Message from the DS I love Pastors! And NEO has tremendous Pastors! In the last few weeks I have shared breakfast or lunch with most of our pastors. What a treat for me! On more than one occasion, as we were sharing blessings and prayer requests, pastors shared that their church was getting older. That is certainly a blessing, for with age spiritual maturity often follows. Of course, there is also concern. -if we don’t begin to reach a younger crowd, what will happen to the church in 10 to 20 years? I looked in the files this week and saw an article by Thom Rainer on “Five Ways Some Senior Adult Churches Became Younger.” Let me share part of it below: Hear me clearly. I am not suggesting there is anything inherently wrong with a congregation of senior adults. But I have been asked on numerous occasions how......

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Is Evangelism on Life Support?   In our Cycle of Resurgence, the focus of 2025 is “Bringing People to Jesus”. Is your church ready for the challenge? One well known Christian leader recently said that “Evangelism is on Life Support”! He backed it up by saying that only 1% of churches report that they’re “Very Effective” at reaching new people. 1%!! What do you think? If 10 was “highly effective” and 1 was “not effective at all” at bringing people to Jesus, what number would you give yourself? Your church? The center for mission and evangelism is the local church. Although the task may be challenging, I am excited that we have some things to help you and your church get Evangelism off of life support in 2025: 1. M25 Gospel, Feb. 10 – 12, Kansas City M25 is a quadrennial USA/Canada Nazarene conference focused on evangelism, advancing the regional......

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2025 is here! A couple of thoughts as we begin the new year: My heart rejoices in the truth of what one poll said was the #1 Christian song in 2024, “To God be the Glory” by We are Messengers: You love mе at my best You love me in my mess God, You’re so good to me There’s one thing I am sure Your promises endure You make a way for me When my heart can’t find the beat When it’s dark and I can’t see I will put my hope in You I’ll trade ashes for beauty I’ll trade joy for my mourning I’ll trade, to God be the glory To God be the glory I’ll trade strength for my weakness I’ll trade pain for my healing I’ll trade, let this be my story To God be the glory I once again identify with the Apostle Paul......

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A message from our District Superintendent, Dave McKellips. What an exciting season!! Advent reminds us that God is With Us … God is For Us … and God is enough. I pray that you will draw near to God during this Advent season and allow His Spirit to give you fresh hope, peace, joy and love! Our Global Missions Director, Rev. Jim Ritchie, organized an exciting 24-hour world-wide prayer emphasis on Zoom called: “To the Ends of the Earth”. More than 4000 leaders joined in prayer around the globe on December 6 and 7. I was moved by prayers for God to give us a deeper passion than we have ever had for the lost. Prayers invited God to seize our hearts. We prayed that we would see more people come to Jesus in 2025 than we have in any year of our history. We prayed for life transformation that only......

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Thanksgiving in Uncertain Times Have you read Psalm 118 lately? If not, you may want to read it today. As we prepare for an election in a deeply divided country, as fighting and killing continues in Ukraine, the Middle East and even Africa, we are prone to anxiety about the future of our country and world. But in the midst of much that is not good, the Psalmist gives thanks for one certainty – The Lord is good and his loving kindness endures forever! In verse 5, the Psalmist declares, “In my anguish I cried to the Lord and He answered by setting me free.” All who trust in Jesus can testify that at one time we were dead in our transgressions and sins; we were literally slaves to sin. When we called out to the Lord in the midst of our anguish and handed Him the reigns of......

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Little is Much When God Is in It! I remember often singing the song, “Little is Much When God Is in It” as a child. I heard my parents tell of the first time they heard the song. It was at the 1956 General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. God broke in as Verne Mullins sang. People were shouting, waving hankies, crying, running the aisles and reveling in the simple truth of the song: “Does the place you’re called to labor Seem so small and little known? It is great if God is in it, And he’ll not forget his own. Little is much when God is in it; Labor not for wealth or fame. There’s a crown, and you can win it If you’ll go in Jesus’ name. Amen.” I think most of us have a tendency to think what......

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  Blessing Our Community Webinar Join us on September 10 at 12 p.m. as we are joined by special guest, Kristen Donavan. Kristen is a mom, pastor, and the executive director of Jubilee Partners Compassionate Ministry Center in Oklahoma City, OK. Jubilee Partners’ mission is to support youth in their communities through education, fostering healthy relationships, and developing life skills. They currently run four programs in three different communities for children in preschool to twelfth grade. Kristen will share her experience partnering with both local schools and churches. She will discuss how churches can start small and build relationships with schools to make a Kingdom impact in their community. If you have ever wondered how you can be a blessing to both children and school employees in your community, you will not want to miss this conversation! She knows Oklahoma and resources available… and is actually starting some work......

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District Discipleship Day District Discipleship Day is just over 3 weeks away, and it’s time to think about…food! While DDD itself is free, on-site meals will cost $10/person. Lunches will be provided by Chick-fil-A, with the following options available: (1) Chick-fil-A sandwich, (2) 8ct. Chicken Nugget, (3) The Cobb Salad, (4) The Market Salad (Gluten-free). Box lunches will include chips, a cookie, and bottled water. Salad lunches will include bottled water. We are sending the lunch link to churches instead of individuals so that there is not confusion from people getting registered multiple times and so that each church can gather and submit payment together. All lunch orders are due by August 11th and payment for lunches needs to be postmarked by August 12th. Please send payments to Central Church of the Nazarene, 7291 E. 81st St, Tulsa, 74133. What else will we do during lunch at DDD? Let......

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Are You Ready to Bless Your Community? Are you ready to start blessing your community? Not sure where to start? We have created a series of training videos to help you feel confident in blessing your community! You can get them here. Be sure to gather a group of leaders to experience these together!     Additionally, we have created some free resources to help you discover the gifts and assets of your community and congregation so you can bless your community as a congregation in ways that make sense in your context. You can grab the Community and Congregation Assessment Guide here.         Regional Quiz 2024 Report Our NEO Children’s Quizzers traveled to SNU on June 15 to participate in the Regional Quiz 2024. Despite the heat and space challenges created by a failed a/c unit in the SNU auditorium, they had a fun day......

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Thank God for an Awesome Assembly and NMI Convention!   2024 District Assembly Highlights Our speakers, Amanda Petit and Dr. Gustavo Crocker, challenged and inspired us. Ragan Schubert and the Worship Teams modeled and led us in wholehearted worship. Pastor Brady Thelander, Anthony Beville and the SapNaz family were outstanding and gracious hosts! NEO Nazarenes showed up, but most importantly, God met with us! There was ample time for fellowship over coffee and meals! Videos of Pastors Reports, Services and Business Meetings are on the NEO Website: https://www.neokdistrict.org/resources/media and some are also on our Facebook Page.   On Saturday, August 17, we will gather at Regency Park Church of the Nazarene in Tulsa to have God shape us in His image and make us disciple-makers who journey with the people in whose lives He is working. A collaboration of Nazarene Youth International (NYI), Nazarene Missions International (NMI), and Nazarene Discipleship International (NDI),......

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