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.
Archive for the ‘Kingdomtide’ Category
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.
Second Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 8
Organized worship Organized worship services-Worship leaders today often don’t realize the power of songs to evoke emotions and need to take serious thought to both the theme and the tempo of a worship service. Many worship services today are organized like the pastor’s sermons. They have no clear theme and don’t seem to lead anywhere. When I was in school, I was taught that a sermon should have an introduction, three main points, and a summary so that it will be easy to understand and remember. Many pastors today apparently didn’t learn that because their sermons seem to wander aimlessly. The worship service should be built around the theme of the pastor’s sermon so that it complements it and builds up to it. The tempo of songs should shift gradually, leading the members from where they were when they came to where they should be in meaningful worship. Many worship services today shift suddenly from fast and happy songs to slow and sorrowful ones and back, leaving the members with tangled emotions. Rather than drawing the members into a spirit of worship, they serve only to entertain.
First Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 1
Time of Growing Deeper-Kingdomtide is a time when the church should be active in helping its members in growing deeper and building spiritual depth. Large numbers of people were suddenly brought into the church following Pentecost. They had not sat under the teaching of Jesus and they had to be taught how to live like Christians. Too many members today are not trained in Christian living and easily fall back into living like the world. The church needs to concentrate on building relationships where younger members learn from older members. They learn how to minister to those needs as they watch more mature Christians ministering to those in need. As they learn to identify needs and how to minister to those in need in the small groups, they begin to see the needs of those outside the church and can begin to minister to them also, demonstrating the love of Christ to unbelievers. As unbelievers see the love of Christ, they begin to desire that love and are attracted to the small group. It should also concentrate on helping members understand the basics of living in community. Where Lent concentrates on building individual faith, Kingdomtide concentrates on building community.
Christ the King Sunday-B-November 26
Christ The King Sunday-B Though Christ the King Sunday sometimes falls on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it is proper that it be celebrated before Thanksgiving, since God has ordained that one day He will come to earth again to take his followers home and then He will hold a marriage supper to celebrate His marriage to His bride (the Church). Though many argue whether Christ will return before the tribulation, during the tribulation, or after the tribulation, God has spelled out the sequence of the last days. (The coming of Christ (Rosh Hosanna)followed by the time of tribulation, and finally the final judgment (Yom Kippur) and the end of the age, followed by the marriage Supper of the Lamb (Succoth) which we shall celebrate in heaven. Succoth, (the Feast of Booths), celebrates the completion of the final harvest, just as Thanksgiving celebrates the completion of the final harvest. One day we will sit with Jesus in the marriage feast of the Lamb (symbolized by Succoth) celebrating the completion of the harvest of believers and the marriage of the Church with Christ. That will be one great Thanksgiving feast with all the saints gathered before Christ. Succoth (the Feast of Booths) remembers the days they wandered in the wilderness and how God provided for them, just as we celebrate Thanksgiving to remind us how God preserved the early colonists through great tribulation, but one day we will celebrate in heaven how God preserved the saints through their tribulation and the fact that His harvest of souls is complete. Since God fulfilled the Passover and Pentecost exactly as He ordained them, I have no doubt that He will do the same with Rosh Hosanna. Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday of the Christian calendar and celebrates what will one day begin the last days of the human race, before Christ ushers in the new heaven and the new earth which He and His followers shall rule and from which Satan and all who follow him will be forever banished.