Tag Archives: mental challenge

Blogroll, Church, Creativity, Discipleship, Enlightenment, Evangelism, faith, Family, Fellowship, Friendship, God, grace, Gratitude, Growing, Healing, life, love, Ministry, self improvement, Worship

WHY CHURCH?

The CHURCH is not a building. To think of the church as a building is to limit it in so many different ways. The CHURCH is the physical gathering together of spiritual believers. We gather together, because we’ve been brought from death to life and our spirit is empowered to help us live life at a higher level. We gather together to worship the ONE , Who has made it all possible. We gather together to study, learn and grow as disciples set apart to something better than just getting by. We gather together to bless, encourage and serve others, because when we do this we are serving the ONE, Who makes everything possible. We gather together, because we are better, stronger and more powerful together than apart.

Coming together on Sunday is about accountability, community, connection, encouragement, growth, networking, relationship and so much more. This face to face, heart to heart and spirit to spirit interaction accomplishes things that nothing else can. It’s God’s designed way for us to become all that He has created and crafted us to be and then some.

“Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhort one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” -Hebrews 10:25

Why Church? Because Church Is Ministry We Are All In Need Of…

The Ministry OF Relationship! We are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. We belong to a spiritual family that loves us at our best and worst. We are united together as the family of God, a group of men, women, boys and girls who believe in the Gospel “good news” that God made a way where there was no way, so that we might have abundant and everlasting life.

The Ministry Of Example! We need one another to grow spiritually the way God designed us to grow! When we do life together we learn from each other’s failures and successes. We see how “not to do it” and how to “do it”. Learning from failure and success are both important and the good news is: It is not dependent upon you being perfect and never making a mistake. It is just simply dependent upon you living your life, learning along the way and sharing the journey with others.

The Ministry Of Presence! We grow one another! The best way to learn is from one another. When we come together in unity, in spite of all that tries to divide us, it is a brilliant testimony to the rest of the world that there is something (SOMEONE) greater that unites us and ties us together. Young, old and in-between, from every socio-economic background, all colors and creeds, from every walk of life – united in Christ, yielded to the Spirit and in love with God our Creator.

I want to encourage you to find a church that you can be a part of, because you have blessings that someone else needs and somewhere there is someone waiting on you with a blessing you’ve been looking for…

Blogroll, Church, Discipleship, faith, Family, Fellowship

Sunday Night Rewind – 10/10/21

The old joke is that pastors only work one day a week, but the truth is we work all week preparing for one day and that is why Sunday is such an important day for all of us, because your pastor has been praying, studying, ministering, writing, planning, organizing, scheduling and the list goes on and on and on, for this day. On this day, your pastor hopes to challenge you, encourage you, grow you, inspire you and motivate you to the higher life that you were created and gifted for.

I love everyday and all the different things that add up to make Sunday such a special day in the life of church and the ministry. Our Sundays at Eureka just seem to get sweeter and sweeter every week. I love getting to do life with the fine folks that God has given me to shepherd at Eureka and I count it an blessing, honor and privilege to be called “pastor” by each one of them.

I usually get to the church early on Sunday mornings way before anyone else. I like to spend a little time in prayer, asking for God’s blessing, direction and guidance upon all of our lives as we assemble together. I then do a last minute look over my notes and begin to greet folks and enjoy some sweet conversations.

This morning I got to spend a few moments with the kids from Kid’s Church and I always love spending time with them, probably because I am a big kid at heart. Last Sunday one of the little girls came up, tugged on my pants leg and when I looked down at her, she looked up at me and said: “I love you!” It was one of the sweetest and most pure gifts I’ve ever been given.

We had a very sweet time in worship. A young man that was in my very first youth group and his family were visiting with us this morning and it blessed my heart to ask him to open our time of worship up in prayer. So proud of the man of God that he has grown to be and blessed to see him and his family with us today.

Our morning service was built around the theme of WINNING WORSHIP and we focused on the truth that we need each other, that God created us to do life together and that when one of us is blessed, we are all blessed. We talked about how we like to think we are smart and some times get full of ourselves, but if we are honest our only real satisfaction comes in Jesus and a growing relationship with Him. We know we are on the right track when our life is a life of worship that worship God in Spirit, truth and Jesus.

We enjoyed a great time of fellowship at lunch with some friends and then I spent a little time in my Pastor’s Study just getting ready for the next week and resting a few before Sunday evening Bible Study.

At Bible Study we were challenged from the Word to “Watch Your Walk!” We talked about how our attitude is almost constantly needing an adjustment and that we desperately need the wisdom from God’s Word to help us use our time on this earth wisely and make our days count. We discovered that the best way to do this was to: 1.) Enjoy what ever time you’ve got. 2.) Learn from your mistakes. 3.) Remember there is more to this life than this life!

It was a great day and a great evening and I am home now and almost ready for bed. Thank you God for loving me so much that you bless me with the opportunity to do life with such amazing and sweet folks. I love what you let me do and consider it the greatest blessing of my life to get to serve You by serving others… I pray everyone has a great night and an extra blessed week!

Blogroll, Gratitude, Growing, life, Nature, outside, peace

To Fix The Inside Go Outside!

We have had like five straight days of rain and while that has not exactly got us stuck inside, it does not make for the most exciting times to hang around outside. You may have noticed that some of the folks around you seem a little more cranky than usual and it could be because they feel like they have been stuck inside and their inside is itching to get outside.

“11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. 12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.” -Psalms 96:11-12

I begin most of my mornings outside, but I must admit that with the pouring rain, I did not stay outside as long as I normally would and I really failed to enjoy the little bit of time that I was outside, because I was distracted by the discomfort.

A couple of days ago, I could tell that I needed some outside time, so I got me one of my portable rockers and made my way through the rain to a dry spot out under the barn and I just say there and took it all in and it wasn’t long until I was feeling somewhat normal again.

I believe that outside/nature is one of the best natural medicines we have in our arsenal of healing techniques. It almost automatically seems to boost my mood and recalibrate my focus.

I want to encourage you to be intentional about spending some time outside this week. You may go for a short stroll around the yard or you may just sit in a comfortable chair and take in your surroundings.

Here are a few ideas to get you started in the right direction:

1.) Go outside! Just do it. Sit, stand, always around or do all three. Do whatever you like, just enjoy some time outside.

2.) Breathe! Breathe in and breathe out. Take some deeper breaths than usual and practice holding them for a few seconds. Take time to appreciate the power of a breath!

3.) Observe! Look and listen to all that is going on around you. At first you may not notice much, but as you learn to listen to the silence, you will discover that there are all kinds of things happening without your ever giving them a thought.

This is a very small thing and it does not cost you a dime, but it does more than we realize in helping us to get the most from this beautiful gift called life. Live, learn, laugh and love…