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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THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE! Pastor Tim and Sharon Odom Pastor Tim is retiring after 20 years at Collinsville Church of the Nazarene. The church is alive and growing. An amazing part of Pastor Tim’s tenure is that their three other pastoral staff members have all served at least 15 years with Pastor Tim at Collinsville. The Church is hosting a retirement reception for Tim and Sharon on Saturday, April 27, 2:00 – 4:00 pm at their facilities, 1118 W Broadway.   David and Lisa Frisbie Due to health limitations following a heart attack, David Frisbie retired after one year at Miami New Life. David and Lisa have previously served NEO as Pastoral Staff at Family Church (now Core Church). Of course, David and Lisa have served NEO and the global church as Directors of Marriage and Family Ministry for many years.       Additional Assembly Information: Lodging.......

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Dear NEO family, It is April 1. Those of us who follow our crucified and risen Savior are no fools! The Apostle Paul says it this way to the church at Corinth: 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”  I Corinthians 1:26 – 31......

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Find Us Faithful Dave McKellips On any week we could print the names of some who have modeled faithful service to God and the church in our update. We stand on the shoulders of a cloud of witnesses, lay and clergy, who have followed Jesus faithfully and whose devotion has lit the way for us. In the last couple of weeks, I have been reminded of the impact of three special ladies – Dell Brock, Joyce Smith and Sheryl Renfro. Dell D Brock, age 98 of Tulsa Southwest Church, met her Savior face to face on February 25th. Dell became a devout Christian and got involved in the Nazarene church in the late 1950’s. She taught Sunday school, was the missionary president at her church (Yes, she rolled a lot of bandages to send to the mission field! Many of us old timers remember doing that!) and a board......

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  Blessing Our Communities Stan Reeder, USA/Canada Regional Director Jeremiah 29:7 “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Recently, I was pondering this verse and how I might live it out in the city I live in. There are many people around the world living in exile, and I am not one of them. But I do feel the tension of living as a Jesus follower in a world that lives much different than I do. That wants to pull us into its orbit. It would be easy to just socialize with people in our churches, who think the same way as we do and close ourselves off to the world. But that is not what we are called to, and as leaders we have to set......

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Happy New Year! I trust you are off to a great start in 2024. Twelve NEO Churches are beginning the year focusing on seven markers of spiritual maturity for those following Jesus: Bible Engagement, Passionate Prayer, Wholehearted Worship, Humble Service, Joyful Generosity, Consistent Community, Organic Outreach. It is important to remember that these are a recipe, not a menu. We cannot pick and choose among them. (I heard that one of our churches passed out chocolate chip cookies in the middle of the service last Sunday to emphasize the importance of all ingredients being included 😊). The focus this week is Bible Engagement: learning to know, love, and follow the teaching of Scripture. All three actions are important, aren’t they? John Wesley was a prolific reader of books, yet he described himself as a man of one book. Only one book was his authority for faith and life. I am......

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I Want to Celebrate… Austin Troyer, Tahlequah: We served around 100 meals at our local day center this month and distributed winter clothing to those in need. Brian Loderhose, Owasso Silver Creek: We celebrated our third baptism service last Sunday! We took in six new members, and we had standing room only. We stopped counting people at 180 as we could not see or seat them all. This was a combined service with Pastor Fabian and Teresa, and the Spirit was moving among our people. We are excited that we have added Danelle Petty as our Children’s Director and Pastor Nick Williams as our Executive Pastor. We have much to be thankful for and an exciting road ahead. Rod Thelander, Sand Springs: We had an amazing day on our Annual Turkey Give-A-Way this year. We had 135 people in worship and gave away $75 vouchers to 75 different families!......

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Kids Mission Day 2023 is coming up on October 21, 2023. For Kids Kindergarten – 6th grade  Please pre-register HERE     Dear NEO family, In 2 ½ months, several of our churches will begin an eight-week journey called “Following Jesus Together”. We will be focusing on God’s call for believers to grow up in faith as mature disciples who go with Jesus on mission to our lost and hurting world. The journey will tie in beautifully with our Cycle to Resurgence emphasis. Would you join me in praying for a powerful work of God in our congregations (some of our congregations will be using their own discipleship materials they have developed over the years, and we pray for God to bless these efforts, as well). Please pray for: Leaders to focus on our own spiritual growth and walk with Jesus in fresh ways! The Holy Spirit of God......

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Mobilizing All Nazarenes in Unity I love the “Cycle to Resurgence”. I love the way I see NEO Nazarenes living out the core heart cries of this Vision. It starts with mobilizing all Nazarenes in unity. We must: 1.      Equip and send everyday ministers on mission. The Scriptures are clear when Peter writes, “As each one has received a gift, minister to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (I Peter 4:10). Each one is gifted to minister to others. Unfortunately, we don’t function like “each one” is essential for the ministry. We function like only a select few are gifted for ministry and the rest are called to support the gifted in their work. We need to reawaken the biblical idea that all of God’s people are called to ministry and are sent on mission, and that their mission field starts where God placed them......

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