On the moooove…

Yesterday evening, Leigh-Ann took our youngest boy, Ian to Tai-kwon-do and I was in charge of dropping off Isaiah and picking up Dallas from soccer training. Since the weather was nice, Dallas and I decided to stick around for some extra practice.

As we were getting ready to head out onto the field, Dallas noticed his phone was missing. He initially thought it was under one of the multitude of bags and warm-ups on the sideline….however, after I tried calling it and there was no response, we looked for it on “find my phone.”

I pulled it up and noticed it was close by…but moving…after watching it travel west for a few minutes we concluded, he had put it in the wrong bag before his practice (the bags are all identical…so yes, it could be an easy mistake…but they are all identical…so, one needs to be careful not to just put the phone in any blue bag….this is dad talking here 😊).

We tried to call it several more times…but no luck.

We figured there was nothing we could do while the phone was on the road, so we decided to head out to the field anyway and wait to see where the phone ended up. We planned to wait until it stopped at an address and then knew we could track down his unsuspecting teammate.

The phone made a stop for dinner at Popeye’s Chicken…😊…we kind of wished we had followed it.

Then after about 15 minutes, it was on the move again…East….then North…finally after about thirty minutes it stopped in a cul-de-sac.

We called again…and his teammate answered.

“Hey this is Dallas…hey is this Dallas…I have your phone…I know…(Background voice)…tell him we can meet in between….are you sure?” ….you get the point…

We jumped in the car to make the exchange…and had quite the laugh along the way. In the end, it was a few extra miles, but good content for a Friday email….all is good.

This Sunday, it’s not about a moving phone, but rather “A Moving Forward Messiah 😊. Gabor Gresz will be preaching a sermon from Matthew 4:12-25 where we will learn how Jesus moved to the masses, then He moved to the few, and then Jesus moved with a few to the masses.

If we could see Jesus moving on a map, it could be similar to us watching the phone…some of His ministry moves would make sense and others would leave us wondering why Jesus was moving toward Samaria or back to Galilee or even into Jerusalem.

Ultimately, we look back with full confidence that every movement Jesus made while on earth had a purpose and perfectly fulfilled God’s divine will. There is so much more for us to learn together. I look forward to seeing you at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity available), or 10:45 am (Full KidCity available), or you can watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 9:15 am. Additionally, we are also publishing our sermons on Spotify.

I hope you enjoy this Spring weather,
Troy

A Response to tragedy…

This past week has been tough. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl and about a million of our closest friends squeezed together for a celebratory parade.

We enjoyed plenty of cheering and revisiting our favorite plays…especially the game-winner in the end zone.

The Kingdom of the world was pretty evident on the stage….and then tragedy struck.

If you watched it live as I did, you were probably glued to the TV waiting for answers to questions such as how many are injured? Did anyone die? Who did this? And probably many more…

As the chaos began to calm down and answers began coming in, I was hit with a sinking feeling…a reminder of our depravity and the brokenness of this world.

A day intended for celebration turned into tragedy.

As a church, we want to respond appropriately.

As pastors, we are here to pray with you, listen to you, and share hope from the Scriptures. Send us a quick email to info@newlifekc.org and one of us will get in touch with you.

We have also decided to use our New Life Development Academy tomorrow to respond to this tragedy. Pastor Jeff, Don, Lee and I will share some thoughts about this shooting and then we will open up the time for a discussion. Our objective is to process this tragedy together. Anyone is invited. We will have extra chairs and coffee.

In addition, we are joining with many other churches in Kansas City to pray for our city to turn toward the Lord at this time. In addition, we are encouraging those who want to give to support a fund called, “The Church Loves Kansas City” which will be used to help with funeral expenses for Lisa Lopez who was killed, medical expenses for victims, counseling to help process the tragedy, and any proceeds after this will be held to help with any future crisis.

On Sunday, I look forward to sharing a sermon from Matthew 4:1-11 entitled “A Fighting Messiah.” This is the passage about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. We will discover together that our temptations may be severe…but no matter what we have a Messiah, Jesus…who fights our battles and allows us to live in victory.

This is a part of our new sermon series from the Gospel of Matthew that will take us into Easter. In the meantime, I hope you can join us in the morning to discuss this tragedy, if you prefer you can also send us a prayer request.

I look forward to sharing much more on Sunday. I look forward to seeing you at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity available), or 10:45 am (Full KidCity available), or you can watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 9:15 am. Additionally, we are also publishing our sermons on Spotify.

In the name of Jesus,
Troy

How ’bout those Chieeefs….

In case you didn’t know…In two days, the Chiefs play the 49’ers in Super Bowl 58…😊…Let’s run it back!!!

Even though they made it again, the path to the Super Bowl has been long and tough. About 6 months ago we took a family day and traveled to St. Joseph for the Chiefs training camp. From what I’ve heard Andy Reid is known for his tough training camps. Although, his brother Randy isn’t nearly as demanding IYKYK :>).

Coach Reid is known for paying close attention to detail and expecting our Chiefs to play smart and hard for the whole game…offense, defense, and special teams. Each player has to invest everything they have into the success of the team…and when they do, it usually turns out great.

As a fan, it sure is fun to live in Kansas City during these winning seasons. As a faithful Vikings fan growing up, watching my team in the Super Bowl is a new experience. I still root for the Vikings but have been fully converted to a citizen of the Red Kingdom.

When it comes to strategy, I am an average armchair quarterback…I like to think I know the best plays to call and it’s not hard at all for me to notice when the refs make a bad call. I will admit, I wouldn’t know the first thing about coaching in the NFL, but I do know that winning in football demands making the right choice again and again.

Winning over the long haul demands that every pass route must be run with precision….and of course, the receiver has to make the catch 😊. It takes blocking, running, and receiving on offense and coverage and tackling well on defense.

An exemplary team consists of hundreds of coaches, players, and staff stringing together one good decision after another. These simple decisions eventually add up to winning games and championships.

Our Christian life has plenty of parallels. An exemplary life is Gospel-empowered choices threaded together. Although we may long to be a part of a big movement of God (and this can happen) most of our lives as Christians are simply making one good choice after another. This Sunday, we are going to learn from two of Paul’s close friends, Timothy and Epaphroditus. Their lives teach us how to make the simple choices to be good friends and faithful ministers.

I look forward to continuing our sermon series, “The Good Life of Christ” by studying from Philippians 2:19-30. The sermon is titled, “Thriving as Citizens of Another Kingdom: An Exemplary Life.”

I look forward to sharing much more on Sunday. I look forward to seeing you at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity available), or 10:45 am (Full KidCity available), or you can watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 9:15 am. Additionally, we are also publishing our sermons on Spotify.

How ‘bout those Chieeefs,
Troy

Because I’m happy….

What makes you happy?

There are plenty of things that make me happy.

This weather makes me happy – plus Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow. Early Spring is on the way! And if you want to get a little laugh you can watch it here 😊.

The Kansas City Chiefs are headed back to another Super Bowl! And my, didn’t they look good! I have some thoughts on the Justin Tucker Vs. Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce altercation, but you will have to come on Sunday 😊. The Chiefs winning the AFC Championship makes me happy.

Good food makes me happy. Family and friends make me happy. Great gatherings at church make me happy. Health makes me happy…Well-behaved kids make me happy 😊. I could go on…

It’s easy to be glad and rejoice when I’m happy…but what if you’re not so happy?

What if it’s cold outside? Or if you lived in Baltimore…😊…too soon? What if your health wasn’t great or life didn’t seem to be going well?

Could you still be glad and rejoice?

The short answer is yes, and the longer answer is yes, and when you are glad and rejoice despite circumstances you are a light in a dark world.

When you choose joy and not complaining, you are testifying about your faith in Christ. When you make sacrifices empowered by God’s grace you have a good reason to be glad and rejoice.

This Sunday, I look forward to sharing a sermon from Philippians 2:12-18 about the truth that when Christ transforms our lives, we shine as lights in a dark world. This is a part of our verse-by-verse sermon series through Philippians entitled, “The Good Life of Christ.”

Between us, I hope our joy and gladness are not tested a week from Sunday with a disappointing loss, so I’m already believing we are going to run it back.

I look forward to sharing much more on Sunday. I look forward to seeing you at 8:00, 9:15 (Full KidCity available), or 10:45 am (Full KidCity available), or you can watch the Livestream on YouTube (Like and Subscribe) or Facebook at 9:15 am. Additionally, we are also publishing our sermons on Spotify.

Have a great weekend,
Troy