Support the Weak-B-Remember those who are wandering. The church needs to be aware of those who may stop coming regularly or leave altogether. It may indicate an illness or other problem that may prevent them from attending. Often it indicates that they may carry burdens that are overwhelming them or feel that they are isolated and don’t feel a part of the church. They need to be visited and ministered to so they can overcome what is separating them from the church and return to full fellowship with the body of Christ. It is difficult on Sunday morning to keep track of who is there and who isn’t. People may begin missing occasionally and not be noticed. Some churches have ushers scan the church to see if someone may be missing but if someone begins missing occasionally, they may not be missed right away when they finally break with the church. Every member needs to be a part of a small group so they can be ministered to regularly. In addition, the small group will recognize signs of depression and discouragement that may not be noticed in the Sunday service and may indicate the person or family may drop out of church. In addition, the small group can help build a sense of belonging that may not develop in the Sunday service.
Posts Tagged ‘Body Ministry’
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.
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.
Fifth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 1
–Developing mutual concern-People were attracted to the early church because of the love they saw members had for each other. Our society has become increasingly isolated. Though surrounded by crowds, they are strangers and people withdraw into their private world. This isolation is seeping into the church as people drive farther to church and often do not see each other from one Sunday to the next. While many pastors and church leaders feel they have good access to knowing when members have problems, few members in most churches know each other well enough to drop the mask they wear to keep people at a distance and reveal who they really are and that they have needs. The lack of this concern is why there are so many in church who struggle with loneliness and depression and why there are so many in church who do things that hurt others. Many people who form the core of churches today are interrelated to others in the core of the church because their children grew up together in the church and married. When they have problems or needs, their family helps either directly or through the church. However there are many in most churches who are outside the core because they have only recently joined or their children had left home before they joined and often are not well known by those in the core. When they have problems or needs, the core of the church is often not aware of it and those in need are reluctant to ask for help. In a small church, where the pastor gets out and regularly visits all his members, he may eventually become aware of problems, however, in a large church, the pastor can not personally visit everyone so a deacon or elder board should divide up the congregation so each board member has responsibility for overseeing a portion of the church. (see “The Living Presence” in my series “Rebuilding The kingdom” for pastors and church leaders) Small group fellowships enable people to get to know each other and develop a concern for each other. Developing a concern for someone goes beyond merely knowing about them, it involves caring about what happens to them. As they get to know each other, they are more willing to share who they really are and that they have needs. They also begin to care about each other and minister to each other’s needs. People who care about each other seek to help each other grow and prosper.
Fourth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 24
Developing relationships-The days after Pentecost were days of learning what it meant to follow Christ in a community of believers. Many were attracted to the church by the preaching of the disciples and had not previously known each other so it was a time of learning to live with each other as Christ would have them. Our society values isolation and the church has fallen prey to it. As a result, few in the church really know each other well enough to admit to having needs. In addition, very few know them well enough to minister to them because they have not had a close relationship with them. People require more than an hour a week in a worship service to develop close relationships. Churches need to make a big effort to help members get to know each other. In the past, pot luck suppers were a place where people got to know each other but few churches today organize social times. Many churches today that still have social times are going to catered meals and eating at restaurants but that is only available to those who can afford them. In addition, many members do not know other members well enough to be open and honest so little socialization occurs in large gatherings. People today develop best in groups of less than 16 people, therefore the church needs to organize small group to help members get to know each other and learn to live like Christ would have them live. Short six week Bible studies are not adequate, it requires long term commitment to each other. (See “Living Presence” in “Rebuilding the Kingdom” (Lulu Press) for developing a small group ministry)
Second Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 11
A firm foundation- Catechism. When I began my ministry, it was common for churches to have a concentrated time of study for those coming of age, generally considered about age twelve, to give them a basic foundation of understanding of the church and its beliefs. Few churches today, particularly evangelical churches, have any organized classes for twelve year olds to teach them the basic tenets of the faith. Even children who have been in Sunday School their whole lives need a concentrated time to pull together everything they have been taught. As a result, many children today do not have even a basic foundation of knowledge and cannot build their faith as they grow older. There is also no concentrated study for those coming into the church who did not grow up in church. The result is that few adult church members today have even a basic understanding of the faith. I have developed a basic catechism course of study for new members for that purpose (Understanding the Path We Walk-see “books” on website and Basic Christian Beliefs on Udemy-URL- https://www.udemy.com/course/basic-christian-beliefs/?referralCode=45EA0BA6DAD6F47E7541)
First Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 4
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 through 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 Advent concentrates on building individual faith, Kingdomtide concentrates on building community.
Video-study course-Christian Celebrations-promo
I have a course on Basic Christian Beliefs for new Christians and as a refresher for long-time Christians, which is posted on Udemy.
It is available by posting the following link in your browser.
https://www.udemy.com/course/christian-celebrations/?referralCode=D706C0B4E96819B18699