On his first Sabbath here, Pastor Litch asked for those who would like to talk or have prayer to come down front and join him. It had been so long since this had happened, I figured only a few folks would be coming down and that this was Litch’s way of introducing himself. However, as I broke down the media equipment, there were more folks than I expected waiting to talk with him. As I came up to retrieve his microphone I was pulled into a prayer. Wow! The first time I had been prayed with without being in trouble for something!

In subsequent weeks, Litch has come into the Media Center early on Sabbath and gathered those present together to pray for them. If you haven’t been prayed for or with recently, just place yourself in the path of this man of God, and you will be prayed for! For some it may seem amazing, for others intimidating that their Senior Pastor would stop and pray with and for them. No matter what your thoughts and feelings about it, you will be changed by it. I know I have!

As you think about where God is at work in our Madison Campus church family do your thoughts follow a path to what God is asking of you? Are you serving Him in the way He asks? Are your time, talent and treasure being invested or are they being hidden?

As we are focused on finding someone to take the leadership position in our flock many are focusing on the attributes they would like to see, the qualities they feel we need, the strengths they feel are important. After all, we might reason, this selection will have an impact on many lives for years to come. While this is an important decision, we need to remember that this process is a two way street. While we are looking at men who have dedicated their lives to serving God where he has placed them, many of them are also examining us, evaluating our purpose, focus and mission.

So during this process, I encourage each of us to examine ourselves! What has God placed on your heart? More importantly, what are you doing about it? Gods work in these end times will not be finished in Madison by 3 or 4 preachers alone. This gospel will not be spread to the ends of the earth by those on the conference payroll only! No, it will take each and every soul reacting to the love of God to finish the work. So I ask you . . . Where’s your heart?!!!!

If you were not able to attend the “Open Board Meeting” with “Open Voting” on February 28, you will be happy to note that the Church Board did a fantastic job of ensuring that the Pastoral Search Committee was formed from a wide and varied group of people.  Nominations for positions on the committee were divided equally between five groups:

• Adult Sabbath Schools
• Children’s/Youth Ministries
• Outreach Ministries
• Worship Service
• Young Adults Sabbath School

A total of three individuals from each of these groups were voted onto the committee to join the original six that the Church Board began with.  Once all the folks, some of whom were not able to attend the meeting, have accepted a complete list of the 21 members will be published.

Please keep this group and the work they have before them in your prayers.  If things go well, we could be finding a Senior Pastor who can stay with us for many years to come, leading us closer to Christ.

We have spent the last week driving in places we were not familiar with. I’m thankful for the Global Positioning Satellite system the enabled my phone to direct our path. It knew the right turns to take and warned me ahead of time to prepare for them. It even promptly recalculated when i deviated from the prescribed route! There was, however, one required input from me. The system could only function if I told it where I wanted to go.

That leads me to think about the new leader we are looking for here at Campus. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a GPS guiding us as we navigate this path? I believe we have that in the group nominated to the search committee and the prayers of the faithful. We know where we are now! What we need to input is our destination.

As we think about it, where do we want Madison Campus to be two years from now, five years from now? What part do we want our church to play in our community? What impact do we want to be making in the lives of our young people, new believers, old believers? As you dream about the future, what part does your church play? As we begin this journey it would be best if we had a clear picture of our destination!

This Sabbath, Feb 11, the sermon addresses something we all do – at least in my humble opinion!  We all use masks.  In fact, if you are like me you probably have a whole mask set available to pull out when needed.  Do you put on a different mask when at work vs. when you come to church?  Perhaps you haven’t thought about this much, perhaps you are realizing for the first time that might have a mask or two.  We cannot even begin to address an issue in our life if we do not recognize that it exists.

As you look at your masks and the times you use them, can you consider an even more personal question?  Do you ever find your self with mask at home?  Do those who share your home know you, or are they see a mask?  Sometimes we can become so comfortable with our masks that we can feel naked and exposed without them.  Take inventory, ask folks who are important to you.  Consider whether you need to de-mask!  God promises to live in you!  Think about it!

Do you remember what it was like when you were interviewing for that new job, or perhaps when you were house hunting? Can you recall how unsettling that process was, your concerns about every detail – weighing this against that? Madison Campus has begun that kind of journey, only on a grand scale! We have begun the search for a Senior Pastor. Add to the needs and concerns of over 1,400 members the desire to have God’s will come through all of this and you can see understand the stress level we are under.
Please keep this process in your prayers. Pray for wisdom and guidance. Pray for peace and patience. But most of all, pray that God will direct us to the man he is already preparing for this time in our church’s life!

It has been barely six months since much of Nashville was under water.  For many of us, that news cycle has passed and rarely talked about.  But, for those whose homes were inundated with the river water the flood and its aftermath are on their mind every day.  For many, they are not yet in their homes.  Some may never get into their homes.  You may be asking, what does this have to do with Thanksgiving Blessings?  Be sure to attend (or view online) a church service at Madison Campus this weekend to hear the rest of the story!