A Glimpse of Palm Sunday & Building Update

Enter Jesus and Palm Sunday

     What a week of ups and downs. Jesus enters into Jerusalem on Sunday and receives a ticker tape parade from  people all over Israel. Five short days later, he is being crucified! Talk about a fickle crowd! But all in God's plan.
     One of the things about the character of Jesus is that he never lost control of his emotions. He certainly got angry, but it was the righteous kind of anger, not usually the kind of anger we show. While I'm sure his disciples were enjoying the crowd on Palm Sunday and getting their 15 minutes of fame walking with Jesus, Jesus himself  didn't join in their enthusiasm. Why? He knew what lay ahead when the crowd would turn on him. But even through the episode of his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, he kept a peaceful, steady attitude. He could do that because he had entrusted himself into the hands of God. And in doing that, he could rest confidently that God was in control.
     This Sunday, I'm going to talk about how we can have that same kind of trust that Jesus had, no matter what challenges or hardships we are facing. We are also going to view Palm Sunday through the eyes of our kids and enjoy their take on Palm Sunday.
     With just over a week to go before Easter, I encourage you to keep praying for a person or family to come to church on Easter. They will join our wonderful, jubilant celebration of praise and teaching that will help them realize why Easter is such a big deal to all of us Christ-followers.

Building News

     This week has been a week of continued progress on the outside. The bricks are flying (well, they are actually being carefully placed) on the outside. The windows have also been installed today. We are close to having the outside all done.
     Inside, the HVAC men have been running duct work for the heating and cooling units to be installed on the roof. And the electrician has been running wires and continuing to get ready to connect up the power to things. Enjoy the pictures below.

This side is pretty much finished with the brick.

This is the new entrance.

This is looking at the side windows walking up from the lower level.

A Glimpse of Sunday, March 25 & Building Update

Life as It Shouldn't Have to Be

     I returned back from Mexico a week ago, where I go each year to get ready for our summer missions trip. Just this past December, I read about a church that was near the Nogales, Mexico, city dump. The dump is located farther past Sebano (Nogales Baptist Seminary) where we stay each summer. I had never gone to it or passed it, but have always seen and heard the dump trucks rumbling by and the tell-tale circling of birds in the distance that indicate a dump.
     The director of the seminary, Ramon Rodriguez, helps us determine which church to work at during the summer. He introduced me to Felipe, the pastor of Mt. Hebron. We went to visit his church with him to see what it was like so that we would have an idea of how our ministry would set up there. I soon realized that his church took us toward the dump. At the dump, we turned off the road and then jostled and bumped our way a couple of miles back and finally arrived at the church. Getting out of the van, I saw the nearest electrical pole some 50 yards away, with no connecting wire. They have no electricity. The city has plans to connect them in April, but I've heard that story before.
     As I looked out, the nearest house to the church was about 1/2 mile away. This is going to be an interesting summer! But people come to the church. Felipe said we could expect about 50-70 kids to come to the VBS program we will have for them in July. In time, this church will, no doubt, be right in the center of a bustling neighborhood as Nogales continues to expand as people make their way to this border town, in the hopes of getting a job or jumping into the U.S. So they are positioned for the future, and doing the work of God in an area that most people would simply write off.
     As we drove further off the beaten path, I saw many shacks that people live in, common in the poorer regions of Mexico. Many had no electricity and used scavenged pieces of plywood for walls and roofs. Kids with no shoes, shirts with holes. Poverty everywhere. And with it, suffering.
     Suffering is a common theme in many parts of Mexico and the world. Suffering happens here, too, but often in a different way. Still, suffering is suffering, in whatever form it comes in. As we continue our series this Sunday on "Cries from the Cross," we will look at Jesus' fifth cry, a cry of suffering. Truly he suffered on the cross, and he did it for me and for you. There are some deeper lessons that I will draw from his cry of thirst that will help us face the question of suffering.

Easter is in Two Weeks

     Two weeks from Sunday, Easter arrives. It definitely looks like spring has beaten Easter by a wide margin. While people delight in warmer weather, that delight can quickly fade as reality sticks its ugly head back into our lives. For some people, that reality is a dead-end that lacks joy and hope. This is why Easter is so wonderful! The resurrection of Jesus is not just a dusty, old historical event. It is a living, powerful reality that can invade our life today. No life is too far gone; no situation is too hopeless; no life is stuck when Jesus becomes a part of things. That's the wonderful news of Easter and Jesus raised from the dead.
     I hope that you are praying for God to open doors to those you live with, work around and go to school with. Your invitation to them to come to church could be the entrance door for them to this wonderful life that Jesus brings.

The Brick Going Up

     This week in our project, the scaffolding has been erected and workers are starting to lay the brick for the outside. The canopy roof is being shingled and a few other parts of the roof are getting their final touches. The roof drains have been connected to our main outside drain so that we should not be plagued with leaks as we have had in the past.
     I met with our interior decorator and floor consultant to look at their choices of material for our entry way, our lobby, and the colors for the bathrooms and walls. I'm thankful for people who have this knack of knowing what looks good. If it were left to me, everything would be dull, dull, dull.
     Enjoy a few pictures below.

Looking out from the church. Not much to see in this direction!

Roof drains connecting at the bottom.

Putting shingles on the canopy roof.

A Glimpse of Sunday, March 18 and Building Update

Time to Go and Make Disciples
     We want to keep that command and vision that Jesus gave his disciples in our hearts and minds because he also gave it to us and every other follower of his. So often we continue to get caught up in our Christian circles and activities at church that we don't have time for spending with those who don't know Christ. Jesus always made time for reaching out to those who didn't know him. That was why he came, and that is why the church exists. Each one of us is here to love God and to make disciples.
     We have a great reminder of Jesus this Sunday because Harry Durgin is with us. Harry is a missionary with the Navigators and grew up at Trinity. Harry and his wife, Robin, ministered in South America before coming back to Denver to work to reach out to the 20-somethings in the Denver area.  God continues to use Harry to reach people because he makes time to be with those who don't know Christ. Harry will be preaching Sunday, so you will want to make sure you are here.
     And, with just 3 weeks away from Easter, I encourage you to keep praying for God to open opportunities with your friends and family who don't know Jesus. The Easter Sunday will be a special one with drama, great music and an encouraging sermon especially for those who are exploring Christ.

Building Work Progresses
     I missed my blog posting last week (sorry about that), so I'll catch you up on the building, with some pictures below. We have finished the rough electrical work (that means running the wires to where they are going to become the outlets and light switches). The rough plumbing is also done. You can "visit" the bathrooms and see where the toilets and sinks are going to be. The old roof over the lobby has been redone to tie into the new roof, and the rubber membrane has been put on both the old and new parts.
     Outside, the wall is framed up and the yellow sheathing attached. A waterproof blue coating was put on this week. Next week they will start with the brick on the outside wall.
     Inside, the drain from the bathrooms was connected to the main church drain. This required cutting the concrete through the lobby and into the main auditorium to make a trench to lay the pipe. After laying the pipe, the trench was back filled with dirt and then this week concrete poured to cover the trench back up.
     God has been good in many ways, but one particular way became evident last week. The path of the drain in the auditorium ended up running into the heating/air conditioning return duct. What to do? Well, our plumbers calculated that the return duct was oversized when they built the auditorium so they could run the drain right through the duct instead of trying to figure out an alternative (and costly) solution. Thank the Lord for that. So they ran the drain right through the middle of the duct (you can see the pictures below).
     We keep progressing, with God's help!

The pathway of the drain to connect at the far side near the Lund Rd. Door.

This is the concrete-cutting machine.

Nice, smooth cut through the concrete.

A great "toy" for men who want to dig ditches at home.

The large tube is the heat/ac return duct--right in the middle of the way for the drain!

The solution? Go right through the duct!

Electrical panel in the kitchen.

The new roof ties into the existing shingles to make it water-tight.

Piles of dirt.

Concrete poured.

 

A Glimpse of Sunday, March 4 & Building Update

Grandchild #4 and the Wonder of God
With the birth of my fourth grandson last week, I am again marveling at God's creative abilities. How can something as cute as my grandson (and that is how every grandparent sees their grandchild) come from one microscopic, fertilized egg that begins as a cell and multiplies into countless millions of other diverse cells, resulting in a child with hair, eyes, fingernails, a heart, a brain and neurons and all the other intricate parts of our being? God is so amazing! And if we are created in his image, as we are, and are only a human and limited image at that, how much more incredible is God himself!! I can't wait to see God in all his glory and majesty!

The Cry from the Cross: A Cry of Affection
We have some families who have also experienced the other side of the birth of a baby. They have lost a child at birth, or right after birth, or during the pregnancy. They have experienced a grief that goes deeply to the soul, especially for a mom. Just as hard, I imagine, is the loss of an older child before their life should end. This Sunday, my message looks at Jesus' third cry from the cross. This third cry is directed toward Mary, his mother. It is a poignant, tender moment in the otherwise, brutal scene of the crucifixion. And it is a moment that speaks loudly to our relationship with our parents and our relationship with our children.

We are moving into the third week of Lent, and Easter will be here before we know it. I hope you are praying that God will open the door to invite someone to our Easter Sunday service. There are people who not only need God, but are looking for God. And they may be the person you see each day at work or at school. Pray for them as God leads you.

Building Progress
With the main structural steel supports and concrete in place, the framing has started. By the end of this week, we will see the outside walls begin to take shape with the sheeting going up (that's the yellow pieces in the pictures below). The roofers are tying in the old roof to the new roof. Unfortunately, we have discovered that the old roof above our present lobby and lounge needs replacing. On the positive side, redoing that part of the roof will unite together the old and new roof into one solid roof, and with some modifications of sloping the old roof, water will run off in a much better system than we had before.

We also have to modify our drainage system a bit so when the water runs off the roof, it will get carried away from the building. You can see some excavating pictures to locate where the existing drain is that we need to tie into.

The pictures below show the framing, sheeting, roof work and drain work. There is also a picture of the sprinkler pipe that runs into the lobby and then is ready to branch off to various places as we work toward sprinklering the entire building.

This is our new front entrance. Can you imagine yourself walking through it?

This is the sprinkler pipe ready to branch off in several directions.