Out of the blue I received an email saying “We would like to give you some money, when can we meet?” This doesn’t happen often!
The e-mailer was Councillor Mike Reid who represents North Totton on the New Forest District Council. He had been told about us by the Chairperson of our local Community Association who
praised our commitment to our work for and with the local community.
Most times when money is handed over it is tightly ring-fenced.
However, on this occasion the Councillor said, “We value what you do for this community, use it for whatever you want.” So a cheque for £250 [approximately US$458.00] was presented to ‘The Watering Hole’ on Saturday, 8 May at the Calmore Community Centre.
We have benefited from the generosity and support of several superstores. Comet and Curry’s
gave significant discounts enabling us to buy computers, cameras, printers etc. for community
projects. Recently the food store, Waitrose presented us with a cheque for £200 to help with
‘Frontline’ - our debt advice service. It’s not just money we are receiving from community sources.
At our Easter Egg hunt the Divisional Police Inspector gave permission for one of his Constables to be available to deter any troublemakers who were out to spoil a great community event. This
policeman’s wife later commented that, “Since getting involved with ‘The Watering Hole’ our family is happier than we have ever been.”
Every time we receive comments, money or help it encourages us to keep bringing the kingdom of God into lives now, as well as sharing with them the Good news of the Kingdom to come.
The days of ambivalence in the Christian life are drawing to an end. Having one foot in the world and the other in the church has caused only pain and imbalance. It is time for us to stop walking along the shore, dreaming of the other side but staying put. It is time to act on our faith—come what may.
Fear of sharing our faith, except for those with the unstoppable sanguine temperament, causes many of us to experience faith-sharing paralysis. We just can’t do it. And since we can’t, we don’t. So another chance to trust in Jesus may have evaporated into thin air. When Christ told us to proclaim forgiveness of sins to all (Luke 24:46-48), He did not discriminate: • He did not isolate His command to Peter, James, and John, the big three. • He did not exclude the women in the room.
He did not pass over timid Thomas a week later (John 20:24-29).
Jesus saw a mighty army eager to share what they had learned from Him. He included everyone in His band of witnesses to the good news. Let’s follow His lead, shall we?
The first time I gave a gospel presentation to someone I didn’t do a very good job. And the second time I didn’t do much better. But I kept presenting. I kept focusing on those wonderful words of life in Scripture, and people began to listen and surrender to the love of God in Christ. Now the verses, illustrations, and analogies come to me naturally—awake or asleep.
Practice does make perfect. Let’s practice giving away our faith, and God will take our humble efforts and one day show us on the Sea of Glass the fruit of this wonderful labor.
Remember: “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
Again it’s time to act on our faith—come what may.
Ron E. M. Clouzet, D.Min., is ministerial secretary and director of the North American Division Evangelism Institute (NADEI). He is also professor of Christian ministry and practical theology in Andrews University Theological Seminary.
The Annual Flow Report on Refugees and Asylees is now available.
Note the following highlights:
·More refugees are arriving from Iraq than from any other country. Burma (with refugees primarily from the Karen ethnic group) is a close second, and Bhutan is not far behind.(Fig. 3)
·Figure 5 shows Refugee Arrivals by State of Residence with California and Texas in the lead.
·An overwhelming majority of Asylees are coming from China. (See Fig. 6.)
·Figure 10 shows Affirmative Asylees by State of Residence with California, New York, and Florida at the top of the list.
May God help us to fulfill His purpose in bringing these precious souls—many from countries closed to missionaries—to our shores. (See quote below.)
“God in His providence has brought men to our very doors and thrust them, as it were, into our arms, that they might learn the truth, and be qualified to do a work we could not do in getting the light before men of other tongues.” (Evangelism, p. 570)
“Success in any line demands a definite aim. He who would achieve true success in life must keep steadily in view the aim worthy of his endeavor. Such an aim is set before the youth of today. The heaven-appointed purpose of giving the gospel to the world in this generation is the noblest that can appeal to any human being. It opens a field of effort to everyone whose heart Christ has touched.” (Education, p. 262)
LEAD gets to local churches up to six months ahead of local Sabbath School programming, so we are giving local leaders a few file cards of information that can be used for VBS for two reasons:
First, as the old proverb confesses, “The best laid plans of mice and men have often gone astray.” Unforseen difficulties arise. Plans change. Leaders get stressed.
Some churches have not had VBS for a number of years. These programs offer hope and direction for starting again, starting where you are, and starting now.
1. The central theme for Vacation Bible School at the Cloverdale church in Boise, Idaho, led children to investigate “My Community.”
The information and activities revolved around how children can serve and witness for Jesus within their home, school, church, country—and their community. The children enjoyed (A) singing songs, (B) reciting memory verses, (C) hearing interesting Bible lessons and stories, (D) assembling unique crafts, (E) indulging in tasty treats, and (F) unveiling amazing discoveries in nature.
The attendance was consistent throughout the week: 35 children.
Watching a child’s eyes and face light up because they learned something new about Jesus is a heartwarming feeling that cannot be described.
And that was the purpose of this year’s Vacation Bible School at Cloverdale.
Story by Gerry Eslink, a Vacation Bible School volunteer for Cloverdale church.
2. In the long, hot, lazy days of summer, Vacation Bible School provides children with a fun, faith-based environment to learn about Jesus and build friendships.
Wilma Bing, Washington Conference family ministries director, says that local church volunteers have two purposes to fulfill with “Vacation Bible School programs:
1. To reach out to children and their parents.
2. To brings the entire church together for a common evangelistic goal.”
Through the years, Vacation Bible School has emerged as an effective way to bring Adventist and community children together for child-friendly evangelism.
“When I first got involved with VBS about 12 years ago, the majority of the kids were Adventist with only a handful of kids from the neighborhood,” says Linda Burman, VBS director fot the church in Auburn City, Washington. “Initially we found the process of integrating the neighborhood kids into our programs very difficult, as they were basically outnumbered. However, in the last couple years, the majority of kids attending VBS are from the surrounding neighborhood.”
Children in Kirkland (Wash.), Bellevue (Wash.), and Auburn City explored facing fears at Crocodile Dock, while children at Shelton Valley’s (Wash.) summer daycare camp discovered Bible royalty in Castles and Crowns. Graham (Wash.) children explored creation, while children at Auburn Academy Church visited “Rome” and the underground church in the church’s “Journey to Bethlehem” facility.
The Crocodile Dock theme, about not being afraid, was particularly relevant for a young boy with leukemia who attended the Bellevue VBS. The staff and children prayed for him to not be afraid of his treatment. When he came back, he said because of God, he hadn’t been afraid.
“VBS benefits our church,” says Dixie Robinson, Bellevue VBS leader, “because such a large percentage of people work together as a team to put on this evangelistic effort, which has a great impact on our community.”
Story by Heidi Martell, Washington Conference associate communication director
In-a-minute Resources
• Your local Sabbath School and Children’s Ministries directors.
• Candy DeVore, Children’s Ministries director, Review and Herald Publishing Association
Cindy Chamberlin, Gleaner managing editor, shared Vacation Bible School reports for 2009.
No one on Planet Earth is perfect. In the area of facilitation the opportunities to make mistakes are comparable to the minutes of the gathering. Mistakes can scuttle the best-laid plans. Some mistakes you will recognize immediately, because you’ve seen so many facilitators use them, others may come as quite the surprise. Let’s take a look at three solutions. Challenge 1. Repeatedly calling on—or allowing—the same people to speak.
Solutions:
• Scan and walk the room to direct questions to table groups or people who have not participated much or at all. Make sure that the question is not challenging. Ask something that is “right” for them in their experience: e.g., “Joe, what has been our experience or opinion about this?”
•Rotate group leaders and the people who record group decisions. Challenge 2. Facilitating or presenting during distractions.
Solutions:
• Stop the show. Ask the group to stand to take a stretch or engage in a physical activity.
• Divert the attraction. Lead the group in singing a rousing gospel song or chorus that most people would know.
• Move the stage. Move away from the distracters to divert the eyes and attention—and probably the posture of the group will swivel, turn, or whatever to get their eyes back on you. Or if the distraction is, for example, a noise outside the window, move the group to the hall or send them to refresh themselves while you address the problem with the person in charge of maintaining the facility—a deacon, the Sabbath School coordinator/superintendent, or the workshop assistant assigned to you by the event coordinator. Challenge 3. Refusing to defuse the tension in the room.
Solutions:
• Address the situation. Tell the group that you would be doing them a disservice if you ignored the tension.
• Remind them that sometimes tension can be a good way to move people out of their comfort zones.
• Ask for their input about how they would like you to address the tension, possibly dividing the group into small teams to discuss and record their solutions.
• If the tension centers on the content of the lesson, assure them that your lesson objectives will address those concerns.
• Share a story about a time when tension occurring early in a session helped lead to a sensational session.
• Thank the group for their participation in resolving the tension.
The audio clip (click on link above photo) is an on the street interview with a local conference member from another church. I did a survey during camp meeting, asking, ”Who is your Sabbath School superintendent?”
90% of the folks asked DID NOT KNOW WHO the superintendent was at their perspective church.
Here’s an audio of a member who did know, but listen to how he had to ponder about the answer. And he was one member from a church who actually could remember something about whom the present Sabbath School Superintendent is at his church.
What is going on [or is not going on/or needs to be going on] for a reason of why so many people at different churches when asked DO NOT KNOW or DO NOT REMEMBER who their Sabbath School Superintendent is? What is that saying about the Sabbath School experience at such a church? Of the Bible study there? etc?
A question for bloggers: How would you advise that local churches make their superintendents—and their Sabbath School—visible to members who do not participate in Sabbath School?
Jesus would have them understand that authority in His kingdom is not hierarchical but finds expression in one getting immersed in the needs of others.
Knowledge:
By Kwabena Donkor
Kwabena Donkor is an associate director for the General Conference Biblical Research Institute.
While Jesus Christ was on earth, He set in motion a movement that would eventually become the Christian Church. Obviously, He knew what the church would become, but He did not provide any detailed prescriptions for church governance. Still, He knew that issues of authority would arise in the church and He provided principles that should guide its exercise. Such is the passage we will be looking at today.
The Context Jesus took three of His disciples through the Transfiguration experience while they were in Caesarea Philippi (Mark 9:2). In Mark 9:30 we are told that He left the place and took a course that would eventually see Him in Jerusalem. He led the disciples through Galilee purposely to keep them from the crowds so that He would have quality time to instruct them particularly concerning His death and resurrection (Mark 9:31). Jesus had told the disciples about His death before, at which time Peter came in for rebuke (Mark 8:32, 33). In this latest instruction on His passion, however, Jesus added the additional detail that the Son of Man would be delivered into the hands of men. Jesus may have meant this to be an action of God, or He may have had Judas’s betrayal in view. The word translated “delivered” or “betrayed” allows both possibilities. In any case, this instruction was exclusively intended for the disciples who did not grasp it. And they were afraid to ask Him for clarification! Were they being careful because of the earlier incident with Peter?
And how was it that Jesus’ second prediction of His death could provoke a debate on rank among them (Mark 9:34)? Could Jesus’ prediction about His death have been overshadowed by His earlier promise of the kingdom coming in power (Mark 9:1)? Or even the prediction of His “quick” resurrection? Anyhow, they did not grasp it, and Jesus instructed them on ambition, power, and authority as far as the kingdom is concerned.
The Text Jesus and His disciples finally arrived in Capernaum and entered a certain house. Jesus, who had been aware of their debate about rank while they were in “the way,” saw this as the appropriate time to address the matter (Mark 9:33). He asked them what they were disputing. There was silence, because the disciples seemed to have realized that the subject of their disputation on the way was shameful and embarrassing.
Jesus instructed them pointedly that the one who desires to be first in His kingdom must be last, and servant of all (Mark 9:35). In saying that the one who wishes to be first must be servant of all, Mark uses a future tense that could work as an imperative, thereby laying it down as a principle that spiritual greatness necessarily requires service to others. Jesus would have them understand that authority in His kingdom is not hierarchical but finds expression in one getting immersed in the needs of others. Authority does not sit high and look down but stoops low in service, sacrifice, and sympathy. Christ’s impending death that He announced to them was going to be the supreme model of service and sacrifice. How contrary to the principles of His kingdom was the response of the disciples in quibbling about rank at such a time!
Application
The fact that the disciples could contend about power in the light of Jesus’ announcement of His death should warn us about the potency of the desire for supremacy, power, and control. Their insensitiveness was rooted in self-seeking.Ellen White writes: “Among the followers of our Lord today, as of old, how widespread is this subtle, deceptive sin! How often our service to Christ, our communion with one another, is marred by the secret desire to exalt self! How ready the thought of self-gratulation, and the longing for human approval!” (The Desire of Ages, p. 409).
Today we should especially mark the subtlety and deceptiveness of the desire for greatness because of the irony of the fact that although the disciples had left all for Christ’s sake, a corner of their hearts still cherished human greatness for themselves!Thank God that His power is able to banish such self-seeking!
Hi, a number of bloggers have expressed an interest in hosting boot camps for their leaders. You can make arrangements for Boot Camps by directly contacting the LEAD magazine editor who also directs the Boot Camps: fcrumbly@rhpa.org/301-393-4094. I’ll be delighted to talk with you about this.
Notice from the Office of the Adult Bible Study Guide
The Web site www.CreationSabbath.net <http://www.creationsabbath.net/> was created to help with planning and to provide materials for churches to prepare for this event that honors God as our Creator.
Please visit the above link for sample sermons, informational articles, children’s stories, scripture passages, hymns and responsive readings as well as other resources and links.
Together we can create a sense of unity by promoting in a positive light our belief in God as Creator and make Oct. 24 a day when we publically worship God as our Creator and thank Him for giving us life and hope.
Please do whatever you can to promote and prepare for this Sabbath celebration of Creation.
