Oh Carp…

Recently, we took a little trip as a family to feed the fish. It has been about a decade, but since Alexa is going back to college in a week, we have been reminiscing about good ol’ times, and feeding the fish is one of them.

So, we arrived at Blue Springs Lake with five kids, some stale dog food, and high expectations. We hoped to see carp jumping and rolling out of the water for a shot at a kernel of food.

These fish did not disappoint. Some of them were so excited about this stale dog food they were literally crowd surfing….or shall I say carp surfing 😊 😊.

The fun thing about feeding the fish is that a little bit of food creates a lot of excitement (similar to our household LOL). The difference is, these fish have become accustomed to risking their lives for stale dog food or moldy bread.

Why?

It’s all they know.

I hate to say this, but sometimes we as humans are not far from this behavior. We have been known to risk our lives for low-end pleasures. Attempting to satisfy our appetites with temporary solutions. Like the fish, we are lured in by worthless promises and we end up worse than when we started.

This Sunday, I look forward to sharing a sermon from Colossians 2:6-15. The Apostle Paul is writing to the church in Colosse to remind them that Jesus is sufficiently satisfying (say that 5x in a row :)). We don’t need to look for an experience or a friend or anything that promises to fulfill us….anything we could ever need for fulfillment is found in Jesus.

And just like the fish, when we go outside of our God-given environment to feed our appetites we will always be disappointed. There is so much more to share, I hope you can take some time to read through Colossians 2 for yourself and then plan to join us in person at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity) or 10:45 am, or watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 10:45 am.

Have a great weekend,
Troy
Announcement: Pastor Don and Hildred and Leigh-Ann and I will be hosting a Parenting Panel this Tuesday, August 3rd. We would love to hear from you with any questions or topics you would like us to address. Please take 2 minutes to share them here: https://newlifekc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/73/responses/new

This Sunday we are hosting our New Life Baptism and Baby Dedication at Lake Quivira at 5pm. If you are interested in getting baptized or having a child dedicated, please email Pastor Jeff: jshrout@newlifekc.org. If you are planning to attend and celebrate, please RSVP with Gary: gmoore@newlifekc.org.

Rejection can be a gift…

This week the teenagers, college-age and young adults from New Life are serving Kansas City on a missions trip called, “For my City.” We have some incredible young leaders who have done everything from planning and budgeting to organizing and now leading about fifty or so people into ministry opportunities all over Kansas City.

A few days ago, we had a final section of the calendar we needed to be filled out on Friday (today) from 11-1:30 pm. I love to help with some of the ministry connections, however, this specific time was simply getting rejected at every attempt.

Finally, on Wednesday, I sat down at my desk to listen for God’s voice on this need and it occurred I should call some daycare facilities.

My second call was to a daycare five minutes away. As soon as I explained we would like to bring over 20-30 teens and young adults to offer a carnival for the kids, the director said, “you’re going to make me cry.”

This had not been my typical response and she followed up by asking how I got her number. I told her I had just googled her and then set a time later in the afternoon to meet her and talk details.

Two of the young adult leaders jumped in my car and we drove to this daycare facility. When we arrived, the director invited us into her office along with an assistant and told us how thankful they were for our help.

She went on to say that at the exact time I had called, they had been trying to plan for a carnival on Friday but didn’t know if they could pull it off on their own.

And then I realized, God had been holding off the other ministry opportunities so we could get to this daycare.


As I reflect on this story, I am again reminded that there are circumstances God allows into our lives that at first might seem to be a trial or unnecessary difficulty, however, God’s plan is often revealed on a different timeline than our expectations.

This Sunday, I look forward to sharing from Colossians 1:24-2:5 about how suffering can be a gracious gift from God. Of course at the moment, we typically just want it fixed and for the suffering to go away, however, God’s plan is often so much different and ultimately the suffering we endure as a gracious gift from God should strengthen our confidence in the Gospel.

I hope you can take some time to read through Colossians 1 and 2 for yourself and then plan to join us in person at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity) or 10:45 am, or watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 10:45 am.

Have a great weekend,
Troy

Breaker…breaker…

Recently the boys have been playing with Walkie Talkies. These gizmos are pretty fun because you can talk to and be in constant communication with someone you can’t see.

The other day, I came home and as I walked upstairs, I could hear the boys talking on the Walkie Talkies. One was in the kitchen and another was up in his bedroom.

I heard him say, “Dad’s home…hide…he’s really upset…”

And then I heard the reply, “I know you’re lying….dad never gets mad…”

Well, that is mostly true…it would be very rare for me to be upset when I just get home…my mood after a full day of settling sibling squabbles could be another story.

Using Walkie Talkies to communicate is different than talking in person or on the phone for me because when I use Walkie Talkies, I am focused and committed to the conversation. The moment I hear the beep and voice with static, I’m locked in and ready to respond.

The inherent weakness of Walkie Talkies is the range is typically pretty short…at least with the ones we buy. If you leave the yard, it’s doubtful the communication will go through.

Using Walkie Talkies as a form of communication can be comparable to prayer without the inherent weakness of range. God is always ready to listen to your prayers…at any time and the great news about prayer, as opposed to Walkie Talkies, is God is never out of range, never turns Himself off, and is always ready to listen….24/7.

This Sunday, Pastor Don will continue our sermon series in Colossians by preaching from Colossians 1:9-14 entitled, “Prayers with Paul.” We are told to pray without ceasing and given the promise that God’s ears are always open to our prayers. There will be much more on the topic of prayer and I’m certain you won’t want to miss it.

I hope you can take some time to read through Colossians 1 for yourself and then plan to join us in person at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity) or 10:45 am, or watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 10:45 am.

Over and out,
Troy
Announcement: Our New Life CityChurch Baptism is coming up on August 1^st. If you are interested in getting baptized, please reply to let me know and I will send you all the details. Also, if you are planning to come and celebrate, Pastor Jeff sent out a link to RSVP today. Or you can simply email Gmoore@newlifekc.org with the names of those attending.

Hope for life….

Over the past several days, we’ve developed a new tradition of playing HORSE after dinner. This may be inspired by the NBA Playoffs and of course, this is a competitive endeavor…nobody in our household likes to lose.

In case you don’t know, the game of HORSE is a game played with a basketball. The first person in line shoots and if they make the basket, the person behind them has to make it. If they make it, the next person goes and so forth.

If and when someone misses, they get a letter to the word, HORSE. When someone gets enough letters to spell HORSE they are out of the game and the winner is the last person in the game.

There have been a few times I’ve launched a shot perfectly into the air and it came down with nothing but net, but most often my shots have banged off the rim or backboard or worse yet landed as an airball.  

Every time I launch a shot, I hope it goes in. I tell myself, “you can make this.” And in my mind, it’s perfect…however in reality, it’s rarely perfect.

The reason I struggle with confidence is I know my track record as an outside shooter in basketball is not the best.

In life, I have similar struggles, I know my track record is not the best when it comes to always doing good. And when it comes to living perfectly, I miss more often than I want to admit. To put it simply, I miss the mark (sin) all the time. And there is no way I will ever get good enough to never miss again and furthermore, I could never make up for all of my past misses.

But there is still hope….

This Sunday, I am looking forward to opening a sermon series in the book of Colossians. The point of the book is that in ourselves, we really are without hope. However, by placing our faith in Jesus we have overwhelming hope to fulfill God’s righteous expectations. We will begin this series with an overview of the book of Colossians and then dig into Colossians 1:1-8. I hope you can take some time to read these verses for yourself and then plan to join us in person at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity) or 10:45 am, or watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 10:45 am.

Now to work on that jump shot…have a great weekend,
Troy