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Third Sunday of Lent- Mar 3

05 Mar

God wants us to not only love those in the body of believers but unbelievers as well. God may not like what they do, but He loves them as much as He loves us. He reached out to us when we were sinners and we should do the same to those who are still sinners and do not know Him yet. Hopefully they will come to know God’s love as we extend God’s love to them and they will leave their sinful ways and accept Christ as their Savior. God did not love us based on whether we accepted Him and our love for others should not be based on their acceptance of Christ. God loves us because He created us and He loves them for the same reason. That includes even those we don’t like. Matt. 5:43-48. Jesus said, “you have heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say unto you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven”. Our desire should be to be like God and God loves all people, not just those who love Him and He desires that we should do the same. It is God’s desire that none are lost and perhaps as we love our enemies and pray for them, we may lead them to desire that love also. By so doing, we may not only gain a friend, we may draw a soul into the kingdom of God. The people of the first century saw Christians love for one another and were drawn to the church.

 

 

Church Ministry-3-X

28 Feb

Facebook is becoming the fastest  and most popular means of mass communication. Yet many churches do not utilize it effectively. It provides an easy way to communicate activities with members and let others know about the church. While a good website is important to let people know about a church, they cost and that makes them hard for small churches to afford. They also do not handle current activities well because they are difficult to keep up to date. Facebook pages often tell about activities in real time, and are free, but are difficult to put extensive information on about the church so it is good to have both. When people are looking for a church to visit, they often look to see if a church has a Facebook page to let them know what is going on. Many churches do not have contact information on their Facebook page. When I am looking for information on a church, I enter the churches name and city and State in the search engine. Most search engines can not be depended on for accuracy. I recently entered the name and location of a local church to see what they were doing. It brought up a church by that name but the page had no city and State. I sent a message to the church, only to find out it was in Texas. Apparently the local church doesn’t have a Facebook page. However, without a listed location, you have no way to know. You should list a phone number  so people can call the office if they want more information, such as whether the church is handicapped accessible. It is also good to have your address and service times if people look it up when the office isn’t open. When I travel, I often look for a local church to worship,  if there is no city and State, I don’t know if it is the local church or another one.   There should also be an address so people will know where the church is. The most important thing is to keep it up to date. Websites are usually fairly constant and people don’t expect regular updates but Facebook pages that are not updated regularly leave people wondering if the church is still open. I check some Facebook pages and they haven’t been updated in a couple years and I wonder if the church is still active. Even if all you post is the current week’s sermon topic, it lets people know the church is still active. By posting the activities for the week, it helps members to check what is going on in the coming week so they can plan for it. The more you post, the more attention you will draw. When I didn’t post anything, I had very few followers but when I started posting things from other sites, I drew a few more followers. When I started writing my own posts, it really took off, but when I started posting videos I made, it started attracting even more followers.

 

 

Church Ministry-3-W

28 Feb

Welcoming Church-I often visit churches as part of my work. When I travel, I will often attend a church near the motel where I spend Saturday night. In addition, I often visit churches when I am working with a pastor to familiarize myself with the church. When I walk in, I am no different than any other person visiting the church. The people don’t know if I just moved into town and am seeking a church to attend or if I am merely passing through. The reception I get varies a great deal. Sometimes, I am warmly greeted and invited to return, but other  times I wonder if anyone noticed that I was visiting. Usually I am not familiar with the church and may have to ask directions to the sanctuary or the restrooms. That is usually a sure sign someone is a visitor because a regular attender would know where those were. If someone is visiting and looking for a church to attend, the reception they get will often determine whether they return. It is important to have people at the doors to greet people and direct visitors to where they need to go so they don’t end up wandering around aimlessly.  Those people need to be taught to provide whatever help visitors may  need. It not only makes their visit easier, it shows them that you care about them. Some way should be made to secure their information so the church can follow up. Some churches have an information center just inside the door staffed by greeters to direct people and get information on visitors. The greeters may have cards or you may put cards in the pew. If so, an announcement should be made during the opening of the service to encourage visitors to fill the cards out and give them to an usher in case they don’t notice them on their own. Once returned, the church needs to follow up. A card should be sent at the very least but a phone call is much better. Ideally, the pastor or a church leader should visit. It should be done in the first week if possible because the longer it is delayed, the least receptive the visitor will be. The church should also seek to get to know visitors to other events like VBS, Bible studies, potlucks and concerts. While people attending those events may have another church affiliation, people do attend who have no church affiliation and may be receptive to an invitation to  attend.

 

 

Church Ministry-3-V

28 Feb

Welcoming Church-Many churches grew lazy in the mid-1900’s because they had a steady source of new members to replace those who died or moved away. Most people had a church background. Many who attended as a child and dropped out after leaving home, would return after they got married and started to have kids, so they kids would get Christian training in Sunday School. In addition, those who moved into town would seek out a church of the denomination that their previous church belonged to.  There were also evangelists like Billy Graham who reached the unchurched and then sent them to a church near where they lived. As a result, the churches didn’t have to reach out to the lost and many dropped their evangelism programs. Many churches have become complacent and don’t make any attempt to reach the unchurched, in spite of the fact that the number of those with a church background is shrinking as people drop out of church and never return. Their children are now growing up with no knowledge of church and see no reason to attend. Many church complain that their church is dying because they aren’t replacing those  that die or move away, yet they make no attempt to reach the growing number of the unchurched. Christ told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and while some churches still have mission programs to reach the lost in foreign countries, they make no effort to reach the lost in their neighborhood.

 

 

Second Sunday of Lent-Feb 25

21 Feb

If We Love God Jesus said the greatest commandment is “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matt 22:37)That means all of us. If we truly love God, we will glorify Him and magnify His name through worship. Too often today, worship seems empty and unfulfilling because we do not see the glory of God and do not see any reason to praise Him. As  God’s people support and encourage each other, we  will see reasons to praise God for what He is doing in the church. However, many churches today are little more than collections of people because they never get to know each other and support each other during trials. We are often so wrapped up in our daily activities that we don’t take time to get out and explore God’s creation. Too often we are so engulfed in the material world that we see little of God around us. Unless we go to the park or the countryside, we see little of God’s creation. Unless we walk with Him and experience His presence, we have little concept of His glory and see little reason to praise Him. We need to take time to get away and experience the quiet and majesty of His creation.

 

Priorities-H

21 Feb

Democrats are making a big deal out of the fact that Republican States are turning down funds for summer school feeding programs to help poor kids during the summer when they can’t get school lunches and crowing about how Republicans don’t care about the poor kids who will go hungry. However, they are not saying why the Republican States are turning down the funds. President Biden added an executive order to the school lunch program which requires those who get the summer feeding program to recognize transgender students and allow them to use the bathroom of their choice. It is a matter of accepting the funds and being forced to endanger girls and women by allowing men disguised as women to use women’s restrooms, showers, and sleeping quarters or turning down the funds in order to protect them. Republicans care more about protecting women from embarrassment and even rape then the summer school program, while Democrats are more concerned about pushing their agenda regardless of the danger to women. They would rather have the kids go hungry then back down on promoting their pro-transgender policies. Many churches and civic organizations are stepping up to provide meals and food to low-income families in the States that refuse the funds at far less cost than the government funded programs and do not have to accept the government mandates that go with the funds.

 

Priorities-G

21 Feb

It is clear where President Biden’s priorities are. He issued a ban on new oil drilling to satisfy the environmentalists causing gas prices to double. However, with his ratings falling because of inflation fueled by rising fuel prices and his out of control spending, he apparently had second thoughts about restricting our oil production. He apparently hoped to cut his party’s losses in the off-year elections, and bowed to public pressure to cut gas restrictions to allow a drop in gas prices. He agreed to open new gas drilling and gas prices started to fall slightly. However, due to pressure from environmentalists, who contribute to his party’s campaign funds, he has now restored the ban on new drilling and prices have begun rising again. Apparently he is more concerned about the source of his campaign funds than about the voters that elected him and who might not vote for his party in the upcoming election.

 

Gas Prices-J

21 Feb

I just checked gas prices to fill up the car and the price has been going up for three weeks straight. A lot of it is due to the fighting in the Mid-East. Most stations are about $3.29 a gallon compared to $1.75 a gallon when President Biden took office. President Trump pushed America to be independent of Arab oil prices which lowered gas prices since it didn’t have to be transported from the Mid-east and profits went to American workers and investors. Under President Trump, gas prices would not have been affected by the war, but now the fighting is pushing prices up still further. President Biden forced cuts in America’s oil production forcing us to buy oil from Mid-Eastern countries which has to be transported by ship, greatly increasing the cost. A lot of that oil goes through the Suez Canal and the shipping lanes near the Arab States. Arab terrorists have made travel in the region difficult and many are oil  tankers who are opting to go around the south of Africa to avoid it, which creates extensive delay and a lot of extra cost.  In addition, there is nothing to prevent the Arab countries from raising prices to hurt the American economy, like they did in 1974. The profit from Arab oil goes to Arab countries who supply our oil and much of it goes into the pockets of rich Arab rulers who in turn support Arab terrorist activities.

 

 

video-In the World, Not of it-study course-promo

21 Feb

 

video-In the World, Not of it-study course-free coupon

20 Feb

We are currently offering our course on “The Church-In the World, Not of It” for free for a limited time. It illustrates the church as a force for change in individuals and in society, in the past, present, and future. We are offering a coupon which is good until 3/20/2024 free to the first 100 who sign up at   https://www.udemy.com/course/the-church-in-the-world-not-of-it/?couponCode=E54C94B

For more information contact me at neighborhoodministriesNWOh@gmail.com

Rev Robert Barr

Neighborhood Ministries of NW Ohio.