Bro. Brad and his sweet family have been a great asset to our Trinity family in just the short time that they have been here! Our students are already being challenged to examine their faith, to articulate an accurate Gospel and to minister in ways that they have never thought of before. I am thankful that Bro. Brad and Bro. Jeff Summers work so well together and have such a heart to develop our FAMILIES - they correctly view their ministry as one of equipping parents to grow their children. This emphasis on family ministry is just one of MANY reasons I am so thankful that God has sent Bro. Brad our way! As I have always considered myself blessed to have my boys under Bro. Jeff Summer's ministry - I am confident and excited to watch them continue to grow under the ministry of Bro. Brad!
Family Worship at the Walker Home...is sometimes like herding cats!!
Preparing for family worship at the Walker house is sometimes like herding cats. My wife, Elicia, and I have a 3 year old and a 17 month old. With boys of these ages, energy levels are often high and attention spans low. Like most families in our church, we are a very busy family; therefore, we try to keep the big picture in mind with our family worship. Our goals are very simple. We strive to have family worship 4 or 5 times a week (we desire to grow to 7). Depending on our day, we may have family worship at breakfast, supper or at bedtime. As often as possible, we have family worship with all four of us, but sometimes it’s just with two or three of us (sometimes Elicia has to put one of them to bed early). During this stage in the life of our family, we have learned to be flexible. Our focus is on packing truth into the hearts of our young children and not working to check family worship off of our list of Christian disciplines.
The layout of this time typically consists of Bible reading, questions/discussion, praising the Lord in song, and prayer. We love to use resources for young children that employ repetition, a gospel-centered message, and a storyline that points to Christ. Some of our favorite tools to use in family worship include but are not limited to the following sources:
The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm and The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones
Both of these Children’s Bibles point to Christ at the center of every Bible story. Our children love the great illustrations and the captivating writing style of each of these Bibles.
A Sure Foundation by Sally Michael, Children Desiring God and Bethlehem Baptist Church
This is a curriculum for young toddlers that teaches children foundational biblical truths while giving them a biblical vocabulary and helping them see a great God. The lessons are designed to be repeated over and over again and are complete with wonderfully illustrated story pictures, a scripture memory set, songs to sing, and color/activity sheets to use for reinforcement.
To say the least, setting aside and maintaining time for family worship requires a daily dying to self! There are many days and nights when it would be much easier to just skip it. That is why we have to be convinced that the purpose of family worship is to honor God and to plant and water the seeds of the gospel in the hearts of our young children and pray that God will provide the increase at His appointed time. We will never be able to do a perfect job of worshipping God whether in private or as a family; therefore, family worship is another opportunity to experience the grace of our Lord!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
A Guest Blog on Family Worship from Bro. Jon Rushing....
I am so thankful that God saw fit to bring Jon and Suzanne Rushing into our Church family at Trinity!! What a blessing it is to see his heart each and every week as he leads us to worship in Spirit and Truth! Let us at Trinity, never take for granted that Bro. Jon has passion for doctrinal truth and a Biblical view of the Church - what a rare thing to find in music ministry today! He is indeed a Pastor first, whose role it is to lead us in worship. I am so thankful that he has a heart for God, a heart for his family and a heart for this Church.
A look at family worship, from Bro. Jon Rushing...
The Rushing Characters
Time: 8:22 A.M.
Place: Kitchen table, our home, Southaven, MS
Characters: 4 total…character #1 (Dad), character #2 (Mom), character #3 (5 year old boy), character #4 (9 year old boy)
Objective: Family time in the Word
Hindrances: time… the above characters… Satan…(did I mention the above characters?!)… distraction of the day’s agenda… time… and oh, yeah - the characters!
As the characters gather around the table, the first focus is eating, so there is coffee, juice, milk, and various breakfast foods being brought to the table. Typically whoever gets to the table first, finishes his/her above mentioned breakfast before the others and at this point character #1 (Dad) says, “Make sure you have your Bible.” This is almost always followed by “Yes, sir,” or “I forgot.” (Characters #3 and #4 are, after all, kids.) So with breakfast in their stomachs, character #1 (Dad) typically leads out and either leads the time or assigns one of the others to read, etc.
Our time in the Word is a lot of things, but it is not dull or predictable. We do have a routine, but within that routine, there is much flexibility. If there wasn’t - we would go crazy (and if you were observing us, you might think we were there already). Because of the ages of our boys, we have to tried to be balanced between simple story- based resources (like using Sunday School sheets, AWANA Cubbies material, or Big Truths For Little Kids, by Susan & Richie Hunt) and books with a little more depth (like Big Truths For Young Hearts, by Bruce Ware). We are currently alternating between the Hunt book and the Ware book. When we use the Ware book, we don’t cover a full chapter in one sitting because our 5 year old can’t stay focused that long. We will typically cover a single point and assign the different Scripture references around the table, so we don’t all look up each one (this keeps the time shorter). We also use a children’s resource from ‘Desiring God Ministries’ that is really neat: they are called “Fighter Verses”. It’s a small ring-bound pack of cards with descriptive pictures on one side and a Bible verse on the other. We will allow each child to pick and display a picture while the rest of the family tries to guess what verse is. It’s a great way to teach/review Scripture memory and also have fun while doing it! Most nights of the week we try to have some individual time with each child to read together something that is truly on their level, too. This happens a lot of time at bedtime. It’s not an every night thing because of the busy-ness of life, but we try to do it several times a week. This has sometimes been reading a fiction book that communicates Biblical truth (Chronicles of Narnia, Sugar Creek Gang) or listening through one of the Gospels using an audio Bible (The Word Of Promise or The Bible Experience) or reading a kids devotional (God’s Mighty Warrior Devotional Bible or The Jesus Storybook Bible). I hate to blow up the stereotype of the Worship Pastor’s home, but we don’t always sing during our family times! But many times, we will end our family worship by asking if there is a particular song that comes to mind, based on what we have just learned, and then we sing it out! (usually involving some type of motions!) We do have worship music playing around the house a lot and make Christian music readily available to them to listen to in their rooms as well. (our youngest gets the award for the loudest jam sessions!)
I hope that while you read about our “characters” you are encouraged that the task of discipling our children is a doable thing for a “normal” family. But we have found that we must be intentional, but flexible…planned, but spontaneous. According to Deuteronomy 6, we are to teach our children all the time. This only happens effectively as they watch us live out the gospel during our typical daily activities, not just around the table. God uses both to reinforce who He is in a believer’s life, and it is my prayer that when the Rushing boys reach adulthood, they will say that they were able to see their folks walk through the good, the bad, and the ugly of life following Jesus through it all.
A look at family worship, from Bro. Jon Rushing...
The Rushing Characters
Time: 8:22 A.M.
Place: Kitchen table, our home, Southaven, MS
Characters: 4 total…character #1 (Dad), character #2 (Mom), character #3 (5 year old boy), character #4 (9 year old boy)
Objective: Family time in the Word
Hindrances: time… the above characters… Satan…(did I mention the above characters?!)… distraction of the day’s agenda… time… and oh, yeah - the characters!
As the characters gather around the table, the first focus is eating, so there is coffee, juice, milk, and various breakfast foods being brought to the table. Typically whoever gets to the table first, finishes his/her above mentioned breakfast before the others and at this point character #1 (Dad) says, “Make sure you have your Bible.” This is almost always followed by “Yes, sir,” or “I forgot.” (Characters #3 and #4 are, after all, kids.) So with breakfast in their stomachs, character #1 (Dad) typically leads out and either leads the time or assigns one of the others to read, etc.
Our time in the Word is a lot of things, but it is not dull or predictable. We do have a routine, but within that routine, there is much flexibility. If there wasn’t - we would go crazy (and if you were observing us, you might think we were there already). Because of the ages of our boys, we have to tried to be balanced between simple story- based resources (like using Sunday School sheets, AWANA Cubbies material, or Big Truths For Little Kids, by Susan & Richie Hunt) and books with a little more depth (like Big Truths For Young Hearts, by Bruce Ware). We are currently alternating between the Hunt book and the Ware book. When we use the Ware book, we don’t cover a full chapter in one sitting because our 5 year old can’t stay focused that long. We will typically cover a single point and assign the different Scripture references around the table, so we don’t all look up each one (this keeps the time shorter). We also use a children’s resource from ‘Desiring God Ministries’ that is really neat: they are called “Fighter Verses”. It’s a small ring-bound pack of cards with descriptive pictures on one side and a Bible verse on the other. We will allow each child to pick and display a picture while the rest of the family tries to guess what verse is. It’s a great way to teach/review Scripture memory and also have fun while doing it! Most nights of the week we try to have some individual time with each child to read together something that is truly on their level, too. This happens a lot of time at bedtime. It’s not an every night thing because of the busy-ness of life, but we try to do it several times a week. This has sometimes been reading a fiction book that communicates Biblical truth (Chronicles of Narnia, Sugar Creek Gang) or listening through one of the Gospels using an audio Bible (The Word Of Promise or The Bible Experience) or reading a kids devotional (God’s Mighty Warrior Devotional Bible or The Jesus Storybook Bible). I hate to blow up the stereotype of the Worship Pastor’s home, but we don’t always sing during our family times! But many times, we will end our family worship by asking if there is a particular song that comes to mind, based on what we have just learned, and then we sing it out! (usually involving some type of motions!) We do have worship music playing around the house a lot and make Christian music readily available to them to listen to in their rooms as well. (our youngest gets the award for the loudest jam sessions!)
I hope that while you read about our “characters” you are encouraged that the task of discipling our children is a doable thing for a “normal” family. But we have found that we must be intentional, but flexible…planned, but spontaneous. According to Deuteronomy 6, we are to teach our children all the time. This only happens effectively as they watch us live out the gospel during our typical daily activities, not just around the table. God uses both to reinforce who He is in a believer’s life, and it is my prayer that when the Rushing boys reach adulthood, they will say that they were able to see their folks walk through the good, the bad, and the ugly of life following Jesus through it all.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
A Guest Blog from Bro. John Miller on Family Worship...
Bro. John Miller, our Minister to Senior Adults at Trinity, has been a faithful part of this body for many years...he has loved you and served you well! I thank God for having Bro. John at Trinity when I came on board - he has blessed me both with his support and assistance, but also with his devotion to this Church. He and his sweet wife, Mrs. Rosemary, have been precious friends to Michele and I during the first year of our ministry at Trinity. We have been privileged to go on several outings with our senior adults and Bro. John has always demonstrated great compassion and love for our seniors! I thank God for the ministry He has given Bro. John at Trinity and look forward to serving alongside him for many more years!
Family Worship...from Bro. John Miller:
As I think back to the time of our two children as preschoolers and in grade school, they were happy times but without a daily family worship time around the table.
I was raised in a family where one’s prayer life and personal Bible study was to be by one’s self. As a young 20-30 year old man, I worked two jobs most of the time, therefore did not take the time for family worship time. I know that sounds like excuses, but there are many young fathers who think they are too busy to have a family worship. I thought so, but how wrong I was.
We always talked with our children about God and His son, Jesus in private conversation and would have family discussions, but not on a daily basis. When our two children were growing up, we would say our prayers at the meal and pray when they went to bed as most parents do. We would answer questions they would ask concerning our Lord Jesus, giving them answers from the Bible.
We spent a lot of time doing things together as a family, camping in the mountains, spending time on the lake, hiking, going to ball games, etc. While doing these activities, we would point out how great God is and how merciful He is to us, but we still did not have a family worship time.
Family worship time can be a great time to be enjoyed and a time to “train up a child” according to Proverbs 22:6. A time for dad to instill wisdom to help keep them from sin and the snares of it. A time to teach them, as a father and mother, not in the way they would go, but the way they should go. Parents who are doing this will have the comfort of having done their best to train and used all available means to do it. How I wish I would have set this as a priority in our family.
We now have 8 Grandchildren; 5 live in Hernando, 3 in Oklahoma. All grandparents share a special relationship with their grandchildren; therefore we have a great reasonability to share the love of God. We have always shared the gospel with our grandchildren, prayed with them, read the Bible with them, brought them to church, and sent cards with Scriptures - always trying to point them to the love of Christ. I have tried to direct their parents to do what I did not do for family worship time.
We must remember that what we do with our lives will be passed on from generation to generation. My grandfather, my father, myself, my children… did not have a family worship time. I pray my grandchildren will not suffer the loss and enjoyment of this important family time with their children.
Family Worship...from Bro. John Miller:
As I think back to the time of our two children as preschoolers and in grade school, they were happy times but without a daily family worship time around the table.
I was raised in a family where one’s prayer life and personal Bible study was to be by one’s self. As a young 20-30 year old man, I worked two jobs most of the time, therefore did not take the time for family worship time. I know that sounds like excuses, but there are many young fathers who think they are too busy to have a family worship. I thought so, but how wrong I was.
We always talked with our children about God and His son, Jesus in private conversation and would have family discussions, but not on a daily basis. When our two children were growing up, we would say our prayers at the meal and pray when they went to bed as most parents do. We would answer questions they would ask concerning our Lord Jesus, giving them answers from the Bible.
We spent a lot of time doing things together as a family, camping in the mountains, spending time on the lake, hiking, going to ball games, etc. While doing these activities, we would point out how great God is and how merciful He is to us, but we still did not have a family worship time.
Family worship time can be a great time to be enjoyed and a time to “train up a child” according to Proverbs 22:6. A time for dad to instill wisdom to help keep them from sin and the snares of it. A time to teach them, as a father and mother, not in the way they would go, but the way they should go. Parents who are doing this will have the comfort of having done their best to train and used all available means to do it. How I wish I would have set this as a priority in our family.
We now have 8 Grandchildren; 5 live in Hernando, 3 in Oklahoma. All grandparents share a special relationship with their grandchildren; therefore we have a great reasonability to share the love of God. We have always shared the gospel with our grandchildren, prayed with them, read the Bible with them, brought them to church, and sent cards with Scriptures - always trying to point them to the love of Christ. I have tried to direct their parents to do what I did not do for family worship time.
We must remember that what we do with our lives will be passed on from generation to generation. My grandfather, my father, myself, my children… did not have a family worship time. I pray my grandchildren will not suffer the loss and enjoyment of this important family time with their children.
Monday, April 19, 2010
A Guest Blog from Bro. Bubba Crowder on Family Worship...
Bro. Bubba and his precious wife, Whitney should be in all of our daily prayers as they recently had a sweet baby girl (one of the only little girls in all of these boys being born at Trinity right now - so needless to say, Bro. Bubba will REALLY need your prayers as she grows up among all these boys!). We are blessed as a Church to have Bubba on staff not only for his obvious talent in the video and media side of things (as we have been seeing through the Freedom for Tomorrow...Today campaign) but also because of his devotion to the Lord. Bubba has a passion to see our Church be the Body as the Bible defines it.
As Bubba shares with you his family's time in worship each day, I am excited for you to see that family worship does NOT just begin when the children come along! Men, you are responsible for your wife's walk with God and wives, you must be the helpmate that makes it easier for your husband to walk with God! We begin FAMILY worship when we become FAMILY!!! That means husbands and wives are accountable to each other! Praise God that Bro. Bubba and Whitney demonstrate that in their marriage! I thank God for allowing Bubba to be a part of our Trinity family and a part of this Staff!
The Crowder's Family Worship – from the perspective of a couple without kids
Having just had our first-child recently, we’re obviously just beginning the journey towards learning how to lead our child in Family Worship. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss more of how we’ve done this as a married couple (without kids) over the past few years. This could also apply to empty-nesters and senior adults who are home, without children.
No one ever seems to have enough time, and everyone seems to struggle to find where exactly to “fit in” Family Worship time. Even though children increase the chaos in a household, they also bring a sense of structure to most homes as well. They have school time and bedtime, and practice time - and even though these things add so much more to a schedule, it does at least create some sort of daily schedule. A lot of times, and this is the boat we found ourselves in, without kids each day can look so drastically different. One weekday schedule may be based on a book club you have weekly on that night and another night based on working late. Another night may even be based on what TV shows you want to watch. This creates a messy weekly schedule, which creates a problem in where exactly you’re to fit Family Worship. For example, most married couples without kids also don’t sit down to “family dinner” nearly as often as those with kids do.
So, what we’ve found is that for being a married couple without kids, flexibility was extremely important. Now, I must go ahead and say, flexibility is always a threat to consistency, but it doesn’t have to be. This is where discipline must step in. Consistency must always be in place because it makes it a natural desire for us to spend this time each day. With that being said, some of the things we do as Family Worship:
- Prayer. We keep up with our family, friends, and situation God has laid on our hearts to pray about. Instead of praying for the entire list, we try and split them up into specific days. This allows us to focus on praying specifics instead of “rushing to finish a list”. We also spend time praying for each other.
- Read. We have different books that we read, and then we discuss them with each other. Just recently, I was walking through The Trellis and the Vine and she was reading The Excellent Wife. Now, it’s not that Whitney was teaching me how to be a wife, but there’s great accountability and encouragement in sharing what you’re learning and bouncing that off your spouse.
- Bible. We try to stay together in reading through the Word. Both of us spend our own time studying and walking through Scripture, but we also take time to talk about it together and to challenge each other in God’s Word. Something that’s recently been on the forefront for us is walking through what the Bible says on anything related to raising children. There are times where it’s related to a subject that we’re dealing with, and there are also times where it’s just a chance for us to walk through a book of Scripture together. The important thing is that we’re on the same “page” in God’s Word.
Now, it’s important to share that we don’t do this as a list. There are times where we focus more on praying for each other and there are times where we focus more on reading through the Bible.
There are also times where we don’t do all of this together. We may discuss a book over dinner, and then pray together later at night before we get ready for bed.
The important thing is that it’s done, and that it’s done with the heart to lead your family in worship, not just to check it off your list of things.
Also, we’re not perfect. This doesn’t always fit neatly into our lives, but there’s a sacrifice that must be made to carve out this time. It’s probably never going to be convenient. It may never even be easy to do. It is however, necessary!
As Bubba shares with you his family's time in worship each day, I am excited for you to see that family worship does NOT just begin when the children come along! Men, you are responsible for your wife's walk with God and wives, you must be the helpmate that makes it easier for your husband to walk with God! We begin FAMILY worship when we become FAMILY!!! That means husbands and wives are accountable to each other! Praise God that Bro. Bubba and Whitney demonstrate that in their marriage! I thank God for allowing Bubba to be a part of our Trinity family and a part of this Staff!
The Crowder's Family Worship – from the perspective of a couple without kids
Having just had our first-child recently, we’re obviously just beginning the journey towards learning how to lead our child in Family Worship. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss more of how we’ve done this as a married couple (without kids) over the past few years. This could also apply to empty-nesters and senior adults who are home, without children.
No one ever seems to have enough time, and everyone seems to struggle to find where exactly to “fit in” Family Worship time. Even though children increase the chaos in a household, they also bring a sense of structure to most homes as well. They have school time and bedtime, and practice time - and even though these things add so much more to a schedule, it does at least create some sort of daily schedule. A lot of times, and this is the boat we found ourselves in, without kids each day can look so drastically different. One weekday schedule may be based on a book club you have weekly on that night and another night based on working late. Another night may even be based on what TV shows you want to watch. This creates a messy weekly schedule, which creates a problem in where exactly you’re to fit Family Worship. For example, most married couples without kids also don’t sit down to “family dinner” nearly as often as those with kids do.
So, what we’ve found is that for being a married couple without kids, flexibility was extremely important. Now, I must go ahead and say, flexibility is always a threat to consistency, but it doesn’t have to be. This is where discipline must step in. Consistency must always be in place because it makes it a natural desire for us to spend this time each day. With that being said, some of the things we do as Family Worship:
- Prayer. We keep up with our family, friends, and situation God has laid on our hearts to pray about. Instead of praying for the entire list, we try and split them up into specific days. This allows us to focus on praying specifics instead of “rushing to finish a list”. We also spend time praying for each other.
- Read. We have different books that we read, and then we discuss them with each other. Just recently, I was walking through The Trellis and the Vine and she was reading The Excellent Wife. Now, it’s not that Whitney was teaching me how to be a wife, but there’s great accountability and encouragement in sharing what you’re learning and bouncing that off your spouse.
- Bible. We try to stay together in reading through the Word. Both of us spend our own time studying and walking through Scripture, but we also take time to talk about it together and to challenge each other in God’s Word. Something that’s recently been on the forefront for us is walking through what the Bible says on anything related to raising children. There are times where it’s related to a subject that we’re dealing with, and there are also times where it’s just a chance for us to walk through a book of Scripture together. The important thing is that we’re on the same “page” in God’s Word.
Now, it’s important to share that we don’t do this as a list. There are times where we focus more on praying for each other and there are times where we focus more on reading through the Bible.
There are also times where we don’t do all of this together. We may discuss a book over dinner, and then pray together later at night before we get ready for bed.
The important thing is that it’s done, and that it’s done with the heart to lead your family in worship, not just to check it off your list of things.
Also, we’re not perfect. This doesn’t always fit neatly into our lives, but there’s a sacrifice that must be made to carve out this time. It’s probably never going to be convenient. It may never even be easy to do. It is however, necessary!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
A Guest Blog on Family Worship....from Bro. Greg Stringfield...
Bro. Greg Stringfield has been at Trinity for several years and we are a blessed Church by his faithfulness. He has been so patient and so willing to undertake some very drastic changes and has done all he can to make this Pastor's role at Trinity much easier. Greg has been a great help in identifying areas of need and making timely suggestions in meeting those needs. I am thankful that God had placed Bro. Greg at Trinity and had given some years of experience here before I came, and especially that Bro. Greg has been such a willing partner in bringing about a culture of love and unity during these most recent days. I look forward to years of serving with Bro. Greg and think that Trinity will only be stronger for his devotion.
Now, from Bro. Greg Stringfield...
I’m blessed to have a family unit united with Christ! My wife Leigh, my sons Carter (age 17) and Davis (age 13) have all committed their life to Christ and walk daily through God’s sanctification process. I’m so thankful for the grace He shows me in my leadership to my family…because at times, I feel so inadequate!!!
I have been asked to share insight into my family’s worship time at home, creating a lens of transparency so others can know of the rewards and failures we have experienced. I will start off by saying - it’s not a proving process - it is an example of “Grace”, “Love”, and “Forgiveness”. My boys like and respect consistency - and Leigh and I have tried the best we could to show consistency in our personal prayer and study time. I am a morning person, so I use the morning hours to spend my intimate time with Christ before the rest of the family awakes. If you ask the boys, they will tell you about my “prayer chair” and probably how they have seen me through the years being in prayer when they were headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Leigh spends the first part of the day (after the boys have left for school and I’m at the office) to study and pray.
Through the years, our approach has changed drastically. As the boys grew older it became easier than the earlier years, in my opinion. In the earlier years we would use the dinner table to share things with them that were building the foundation out of which their Spiritual relationship would be built. In most cases, it was very elementary and very short in time. As the years have progressed, we spend less time sharing around the dinner table because of all of our different schedules. We try desperately to not miss opportunities to be very frank with the boys individually about the amount of time they spend reading and praying. Leigh has been the cheerleader, reminding me through the years to maintain a time for growing as a family unit. I will be very frank and say it’s been a struggle. This is the “Grace” I spoke of earlier, that God provides to me in my inadequacies in this area. Now that the boys are older, we have conversations on an adult level and, to be honest, Leigh and I learn from them as well - and this adds to our worship time together. Carter especially, is at the age where he will open up and discuss questions and concerns in his Spiritual walk. They now read and ask questions about what it means to be a “Christian” at school and with their close friends. Carter often picks a book from my library to read - this allows us an opportunity to discuss the book and how he might implement what he has read. Davis, on the other hand, is beginning to be challenged by Brad (Trinity’s Student Pastor) to read books that will aide in his relationship and understanding of basic doctrine. I try to use this opportunity to discuss the book with him so I might help in his understanding of the key points.
Just writing this blog has illuminated to me that my family spends more one on one time with each other than we do as a family unit in worship. Can and has this worked for us? In a lot of ways we have made it work. Could we benefit from making more time as a complete unit in worship? Absolutely!!! It is by God’s grace that my wife and my boys continue to grow in their relationship, sometimes in spite of my leadership. My encouragement to you is to find what works for your family, be consistent working that plan and allow God to open doors of opportunity. Whether you have your family worship time in the evening or the morning, just maintain consistency. God will provide those teachable moments - so don’t miss them.
Now, from Bro. Greg Stringfield...
I’m blessed to have a family unit united with Christ! My wife Leigh, my sons Carter (age 17) and Davis (age 13) have all committed their life to Christ and walk daily through God’s sanctification process. I’m so thankful for the grace He shows me in my leadership to my family…because at times, I feel so inadequate!!!
I have been asked to share insight into my family’s worship time at home, creating a lens of transparency so others can know of the rewards and failures we have experienced. I will start off by saying - it’s not a proving process - it is an example of “Grace”, “Love”, and “Forgiveness”. My boys like and respect consistency - and Leigh and I have tried the best we could to show consistency in our personal prayer and study time. I am a morning person, so I use the morning hours to spend my intimate time with Christ before the rest of the family awakes. If you ask the boys, they will tell you about my “prayer chair” and probably how they have seen me through the years being in prayer when they were headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Leigh spends the first part of the day (after the boys have left for school and I’m at the office) to study and pray.
Through the years, our approach has changed drastically. As the boys grew older it became easier than the earlier years, in my opinion. In the earlier years we would use the dinner table to share things with them that were building the foundation out of which their Spiritual relationship would be built. In most cases, it was very elementary and very short in time. As the years have progressed, we spend less time sharing around the dinner table because of all of our different schedules. We try desperately to not miss opportunities to be very frank with the boys individually about the amount of time they spend reading and praying. Leigh has been the cheerleader, reminding me through the years to maintain a time for growing as a family unit. I will be very frank and say it’s been a struggle. This is the “Grace” I spoke of earlier, that God provides to me in my inadequacies in this area. Now that the boys are older, we have conversations on an adult level and, to be honest, Leigh and I learn from them as well - and this adds to our worship time together. Carter especially, is at the age where he will open up and discuss questions and concerns in his Spiritual walk. They now read and ask questions about what it means to be a “Christian” at school and with their close friends. Carter often picks a book from my library to read - this allows us an opportunity to discuss the book and how he might implement what he has read. Davis, on the other hand, is beginning to be challenged by Brad (Trinity’s Student Pastor) to read books that will aide in his relationship and understanding of basic doctrine. I try to use this opportunity to discuss the book with him so I might help in his understanding of the key points.
Just writing this blog has illuminated to me that my family spends more one on one time with each other than we do as a family unit in worship. Can and has this worked for us? In a lot of ways we have made it work. Could we benefit from making more time as a complete unit in worship? Absolutely!!! It is by God’s grace that my wife and my boys continue to grow in their relationship, sometimes in spite of my leadership. My encouragement to you is to find what works for your family, be consistent working that plan and allow God to open doors of opportunity. Whether you have your family worship time in the evening or the morning, just maintain consistency. God will provide those teachable moments - so don’t miss them.
Monday, April 12, 2010
A Guest Blogger....Bro. Jeff Summers on Family Worship
Bro. Jeff Summers is an incredible asset to our Trinity family as he has such a passion to develop our children under the Word of God....this passion stems from his understanding of the need for the Word in his own children, in his family and in his own life. Bro. Jeff has been a proven, tried and true friend - a man that is faithful to his calling. I am so thankful that God has allowed me to serve alongside Bro. Jeff all these years - he has such a precious family and my family treasures the friends we have in them. I know that, as you read his blog about family worship - you will understand when I say that his passion for the spiritual growth of the families at Trinity is a blessing and we will all be more equipped and more inspired to lead our families because of his example.
Now, From Bro. Jeff Summers....
Even though I grew up in a home with Christian parents, we didn’t have family worship times. My parents took me to church, of which I am very thankful, and they were faithful to the body of Christ and served faithfully. So, I did have good models of faithfulness to the Lord and his church.
When our children came along, I had to struggle to learn what it means to equip my children with the truth of God. I didn’t know how to exactly lead them simply because I didn’t have someone to model for me. There is no where in Scripture that explicity teaches parents how to have family worship. It was and continues to be a learning process for us as they have grown, and now that two of my children are teenagers and my third is on the precipice of being a preteen, I have to adapt my teaching style again.
My sons, Zach and Cob, are 15 and 14 respectively, and my daughter Katey Jo is about to turn eleven. When they were younger and we began to have family nights, I began with a series of worship materials found on a website: www.famtime.com. This was a great resource because the lessons were active, used object lessons, and activities to teach important truths from God’s Word. The kids loved them and look forward to our times. Plus, it was good for Carol Ann and me because they were easy to do and gave us success as parents. It took all of about 15 minutes each night to conduct these lessons.
Some of the struggles that we have now, that we didn’t have before, deal with our various schedules; for example, our boys are now attending public school and playing football. Before, our kids were always homeschooled or went to a Christian school, so our schedules were more flexible. As the children have gotten older, it takes more effort to make sure we schedule our time together for family worship time. With homework taking up our evenings, on top of other activities, we’ve had to adjust our times. Then, you add some attitudes that come with growing teenagers, and you can have a perfect storm if you don’t keep yourself in check - and I have had to ask forgiveness for this at times.
For our family - at this season in our lives - we schedule at least one sit down teaching time per week. At this time, we are going through Big Truths for Young Hearts. This is great material, doctrinally sound and deep. So, we are taking our time going through this book, because it is challenging. We typically get together in the living room after we eat. We begin with prayer and I will read a chapter and we will spend some time discussing the topic at hand. I try to keep it moving and, for our age children, 30 minutes of discussion time is good. Then, we close with any family issues that we need to address, prayer requests, and close in prayer.
Additionally, we are spending time reading scripture and praying before they go to school…we find that works really well for our schedule. At night we take some time to read another passage of scripture or go through a question in our catechism book, or read through a section of a book at night before bed…again, flexibility helps but commitment is the key! These times of Scripture reading take ten to fifteen minutes-one to set the day and one to close it out in reflection – but it keeps the Word before them and keeps all of us focused.
As they have gotten older, they also need more individual time. I try to spend some time with the boys, and a separate time with Katey Jo. I’ve started meeting with the boys after school on Fridays for a Bible study, and then we grab a bite to eat. This also helps us stay connected in our relationship with one another-we can cut up and talk about things (serious and, ok….not so serious) and they have my undivided attention. They look forward to our time. Right now we are starting a series on helping them know how to study the Bible. Katey Jo is our tennis player and, since she loves it so much, we will spend these warm afternoons playing and then having our talks with her during our cool down time. AWANA also helps us structure her instruction in God’s Word because there is so much required in her handbook.
I don’t know about how others incorporate music, but we don’t typically sit around on the couch singing - even though we have two beautiful singers in Carol Ann and Katey Jo. The boys, including me, love music but, let’s face it – sometimes the voices just don’t match the desire. Well, I should speak for myself….
There are times when we don’t stick to our schedule for whatever reason - I could easily say we have to do it this or that way, and make it something that is legalistic. But, our lives ebb and flow and I have to realize that I am teaching all the time through my attitude and actions. The key is consistency and to take advantage of teaching moments as life happens. Our family needs the formal teaching times, but some of the greatest teaching times are applying scripture to the stuff of life – you know, reacting Biblically when conflict happens and then talking about it….discussing our weaknesses and looking for ways to tell them how we see God’s grace in their lives. The key is keeping the Word infused in life – not just on the shelf until you head out the door to church – but showing them how you apply it in a moment by moment, conscious, daily thoughtfulness about the things of God.
Will we have blindspots? Yes. Can I cover everything in the Christian life? No. This is where I also depend upon my church family to give affirmation of what I am teaching at home… and equip my family in areas that I may not be aware of or I may overlook. This is the wonderful partnership between my family and my church family. The church equips, ministers, and holds me accountable. Will I be held accountable to the Lord for what and how I teach my children? Most definitely!
I pray that these family worship blogs encourage you as you strive to pierce the hearts of your children with God’s Word!
Now, From Bro. Jeff Summers....
Even though I grew up in a home with Christian parents, we didn’t have family worship times. My parents took me to church, of which I am very thankful, and they were faithful to the body of Christ and served faithfully. So, I did have good models of faithfulness to the Lord and his church.
When our children came along, I had to struggle to learn what it means to equip my children with the truth of God. I didn’t know how to exactly lead them simply because I didn’t have someone to model for me. There is no where in Scripture that explicity teaches parents how to have family worship. It was and continues to be a learning process for us as they have grown, and now that two of my children are teenagers and my third is on the precipice of being a preteen, I have to adapt my teaching style again.
My sons, Zach and Cob, are 15 and 14 respectively, and my daughter Katey Jo is about to turn eleven. When they were younger and we began to have family nights, I began with a series of worship materials found on a website: www.famtime.com. This was a great resource because the lessons were active, used object lessons, and activities to teach important truths from God’s Word. The kids loved them and look forward to our times. Plus, it was good for Carol Ann and me because they were easy to do and gave us success as parents. It took all of about 15 minutes each night to conduct these lessons.
Some of the struggles that we have now, that we didn’t have before, deal with our various schedules; for example, our boys are now attending public school and playing football. Before, our kids were always homeschooled or went to a Christian school, so our schedules were more flexible. As the children have gotten older, it takes more effort to make sure we schedule our time together for family worship time. With homework taking up our evenings, on top of other activities, we’ve had to adjust our times. Then, you add some attitudes that come with growing teenagers, and you can have a perfect storm if you don’t keep yourself in check - and I have had to ask forgiveness for this at times.
For our family - at this season in our lives - we schedule at least one sit down teaching time per week. At this time, we are going through Big Truths for Young Hearts. This is great material, doctrinally sound and deep. So, we are taking our time going through this book, because it is challenging. We typically get together in the living room after we eat. We begin with prayer and I will read a chapter and we will spend some time discussing the topic at hand. I try to keep it moving and, for our age children, 30 minutes of discussion time is good. Then, we close with any family issues that we need to address, prayer requests, and close in prayer.
Additionally, we are spending time reading scripture and praying before they go to school…we find that works really well for our schedule. At night we take some time to read another passage of scripture or go through a question in our catechism book, or read through a section of a book at night before bed…again, flexibility helps but commitment is the key! These times of Scripture reading take ten to fifteen minutes-one to set the day and one to close it out in reflection – but it keeps the Word before them and keeps all of us focused.
As they have gotten older, they also need more individual time. I try to spend some time with the boys, and a separate time with Katey Jo. I’ve started meeting with the boys after school on Fridays for a Bible study, and then we grab a bite to eat. This also helps us stay connected in our relationship with one another-we can cut up and talk about things (serious and, ok….not so serious) and they have my undivided attention. They look forward to our time. Right now we are starting a series on helping them know how to study the Bible. Katey Jo is our tennis player and, since she loves it so much, we will spend these warm afternoons playing and then having our talks with her during our cool down time. AWANA also helps us structure her instruction in God’s Word because there is so much required in her handbook.
I don’t know about how others incorporate music, but we don’t typically sit around on the couch singing - even though we have two beautiful singers in Carol Ann and Katey Jo. The boys, including me, love music but, let’s face it – sometimes the voices just don’t match the desire. Well, I should speak for myself….
There are times when we don’t stick to our schedule for whatever reason - I could easily say we have to do it this or that way, and make it something that is legalistic. But, our lives ebb and flow and I have to realize that I am teaching all the time through my attitude and actions. The key is consistency and to take advantage of teaching moments as life happens. Our family needs the formal teaching times, but some of the greatest teaching times are applying scripture to the stuff of life – you know, reacting Biblically when conflict happens and then talking about it….discussing our weaknesses and looking for ways to tell them how we see God’s grace in their lives. The key is keeping the Word infused in life – not just on the shelf until you head out the door to church – but showing them how you apply it in a moment by moment, conscious, daily thoughtfulness about the things of God.
Will we have blindspots? Yes. Can I cover everything in the Christian life? No. This is where I also depend upon my church family to give affirmation of what I am teaching at home… and equip my family in areas that I may not be aware of or I may overlook. This is the wonderful partnership between my family and my church family. The church equips, ministers, and holds me accountable. Will I be held accountable to the Lord for what and how I teach my children? Most definitely!
I pray that these family worship blogs encourage you as you strive to pierce the hearts of your children with God’s Word!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Family Worship...
Before I jump into our discussion of Family Worship - I want to give you a reminder of a chance to do this with our Trinity Family!! Sunday night we will be having Family Worship at Church - as we do each and every week! But, this Sunday evening we will take some time as a family to discuss the blessings we have experienced lately at Trinity and reflect on the work God is doing here! It is exciting that He allows each of us to be a part of it! So, make your plans to be in Trinity Family Worship Sunday evening! Now...about personal family worship....
During our weekly staff meeting we discussed the number of questions we have had concerning “Family Worship” – many of our families at Trinity are asking different staff members what they do with their families each day. While I love that you all are interested and desiring information on family worship, it has prompted our staff to find a way to demonstrate that there is no “one way” to do family worship! So, we want to use this blog to allow each of our staff to share with you what we do in our worship at home as a family. So, over the next several weeks I have asked each of our staff members to guest blog and share what this looks like in their home. Now, this will be a wonderful opportunity because each of our staff members have children of different ages, one who has a brand new baby girl at home, and another whose children are up and grown. This will serve as a platform to look inside our home, but it will also give those of you, who are truly interested, an opportunity to ask questions and get involved. I also want to encourage you, if you have questions or difficulties e-mail them and, if we have enough at the conclusion of this blog series I will post your question (without your name), and we will try our best to answer them. I guess since this is my blog I will begin.
My desire was to go back and tell you what we did with our boys growing up and how we arrived at what we are doing now, but that would take too much time and I know that some of our staff members with younger children can share with you what they are doing now. What a typical “Family Time” as we call it in our house looks like is this:
• We eat supper and I spend time asking the boys what they did that day. I ask them their favorite part of their day, I ask them what they studied in their Bible time that morning, then ask Michele the same thing, and we just basically discuss things that come up through those topics. Michele is working through Shorter’s Catechism in homeschooling and we discuss what they learned that day.
• Then, usually my boys are still slowly eating; I take out Big Truths for Young Hearts and review what we have previously studied. I then read a chapter (usually about 2-3 pages of that to them and we spend time looking up Scripture that is referenced, we spend time asking questions and discussing these truths practically. The boys may ask some other questions regarding what we have read or not surprisingly something totally off the wall that has nothing to do with what we have read. There are times that this turns into a lengthy discussion and other times, as all people (especially little ones), they are not all together with it and we move on.
• About once a week or sometimes less, I am also gradually going through another book with them. Right now we are reading Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz. Just some basic biblical concepts about what being a man looks like. We do this one night when Michele has a meeting at the Church or while she has some “mom time”.
• We then talk about things and people we need to pray for, or about. There are times only I will pray, and other times we will go around the table and all of us pray. During these times I try to instruct them afterwards on why we pray and how we should pray. I explain to them the importance of the way we pray publically.
Now just some basic information about all of this: Usually on Thursdays – our family time extends beyond this discussion and study – and turns into a night of movies or games. Some times it is a movie along the lines of Luther and some times it is as spiritual as Old Dogs - but the goal of this time is that I lead my family before God and also that we have time together – enjoying one another! Boggle or Upwards, Spy Trackdown or Pilgrim’s Progress (the board game)…they get to choose and usually daddy wins…so it is all good!
This time is never groaned over or argued over because it is all our boys have ever known. It is as a part of our family as eating together, so they know it is not optional but it is also not done with legalism. There have been times that our boys have been at a birthday party or out all day - we get home at 9:30 or 10:00 pm and we pray as a family but that is it. Now, as I said, my wife home schools and she takes them through a Training Hearts-Teaching Minds by Starr Meade (that we have on our book table), that is based on the Westminster-Shorter Catechism, along with AWANA and several other teaching tools, so even on days when we do not get to do a formal family night (which, we make sure is not often), they are still under the teaching of the Word of God during the day.
The bottom line is that our family needs consistent time with us leading them in worship and the Word… they need to understand that this is a priority in our house. We need to understand that there is nothing that we can do that can make the impact on them like teaching them the truths of the eternal God. We also must understand that there will be constant struggles in doing this, let me share with you some of ours:
• Getting in too late from church events, games, practice. This happens especially during football season at our house. The best way to fix this is to alter your time, get up earlier - be creative in this area. I know we all live at a frantic pace most of the time, but this is too important to do away with.
• Some times I just don’t feel like it. That’s right, I come in tired or I just want some time with Michele or, to be honest to simply sit. I have to “beat” my flesh down and do what I am supposed to do and not what I feel like. I can get up early to work out because that is important - but not nearly as important as teaching my children eternal truths.
• When we began this at an early age with my boys, I felt like I had to be creative and hands on - we have some wonderful resources to help with that. However, it is not impossible to take a book of the Bible with a good study Bible (John MacArthur’s study Bible is my favorite) and just read a few passages and talk about it. Begin in one of the Gospel’s. Explain why the author was writing it and who the letter/passage was addressing – get the “point” across…especially with younger children – this doesn’t have to be a 30 minute exegesis of the passage. There are tools to help you, but more than being creative, be Biblical.
• I have had parents mention to me that their kids get upset when it comes to family worship. Well, my kids get upset when it is bed time or when they have to come inside! The truth is, as I stated above, this has not been an issue at our house because it is just part of supper. We usually try to end it with a quick game with the boys or something, and we aren’t slaves to the clock - we make it fun. It is okay to laugh and giggle at times during family worship. They are kids – they will say and do things that just warrant that! Enjoy your children…this is the time of the day when everyone is just together and you remember what “family” is all about – that alone, should bring any parent to Worship Him for these little blessings in our lives and the great responsibility He has entrusted us with!
During our weekly staff meeting we discussed the number of questions we have had concerning “Family Worship” – many of our families at Trinity are asking different staff members what they do with their families each day. While I love that you all are interested and desiring information on family worship, it has prompted our staff to find a way to demonstrate that there is no “one way” to do family worship! So, we want to use this blog to allow each of our staff to share with you what we do in our worship at home as a family. So, over the next several weeks I have asked each of our staff members to guest blog and share what this looks like in their home. Now, this will be a wonderful opportunity because each of our staff members have children of different ages, one who has a brand new baby girl at home, and another whose children are up and grown. This will serve as a platform to look inside our home, but it will also give those of you, who are truly interested, an opportunity to ask questions and get involved. I also want to encourage you, if you have questions or difficulties e-mail them and, if we have enough at the conclusion of this blog series I will post your question (without your name), and we will try our best to answer them. I guess since this is my blog I will begin.
My desire was to go back and tell you what we did with our boys growing up and how we arrived at what we are doing now, but that would take too much time and I know that some of our staff members with younger children can share with you what they are doing now. What a typical “Family Time” as we call it in our house looks like is this:
• We eat supper and I spend time asking the boys what they did that day. I ask them their favorite part of their day, I ask them what they studied in their Bible time that morning, then ask Michele the same thing, and we just basically discuss things that come up through those topics. Michele is working through Shorter’s Catechism in homeschooling and we discuss what they learned that day.
• Then, usually my boys are still slowly eating; I take out Big Truths for Young Hearts and review what we have previously studied. I then read a chapter (usually about 2-3 pages of that to them and we spend time looking up Scripture that is referenced, we spend time asking questions and discussing these truths practically. The boys may ask some other questions regarding what we have read or not surprisingly something totally off the wall that has nothing to do with what we have read. There are times that this turns into a lengthy discussion and other times, as all people (especially little ones), they are not all together with it and we move on.
• About once a week or sometimes less, I am also gradually going through another book with them. Right now we are reading Boyhood and Beyond by Bob Schultz. Just some basic biblical concepts about what being a man looks like. We do this one night when Michele has a meeting at the Church or while she has some “mom time”.
• We then talk about things and people we need to pray for, or about. There are times only I will pray, and other times we will go around the table and all of us pray. During these times I try to instruct them afterwards on why we pray and how we should pray. I explain to them the importance of the way we pray publically.
Now just some basic information about all of this: Usually on Thursdays – our family time extends beyond this discussion and study – and turns into a night of movies or games. Some times it is a movie along the lines of Luther and some times it is as spiritual as Old Dogs - but the goal of this time is that I lead my family before God and also that we have time together – enjoying one another! Boggle or Upwards, Spy Trackdown or Pilgrim’s Progress (the board game)…they get to choose and usually daddy wins…so it is all good!
This time is never groaned over or argued over because it is all our boys have ever known. It is as a part of our family as eating together, so they know it is not optional but it is also not done with legalism. There have been times that our boys have been at a birthday party or out all day - we get home at 9:30 or 10:00 pm and we pray as a family but that is it. Now, as I said, my wife home schools and she takes them through a Training Hearts-Teaching Minds by Starr Meade (that we have on our book table), that is based on the Westminster-Shorter Catechism, along with AWANA and several other teaching tools, so even on days when we do not get to do a formal family night (which, we make sure is not often), they are still under the teaching of the Word of God during the day.
The bottom line is that our family needs consistent time with us leading them in worship and the Word… they need to understand that this is a priority in our house. We need to understand that there is nothing that we can do that can make the impact on them like teaching them the truths of the eternal God. We also must understand that there will be constant struggles in doing this, let me share with you some of ours:
• Getting in too late from church events, games, practice. This happens especially during football season at our house. The best way to fix this is to alter your time, get up earlier - be creative in this area. I know we all live at a frantic pace most of the time, but this is too important to do away with.
• Some times I just don’t feel like it. That’s right, I come in tired or I just want some time with Michele or, to be honest to simply sit. I have to “beat” my flesh down and do what I am supposed to do and not what I feel like. I can get up early to work out because that is important - but not nearly as important as teaching my children eternal truths.
• When we began this at an early age with my boys, I felt like I had to be creative and hands on - we have some wonderful resources to help with that. However, it is not impossible to take a book of the Bible with a good study Bible (John MacArthur’s study Bible is my favorite) and just read a few passages and talk about it. Begin in one of the Gospel’s. Explain why the author was writing it and who the letter/passage was addressing – get the “point” across…especially with younger children – this doesn’t have to be a 30 minute exegesis of the passage. There are tools to help you, but more than being creative, be Biblical.
• I have had parents mention to me that their kids get upset when it comes to family worship. Well, my kids get upset when it is bed time or when they have to come inside! The truth is, as I stated above, this has not been an issue at our house because it is just part of supper. We usually try to end it with a quick game with the boys or something, and we aren’t slaves to the clock - we make it fun. It is okay to laugh and giggle at times during family worship. They are kids – they will say and do things that just warrant that! Enjoy your children…this is the time of the day when everyone is just together and you remember what “family” is all about – that alone, should bring any parent to Worship Him for these little blessings in our lives and the great responsibility He has entrusted us with!
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Legacy That Will Be Left....
The Legacy That Will Be Left....through Family Worship and Financial Freedom!!
We have stressed the importance and biblical responsibility of having family worship, so we have tried to make numerous resources available to you on our book table on a regular basis. One of the greatest joys I have had as your Pastor is to watch so many of you begin leading your family in a time of worship at your home…but some of you have had questions as to what this looks like at my house or the houses of some of our staff. So, beginning Thursday I, along with each of our staff members, will blog about how this is conducted in our homes. We figured it would be easier to tell you how we do things – rather than just trying to instruct - and then you can see that there is not set pattern, length of time or particular way we conduct this. You will also find that we have some of the same struggles you have in doing this! I hope this will encourage, enlighten, and enhance the time you spend with your family around the Word of God. I also want to tell you what a joy it is to have a staff that opens the “curtains” of their home so you can learn from their triumphs and mistakes. This is the beauty of the Church, and the part of the joy of our sanctification and our journey together.
Last but not least, I want to take a moment (in case you have been under a rock, or sick, or out of town), to let you know that Trinity Baptist Church has a great deal to celebrate! On Sunday, March 28th our Church Body committed over 1.1 million dollars to our debt retirement campaign…between this amount and land that was given to the church, by the end of this campaign we could put more than 1.5 million dollars down on our debt! This will free money for Kingdom work rather than a building payment! Not only that…but, for the first time in SEVEN YEARS-(that’s right – not since 2003) we were “in the black” for the first quarter - January, February AND March! By guarding spending and through the obedient giving of His people, God has blessed us so much more than we deserve! We have seen people come to Christ and God has brought in some amazing families. The most difficult thing to do in the life of a church, or family for that matter, is to eliminate debt…but in these financial times it would seem especially difficult. Not only is it amazing that God would do this seemingly impossible task of getting people in a “financially strapped” economy to commit over $1 million to reduce debt, but to do this while maintaining operations in the black consistently is incredible. But, that is our God and what He is doing through His people. I want to encourage you that as summer approaches – STAY FAITHFUL! Continue to ask God to work in our fellowship and pray that we continue to see people brought to Christ by the power of the Gospel! It has been amazing to experience the turn around that God has done among our Body… let’s stay fixed on the Kingdom work at hand, and make a commitment not to “come off the wall” when the enemy sends Sandballat, Tobia and Geshem to us as he did Nehemiah. We must remember that God’s Kingdom work is too important to focus on the enemy… we are more than conquerors through Him. I love you and count it as one of the greatest joys of my life to be your Pastor.
We have stressed the importance and biblical responsibility of having family worship, so we have tried to make numerous resources available to you on our book table on a regular basis. One of the greatest joys I have had as your Pastor is to watch so many of you begin leading your family in a time of worship at your home…but some of you have had questions as to what this looks like at my house or the houses of some of our staff. So, beginning Thursday I, along with each of our staff members, will blog about how this is conducted in our homes. We figured it would be easier to tell you how we do things – rather than just trying to instruct - and then you can see that there is not set pattern, length of time or particular way we conduct this. You will also find that we have some of the same struggles you have in doing this! I hope this will encourage, enlighten, and enhance the time you spend with your family around the Word of God. I also want to tell you what a joy it is to have a staff that opens the “curtains” of their home so you can learn from their triumphs and mistakes. This is the beauty of the Church, and the part of the joy of our sanctification and our journey together.
Last but not least, I want to take a moment (in case you have been under a rock, or sick, or out of town), to let you know that Trinity Baptist Church has a great deal to celebrate! On Sunday, March 28th our Church Body committed over 1.1 million dollars to our debt retirement campaign…between this amount and land that was given to the church, by the end of this campaign we could put more than 1.5 million dollars down on our debt! This will free money for Kingdom work rather than a building payment! Not only that…but, for the first time in SEVEN YEARS-(that’s right – not since 2003) we were “in the black” for the first quarter - January, February AND March! By guarding spending and through the obedient giving of His people, God has blessed us so much more than we deserve! We have seen people come to Christ and God has brought in some amazing families. The most difficult thing to do in the life of a church, or family for that matter, is to eliminate debt…but in these financial times it would seem especially difficult. Not only is it amazing that God would do this seemingly impossible task of getting people in a “financially strapped” economy to commit over $1 million to reduce debt, but to do this while maintaining operations in the black consistently is incredible. But, that is our God and what He is doing through His people. I want to encourage you that as summer approaches – STAY FAITHFUL! Continue to ask God to work in our fellowship and pray that we continue to see people brought to Christ by the power of the Gospel! It has been amazing to experience the turn around that God has done among our Body… let’s stay fixed on the Kingdom work at hand, and make a commitment not to “come off the wall” when the enemy sends Sandballat, Tobia and Geshem to us as he did Nehemiah. We must remember that God’s Kingdom work is too important to focus on the enemy… we are more than conquerors through Him. I love you and count it as one of the greatest joys of my life to be your Pastor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)