During the month of January, we are encouraging members of our church family to make the practice of Spiritual Disciplines a part of their New Year’s resolution. During our morning worship services, our sermons will focus on developing individual disciplines (prayer, fasting, meditation, and service).
Disciplines are habits or practices that help us set our focus on God. The goal of each discipline is not to become a better faster, or a better listener, nor to brag about our effective praying. The goal is to grow closer to God. During the next month, you will be encouraged to practice four spiritual disciplines: Prayer, Fasting, Meditation, and Service. These are only a small sampling of disciplines. Other disciplines include: silence, simplicity, worship, study, submission, confession, guidance, celebration, and others.
I used to be under the false impression that spiritual disciplines are very binding. I thought that practicing spiritual disciplines meant that I had to forfeit freedoms in order to succeed in the disciplines. I have been surprised to find out that the opposite is true. Rather than being binding, spiritual disciplines can help us feel the freedom that we have in Christ. I hope that your experience in the coming month helps you to discover the freedom of Christ’s transforming power as you draw near to Him in a disciplined fashion.
These devotions are designed to be a 31 day introduction to practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, meditation and service. During this 31 day exercise, we will hear a series of sermons on Spiritual Disciplines at Second Highland CRC, that are meant to complement these devotions. I encourage you to begin on a Monday, and follow the devotions closely. On Monday-Friday of each week, the devotion will contain a scripture text, a brief thought for the day, and instructions for keeping a journal. As you begin this month, I encourage you to find a clean notebook of paper, or a journal for writing down thoughts while you practice these disciplines. Plan to spend about 20 minute per day in this process.
On the weekend, there will be one short note for Saturday-Sunday.
Please feel free to share these devotions with anyone who would like to participate. I pray that God will bless each of us as we strive to develop the habit of walking with Him.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
New Life – Now What?
On Monday, December 7, our congregation voted to change the name of our church from “Second Highland Christian Reformed Church” to “New Life Christian Reformed Church.” This name change was the result of many months of discussions and presentations that are part of our church’s desire to become more actively involved in our community, and more intentional about welcoming people to join us in our church’s ministry.
Even though we have voted to change our name, we will not immediately unveil a new sign and have a new bulletin cover. We want this name change to be part of a bigger plan to invite and welcome people from the surrounding neighborhood to participate in the life of our church family.
During the next few months, members of our Council and Staff will work to notify the appropriate agencies and file the necessary paperwork to ensure that our name change is well communicated to those who should know. At the same time, we will meet with representatives from Back to God Ministries to help us consider how we might be more effective in enfolding visitors into our church family. We will also begin the process of recruiting a Director of Community Outreach during these months.
It is our hope that we will designate a date late this spring or early this summer to recognize the new name of our church, and unveil other efforts to help our church become a stronger presence for Christ in our community. Please pray that these efforts will be beneficial for God’s work in Highland, and look for further information about this process in the near future.
Even though we have voted to change our name, we will not immediately unveil a new sign and have a new bulletin cover. We want this name change to be part of a bigger plan to invite and welcome people from the surrounding neighborhood to participate in the life of our church family.
During the next few months, members of our Council and Staff will work to notify the appropriate agencies and file the necessary paperwork to ensure that our name change is well communicated to those who should know. At the same time, we will meet with representatives from Back to God Ministries to help us consider how we might be more effective in enfolding visitors into our church family. We will also begin the process of recruiting a Director of Community Outreach during these months.
It is our hope that we will designate a date late this spring or early this summer to recognize the new name of our church, and unveil other efforts to help our church become a stronger presence for Christ in our community. Please pray that these efforts will be beneficial for God’s work in Highland, and look for further information about this process in the near future.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
New Life
Early in October, the Council at our church voted to propose that Second Highland Christian Reformed Church change its name to New Life Christian Reformed Church of Highland. The proposed name change is part of an ongoing effort to change our ministry focus to become a church that has a noticeable presence within our surrounding community.
The name "New Life" is significant for a few different reasons. On the one hand, it reflects where we are in the history of our church. We are praying that God will work within our church family to bring a new enthusiasm for His work within our neighborhood. We recognize that our church is not only a refuge from the trials of the world, but it should also be a mission post to reach those who do not know Christ.
But the name "New Life" does not only reflect the current desire for our church, it also speaks to the greatest hope the Church has to offer. When we know Christ, we begin a process of becoming new people. The name, "New Life" points to God's promise to make us new.
We pray that our church will be a place that people come when they recognize that they would like a fresh start. When people are looking for a revitalization in their lives, the church has been given the greatest gift, that can lead people to that newness of life. We want people to experience the life-changing power of Christ to make all things new.
The name "New Life" is significant for a few different reasons. On the one hand, it reflects where we are in the history of our church. We are praying that God will work within our church family to bring a new enthusiasm for His work within our neighborhood. We recognize that our church is not only a refuge from the trials of the world, but it should also be a mission post to reach those who do not know Christ.
But the name "New Life" does not only reflect the current desire for our church, it also speaks to the greatest hope the Church has to offer. When we know Christ, we begin a process of becoming new people. The name, "New Life" points to God's promise to make us new.
We pray that our church will be a place that people come when they recognize that they would like a fresh start. When people are looking for a revitalization in their lives, the church has been given the greatest gift, that can lead people to that newness of life. We want people to experience the life-changing power of Christ to make all things new.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
When the Doors are Closed
Last week, a number of Elders and Deacons from our church walked through the neighborhood surrounding the church in order to invite people to join us for Family Night Dinner and our Worship Services. We did this for two reasons. First, we wanted people in our neighborhood to know that they were welcome to join us. Second, we wanted to learn about the people in our neighborhood, so that we can more effectively reach our community.
Many of our experiences were pleasant as we walked through the neighborhood. More than a few people seemed to genuinely appreciate the invitation. Some, however, were less than enthused about being visited by people from the church. One of the things we learned during our walk was that sometimes people shut the doors. Sometimes they literally shut the door after explaining they are not interested, and sometimes they patiently wait and listen to the invitation before politely excusing themselves without any response.
As our church tries to become more involved in the life of our neighborhood, we are going to have to learn how to discover the open doors that we can walk through, and the doors that are closed.
During the past year, leaders in our church have been trying to partner with one of the local public schools to begin a mentoring program through the national office of Kid's Hope USA. This mentoring (or tutoring) program creates a partnership between a church and a local public school, so that individuals from the church who have been screened and trained, can be matched in a one-on-one relationship with a student from the local school. Mentors are asked to go to the school once a week, and spend an hour tutoring the students they have been matched with.
The leaders of our church had high hopes that this program would be one way that we could reach into our community. In the last couple of weeks, however, we were told that the local schools are not currently interested in pursuing this kind of mentoring program. It seems as though, at least for now, we have run into a door that has been closed.
This does not mean that we are done knocking on doors. Even though this door has been closed, we are hopeful that other doors will be opened so that we can build a stronger relationship with our local neighborhood.
Many of our experiences were pleasant as we walked through the neighborhood. More than a few people seemed to genuinely appreciate the invitation. Some, however, were less than enthused about being visited by people from the church. One of the things we learned during our walk was that sometimes people shut the doors. Sometimes they literally shut the door after explaining they are not interested, and sometimes they patiently wait and listen to the invitation before politely excusing themselves without any response.
As our church tries to become more involved in the life of our neighborhood, we are going to have to learn how to discover the open doors that we can walk through, and the doors that are closed.
During the past year, leaders in our church have been trying to partner with one of the local public schools to begin a mentoring program through the national office of Kid's Hope USA. This mentoring (or tutoring) program creates a partnership between a church and a local public school, so that individuals from the church who have been screened and trained, can be matched in a one-on-one relationship with a student from the local school. Mentors are asked to go to the school once a week, and spend an hour tutoring the students they have been matched with.
The leaders of our church had high hopes that this program would be one way that we could reach into our community. In the last couple of weeks, however, we were told that the local schools are not currently interested in pursuing this kind of mentoring program. It seems as though, at least for now, we have run into a door that has been closed.
This does not mean that we are done knocking on doors. Even though this door has been closed, we are hopeful that other doors will be opened so that we can build a stronger relationship with our local neighborhood.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Family Night Dinners
Over the past year, our church has been attempting to reach our community by inviting people to join us for dinner on a Wednesday evening. On the first and third Wednesdays of the month, you can come to our church basement and enjoy dinner with other people from our church and from our neighborhood. This spring, our Cadet and GEMS leaders have started to plan their meetings around this evening, so that families with children in 4th grade through 8th grade can take one evening to come to church.
This month, members of council took an evening to walk through our surrounding neighborhood to invite our neighbors to join us for one of these Family Night dinners.
In the future, we may consider hosting special events or activities on these Wednesday evenings, with the hope that we will create more opportunities for people to participate in the life of our church.
This month, members of council took an evening to walk through our surrounding neighborhood to invite our neighbors to join us for one of these Family Night dinners.
In the future, we may consider hosting special events or activities on these Wednesday evenings, with the hope that we will create more opportunities for people to participate in the life of our church.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Reaching the Community
I cannot believe it has been over a year since I became the pastor of Second Christian Reformed Church. While I was interviewing with the Search Committee, it was evident to me that this church wanted to make a sincere effort to reach members of the community and welcome them into our church family. In the past year, members of Council and the Administrative Team have had discussions about changes that we might make so that we can have an influence for Christ in our community.
Today, I am beginning this blog as a way to help members of our church understand some of the things that Council Members (and other church leaders) are discussing as part of our efforts to serve within our community. In future posts, you will hear about our relationship with Love INC, our Story Hour and Coffee Break ministries, and our efforts to begin a mentoring progam in the local schools. You will read about discussions to change our church name, and the ways that we will utilize our new Welcome Center. We welcome your comments and thoughts through this blog spot, and we hope that all of these efforts will help us become a church that has a positive impact for Christ in our community.
Today, I am beginning this blog as a way to help members of our church understand some of the things that Council Members (and other church leaders) are discussing as part of our efforts to serve within our community. In future posts, you will hear about our relationship with Love INC, our Story Hour and Coffee Break ministries, and our efforts to begin a mentoring progam in the local schools. You will read about discussions to change our church name, and the ways that we will utilize our new Welcome Center. We welcome your comments and thoughts through this blog spot, and we hope that all of these efforts will help us become a church that has a positive impact for Christ in our community.
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