Meeting A Need-If there is a need in your area and there is no one meeting that need, you may consider organizing a ministry through your church or in your community. The small groups may check to see if there are nearby residents needing lawns cut, snow shoveling of simple repairs. If the group doesn’t have anyone available, they can ask neighboring groups. Some needs may be beyond the resources of the local small group. Churches often claim they don’t have the resources. In the mid-1970’s, I belonged to a house church consisting of only six families. They became concerned about the large number of suicides in the area after I told them about the hour, I had spent the previous week on a railroad bridge with a teenage girl who could not decide whether to jump. They set out to organize a crisis hotline and contacted Contact International and with their help laid plans for a crisis phone line for the county. In only 12 months, the members of that church gathered 129 volunteer phone workers and trained them, and secured enough voluntary contributions to support a phone bill of almost $1500 a month, plus cover utilities and rent for an office, to provide a place where people could call toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in the county. They went on the phones only a year after I sat on the railroad bridge with the girl. They provided continuous phone service 24 hours a day and seven days a week for 49 years with no government funds. They drastically cut the suicide rate in their area. If a church of only six families can do that, what can a church of 100 or more families do?
Posts Tagged ‘Pentecost’
Third Sunday of Pentecost June 7
Meeting your neighbors Years ago, stable neighborhoods were friendly places where neighbors knew each other and socialized frequently. These days, few people know their neighbors, even in stable neighborhoods. As residential areas have been separated from shopping and office areas, many neighborhoods have become bedroom communities where people come home to eat and sleep. They shop, work, and attend school elsewhere. Few people sit on the porch or walk the neighborhood anymore. Where neighborhoods used to be filled with kids and they used to roam the neighborhood freely, there are often few kids and few roam the neighborhood anymore. We have become a mobile society where people live in a bubble and have few meaningful contacts. Members should be encouraged to get to know their neighbors. While many members think their neighbors have their own churches, very few do. There are probably neighbors who could use encouragement and support. Neighborhood Vacation Bible Schools, Bible studies, and children’s Bible clubs can help bring neighbors together. Small groups can become a door to attract neighbors to church or provide Bible teaching to those who attend church but whose church does not provide it.
Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost-C
Many Christians like to get away and go camping in tents, cabins, or motor homes on weekends to relax with the family but often don’t know the churches in nearby towns and don’t know if the churches will welcome strangers since they often can not get dressed up due to cramped quarters and primitive facilities. Those driving big motor homes don’t want to leave their lot to drive the motor home around town looking for a church and don’t have a second vehicle to drive. They welcome churches that provide worship services at the campground or provide transportation to nearby churches.
Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost-B
My wife and I usually seek a church to attend on Sunday when we are away from home. We usually do a computer search to find a church nearby and how to get to it, however many travelers may not be able to or may not want to take the time to research it. Searching usually requires going through the phone book to get names and addresses. Then you have to access a travel site to get directions. You may have to research a lot of churches before you find one close to the motel. Then you have to look up their websites or Facebook page to find service times. That is a lot of work. Unfortunately, many churches do not have addresses on their websites or Facebook page. I may look up First Church in Columbus, Oh and it will pull up a list of pages for First Church. Many of them may be in New York, Texas, Florida, or someplace else. If the site doesn’t list the city and State, you don’t know if it is the right one. Obviously, travelers are not going to visit them. Putting addresses on websites and Facebook pages would also be a big help.
Twelfth Sunday of Pentecost-A-August 24
Few people think about those that travel, yet a large portion of our society travels at one time or other. Many travel by car and by plane but many also travel by bus. Many spend only a short time at their destination before returning home. Many people traveling stop at hotels and motels but do not know their way around town. Those who regularly attend church at home may or may not seek a church to attend while they are away. If they do, they may look up churches in the phone book but not know the times of services or how to get to the addresses listed. Calling the numbers listed in the phone book often doesn’t help since few churches offices are staffed on weekends. Motels used to have notebooks in each room with a list of nearby churches, directions from the hotel, and service times, which was compiled by local ministerial groups, and included a map to show directions, however I have not seen any for years. It would help visitors find a church to attend. It would also help people moving into an area to find a new church home. Local ministerial groups can compile the list, organize the notebooks, and distribute them to local motels.
Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost-August 17
Truck Stop Ministry-Few people take any thought to the many trucks that travel our highways day and night. Many truckers have families that they don’t see for weeks at a time. Often they are alone for long periods except for stops at truck stops to fuel, eat, and sleep. Drivers have long periods with nothing to do but think as they drive, or while they rest over layovers and while they may have passing conversations with truckers they pass, they often have little meaningful conversation. Truck stop ministries are springing up where truckers can stop and visit and where volunteers are glad to minister to their spiritual and social needs. Many ministries are getting trailers to use for worship services where Christian drivers can worship while they are on the road, since it is difficult for drivers to drive around town on Sunday morning looking for a church with a parking lot big enough to accommodate their rig.
Eighth Sunday of Pentecost -B- July 27
Public schools also are facing increased pressure to use liberal textbooks and teach false and misleading information to support liberal causes. Many have banned the Bible and moral teaching in favor of sexual license, sexual disorientation, and racially divisive teaching. In addition, many seek to turn kids against their parents to counter moral teaching. Many also allow those who are sexually confused to use the bathroom of their choice, endangering women and girls. An increasing number of parents, both Christian and those with no Christian background are turning to homeschooling and Christian schools to remove their kids from such an environment. Some schools are allowing release time where kids can leave the school property to go to churches nearby for voluntary Bible training. Other schools still allow Christian organizations and churches to have Christian clubs on campus. Churches can start Christian schools and support homeschoolers, as well as supporting Christian clubs on campus to help counter the secular teaching the kids face in class.
Eighth Sunday of Pentecost -A- July 27
Dealing with issues-teens. Host discussion nights for teens to deal with social issues and help educate about them. Too often the church has been silent and many church members hold liberal ideas because that is all they hear. The church cannot convince the world that God’s way is better simply by claiming God said it, because those who don’t believe in God feel it is just your opinion and no better than that of anyone else. God created us and knows what is best for us but we must back our defense of Christian values with facts and demonstrate through our lives and the witness of the church that God’s ways are best. I have done a series of courses on social issues dealing with the values laid down in the Bible and how they differ from those who do not know the teaching of the Bible. It is good to have such sessions with adults also.