Scott Kircher

Wow! God is powerful!

We have just finished up our Advent Conspiracy series and in that series, we challenged the congregation to do Christmas different this year.

Over the course of the series, we learned that worshiping the Lord fully was not just about how we sing, but about how we live our lives. We also learned that we could overcome some of the consumerism that seems to have defined our modern Christmas in society as well as the church by spending less, but giving more by giving more of ourselves to others. We talked about how we need to love all and that we need to love with our currency and our conduct.

We were challenged over these last weeks, as we spent less and gave more, to sacrifice what we didn’t spend this year, on those whom we could pour out our love. We desired to focus our help in two areas.

Seeing that this has been a difficult year for many in our church and community, we wanted to be a help to those in our midst who were struggling due to job and medical situations.

Secondly, we also wanted to extend the love of Christ to those who do not know Him by helping meet the basic need of providing clean water to those without it. We saw how water borne illnesses are killing nearly 5000 people a day and that much of that could be changed by digging deep water wells in villages and areas without it.

Well, at Hickory Creek, we raised nearly $9,000 over and above our regular offerings to help in these endeavors. Because of the love of those who are a part of Hickory Creek, we helped 8 families to be able to be able to celebrate the birth of Christ this year by experiencing the love of the Lord through the sacrifice of His people. We also gave about $6,500 toward the digging of clean water wells in areas without clean water so they may have a cup of water in Jesus’ name and learn about the living water that only He can provide.

All of this is happening because the people of Hickory Creek banded together to be part of a conspiracy, a conspiracy to celebrate Christmas differently, worshipping and giving and loving in ways that bring glory and honor to the Lord. Thank you for willing to conspire together for His Name.

Praise the Lord for His mercy and grace and His work through the people of Hickory Creek.

What has God done in your life this past year? Has He provided for you in the midst of financial hardship? Have you grown in your relationship with the Lord and experienced more peace in the midst of uncertainty this year? Have you stopped and given thanks and praise to the Lord for His work and His grace in your life? This Sunday, Hickory Creek will be having a special service of thanks as we pause from our busy schedules and look back on how the Lord has worked in our lives through the church, through those He has placed in our life, and through His Holy Spirit. I hope that you will make this Sunday a priority in your schedule and I hope that you might be reflecting on what the Lord has done in your life. We will have an opportunity during each of the morning services to give brief testimonies of praise. I look forward to seeing you there this Sunday at 9am or 10:45am.

In recognition of Earth Day this week, the Village of Frankfort is sponsoring a cleanup day for the village this Saturday, April 25th. Hickory Creek Church has Joined with the village efforts and taken on the responsibility of cleaning up the area on the north side of Route 30 from the new Frankfort Township Building to the entrance to the Butternut subdivision. We will also be cleaning up our own church property that day as well. This is a great opportunity to serve our community, represent Christ, and glorify the Lord by caring for God’s creation.  We will have trash bags and gloves available, but feel free to bring your own gloves and anything else that could be helpful. After the cleanup, the Village is sponsoring a free pizza lunch at 12pm for all volunteers at the Founder’s Center—140 Oak Street in Frankfort.  We want to encourage everyone to join us – kids included.  See here you on Saturday!

What a great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ we had at Hickory Creek this past week. Not only was His resurrection being proclaimed from the platform, but people were witnesses of His resurrection power working in the lives of individuals who are a part of Hickory Creek as well as the “body of Christ” as a whole that makes up Hickory Creek.

I have had several conversations this week with individuals who were either first time visitors or relatively new to Hickory Creek telling me how welcomed and cared for they felt this past Sunday. It is awesome to see God’s power working through people to take them outside of their comfort zones and begin to share the love of Christ as His resurrection power works through them.

Not only was His resurrection power evident in the individual lives of people, but the resurrection of this particular “body of Christ” was witnessed as well. People are seeing Hickory Creek as an alive and growing church where a number of years ago, there were people I talked to who didn’t even know there was a church on this location. We had a record attendance of over 360 people here on Easter, with many first time visitors whom I have had great feedback from.

And while I was excited to be able to preach about the truth of the resurrection this past Sunday, nothing will ever “preach” as well as the transformed lives that people live as Christ continues to work in you and through you. To witness His people reaching out, welcoming visitors, inviting friends and neighbors, so that the good news of Jesus Christ can be heard and be planted in the good soil of a ready heart is awesome thing for a pastor to see in the church he serves.

Thank you for being an active part of this resurrected body of Hickory Creek Community Church.

I am looking forward to Christ’s continued work through each one of us as we continue to worship Him and serve Him together.

He is Risen!

As we have been going through the New Testament Challenge, God has been speaking to me. He has been laying on my heart the importance of corporate prayer. We see the early church praying together and powerful things happening and people coming and receiving Jesus as their Savior. As God has been working at Hickory Creek, we have felt the need for more corporate prayer. We will be having a special night of prayer and praise on February 15^th at 7 pm. This is one month before we begin meeting in 2 services. We need to be praying that we continue to boldly preach His word and love the people the Lord is bringing to Hickory Creek. Also, on March 6 to 7, we will be hosting a special 24 hour prayer vigil, one week before adding our second service. We will be providing more information as we get closer. We need to be praying as a church so that we continue to be strengthened and so we keep our focus on why we are doing what we are doing; So we can reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ and minister to His people in more effective ways.

Not only has God placed on my heart the challenge of corporate prayer, but in last week’s readings I was challenged to be spending more time personally in prayer. As I was reading in Acts, I noticed a sentence that I had never noticed before in all of the times I have read through Acts. In Acts 20, Paul is finishing up his journey and heading for Jerusalem. He makes what appears to me to be strange arrangements.

Acts 20:13

13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot.

(from New International Version)

Paul chooses to travel by himself on foot to the next destination on their way to Jerusalem. As I read this, I wondered why he chose to do that. Why not just travel with your companions by boat? Later in this chapter, Paul talks to the Ephesian elders and tells then that as he heads to Jerusalem that he knows that “prison and hardships are facing” him (Acts 20:23).

I think that Paul decided to go alone on foot to spend some time alone with the Lord and be strengthened to face the trials he was going to face. It is the same thing that Jesus did when He was on his way to the cross. It is the same thing we need to do as we journey through life. Yes we need to be gathering corporately in prayer, but we also need to be spending time alone with God so He can guide us, strengthen us, and encourage us in the face of hardships and trials, especially with the uncertain futures for so many in our country.

I know I have been encouraged to pray more for myself lately so that I can stay true to God’s calling in my life. I pray that you might be encouraged to be spending more time alone in prayer so that you too, might stay true to what the Lord is calling you to do.

It is exciting to see the incredible growth that God has been bringing to Hickory Creek.  While it is exciting, I know it can get frustrating dealing with limited parking and limited seating.  It is hard to believe that it has been less than a year since we had our Grand Opening of our new Worship Center. 

Anyway, we are only a couple months away from launching our second service on Sunday mornings, but in the meantime, it may get a little crazy with seating and parking.  We will be making do the best we can with trying to squeeze in some more seats in our worship center.

I would also ask that anyone who is able to please try and come around 10 am and park down at the Harris Bank parking lot.  We have a shuttle running in the morning form about 10 to 10:15 taking those who are serving back to Hickory Creek after parking there.  I would ask anyone else who is able to help out by making some space for our visitors who the Lord is bringing to Hickory Creek. 

This is only for the next couple of months until we can get our second service started and alleviate some of the overcrowding that we are experiencing. 

I want to thank each of you for how you help make Hickory Creek a great place to encounter the Living God!  By allowing God to work through you, you are helping to create a place that cannot contain those who want to come and see the incredible things happening here.