I am sitting in my office as the last people who attended a funeral service I just performed are saying their goodbyes.  A sudden death of a 74 year old man who looked in amazing health, Don Stewart.

After hearing many family members are friends speak, all good things about Don, hear are some random thoughts:

1. Never underestimate the influence you had on your children.
2. Good deeds are not quickly forgotten.
3. We don’t know how long we have, say what needs to be said, soon.
4. If you want lots of friends at your funeral, invest in people.
5. Good choices have long lasting impact.
6. The deceased has a major influence on the funeral service.
7. When people talk about your strengths, it is a good thing for it too last a while.

I have sensed so much more attack from the Enemy as we have pursued this endeavor.  Must be on the right track.

We have made a series of videos on the history of our church to encourage people to stretch out their faith and pioneer again. 

First installment is below:  It is better than any in house video of a church under 1,000 I have ever seen.  I have seen a lot.

Give it 4 minutes and tell me what you think.

Yesterday we launched a Capital Giving Campaign at the church we pastor.  We are calling it Building Tomorrow Together.

Came across an amazing statement in my research for Sunday’s Message:  “Never let the shoe tell the foot how big it can grow.”

Borrowed heavily from many sources for yesterday’s message.  Main thoughts are below:

4 PURPOSES OF Capital Giving Campaign

1. To help people grow to spiritual maturity
2. To raise the funds to build
3. To develop fellowship and unity within our church family
4. To celebrate with thanksgiving

Expect three different reactions

1. Those who will give no matter what we do
2. Those who will never give no matter what we do
3. Those who will give when they catch the vision

Campaign Non-Negotiables

1. We will not pressure anyone
2. We will not say no for anyone
3. We will not sell anything
4. We will challenge everyone to sacrifice equally

That blog entry title could be a good title for a book, couldn’t it?

Anyway, I was speaking about “Why I Love The Church!”  That is the Church “C” (global) and the church “c” (local).

I was listing off 6 reasons why I love the local church I pastor. 

I immediately realized that if I left Family Life and was looking for a church, these are the exact things I would be looking for in my next church to pastor.  Or attend.  List below.

1. We are willing to extend invitations
2. We are a perfect place for imperfect people
3. We are contributors, not consumers
4. We are flexible, not fossils
5. We are outward, not inward focused
6. We respond to vision

I don’t have the final attendance numbers at church today, but I do know this number: 6. 

That is the number of people who left our 10:00 service because they couldn’t find a seat.  Picture to the right.

They actually came back to the 11:30 service!

Our church just ended a 21 day emphasis on Prayer and Fasting.  I challenged everyone to stretch, and for me that meant attempting a 7 day fast.  My previous longest fast had been a 4 day fast.

Below are a few thing I learned, or re-learned through this time.

1. The majority of my eating has nothing to do with being hungry.
2. There are more food commercials, online ads than you think.
3. Fasting doesn’t force God to do to a thing.
4. I have become a consumer of food, and not an enjoyer of food, and that might be gluttony.
5. People are capable of much more than they think.
6. More people will go farther and deeper when there is synergy and public commitment with each other.
7. I have no regrets about any meal that I missed.
8. There are no regrets when the fast is done.
9. 10 pounds.  Weight lost.
10. Wendy’s baked potato.  What I “broke-fast” with.

When we arrived in Kansas as youth pastors they were the head of the Youth Pastors in the state.  Their three children were all at one time in our youth group.

When we moved to a lead pastorate, they had just become that head of the pastors in the state.

For 15 years they have been supportive, caring, and interested in our ministry and our lives.

Today he was our guest speaker and she drove 3 hours one way, separately, just to spend on 70 minutes service with us and about 2-3 hours with Sarah.

My wife and I are thankful for friends like Terry and Karen Yancey.

Yesterday we launched our annual Fasting and Prayer emphasis at the church we pastor.

What I once used to dismiss and something that is “not my gift” I know and value as one of the deepest spiritual formation times in my life.

Shared a simple Top 10 list on fasting yesterday.  Feel free to listen here later this week or watch and listen now to the service here.

Top 10 Fasting Facts

#10 Fasting is expected

#9 Fasting is rewarded

#8 Fasting Can be loaded with legalism

#7 Fasting is not dieting

#6 Fasting slows everything down

#5 Fasting is purposeful

#4 Fasting is always inconvenient

#3 Fasting properly positions me to receive

#2 Fasting must be experienced

#1 Fasting will bring a response from God

Christmas Decorations are coming down today.  Shot some video of them to send to my family back in Cleveland, thought I would share it.

My wife does do an amazing job of Christmas decorating.

As we look back on 2009, we realize that without the grace and salvation from our Savior Jesus Christ, we would have nothing. Without great friends and family, we would have even less.

We look forward to connecting with you (in person, Facebook, etc.) somehow someway in 2010.

Lehman’s Top Events of 2009

• Sarah was a maid of honor, at her mother’s wedding. She married after 6 years of widowhood. Mark performed the wedding and had the hardest time calling his mother-in-law by her first name. Welcome to the family, Doyle!
• Mark shaved off the goatee that had been around for over 10 years. Kept the soul patch.
• Said goodbye to Thuan, the Vietnamese student, in June. He is now living with an Uncle in the Southern California area and attending college.
• After 9 years of serving the church in Pittsburg Mark took a one month sabbatical in July.
• Mark successfully contracted a staph infection 4 days into his one month sabbatical.
• We celebrated 19 years of marriage at the Chateau Avalon in Kansas City on July 28.
• We all visited Washington DC in September, postponed from July. Best trip of our lives.
• President Obama celebrated Conner’s 11th birthday on September 24 by allowing him to visit the White House.
• We discovered Facebook late December 2008 and have loved reconnecting.
• Mark and Sarah went, along with great staff, to the Catalyst conference in Atlanta in Oct.
• The church we serve, www.flagchurch.com, is still growing, about 10% this year. We hired amazing new staff, opened an 1800 square foot kids facility, and doubled our land in 2009.

We blog weekly, many of the items above have been communicated in greater detail, with pictures and video at: www.markandsarahlehman.blogspot.com.

It is our hope and prayer that each of you grow in the knowledge and depth of love of our Savior Jesus Christ, whose birth gave us freedom from sin, purpose for living and hope of a future.

Richest blessings!

Mark, Sarah, and Conner

1511 South College – Pittsburg, KS – 66762 – 620-249-3035

mark@pastor.com sarah@lehman.net connerlehman@gmail.com