Our Spiritual Journey-We are approaching Christ the King Sunday when we remember the God promised to restore the earth to its former glory, however, before we can enter that perfect world, we must be ready. We must learn what we will need there. God tried to teach the Jewish people through the law, but while they obeyed the law, they still experienced the hate and greed that led to violating the law because they did not understand the meaning of love. Therefore God sent Jesus to take on flesh and show us how to live, but we were still subject to the hate and greed by our sinful nature. Therefore Christ died and rose again to free us from the power of sin and death. When we accept Christ as our deliverer, we are born again, however we are just babies and must learn to walk with Christ. Many churches no longer teach their members to walk with Christ so they remain babies unable to discern right and wrong. The Holy Spirit can guide them but they must learn to listen to His voice and obey Him. That takes place as we hear Bible teaching and walk daily, guided by more mature believers who show us by their example, just as a child learns through their parents teaching and by watching their parents. The Christian calendar guides the church as it trains new believers to walk with Christ. It begins with Christmas by reminding us that God had to take on flesh and walk among us so we have to be the living example of Christ in the flesh to unbelievers and new believers. Lent reminds us that we need to learn God’s law and how to apply it to our everyday life. Easter reminds us of the new life we have in Christ and that Christ died to make that possible. Pentecost reminds us that we have the Holy Spirit to guide us and of all those who do not know Christ. It is a time when the church reaches out to those that don’t know Christ. Kingdomtide reminds us that we aren’t alone but have other brothers and sisters in Christ to guide and support us. It is a time when the more mature members help new believers learn to experience the fellowship of the church. Finally, Christ the King Sunday reminds us that one day Christ will return and lead us into the promised land where we will be with Him forever. By walking the path every year, we are remined of how far we have come and where we need to improve. If we do not have guidance in our walk year after year, we lose our way and wander off the path. Let us pledge to renew our walk with Christ this coming year.
Archive for the ‘Kingdomtide’ Category
Tenth Sunday of Kingdomtide, Nov 3
Support the Weak-A-Remember those who are sick or elderly. Few churches keep track of those who become too feeble to continue attending and many churches drop them from their active rolls. Many shut-ins need visitation and ministry more than ever before because they are no longer able to get to church. Without the support and encouragement of the church body, they can easily be overcome with discouragement, especially as physical deterioration makes life more difficult. Lack of interaction with the church may cause them to feel the church no longer cares. If they have no family nearby, and a growing number do not, they may become isolated. Regular visits from members are important not only to help them feel a part of the church, but more important, for their emotional and spiritual well-being. Isolation can create depression and mental deterioration due to lack of social interaction. In addition, they may have needs that the church can help with. They may need help with lawn mowing, leak raking, or snow shoveling. If they live alone, they may fall or become ill and no one would know. Elderly people have been known to lay for days after a fall or illness before they were discovered, and by then it may be too late to save them. Someone should call at least once a day and better yet, both morning and night to check on them. Some of the churches I served had a Communion service every three months. I would always go out and serve Communion to the shut-ins following each communion service. It meant a great deal to them because Communion had always been an important part of their church experience.
Ninth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 27
Volunteer in Social Services -Until recently, most social service work was done by the church and more recently by Christian social service agencies. Volunteer work with the agencies was seen as part of the church’s ministry and members frequently volunteered. Until recently churches supported Christian social service agencies directly and members had close contact with the agencies through regular reports but churches have increasingly withdrawn their support leaving the agencies to depend on community-wide funding campaigns and many church members no longer have contact with them. As a result, members no longer see social service work as ministry and rarely volunteer anymore. Since the 1930’s, the government has taken over the majority of social service work. In the past, many members learned to minister to others through specialized positions in the church, such as deacons and deaconesses that ministered to members and those in the community in need. Few churches have such positions any more or they do little more than provide meals for sick members or at funerals and weddings, since most such work is done by government and Christian Social Service agencies. Government agencies are well funded with tax dollars but Christian social service agencies must depend on donations. As a result, Christian Social Service agencies are often tight on funds and so cannot afford adequate staff. Therefore, they must depend on volunteers to help. Volunteering provides an excellent way for members to learn to minister to others because the agencies often provide training and supervision while they learn. Some enjoy the work so much that they go to school and get training to work in Social services.
Eighth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 20
Involving members in ministry-part-B Today, many churches have few active ministries and involve a minimum of members in ministry. Current leaders have occupied the same positions since anyone can remember and probably will as long as they are able. This results in the church getting in a rut and refusing to do anything new. The church needs to expand the churches ministry to involve more members. An affective way to draw new ideas into the decision process is to return to the Biblical principle of the Sabbatical. The Bible set aside the Sabbath (seventh day) as a day of rest and established the Sabbatical (seventh year) as a time of rest where the Jews were to rely totally on God’s provision. Establishing the Biblical doctrine of Sabbatical where workers serve for six years and then take off a year on a rotating basis allows new Christians to gain experience and allows workers to step back and look for other areas that might interest them. It also enables the church to introduce new members into the decision making process (See “To Preserve The Light” in Rebuilding The Kingdom” copyright 2012) In addition, Christian para-church organizations often need volunteers and provide training for them providing excellent opportunities for those seeking to get experience in ministering to others. Some even have paid positions where members can become involved in full-time ministry
Seventh Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 13
Involving members in ministry part A Children learn by doing and new Christians learn the same way. Unfortunately, few churches today have training programs where new Christians can work alongside more mature Christians. Many church leaders have occupied the same positions since anyone can remember. The church needs to provide hands on training for newer Christians under experienced workers. By involving new Christians in ministry in the congregation and in Christian ministries, new Christians learn how to serve Christ and the Church. They learn how to minister as they minister to others. As new Christians minister to others, they not only learn to identify those who have needs and how to minister to them, they also develop a love and concern for them. However, few churches today involve many of their members in ministry. They wait until an opening occurs and try to pressure someone to take the position, even though that person may have no prior experience and may not have the gifts for it or the concern for it. As a result, many Churches today do little to train new Christians in ministry or reach people for Christ. Involving more members in ministry will allow the church to train more people for ministry and reach more people for Christ by providing hands on training for newer Christians under experienced workers. It also enables the church to train them for when the present leadership can no longer serve.
Sixth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 6
Encourage involvement-Many church positions are filled by a few central members. They often ignore the vast majority of members who are often little more than spectators. Many members don’t really feel a part of the church’s mission and don’t support it wholeheartedly. As a result, they are easily distracted by activities that may take them away from church. Involving more members in a church in the church’s ministry will increase the morale of the members and decrease the number of members who drift away from the church. By being actively involved in the church’s ministry, they feel a part of the church’s work and are more willing to support it financially and with their attendance and less likely to drift away from the church. It will also supply the workers needed to carry on the church’s ministry. Few churches make a real effort to enlist members in the churches program. They usually wait until an opening occurs and then try to twist the arm of one of their central members to take it on in addition to the other work they do and few approach members at large. Those recruited often have no interest and no experience in what they do. If the church does try to recruit help, it is normally between Easter and Pentecost when they recruit volunteers to help with summer activities but should be a year-long program to enlist members in active ministry. Many churches have a nomination committee selected at random but have little knowledge in recruiting personnel. They usually meet a few weeks before the annual meeting to nominate candidates to be elected to church positions but it should be a permanent committee of people with knowledge and experience in personnel recruitment that meets regularly with various members to inform them about opportunities for service in the church and community and helping them discover their talents. They should also help them find places in the church and community to serve. This allows the church to find people with an interest in what they do and allows time to train them before the workers take over the position.
Fifth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 29
Adults-Dealing with Issues Many pastors tell me they don’t get involved in political issues, however many of those political issues are also moral issues. Supporting abortion isn’t just a political viewpoint, it is a violation of God’s moral law and destroys the fabric of the nation. Many adults have no other source of information besides the liberal media, which has increasingly pushed liberal agendas without any discussion. In fact, the liberal media often blocks any attempt to present the facts and allow voters to decide the issue for themselves. Politicians seek to control the population by controlling what they hear. If people only hear one view, they think it is true. As a result, the church must teach Christian values and help people decide what is right. Christians cannot live a Christian lifestyle unless they have the freedom to be able to do it. Liberal politicians and judges are determined to take away our right to do that through laws and judicial decisions. The church must help members understand the results of liberal policies and oppose attempts to impose liberal policies which are detrimental to the country and violate God’s moral law. If we are to maintain the right to spread the Gospel, we must oppose attempts to force Christians to go against their beliefs and support actions condemned by Scripture. That requires a membership that understands the issues and who votes in judges and politicians who will uphold citizen’s rights and the rule of law. Liberal politicians are trying to silence the church because they know that informed citizens will not fall for their lies.
Fourth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 22
Youth-dealing with issues Many youth groups have lots of fun stuff but are short on teaching about the faith. In addition, most teaching is theological and does not deal with the basic issues young people are struggling with every day in school and at home. As a result, most youth drop out of church when they graduate from high school or before because they do not see the church having anything relevant to say in the issues they are struggling with. They will be discussing the issues with their classmates and teachers where they get a secular view, but youth groups need to have regular discussions of important issues they face so young people can get a Christian view of the issues. Without it, the youth accept the secular view by default because they do not have the knowledge to recognize the errors in liberal teachings. (see “Truly In The World, But Not Of It”-part A & B for information on important issues today. I also have a number of courses on Christian values in my series on Basic Christian Beliefs)
Third Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 15
Many churches are building huge children’s programs and many also are seeking young pastors to lead youth programs as their second pastor, but that is a big mistake. Youth are at a critical time in their life and are making decisions about the rest of their life so it is important to reach them, however, many young people leave their local church after graduating to go to college or pursue a career and do not return, because the youth programs are not helping them deal with the problems they face. In addition, it is hard to combat the influence of the world in only a couple hours a week, so if the church doesn’t also reach the parents, they fight a very difficult battle. They make up a small part of the congregation and require large amounts of resources, yet contribute very little to the church financially. The same goes for children’s programs. It is important to maximize resources to get the most out of them and to pour large amounts of resources on a small segment of the congregation while neglecting the rest of the congregation is not a wise use of resources. While young pastors may understand what it means to be a student, they don’t understand what it means to be a parent, and they don’t have the experience to minister to parents, middle aged empty nesters, and the elderly. Far better to get an older pastor capable of ministering to all ages and have him recruit and train young adults in the congregation to lead the children’s and youth programs under his guidance.