a meager amount of financial assistance. I now sit drained of energy and yet I feel as if I have no right to feel this way because of all of the brokenness I have just encountered in these persons lives. The face of homelessness is real and we know there names. Please pray for these families that they will find healing and a home.
I Love you all, Pastor Rick

Ministry Moments

One of my favorite writers and speakers is Pastor Bill Hybels. Bill is founder and Pastor at Willow Creek Church. A mega-church in the Chicago land area. I often times have wondered why all churches could not be blessed with the growth that has taken place there and in many other places. I have found myself at times thinking what it would be like to be in his shoes. But then I also know that Christ has a place for each and every Church that He founded. I was recently reading an article by Pastor Hybels where he is now trying to make Willow Creek into a more service oriented church. He is grateful for all of those who are seeking for more in their spiritual lives and that many of them find themselves drawn to Willow Creek. But he also laments that many of those seekers do not see themselves as "Servants", instead they are there for the experience, so to speak. Bill also spoke of the regrets that he has as he manages such a large church and that he has very little time one on one time with those who call Willow Creek their spiritual home. He says that he misses those "Ministry Moments" that only a small Church fellowship and their pastor can have. Huh, Bill Hybels desiring to have those special moments that I am able to have on an almost daily basis. It just goes to show once again that God has a calling that is different for each Church and each person who feels that call to be a Pastor. I pray God's blessing upon Bill and the folks at Willow Creek and other Pastors and Churches like his. But I also pray for God's blessing upon the small churches whose spires rise high throughout the countryside and whose Pastors have a different call. Our world needs them both.
God Bless you and may you have one of those Ministry moments this week as Christ calls you to Be the Church! Pastor Rick Koch

God Wonderful Creation

Earlier today when I first arrived at Church I was drawn by the Holy Spirit to linger outside for a while. There was a chill in the air and I only had on a short sleeve shirt, but that did not matter. I stood still beside the cemetery gazing east watching the sun rise. What a magnificent site! In those moments that I stood there I was overwhelmed with the awesomeness of Gods creation. And at the same I felt sorrow for those who who believe that all of this happened by accident! A big bang, some say. Others claim that the rest of what I call God's creation began with a single cell evolving through time. I feel sorrow for those who cannot comprehend the majesty of God when they see a sunrise or sunset. Friends, what an awesome God that we serve! What an Awesome God that gives us these pictures of beauty to inspire us each new day! I can't wait to see what the sunset looks like tonight. As always, I love you all as Christian Brothers and Sisters, Pastor Rick Koch

God's Super Glue

There is probably not a home among us that does not have stuck away in a junk drawer somewhere some old Super glue. We keep it around to help us put back together common household items that slip from our fingers and before we know it they crash to the floor and there break into many pieces. And like all the kings horses and all the kings men, we then frantically try and to glue back together again, to restore them as best we can.
You and I are not that much different! On a daily basis we often find ourselves broken in Spirit, by hurtful words or our souls become downcast for we give and give and give and you simply need once in a while someone to come along side of you and help fill you up or put you back together. We are really good at helping people re-build after a tragedy, a natural Disaster. But that's easy, putting together lumber and bricks. It's another thing to help mend a broken heart. Even the Bee Gee's offer no answers to us in there timeless hit from the 70's. They only offer up the question. Well here is an answer, Holy Communion. It is God's love for you and I given unto us in two simple items that you and we can touch, smell and taste. We are a people who desperately need something real, something solid to cling too and that is exactly what God gave us. A simple piece of unleavened bread to remind of how much Jesus did for us through His three short years of ministry and then through His death on the cross. A little cup of juice to taste, that ushers us once again back into the salvation only Jesus can give. To remind us that eternal life awaits at the end of life's journey. To restore us from the sin we have done.
Holy Communion, a Godly "super glue" to mend our broken hearts, to rekindle fires that have burnt out, to repair our broken egos and spirits. If you were not in Church on Sunday to celebrate Holy Communion with us and you could use a little putting back together, Jesus style, let me know and I will be glad to come to you and offer to you this precious gift from God!

Our Farm Community

Many people tell me that we are no longer a "Farm Community". That most our our folks work in non-agricultural fields. But as I look out of any of the many windows of this place we call Dutchtown , as far as I can see, I only see fields of corn and soybeans. Herds of cattle roaming the fields and the confinement building housing hogs. I see Silos too numerous to count, old barns that have stood the test of time and a few that have not! The sounds of tractors and combines fill the air, as does the familiar "Aromas" only a farm can produce. We are truly a Farm Community and always will be. Many that call Dutchtown home are still proud to be called a Farmer. And many others work in agriculturally based businesses. Then there are many more families who still have ties to the old family farm. This harvest season, let us be thankful to our Farmers for their hard work and the calling they have taken to feed the world. Remember to pray for their safety this time of the year as they run late into the night harvesting the crop when the weather allows them. We, here at Dutchtown are proud to have you families as a part of our Dutchtown family! May God continue to bless your hard work, to grant you safety when you grow weary, to give you a sense of fulfillment as you work God's good earth.
All of a sudden I feel like having a big steak with all the trimmings!
Thank You Farm Families! Pastor Rick