Action-Ideas From Children of God

A few Sunday’s ago, I gave our congregation an opportunity to be a verbal vessel for the Holy Spirit.  An opportunity to allow the Holy Spirit to communicate through them, His guidance concerning Saint John’s activities in the coming months.

Most of the action-ideas involved the congregation working together, en masse.  Still, many of the  action-ideas, are those which individual Children of God can take, on their own.

Here are some of those action-ideas which you can choose to make part of your life.

• Increase your volunteerism - greeter, washing communion-ware, help with events, etc...
• Let your beliefs be known.
• Care about others.
• Be kind and friendly to those you meet.
• Invite other members to our Bible Studies, so we all spend more time in God's Word.
• Think on God’s presence in your daily life.
• Support your church and pastor with your time and treasure.
• Pray often.
• Pray for God to make you a blessing to others.
• Get your church's name out there, so others know about our worship and activities!
• Visit and call our church members who do not attend regularly.
• Pray for everyone to experience the joy of Christ.
• Tell others about your faith.
• Invite your family, friends, co-workers, and others to worship with you.

Our Prayer for Law Enforcement Personnel

Since the end of 2010 there has been a marked increase in violence toward our brothers and sisters in Law Enforcement.  I urge everyone to increase their special intercessory prayers for these our guardians, in the coming weeks.

We contacted the four agencies in our community, and invited them to submit prayer requests, which we will bring to God during our next worship service.  After this Sunday’s worship, we will send ‘thank you” cards to each of the agencies.

We will also include a special prayer during our worship, spoken on behalf of all Law Enforcement Personnel.  You can view it on my church blog:

OUR PRAYER FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL
by Pastor Ray Long
(L - leader / C - congregation)

L:    Heavenly Father,
    As I leave my loved ones’ side, to begin each of my tours;
    guard and protect them well, as I go to protect all others.

C:  May it always be so, Lord.

L:    Let my badge serve to remind me, You’re my shield and strong right arm;
    Let my badge shine in darkness, as a beacon to those alarmed.

C:  May it always be so, Lord.

L:    Let my weapon serve as a sign, to halt suspects’ foolish acts;
    but if I must draw and fire, let my aim be true and fast.

C:  May it always be so, Lord.

L:    Your grace carries me with courage, where others fear to tread;
    that I may free from danger, all those who are in need.

C:  May it always be so, Lord.

L:    Let my radio be a link, to brother and sister sentinels;
    that I may heed the call, when sounds the warning bells.

C:  May it always be so, Lord.

L:    At the end of each tour of service, remind me I’ve done my best;
    then prepare my heart and my mind, for the loved ones with whom I’m blest.

C:  May it always be so, Lord.

L:    If harm should ever befall me, and my tour not quietly end;
    comfort my loved ones knowing, I served where I could defend.

C:  May it always be so, Lord.

L:    I pray this for all Law Enforcement Personnel, in the name of
       Christ Jesus, Your Son, Our Savior;

ALL:  AMEN!

Church versus Sports

Some say the Nazis invented "Sunday Sports," to discourage church attendance.  Of course the numbers of Christian clergy sent to concentration camps most certainly advanced that result.

Still, I have a difficult time bringing myself to blame the Nazis, or whoever started it, for the current "Church verses sports" priority fiasco.  For the sake of sports, I have been asked to reschedule Bible Studies, Confirmation Classes, Church Dinners, and even Marriage Counseling.

One of my pastor brothers found a way to respond to this problem.  His church is a few miles from a MAJOR sporting event, which takes place on a Sunday.  Sooooo, he holds worship on the Wednesday night before the event, and then, everyone goes to the event on Sunday and works their Church Booth.

Right or wrong?  A discussion for another time.

The point is that the Children of God must be certain of their priorities - must sweep away the idols in their lives - and must make God's Will their own.

Being Super Bowl SUNDAY, last week I used football as a sermon illustration.  Football's coaches, trainers, coordinators, backing up the players on the field, compares with the fellow Christians backing us up when Christians are fulfilling our call in our field.  Greater still, we have the Triune God behind us, above us, around us... (A little St Patrick's Breastplate there.)

All this reminded me of an old standby illustration, that is a humorous way to look at a disturbing trend taking place at churches - excuses for not attending church.  Imagine if people considered their sports attendance activity, the way they consider their church attendance:

"I am not going to another sporting event because..."

• every time I go, they asked me for money.
• the people I sat with, didn't seem very friendly.
• the seats were too hard, and not comfortable.
• I went to many games, but the coach never visited me.
• the referee made a decision with which I did not agree.
• I suspected that I was sitting with some hypocrites.  I think they just came to see their friends and what others were wearing – not to see the game.
• some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home.
• the band played some music that I didn't like.
• the games are scheduled when I want to do other things. 
• I didn't get anything out of the game.
• I was taken to too many games by my parents, when I was a child.
• I recently read a book on sports, and now I know more than the coaches do.
• I don't want to take my children to any games, because I want them to choose a favorite sport for themselves.

Bye and God Bless.

LENT APPROACHES

Since the first of the year, many pastors have been considering themes for Lent 2011.  I have chosen the theme Lutheran Spirituality based on the book by the same title.  As I study my chosen resources, I wanted to share with you some helpful Spiritual Exercises from those resources.  I recommend you try them out, and determine if they are helpful to you:

1. The Lord’s Prayer is both God’s Words to us, and our words to God.  It is a template for all our praying.  Prepare your personal list of intercessions and thanksgiving using the Lord’s Prayer as your guide.
Examples might be:

• Thy Will be done:
• help me follow Your Will, thank You for showing me Your Will concerning...
• Give us this day our daily bread:
• help me pay my home mortgage, thank You for helping us find the money to repair...

2. Begin each day, praying for the people you will meet during that day: fellow students, co-workers, friends, etc...  Do so at the end of the day, including those you forgot that morning.

May you experience the blessings of Lent, as we prepare for the joy of Easter.