Vacation Season

    For several years in a row now Beckie and I have taken a week's vacation to the same place, White Tail Crossing Resort on Lake Shelbyville. Once in a while people will ask us about where we went or why we keep going back, as we will again this August. A few listen intently, thinking maybe they would like this place as well. But most have a hard time grasping the joy we find there simply because, "You have to be there and experience it for yourselves". I hope others of you have places like this that draw you back year after year, places others my not understand why, but you do!
      Worship is like that! We gather every Sunday throughout the year, week after week in the same place. The bulletin's look the same, but each Sunday is always different in some way. We never really know how the Holy Spirit is going to move. Trying to explain this glorious event to those who have never been or go just every once in a while is like trying to tell them about your vacation experience! You have to have been there to experience it! The majesty of God, the cries of a baby, the words of an old familiar hymn, smiles as a Mom tells of her child's accomplishments, tears as pray over a difficult situation and the list goes on and on. I can try and tell you all about what each Sunday means to me, but you cannot see it thru my eyes or my heart.
      So we gather Sunday after Sunday, to see what new thing God will do next and to encounter the ritual that takes place week after to week, that we all need in the aftermath of Chaotic week's.
       So this Summer, enjoy and find peace in that place you call your home away from home, but more importantly make time to find Christ week after week as you worship in the Church of your choice!
      Love ya' Pastor Rick Koch       

A Crack of the Window

    Yesterday morning when I left Church after services, I left the window in my office that faces South cracked open no more then a half an inch wide. I had opened it earlier that morning to get some fresh air in the office after having been gone for a week. Then came Sunday night's Storms. I had forgotten that I had left open the window just this small crack, but that half inch space proved to be more then enough for those storms to play havoc with my office! The fierce winds pushed rain water thru that crack in the window, dampening many things and ruining others. Carpet was wet as was my desk. A few books ruined as well as my stereo, a it was still sitting in a puddle when I arrived. I only have myself to blame. The damage could have been much worse, but it was damage that could have been prevented.
       It causes me to ponder how at many times we grow lazy in our Faith, leaving open windows of contentment and complacency, maybe we pray less then we used too or we don't crack open God's Word as much as we should. Finding time to serve others doesn't happen as much as it used too for we have now filled our calendars with more "Me Time". And our Worship attendance takes a hit as well as we allow too many things to take God's place as the one we worship.
   Why do we do this? Because we have given satan a "Crack in our Windows of Faith" allowing him to blow into our lives with such a damaging wind, a tornado of havoc he can play upon our spiritual lives.
    We cannot give the devil any footholds in our lives friends! For the devastation he can bring about is life altering. Have you checked your windows of faith lately to make sure NO falsehoods are blowing in?  Well, I gotta go, for I still have mess to clean up! Love Ya' Pastor Rick      

Mother's Day Reflection

Paul speaks to us all in Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
      At times this can be a confusing passage for some. "God, just how are you going to use this painful situation I face, for good?" I have asked that myself. Today I want to share one way I have had this promise answered.
     Yesterday was Mother's Day as you all know. At this time last year my Mother and I, along with my step-father were NOT talking to one another. As a matter of fact we had not talked for well over a year. Many of you might now think, "How can this be! You being a Christian and a Pastor? "I don't get it!" I am not proud of this, nor will I try and justify myself or go into my families painful and broken past.   
    Then late last year I found out my Mom was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Right away I called home and on that day had a good conversation with my step-dad. All was not made right in that moment, but we are now in a re-building time in our relationship. I was even able to visit them in late January of this year.
    Through this terrible disease, good is now coming. God found a way to put myself and my mom back together again. So what situation is in your life right now, where you cannot see the "light at the end of the tunnel". A situation you are in where you find yourself questioning why God has put this in your lap. Never give up Hope! Never give up on God! Never give up on yourself! Love ya' Pastor Rick
P.S. Happy Mother's Mom, I Love You and I miss you! Your son Rick
  

A Little Marriage Wisdom

      This past Saturday I had my first Wedding of the new wedding season ahead for me. I said a lot things at that service, but there were Two pieces of Wisdom I shared with the couple that I now share with you are are planing a wedding and to you who are married. First, have Christ as the third strand in a rope not easily broken. Don't simply claim to believe in God, but claim His Son as Lord of your lives. If both husband and wife do this the success rate for your marriage sky rockets! Second, each morning when you awake and roll over in bed and see your spouse, begin anew each day to put their needs, wants, desires and dreams ahead of your own. But some of you will say, "What about me? I Have needs and dreams as well!" You see if both of you are striving to put the other first, your needs, wants and dreams will be fulfilled, for you both will want the best for each other. Two simply put pieces of advice. Yet, two pieces of advice not always easy to live out. God desires strong, vital and love filled marriages for us all. We simply have to put in the effort. My prayers are with as you seek too live out your faith in Christ and as you seek to out do each other in acts of love. Love ya' Pastor Rick       

Variety

   This past weekend I took part in three different worship services and one of them was not the one at Dutchtown! At a Conference I was at on Saturday, where I was a presenter, the day began with worship where we had a Charismatic, dynamic speaker who captivated all! When the conference was over we ended in a service filled with praise music up on "The Big Screen". A service filled with prayers and brief messages of hope. There we also had Communion. Then on Sunday we visited in our Daughter Mandy's Church where our grandson Ty was in a play. Very Heart-warming! But the rest of the service was one filled with old hymns, familiar passages, The Lord's prayer. Very Traditional in nature. Neither of these services was what we typically have at Dutchtown, yet I found ways to worship fully in all three. One thing they all did have in common was Christ in the center of all they did, which is right! Within the confines of our small little community of Milledgeville we have 5 small church. all of which have a variety of worship styles. None are wrong and none are completely right. They are simply a variety of ways to encounter Christ! For you who have no Church Home, there is one out there for you! And for you who do have one, embrace your opportunities to worship, remember to keep Christ in the center and as always, participate, don not just spectate! For it is in these places that we grow closer to Christ, if our attention is on Him!
 Love Ya' All! Pastor Rick      

"The Demands of Faith"

     When God says to you and I "Believe" He is demanding something that is totally beyond reason. The definition of faith has to do with something unreasonable and illogical. In Hebrews it says that, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Does sound a bit far fetched. Yet if you were to continue reading the rest of Hebrews Chapter 11 you would see a entire host of Biblical giants who believed, had hope and because of that hope and belief, the stories they tell us about God's moving in their lives is a powerful one! If Faith's demands are stretching you right now, and I know many of you are wondering how much further you can be stretched, I encourage you to read this Chapter and then move on into chapter 12 as there Paul gives to us a little Pep Talk about what is possible for you and I to accomplish because of the Great Cloud of Believer's  who have came before us. Both those in the Bible and those in your own personal lives. Someday, because of the demands of Faith and your perseverance, you can and will be a part someone else's Great Cloud of Witnesses.
Love ya" Pastor Rick   

Moans & Groans

   Yesterday in worship when we came to our time to share our prayer requests and a deafening silence came over he church. I shared about a few folks and there printed for us all in the bulletin was a very long sheet of friends, loved ones and fellow Dutchtowners who coveted our prayers. Now in years past I would have been concerned about the quiet that overcame us. But today the Holy Spirit let me know that it was OK Rick. Don't push things. Then the Holy Spirit reminded me of one of His gifts to us as told in Romans 8:26-27. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will". Voices were not speaking, but hearts filled with groans and silence spoke out to God in their time of need. Today, maybe you are in this same place. Not knowing how to pray or what to say, yet deep within you your heart you are crying out to God. Know today that the Holy Spirit is right there with you interceding on your behalf before our Father in Heaven. So don't think that you have to fill the air with wordy prayers for God to know your heart, He can hear your moans and groans. Love ya' Rick