***As geese flap their wings, they create an uplift for the bird following. By flying together in a V formation, the flock’s flying range is 71% greater than that of any bird flying alone.
-When we share a common direction and sense of community, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily because we are traveling on the energy of another.

***When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into form to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds in front.
-When we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go; we will be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.

***The geese in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. When the lead goose gets tired it rotates back into formation and another goose flies out the point position.

-When we take turns doing the hard tasks, when we encourage others, we become stronger through shared leadership.

***When a goose gets sick or wounded, 2 geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own to find another formation or to catch up with the flock.
-When we have learned the value of teamwork, we too will stand by each other in challenging times. Let us fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who read it.

“There is no limit to what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit”

This Sabbath will mark the third Sabbath that Pastor Byron and family have shared our church.  If you missed his initial sermon last week please check it out online at www.madisoncampus.org.  Just click on the “Video” button on the right side of the page.  If you haven’t heard, Pastor Byron is spending the next two weeks getting to know us, in 30 minute increments!  So, be sure the sign up and take time to let him get to know more about where your heart is.  We are blessed to have Pastor Byron and Constance leading this group of believers!

As you may have heard, Pastor Byron has accepted the invitation to be our new Senior Pastor. We have been without permanent leadership in this position for some time. So what does getting this position filled mean for us here at Madison Campus?

What are our expectations of this man of God who desires to lead this church? What do YOU expect? Does your picture of the perfect leader lean to the right or to the left? Does your mind picture Pastor Lynn, Pastor Mike, Pastor Fred, or Litch? What would you like him to be, do, say?

On the flip side, what does Pastor Byron expect of us? When he pictures the perfect congregation does it lean conservative or liberal? How do we stack up? Are we loving enough, strict enough, studious enough? Do we give sufficient time, treasure and talent?

Change brings with it promise and uncertainty, risk and reward! God is still on His throne, still controls the universe. And He cares about each of us. He loves Madison Campus, and has guided the process of change here. I wonder what He expects from all of us?!!

Dear Church Family,

We want to take this moment to bring to your attention a wonderful opportunity we have at Madison Campus Church. Your pastoral search committee has been diligently performing its duty to find our senior pastor. After months of work, we have two candidates that we will be presenting to the church board in a meeting very soon. However, we need your help. We want to invite you to join us as we fast and pray for the Lord to impress the board as to whom to choose, and impress that pastor that God is calling him to Madison Campus.

The Word of God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” We have been a long time without a senior pastor, but we trust God’s timing. So we ask you to fast and pray, and if you are unable to fast, join us in prayer, as we seek one thing and one thing only, that the will of God be done. (Fasting does not require going without food for a length of time, it means “going without” whatever you choose for a length of time, so you can concentrate on prayer.)

We respectfully submit this for your consideration and prayer,

John Boskind, Chairman of the Pastoral Search Committee
Myron Johnson, Head Elder
and Members of the Pastoral Search Committee

As I was listening to the news this week, I heard a statement that caused my soul to cringe and raised a question in my heart. The story was about the controversial building of a mosque in town. One of the comments made was, “Islam isn’t a religion.”

Regardless of where you are with regard Islam or Mosques, this statement brings up a very important question for each of us who love our freedom to worship according to our own conscience. How do we define or identify something as a religion? Must I be comfortable with your God? Is it important that I see your faith as peace loving and non-confrontational? Can the way you practice your religion be objectionable to me and still be protected?

If I can get a group of folks together to vote that your religion isn’t real, can’t you gather a group of people who might feel equally negative about my religion? Can we defend the rights of someone to worship in a way the feels abrasive to us? Can a religion be based on a faith and belief system I do not understand and am uncomfortable with?

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!