Feb. 24
Pergo Deus Dimension 2 Conference, Sanctuary, 7pm
Mpact (K-6th grade girls) Sleepover, Fellowship Hall, 6pm

Feb. 25
Seasoned Saints (50+) Luncheon, Cost $11 per person, Anthony’s Steakhouse, 11:30am

Feb. 26
First service, 9am
D:50 classes – click here to view class details, 10am
Second service, 11am
Chili Cook-off, Auditorium, Following 11am service

Feb. 27
Financial Peace University class, sign up here!

Mar. 1-3
Nebraska District Men’s Retreat & Body Building Conference, more info coming soon!

Mar. 15-17
Nebraska District Women’s Conference, more info here!

Mar. 29
Jeremy Camp & Francesca Battistelli, 7:30pm

Hey Church-

Have you been reading the Word aloud? Last Sunday we shared from 2 Chron 34 about how young King Josiah had the Book of God read verbally to all of the people. So, we challenged everyone to read three Bible chapters aloud to someone else every day this week.

Many are reading them to family members, roommates or friends. Others are calling friends on the phone and reading the Word aloud to one another each morning. Parents are even reading at night with infants who don’t yet understand what is being said. God’s Word is always profitable!

In my household, we decided to read through the New Testament Epistles, starting with Galatians and going forward from there. On Monday and Tuesday, Laurie and I were out of town, so we read the Scriptures aloud with Anna over the phone. It was awesome! I could really sense the Holy Spirit as we took this small step of honoring God’s Word.

If you haven’t started yet, let me encourage you to take a step and find someone that you can read the Scriptures out loud with once per day–and make it a priority all week long. I can’t wait until Sunday to hear what God did inside of you as you prioritized the Living Word of the Living God! Let’s DIG!

Pastor Hoyt

P.S. If you missed service–listen to the podcast here. Also, if you missed the Journey Retreat, all of the sessions will be available on the website by the end of this week.

I learn a lot just by listening and watching. Last week I watched a couple of kids in my neighborhood meet for the first time and then start playing with each other. Candidly, it brought up a few less-than-pleasant memories of when I was a young, shy, insecure kid trying to make friends with new kids when my family moved here over forty years ago.

Let’s face it, making friends can be a threatening experience. Will they accept me for who I am?  Who do I have to pretend to be and what things do I have to act as though I enjoy?  How do I start the conversation?  Will they trash me and dump me from their “friend bucket” like the last crowd did?  Yes, making friends can be intimidating, but in the Body of Christ we need to step out of our “comfortable aloneness” and try.  That’s it, just try.

So I’m watching these kids get acquainted, eating popsicles and walking down the sidewalk when one of them says to the other, “I’m the boss of all my friends…except you.” Well that certainly captured my attention. I carefully guarded my upward glance, spying out the other child’s response, when all I could catch was a muffled, “Well I have 213 friends!” From there, the sound trailed off while my brain perked up…and the wheels in my head started churning. I typed into my phone some thoughts about true friendship for reflection.

Is there both give and take in my friendships? When I was young, I had a friend that pretty much made all the decisions as to what we would do, where we would go and when we would do it. It wasn’t at all healthy, but I was so afraid of rejection and being alone, that I always gave in–even when wrong moral choices were involved. Desperate people make dumb choices. If someone is the “boss” in your relationship–then it’s probably not a “friendship”, but just an “arrangement.”. (This applies to marriages, also.)

Is my approach to relationships “humble”?  It’s essential that I not only resist being a doormat for the friendship-boss, but it’s also critical that I NOT become that relationship-ruler myself! I must remember…it’s not about me. Do I talk about myself a lot? That will drive people away faster than almost anything! Do I usually have to have my own way? If so, it is time to take a chill-pill and rediscover the wonder of humility.

You may recall a quote I shared a couple of Sundays ago. It came from Britain’s Queen Victoria following the death of her husband, when she was heard to exclaim, “I now have no one  left to call me ‘Victoria’”. Of course, the very ones retelling this quote were the ones that pro-forma required to always refer to her with a most appropriate royal appellation. Just imagine the loneliness of always being spoken to at “arm’s length”! General Davis said to his colonel, “It’s after 5 PM, Mike, you can call me Rick, now.” To which came the reply, “Yes sir, General Rick.”

There’s no doubt that within certain arenas in our world there are protocols for those in rank-designated positions and roles. But what makes for enduring relationships is humility in heart and the extension of grace to those around us. Nobody should be the boss of all their friends and nobody should be ruled in all their relationships.

This week we are beginning our Summer session of Journey Groups. These are gatherings of around 15 or so that meet together for spiritual growth and building new relationships. I want to encourage you to sign up and show up.  You can register here on the bellevuechristian.com website. Please don’t pass up this key connecting point in your walk with Christ!

Just out of curiosity, have any of you ever had a friendship where you were the boss or you were the servant? Did you ever get the relationship re-aligned?  How? Can you think of any Bible examples of this happening?

Pastor Gary Hoyt