As we seek to live into our vision of

bringing the beauty of the gospel to the

brokenness of life, we as a congregation

will be looking for another pastor who

can help us in the areas of worship and

spiritual formation. This will be an excit-

ing journey as we begin looking for the

right person to give leadership to these

areas of our congregational life. As we

begin our search, it is important for us to

remember a few key things.

Searching for a pastor is more than just

looking for a person to fill a job opening;

it is a process of spiritual discernment.

A number of years ago when I was an

associate pastor at a church on the East

coast, another church was interested in

calling me. I went through the interview

process with them and they seemed

enthusiastic. After a few weeks, I

received a phone call informing me

that they were going to call someone

else for that position. But the reason

they gave me was what stuck with me –

partly because it was somewhat unusual

but mostly because it was so admirable.

He said, “After we interviewed you and

you left, we almost voted to call you

right then and there. Everything seemed

to be a good fit. But we decided that we

would wait a couple of weeks, interview

a couple other people, and pray about

what we should do. After a couple of

weeks, we as a committee were

unanimously convinced that the Holy

Spirit was leading us to someone else.

And, to be honest, we were surprised. It

was not the person who looked like the

best candidate on paper or the person

we would have chosen. But we’re

convinced that it is the

person God is leading

us to call.” I hung up

the phone and was

not in the least bit

disappointed; I was

thankful. I was thankful

that this church was

sensitive to God’s leading. And that is

the way that a search should be done –

it is about seeking after God’s leading

on who our new pastor would be and

then following Him. As a result, the

entire search process should be

bathed, from beginning to end, in

prayer. We must constantly be seeking

the leading of the Holy Spirit and

become sensitive to his leading at

every step along the way.

Which brings up another important

point. As we begin the process, we

should remind ourselves that God

already knows who our new pastor

will be and, in fact, has already picked

him out. We won’t know until we go

through the process. But He has

already planned out the exact person

that He will bring to us. In his

commentary on Isaiah, John Calvin

wrote, “God does not throw down

men at random on the earth, to go

wherever they please, but guides all

by his secret purpose.” That is true of

all of us. We are not where we are

because we have randomly ended up

here. We are here because God has

been guiding our lives with his secret

purpose and working out his plan for

each of us. The same is true for a

(continued on page 2)

Gospel-Shaped Kindness and Goodness Titus 3:1-7

Gospel-Shaped Faithfulness Hebrews 10:19-25

Gospel-Shaped Gentleness (Humility) Philippians 2:1-11

Gospel-Shaped Self-Control 1 Corinthians 9:23-10:13

pastor search… and for the pastor we will

call. God has already planned that his path

and our path would intersect at this point in

time. And that means that we can walk down

this road, trusting him through every step of

the process, and looking forward to see

where the path that he has laid for us

eventually leads.

Related to the first two points is one more.

When a church searches for a pastor it is easy

to look on the surface and make decisions

about what we can see – how charismatic

his personality is, which spiritual gifts and

talents he has, what things are on his

resume, and what ministry experiences he

has already had. Of course, none of those is

unimportant. They are all important! But we

must also look deeper. In Israel,

King Saul had everything you could

wish for in an ancient king. He

checked every box. He looked the

part in every way. He was the kind

of king who was just like the kings

that all the other nations had. But, in

the end, he turned out to be a disaster. As

the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his

appearance or height, for I have rejected

him. The Lord does not look at the things the

way people do. People look at the outward

appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

When it comes to searching for a pastor,

we should do the same. Yes, we should look

for certain talents, characteristics, and

experience. But, even more importantly, we

should look at the heart. Does he walk

closely with God? Does he have integrity?

Does he have a heart that is shaped by the

gospel and is rooted in grace?

As we begin this exciting process, would you

join me in praying fervently for this search?

Would you pray that God would lead us to

the right person, that He would guide us

through the process, and that He would help

us to see the candidates as He sees them?

And would you pray for the new pastor, even

though we don’t know who he is right now,

that God would be working in his heart and

preparing him to minister among us?

Brookdale News is a

monthly publication of

Brookdale Church

203 South 31st Street

St. Joseph, MO 64501

Phone: 816-279-0983

Fax: 816-279-7684

Website:

www.brookdalechurch.com

Editor: Terri Lansbury

E-mail:

terri@brookdalechurch.com

On January 29, Brookdale held its annual meeting and

celebration. After worship, everyone gathered at the

SMC for lots of food and fun, including a round of

“Family Feud” with host Sue Bolander and competing

teams of Brookdale members. The questions and

categories were all related to ministries of Brookdale

Church. After the game, we all watched a slide show

put together by Kelly Taylor, highlighting the MANY

activities and events at Brookdale over the past year.

We are truly blessed to be part of this congregation!

On January 27-28,

Brookdale Church

hosted the winter

meeting of the

Presbytery of Mid-

America. This is a

time when church

leaders through the

region come together

for fellowship,

worship, and to

conduct the business of the church. While

the business meeting was only for teaching

elders (pastors) and ruling elders appointed

by each local session, everyone was invited to

the worship service on Friday evening.

For those who aren’t really familiar with how

our denomination — the Evangelical Presby-

terian Church (EPC) — works, I’ll try to give a

very brief synopsis:

In late 1980, a group of pastors and elders

began meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, for

prayer and planning. They came from the

two mainline Presbyterian denominations at

the time, the United Presbyterian Church of

the USA (PCUSA—the “northern church”)

and the Presbyterian Church US (PCUS—

the “southern church”) . . . These leaders

envisioned a denomination that was really

evangelical and really Presbyterian; hence the

name. In addition, the motto, ‘In Essentials

Unity, In Non-essentials Liberty, in All Things

Charity; Truth in Love’ was adopted.

The word “Presbyterian” describes how we

organize and govern ourselves. It comes from

an ancient Greek word meaning “ruled by

elders.” A team of trusted servant leaders

(our pastors and elders) leads the church.

These leaders work together as peers in

directing the life and mission of the church.

This team approach is consistent with the

vital connection we see in the New

Testament, where followers of Jesus Christ are

connected to one another in relationships built

on mutual beliefs, trust, and accountability.

Just as individual Christians are connected to

one another, individual congregations are con-

nected under Christ as the Head of His Church.

Because of this connection, we believe we can

accomplish more for Christ and His kingdom

working together than working separately.

There are three organizational levels in our

system:

1. The local church.

2. The presbytery (regional gathering of

churches).

3. The General Assembly (the national gather-

ing of churches and our national office).

We are intentionally “local church focused;”

our presbyteries and Office of the General As-

sembly work to serve the local church and its

leaders as they pursue the mission God has

called them to. 1

You can learn much more about the Evangeli-

cal Presbyterian Church, it’s history, beliefs and

values at www.epc.org.

_________________________ 1 www.epc.org

Terri and John Lansbury will host a group this fall on a faith-based cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's “Jewel of the Seas”. We’ll depart October 6, 2017, arriving in Rome to begin our adven-ture and learn more about the “Journeys of Paul.” The guest speaker on this cruise will be Rev. Adam Hamilton, author and senior pastor of the Church of the Resurrec-tion in Kansas City.

Our first stop will be the island of Sicily. We’ll explore the town of Messina, the connecting point of the “Italian Boot.” In neighboring Taormina, those who wish can climb to the mountaintop Greek Theater and take in the views of the Mediterranean and Mt. Etna.

During our trip, we’ll be able to explore two of the beautiful Greek is-lands — Mykonos and Santorini. We’ll travel to the ancient city of Ephesus, Turkey, where Paul spent three years of his ministry, preaching and teaching. The ruins of Ephesus have been restored much like the city was in Paul’s time.

We’ll visit the ancient city of Athens, where we can explore the Acropolis, the Propylaea, and the Parthenon. While in Athens, we’ll also recount Paul’s teaching on Mars Hill. We’ll then travel to Corinth, a city that inspired St. Paul’s most famil-iar letter. As we walk among the ruins, we can visualize his address to the Gentiles as he began the task of building the church.

When we arrive at Naples, where Paul landed on his way to Rome, we’ll journey inland to ancient Pompeii, dating almost to the time of Paul, where we’ll can see the ruins that were covered by ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

We’ll walk the streets of Rome and visit the Coliseum, the Pantheon, and more. Finally, we’ll

visit the Vatican, home to one of the greatest museums in the world; and, of course, tour St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo’s frescoes, now restored to their full glory. We’ll also tour the Catacombs of St. Sebastino, which con-

tain some of the only surviving examples of early Christian art.

When we return home on October 18 we’ll all have some wonderful memories to share!

After hosting several groups in the Holy Land over the past 17 years, Terri and John are looking forward to sharing this new adventure with an-other group of friends. If this sounds like something you might be inter-ested in, contact Terri in the church office - (816) 279-0983.

1 - Ella Bryant

3 - Brent Peterson, Carson Peterson

5 - Don Weston, Diana Haynes, Brenda Hewins

6 - Lisa Wyckoff

7 - Fran Perkins

10 - John Bachman, Nichole Kammerer

11 - Bobby Larimore

12 - Aileen Hunter

14 - Sue Bolander

15 - Gary Jahne, Janna Trulsson

17 - Tori Hudgens

18 - Collin Lemon, T.J. Larson

19 - Janey Holloway

20 - Janeen Burnham

22 - Earl Hadle, Debby Hanlan

25 - Will Austin

28 - Laura Weckerlin, Ed Brown

29 - Sandy Zweerink

March

1 - Deb Birr

3 - Mike O’Donnell

6 - Teresa Fetter

Thank you and your church family for everything you have done for us at Christmas. It’s greatly appreciated, and the children are loving all their things. Thanks again for sharing in a time of need. God bless you all, — Rebecca, Noah, Kaden, and Paisly

“It’s All about that Baby” Christmas musical may have been delayed 3 weeks, but it was certainly worth the wait. The children poured their hearts into the songs and lines and gave to the congregation a worshipful and fun-filled production. I’m grateful for all their hard work and so enjoyed listening to them share the Good News of Jesus’ birth.

If you are a parent of a student who is in 8th grade or older and are wondering what the process is for your student to become a member of Brookdale Church...well you are in luck! Starting in the end of February we will be having our annual youth confirmation class. These classes will last 3 weeks in which each student will learn about the Presbyterian Church, about Brookdale Church, and how to be a thriving member within our congregation. At the end of this class the student will be welcomed into membership. So be out the lookout for the informational letter being sent home and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

Class dates will be: Monday February 27th, March 6th, & March 13th from 6:30-8:30 pm.

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There’s an amazing opportunity awaiting you! Pray about it, talk to your family about it, and imag-

ine what it might be like to invest a bit of your life in this awesome place and the children of Hope

for Tomorrow in Guatemala. Then, if all seems right, sign your name on the “I’m interested” sheet

in the foyer!

Here’s what you need to know:

Dates: May 27-June 3 (2 days travel; 5 days on the ground

Cost: $1500 (fund raising opportunities available) Deposit: $100, nonrefundable, due in the church office

by Feb. 22 Passport: Required; no visa necessary Immunizations: Tetanus updated; Typhoid and Hepatitis

A & B — good to have but not required Projects: at the new home just around the corner Special times with the children will be planned A day trip to beautiful Antigua, founded in 1543 by

Spanish Conquistadores, for sight-seeing and shopping