Super Servants - Scott and Debbie Sidusky

I'm spending Wednesday nights in November hanging out with TFC's youth group. Did you know they have their own "youth room"? Yep, it's the 'redocrated' garage of Scott and Debbie Sidusky. I'll tell ya' what, watching Scott and Debbie lead, interact with and care for our teens is an amazing thing to watch. They are both VERY talented and they have HUGE hearts for our teens. For almost a decade, Scott has felt God's leading toward youth ministry and it's easy to see why God has called him when watching him in 'action' on Wednesday nights.

In addition to Wednesday nights, Debbie has started an accountability group with some of the girls. Man, that's REALLY good stuff!

But as good as Scott and Debbie are, they CAN'T do it alone! They need other adults to step up and serve alongside them. If you'd like to learn more about serving in this important ministry, please talk with Scott or Debbie.

Super Servant - Noel Forrester

I just heard a third-person account of a wonderful act of service done by one member of our community for another. One family at TF recently had their vehicle broke down and the mechanic gave them two really bad options: 1) Sell the vehicle for $50 scrap metal or 2) pay $3,500 to fix the engine.
To make a long story short, Noel Forrester said he could get the engine for $500 and would put it in for them. Wow, that's awesome!
That's awesome for two reasons. First of all, I can barely change my oil so I'm impressed by those with mad mechanical skills. But secondly that's awesome because it's a great picture of the discipline of serving others.

Good stuff.

Super Servants - Sunday's children's ministers!

This edition of Super Servants is an obvious choice, it's all of those who served in our kids area on Sunday. Here they are all, read this list and be proud of these servants!

Emily Hail

Michelle Corbin

Tonya Pride

Barb Pearson

Melissa Billings

Dawn Strahan

Mike Palmer

Brian Roberts

Destiny Florez

Aaron Holmes

If you were in the sanctuary, you know the powerful service that they missed. But while we were seeing the Holy Spirit work in the hearts of people these Super Servants were serving everyone's kids. There isn't a more evangelistic thing anyone could've been doing from 10:30-11:45 on Easter Sunday than serving the kids of our first-time guests.

And as a perfect example, I'll share this story. The toddler of a new family wet his pants in the nursery during the service (he's in the process of being potty-trained). So Barb Pearson went into the sanctuary to ask the parents what to do with his wet clothes and how to change him. I was meeting with that family on Sunday night and they told me how impressed they were with that gesture. Way to go Barb, Tonya and Emily!

Super Servants - Aaron and Sarah Holmes

Aaron and Sarah Holmes (and we can add Lincoln, too) are the latest TFC Super Servants!

Since the fall, they've been investing in a family that isn't a part of TF and doesn't yet know Christ. They admit it's not the easiest thing but they know God has established that relationship for a reason. Investing in Unbelievers

Aaron serves faithfully on the set-up/tear-down crew, serves on our Advisory Council and serves in other various ways. I've also heard a rumor that Pastor Andy just recruited Aaron to join TF Kidz as well!

Sarah also faithfully serves our kids through TF Kidz. Sarah has also just taken on the big role of being the church treasurer, which means she pays the bills, balances our check book and answers my never-ending questions about where we are in the budget. Serving Others

One particular act of service inspired me to share Aaron and Sarah's story. Sarah received some very nice Christmas presents but decided she'd like to pass along that generosity. So Sarah returned the gifts and used the money to buy some very nice jewerly for all 40 of the February Love Wins bags. Some of what she bought were earrings. Now I dont' really know the difference but my wife said they're really nice! That's a great example of Giving Sacrificially.

Thanks for being Servant-Leaders!

Super Servant - My sweet wife!

Yes, I realize this looks like I'm trying to score some points with my wife but in reality, Erin doesn't really like it when I single her out. But if anyone deserves recognition as a Super Servant, it's my wife.

To explain why I say this, let me give you a picture into an average 5-day stretch for my wife. Last Wednesday night, she worked with some other members of the Love Wins ministry to put together the gift bags for their trip to the clubs that Friday night. On Thursday night, Erin lead her 5th graders in a big musical program. On Friday night, she loaded up the gift bags and took them to the two Gentleman's clubs for Love Wins. Since Erin was there by herself, she didn't go into the clubs but she was warmly greeted by the security at both clubs. In fact, the head security guy at one of the clubs gave Erin his email address because they want to continue helping the family that the Strahan small group has been helping.
I woke Erin up early Sunday morning to tell her that Pastor Andy was puking his guts out and wouldn't be able to lead TF Kidz that morning. So what does my sweet wife do? She gets all the supplies and lesson plans from Andy and she leads the entire kids program that morning. Maybe I shouldn't be that impressed, she did have like an entire half hour to prepare!
On Monday night Erin spent three hours at her sister's house watching their three kids while her sister and husband attended the Financial Peace University class I'm helping to teach. It's an awesome class, by the way, not my teaching but the change happening in people's lives.
Finally, every single night (almost) Erin posts on her Love Wins Dialogue blog. There are several ladies growing closer to Christ through reading this blog. We've also started putting this blog address in the Love Wins bags.

Wow! It makes me tired just writing all of this.

It was exactly 10 years ago that Erin and I went out on our first date. We went to Kemper Arena for the Stars on Ice show. It was an expensive date, I had to save for it but I was hoping it would tip Erin's decision toward "yes." In the middle of the date she told me she would've gone on a date with me wherever I'd planned. It was still however, money well spent!

I'd known Erin about 6 months before asking her out. It was long enough to know she was special. I had no idea however, just how special she really was. The longer we're married the more I realize the incredible gift that God has brought into my life. I can't imagine a better ministry partner.

Super Servants

When I first thought of the idea of Trinity Family Super Servants, I was thinking of people like Troy and Dawn Strahan.
I'll just go down the list of ways Troy and Dawn serve others at TFC.

• Dawn serves with Pastor Andy on the Children's Ministry Council and both Troy and Dawn are constantly volunteering to serve the kids. Sometimes they're serving because it's their week, other times they're filling in for someone who forgot they were serving that day.



• The Strahans have just started a new small group that meets in their home every other Sunday night. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but small groups are the way we build authentic community together. It's impossible to be close with everyone in our church, but we can build deep relationships with a few other families. If you're not in a group, you can email Troy and Dawn about their group at tdstray4@kc.rr.com.



• I can't tell you how many times Troy has run to price chopper to get donuts and juice for Sunday morning. If someone forgets to bring refreshments or if no one has signed up, Troy almost always bails us out. I noticed that a lot of people hung out after worship on Sunday, drinking orange juice and enjoying the donuts, we can thank Troy for picking those up.

Yet one more example of a family at TFC living out our discipline of serving others!

Super Servant - Areon Kelvington!

I could maybe rename this blog entry to "Super Leader," although service is certainly a part of what AK is doing with this new men's group.
Areon sent me a document today that was describing what the men's accountability group is all about. I'm going to post it all below, if you'd like to read it. But if you don't take the time to read this, then just know that all guys would benefit from this group! I believe that one of the best ways to call TF to becoming a church that lives out God's best is by calling the men of the church to live out God's best. And Aaron is doing exactly that with this men's group.

If you'd like to join this group, send Aaron an email at areonk@hotmail.com.

Here's what the men's group will be discussing:


TRINITY FAMILY MEN’S ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP
Accountability Groups: Men Helping Men in Their Walk with God ~ by Randy Alcorn
Foundational Scriptures:
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Prov. 27:17)
"Carry each others' burdens . . . and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal. 6:2)
"Be very careful, then, how you live . . ." (Eph. 5:15)
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb. 11:24-25)
To experience true accountability, we have both the right but the responsibility to ask each other hard and to-the-point questions. Our goal must be not just to help each other feel good, but to help each other be good. The following questions are only suggestions. You may add and subtract as you wish. The point is not legalism, but checking in with each other in a meaningful way.

Questions to Ask Initially--And Come Back To Periodically
l. What are the biggest barriers to your relationship with God?

2. What are the biggest barriers to your relationship with your wife?

3. What are the most serious temptations you face at home? At work? Elsewhere?

4. If Satan were to wage an all-out attack on your life, what area(s) would he focus on? (What are your greatest points of vulnerability? For example, sexual impurity, financial irresponsibility, dishonesty, greed, pride, etc.)

5. How can your brothers help you and pray for you?
Questions to Ask Each Other Regularly
1. What have you learned or memorized this week from God's Word? (Share a specific passage.)

2. What happened this week that put you to the test? How did you respond?

3. How are you doing in your relationship with God? (Be specific--time in the Word, prayer, sense of dependence on the Lord, etc.)

4. How are you doing in your relationship with your wife? (Be specific--communication, spiritual sharing, conflict resolution, etc.)

5. How are you doing in your relationships with your children? Or parents? Other key people?

6. How are you doing in your relationships at work or school?

7. How are you doing with your thought life? This week did you consistently keep your thoughts and actions pure before God? (If the answer is "yes", ask "Are you lying?")

8. What kind of a ministry did you have this week? Whom did you share Christ with, either directly or indirectly? Or, how did you use your gifts and resources to help the needy?

9. How can the others pray specifically for you this week?

10. Anything else you'd like to share? (Questions or issues you're dealing with?)

Select the questions you want to be asked in your next meeting by your "accountant." Beyond these, he or she may ask any others which may be productive for your spiritual growth.I. 75 Specific Accountability Questions. ___1. Have you had daily Time Alone with God since we last met? ___2. How many Days Alone with God have you taken? ___3. Have your thoughts been pure and free from lust? ___4. Have you dated your spouse every week? ___5. Have you taken a day off each week? ___6. Have you had a daily debriefing time with your spouse? ___7. Is there anyone against whom you are holding a grudge? ___8. Is there any emotional attachment with someone of the opposite sex which could develop dangerously? ___9. With whom could such an attachment develop in the future? ___10. Have you given unselfishly to your mate's needs? ___11. Are there any unresolved conflicts with your mate? ___13. How often have you had family altar since we last met? ___14. How often have you shared your faith? When? What happened? ___15. How much time have you spent with your children? Doing what? ___16. Have you spread falsehoods about another -- slander? ___17. Have you hurtful truth about another --gossip? ___18. Do you have any unmade restitutions? ___19. Are you disciplining you child? Mate? How? When? ___20. Is your practice of journaling up to date? ___21. How much have you fasted since we last met? ___22. Have you had nightly prayers with your spouse? ___23. Report on your memorizing & meditating on scripture. ___24. How are you improving in your relationship with your mate? ___25. Is there a brother you should try to restore from sin? ___26. When did you last give a thoughtful gift to your mate? ___27. In what ways have you been tempted to be proud? ___28. How have you given to the needy since we last met? ___39. How much time have you wasted watching TV? ___30. What about questionable movies, magazines, or videos? ___31. Are you completely out of installment debt? ___32. How are you avoiding materialism? ___33. Have you exaggerated or lied since we last met? ___34. Have you been able to ignore carnal, complaining, petty people? ___35. What spiritual growth books have you read since we met? ___36. Of what are you afraid? How will you defy this fear? ___37. How have you played "Team Ball" with others since we last met? ___38. Have you had a critical spirit since we last met? ___39. In what special ways have you shown love to your mate? ___40. Have you been fully submissive to authority? ___41. Who is it that you are tempted to envy, or be jealous of? ___42. Is there any believer with whom you are out of harmony? ___43. Who are you disciplining and mentoring? How? ___44. Was there a time when your love for God was hotter? ___45. How have you attempted to make peace between others? ___46. Have you taken anything not belonging to you, large or small? ___47. What sexual sin have you been most tempted to commit? ___48. Have you a practice which may be a stumbling block to others? ___49. Have you avoided outbursts of anger or rage? ___50. About what have you been inclined to boast? ___51. Have you been tempted to give up? How? Why? ___52. How have you clarified your life's mission since we last met? ___53. Have you avoided fighting, quarreling, dissension, and factions? ___54. How have you shown enduring patience since we last met? ___55. Have you avoided obscenity, foolish talk, and course jokes? ___56. In what ways have you been tempted to greed? ___57. Have you selfish ambition? How pure is your desire to achieve? ___58. Is there hate, malice, or ill will in your heart for anyone? ___59. Is there any sin, inward or outward, which has dominion over you so that you are habitually falling in this area? ___60. How have you expressed thanksgiving to God and others? ___61. How have you shown submission and respect to your husband? ___62. How have you shown love and tenderness to your wife? ___63. Have you frivolously wasted words since we last met? ___64. Have you participated in fruitless arguments? ___65. Do you have you a teachable spirit? ___66. Have you shown favoritism toward the rich or powerful? How? ___67. In what way have you launched out in faith since we last met? ___68. Have you abused your power over others? How? ___69. Have you deceitfully manipulated people for your own benefit? ___70. Have you been guilty of worry, anxiety, or distrust of God? ___71. In what ways have you shown brotherly kindness? ___72. Is there any sin of another which you have come to tolerate? ___73. How have you sought opportunities to serve, listen, and help? ___74. How have you cared for the needy since we last met? ___75. To whom did you show Christ's love since we last met? How?
II. John Wesley's "Four Questions" for weekly class meetings.
___A. What known sins have you committed since we last met? If there is such, what shall we do about it? ___B. What temptations have you faced? ___C. How were you delivered from these temptations? ___D. What have you thought, said or done, of which you are uncertain whether it was sin or not?
III. GOALS -- To be held accountable for.
1.
2.
3.

The Weekly One-Hour Accountability Check-up
Accountability is to be regularly answerable for each of the key areas of our lives to qualified people.
Suggested Guidelines:
Try to ensure that each person gets equal "air time." However, if one of you has a particularly hard struggle one week, be flexible enough to focus on that issue even if it takes the entire hour.
Let each person work through a section at a time, and then let the other(s) answer. This will keep things moving better.
Don't neglect the prayer time.
Try one-on-one. Small groups of 3 to 5 men can also work well if everyone speaks succinctly (one hour will go by very quickly).
Re-read the chapter, Accountability: The Missing Link, at least once every year and discuss the questions at the end of the chapter. You will be surprised how your understanding of accountability will change over the years.
Stick it out. You will want to quit, perhaps often. Ask God to strengthen you when you want to give up.
Hold each other accountable for the goals you each set for yourselves and to the standards of God's Word.
Never forget the purpose of accountability: To each day become more Christ-like in all of your ways. Remember it is Jesus who is the object of our search, our devotion, our sacrifice, and our affection. Anything less than intimacy with the living Lord will be a pallid achievement of your time together. Finally, if you are uncomfortable with the format feel free to alter these questions and type up your own accountability checklist. The substance is more important than the form. You may want to divide the key areas among more than one accountability partner.
Questions to Start off the Meeting:
How has God blessed you this week? (What went right?)
What problem has consumed your thoughts this week? (What went wrong?)
Spiritual Life:
Have you read God's Word daily? (How long? Why not? Will you next week?)
Describe your prayers? (for yourself, for others, praise, confession, gratitude)
How is your relationship with Christ changing?
How have you been tempted this week? How did you respond?
Do you have any unconfessed sin in your life?
Are you walking in the Spirit?
Did you worship in church this week? (Was your faith in Jesus strengthened? Was He honored?)
Have you shared your faith? In what ways? How can you improve?

Home Life:
How is it going with your wife? (attitudes, time, irritations, disappointments, progress, her relationship with Christ)
How is it going with the kids? (quantity and quality of time, values and beliefs, education, spiritual welfare)
How are your finances doing? (debts, sharing, saving, stewardship)
Work Life:
1. How are things going on the job? (Career progress, relationships, temptations, work load, stress problems, working too much)
Critical Concerns:
Do you feel in the center of God's will? Do you sense His peace?
What are you wrestling with in your thought life?
What have you done for someone else this week? (the poor, encouragement, service)
Are your priorities in the right order?
Is your moral and ethical behavior what it should be?
How are you doing in your personal high-risk area?
Is the "visible" you and the "real" you consistent in this relationship?
Prayer:
1. Close the one-hour accountability check-up with ten to fifteen minutes of prayer. Focus on concerns of the week. [1]

What is the best way to guard ourselves against these and other sins that can wreck a ministry or render us relatively ineffective in ministry? Scripture indicates that personal accountability is important to this process.
Ultimately, of course, we are accountable to God. This is a doctrine that is often neglected today in light of God's grace and forgiveness, but one which the scriptures emphasize. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10; cf. Rom. 14:2). In the judgment we will give an account for every careless word (Matt. 12:36), God will bring to light the things hidden in the darkness, our secrets, and will disclose the motives of our hearts (Rom. 2:16; 1 Cor. 4:5). Even our ministries will be tested as to how well we have built God's temple, and we will be rewarded or suffer loss accordingly (1 Cor. 3:10-15).
If we realize the full impact of our ultimate accountability to God, how much more zealous we should be to establish earthly accountabilities with fellow believers to help us develop the discipline we need to live a life that will honor and please God! Of course, we must never attempt to transfer personal responsibility for our life to any group, but God may use such relationships to assist us with our own personal responsibility.
God knows our frame that we are but dust. He knows our hearts are deceitful and wicked. He never intended for Christianity to be an individualistic, do-it-yourself religion. That is why he gave us such commands as: love one another (John 13:34); confess your sins to one another (James 5:16); pray for one another (James 5:16); look out for the interest of others (Philippians 2:4); encourage one another (Hebrews 10:24); stimulate one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:23); if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; and bear one another's burdens (Gal. 6:1-2).

Super Servants - Joe and Vanessa Kumor

Joe and Vanessa are quiet and steady leaders and servants.
Vanessa has recently stepped up and taken on the role of nursery coordinator, which is quite the undertaking. Vanessa also organized all the childcare for our Love and Logic event in October.
They've recently began hosting and leading a new small group bible study, offering their hospitality and spiritual guidance.
The night of our Trunk or Treat, Vanessa introduced me to an unchurched friend she invited to the event, which really PUMPS me up!
And on top of everything else they do, Joe was recently named enlisted man of the year within his Army brigade! He's still in the running for Kansas enlisted man of the year, too.

It's service and leadership like this that allows our church to help people grow in their walk with Christ.

As a side note, if you're not currently connected with a small group, please contact Joe at jkumorski@aol.com.
If you have kids but currently aren't serving in our kids ministry, we REALLY NEED your help! To find ways to get involved, please contact Vanessa at knessa123@aol.com.

Super Servant - Alicia Brush

As I shared with you on Sunday, God has been blessing our obedience in addressing the problem of pornography this Sunday. We sensed God leading us to get the info about Porn Sunday to the community, but I was a bit worried about the cost of it all. But we did it because we knew it was the right thing to do.

Well, to sum it all up - the entire marketing campaign is going to end up costing us about $100! We've had enough donations to conver all the printing, all the mailing and over half the newspaper ad!

One big reason was the work of Alicia Brush. Alicia designed the mailer and the newspaper ad. She also designed the Love and Logic flyers and newspaper ad. Alicia's job is a graphic designer, so she's a pro and you can tell by looking at the stuff she designs.

Thank you Alicia for serving your church and community and donating your expertise to Kingdom work.

Super Servant - Michelle Corbin

Michelle Corbin is one of the unsung heroes of TFC! The Corbins open their house every Wednesday night to about 10-20 kids for youth group meetings. Michelle works hard to invest in the kids, prepare lessons and pray for them. You don't have to talk with Michelle for very long to pick up on her heart for teens.

And the coolest thing is that teens are coming to Christ! Michelle is going to share some stories on a Sunday morning, so I hope I'm not stealing her thunder, but there are kids coming to youth group (brought by friends) that have no Christian background. In fact, several of these kids don't even consider themselves to be Christian! That's awesome (not that they aren't yet followers of Christ but that they're hanging around our youth group where they're hearing about Christ)!

Michelle really needs our help, though. We need more adult sponsors and more families willing to open up their home for the Wednesday night gatherings. Please email Michelle at please at Michelle_corbin@earthlink.net

Super Servant - David Brush

I know it's been awhile since I've posted a "super-servant", so this one has been a long time in the making. We've started each Sunday this summer with a powerful reading of Revelation along with some incredible images. David worked his tail off putting this together, shooting the live footage or searching for the images and each week he puts in a lot of work to edit that Sunday's passage. Revelation was meant to be read aloud in public worship and it's imagery would've shocked the original audience. David's work has helped us experience the book with an awe close to what would've been experienced by Pastor John's original audience.

Thank you, David for helping us worship God in a new way this summer!

Super Servant - Susan Galbraith

As our nursery director, Susan Galbraith is one of the hardest working, most servant minded people at TFC. To see what I'm talking about, just talk with Susan after she's spent a Sunday in the nursery, she's usually rather sweaty after chasing kids around for an hour and a half.

Susan is always there early to set up and she's always got the check-in procedures organized so parents can trust that their babies and toddlers are well cared for. I've even noticed we've gotten the parent notification numbers working on Sunday mornings; Susan has made sure this has happened.
Susan also fills in at least a couple times a month, taking the place of those scheduled that didn't remember or arrived late. This says a lot about Susan's character, but let's not make Susan do this! If you can't serve on your schedule day, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE switch with someone else on the schedule. It would help us all out a lot!

Our children's ministers rock!

Super Servant - Chris Billings!

You don't have to hang around TFC for very long to notice how much time and effort Chris Billings gives. He's there every Sunday morning for set-up, stays after every Sunday for tear-down - working until the trailer is fully loaded again. And that's just on Sunday. During the week he picks out all the music, organizes band practice and is always working on some miscellanous project for the church.

But we all know that about Chris. What's cool is that UPS noticed it, too. Chris was selected as the employee of the month at his Lenexa station. The cool thing is that he was picked not for his job performance but for all his service hours. I was called by the lady who oversees the selection (she's the one that told me about this, not Chris) and she said "Chris really donates a lot of hours, doesn't he? Between your church and his kids' activities."
I replied, "nah, he's pretty lazy...."
Actually, I'm glad I didn't say that because the reward for being employeed of the month is being able to select a church or charity that would receive a $200 grant from the UPS foundation. Guess which church Chris chose?
We all know about Chris' servants heart and now even his employer has noticed.

Super Servants of the Week

David Brush, Brian Roberts, Aaron Holmes, Joe Kumor, Chris Billings and Philip Wheeler - you guys Rock!

They unloaded the trailer in pouring down rain, covered for a lot of guys that were gone, got everything set up on time - even with a half our late start!
You can see that they're still pretty wet in this picture.

And then they got everything tore back down and loaded into the trailer by 12:45. Some serious horsepower right there.

Super Servant - Jeremy Pride!

When I walked into the elementary room to assist Jeremy, I saw him down on his knees talking with the kids. I then listend as he taught some of the beautitudes to the class. Jeremy teaches all week long in the Olathe School District and then spends some Sunday's teaching again. I know he does it out of his love for kids and love for Jesus.

This edition of a TFC Super Servant!