A
Note From Our Senior Pastor
Dr. John & Pam Enderby
There once was a
time when people gathered in an
atmosphere of genuine love for one
another. People were accepted
unconditionally, regardless of their
ancestry, social status or their personal
situation in life. People liked hanging
around with each other and were real with
each other…relationships truly
mattered. The scene was the first century
A.D. - the early days of Christianity,
the defining of the church as found in
the Book of Acts.
Church - a word
that has been around for two thousand
years, yet a word with so many meanings today. Here at Celebration, church
is about people. We try and accept
individuals, couples, and families just
as they are: church background or not,
student, single, married, single again,
with or without kids, rich, poor, young,
old, whatever…we are about real
relationships.
We also offer
relevant, practical, Biblical sermons and
teachings, along with awesome worship, and
exceptional youth programs. We try to
please the Lord in all we do and
constantly ask that He surround us with
His Holy presence!
Why do we do the
above? Because we know that God is real
and that nothing satisfies like the Lord
Jesus Christ! He cares about people, He
cares about you...so we would
too! Please give us a call for
information at 913-599-4570, or stop in
and visit us this week.
Blessings,
John Enderby
1 Peter 4:8-10
Above all, love each other deeply,
because love covers over a multitude of
sins. Offer hospitality to one another
without grumbling. Each one should use
whatever gift he has received to serve
others, faithfully administering God's
grace in its various forms. (NIV)
Pastor John & Pam
Enderby's testimony about their marriage is unavailable
at this time. Sorry for the inconvenience. (RealAudio)
An
Autobiography by John Enderby
When I graduated from Bay
Port High School (Green Bay, WI.) in
1968, my father wisely encouraged me not
to go straight to college. I was
wild, loved to drink and party, and would
have failed miserably at any
school. So that summer I joined the
US Navy. During my two year hitch,
I was stationed on a new aircraft carrier
stationed in Alameda, CA (with 7,500
other men). I worked in the public
affairs office, running the ship’s
radio and TV station, writing for its
weekly newspaper, and also working as a
liaison with the secular media.
After I was honorably
discharged in 1971, I went back home to
Green Bay and started school at the local
university. For two years I took
all the basic core classes and then
transferred to a local business college
where I majored in credit
management. I desired to become a
banker, because my goal was to make lots
of money… being convinced money was
the source of all happiness. During
this time, although I was engaged to be
married, I met an 18-year-old girl named
Pam (my wife to be). I started
dating Pam during the day, while spending
time with my fiancée at night. One
month later I proposed to Pam and
subsequently dropped out of school, got
married, and began working as a manager
trainee with Wisconsin Financial
Corporation, a very reputable financial
firm in my home state. I spent the
first six months as a loan processor and
debt counselor, the next six months as an
associate branch manager, and then after completing over 150 hours of intense book
and on-the-job training, I became a
branch manger in our Sheboygan, WI
office. It was during this time
that my wife and I came to know the Lord
Jesus Christ as our personal Savior
(November 4, 1974). Truly, our
encounter with the Lord drastically
changed the purpose and direction of my
life.
Less than 20 months after
our conversion, my wife and I headed off
to Northwestern College in Roseville,
MN. For two solid years I took
nothing but Bible courses and pastoral
care classes and graduated with a BA in
ministries. One month later we
headed off to Dallas Theological Seminary
and subsequently transferred to Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield,
IL. Again, I was like a gigantic
sponge, soaking up as much spiritual
Truth and insight as I could. It
was here at Trinity that Dr. Walter
Kaiser (current president of
Gordon-Conwell Seminary) became my mentor
and good friend. My times with him
dramatically influenced my love for
God’s Word and the importance of
properly teaching it. During my
last year at TEDS I became the full-time
senior pastor of a Free Methodist church
in Aurora, IL, which allowed me the
opportunity to put into practice what I
was learning. When I graduated in
May of 1982, I was asked to church plant
with the Evangelical Free Church in
Sparta, WI. During my four years
there, we grew from 19 people to nearly
150, put up a building, and our local
body of believers was truly impacting
this small, rural community. It was
during this time I was ordained with the
EFC. We then church planted with
the EFC in Gilroy, CA, spending three
years ministering in that new work and
then went to start up a Vineyard-type
church in Langley, British Columbia.
These times of church planting taught me
things I never could have learned (or was
even offered) in my formal training!
A few years later, due to
my mom’s poor health and because we
missed the US, my wife and I, plus our
four children, decided to move back to
the states. I accepted the position
as pastor at Grace Vineyard, in Overland
Park, KS. Five years later, a
personal friend of mine, Mike Bickle, who
had a large cell-based congregation in
Kansas City, asked me to come on staff as
one of their district pastors, with the
responsibility of pastoring over 500
people. I also began teaching the
preaching class at Grace Training Center,
a college/graduate level school, with
many national and international
students. Dr. Sam Storms, who is
currently a professor at Wheaton, was the
president of the school. It was
during this time that I had the
opportunity to formulate and teach
numerous seminars on marriage, parenting,
small groups, and also began a five year
period of writing a monthly marriage and
family article for a national
magazine. For the past six years I
have been at my current position: senior
pastor of Celebration Community Church in
Lenexa, KS. It is a blessing to
love, equip and encourage this awesome
family of believers. In addition, I
have recently (June 2003) earned my
Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity
Seminary in Newburgh, IN.
Truly my life has been
uniquely and wonderfully transformed by
the grace of God! To Him, and Him
alone, be all the glory.
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