Saturday, November 6, 2010

Must Read!

I found this great article on church revitalization. If you are not in a wealthy metro-plex, and you are frustrated with the conventional rules for measuring success in churches today, you need to read this.

http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/201001/201001_000_Rethinking_Church_Revitalization.cfm

This pastor deserves a medal! Oh, I forgot, those only go to church planters and "Founding Pastors." Really, this is an extremely well written piece. Highly motivating and can change the way you think about church.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

What Has the Devil Stolen?

I think this is going to be the title of the sermon this Sunday to kick off FIRE FALL.

Don't miss this. You need to get your stuff back!

FIRE FALL

Fire Fall starts Sunday!

Fire Fall is our fall revival. Sunday night at 6:30, we will have an all worship service. We are planning on going from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. If you need to leave early for your kids we understand. The Wednesday night youth worship team will kick off the worship service at 6:30.

Monday through Wednesday, we will start at 6:30 and go till 7:30. Extended prayer times following services will be available, but we will dismiss at 7:30 for people with young children.

Nursery will be available, but we will not have Jungle Jam or Kids Church in the evening services. We want our kids to worship with us and respond to the altar with us.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Our Next Big Projects!

Our benevolence committee, which brought us the 9/11 EMS dinner, has some more plans for 2010! THREE BIG PROJECTS this fall.

1. We are collecting items for donation through Loving Hearts. From now till November 30th we want to collect cleaning supplies, laundry supplies, kitchen supplies and other house hold items that Loving Hearts is always giving out to those in need. There will be a container in the foyer of the church at 408 East 8th street. If you do not attend our church, but wish to donate items bring them by the office from 8 to 5 week days. Or, come visit on Sunday at 8:30 or 10:15, have a cup of coffee and a snack, and stick around for a great time of worship and encounter with God.

2. We are going to assist with a Christmas Outreach at the Pacific, MO State Penitentiary. we will make a large purchase of soap and shampoo that will be added to gift bags that are being prepared by a team of churches. Those gift bags will be distributed by a team, including some men from our church. Every inmate in the Pacific prison will receive a Christmas gift bag! You can help by going to the institution to help distribute, or you can help put bags together. Keep your eyes open and on the bulletin for those upcoming work dates!

3. We are putting together a food order, so that we can bless several families in our church and area with food at Christmas time. If you would like to help distribute Christmas food boxes in December, please contact me (Pastor Paul) ASAP so that we can plan well for this project.

Monday, November 1, 2010

A Kitchen Shower

OK, that sounds weird. I have a bathroom shower. I know some pastors at fancy churches who have an office shower. But, be sure, we are not installing a shower in the church kitchen.

Saturday morning we are having a kitchen shower to supply the kitchen with tools. People who use the kitchen regularly know that there are some essential tools missing. We are going to try and fix that problem.

The kitchen shower will be this Saturday, at 10:00. My wife Stephanie is a Pampered Chef consultant and all the host rewards, and all of her commissions will be given back to the church as donations to the kitchen. Since it will run similar to a Pampered Chef Party, you can buy stuff for yourself, or as Christmas gifts for others, knowing that all the sales commission from your gift purchases will go back into the church kitchen! You can also buy a tool from a list provided for the kitchen. Again, even the commission from your purchase will go back into the kitchen.

Weekend Rewind

Sunday was a great day. Worship was good and I love the sermon because I love the topic. I love communicating to our church about the necessity of reaching the next generation of Jesus followers that will lead our church through this new century.

I hope that you will be extra sensitive to opportunities that you will have this week to lovingly and graciously invite young people to join you as you follow Jesus. I also hope that you will be thinking about the message so that you will be prepared to changes that our church will go through as we continue to be a place where teen and twenty somethings want to hang out.

Our message never changes, because God and his Word will never change, but our methods of reaching the next generation will always be evolving.