March 2014
Church Press Newsletter
Baptism Napkins


50% off our Linen Baptismal Napkins. 12" square folded twice, with 1/4" fringed edges and white cross. Can also be used as Communion napkins. #451 sale price, only $60.00 per dozen! (Regular price is $120.00!) Click #451 to order.

Baptism Candles

9 1/2 x 7/8. Spaces on box for name of child, date, name of church, address, God parents, and name of pastor officiating. #312 $3.99 each. Click #312 to order.

Robocalls 
Consumer Reports, March 2014, p. 7

Tired of robocalls? Nomorobo can hang up on robocalls after one ring. It's available at no charge to individuals (businesses pay a fee). But there's a catch: Nomorobo can indentify and block robocalls only if your phone carrier offers "simultaneous ring." Only a few carriers offer that feature, and all of them use VoIP. To find out whether yours is among them, go to nomorobo.com. To get more information click this link.

Beware of . . .

allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by Him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not out of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride.








We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person - God became a baby. - by Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

Nursery Provided

An excellent sentence for bulletins and letters to prospective members: "A church nursery will be available at the time of the adult membership class at no charge." This gesture is really appreciated by parents with children.

For Pastor's Eyes  Only

Our Father Abraham by Marvin R. Wilson. Delineates the link between Judaism and Christianity, between the Old and the New Testament, and examines our Hebrew roots. New. Retails for $24.00. Free (including shipping) to the first pastor who emails us.

For Church Secretary's
Eyes Only

Drawing Closer by Carolyn Blish. Her paintings and text convey the wonders of children and those with a mature faith. She is someone with eyes to see the simplicity and glory of God's handiwork all around us. Hard cover. New. List price: $49.95. Free (including shipping) to the first secretary (or office administrator) who emails us.

Good Church Website

We like the very informative and colorful website for Zion Lutheran Church (LCMS), Georgetown, TX, Rev. John Davenport, lead pastor.  Excellent layout. Good eye appeal. Covers all the programs and activities of the church.  Click Zion Lutheran Church.

Joseph & Asenath



An excellent book for late night reading by Alex Chappell. Journey through the hills of Hebron, cross the grasslands of Shechem, experience the sorrows and triumphs of Joseph of Egypt. Joseph and Asenath is an exciting novel that breathes life into the history of Joseph as found in Genesis. Pastor Ginkel highly recommends it.

List price $12.85. Kindle price $0.99. Borrow it for free on a Kindle device with Amazon Prime. 

"Give your child

. . . the resources to practice (saving money). Many parents ask Martinez about an allowance. He says each family should decide what it can afford and whether the money should be tied to chores or not. But, he said, 'You can't teach them about money without giving them some.'" - Rich Martinez in the Denver Post.

5 Ways to Teach Your Children to Hate the Ministry
By Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today, January 2014

To put in bluntly, a lot of pastors' children hate the ministry. How can it be avoided? My team interviewed 20 pastors' kids who are now adults. They provided some insights that were both inspiring and disturbing.

Children with a pastor-parent can grow to hate the ministry for many reasons, but there are five guaranteed ways to make sure they hate being a pastor's kid (PK). [read more]


 
 
Welcome! Please come in. In 1865 Lina Sandell wrote one of the most comforting hymns of all time: Day by Day. If you can, take a moment to hear the Antrim Mennonite Choir sing it. Go full screen. The video is beautiful and the presentation is the very best. It's the kind of music your church would love to sing on Sunday morning. 
 
Day by Day
Day by Day

He Is Faithful
By Pastor Don Ginkel

The United Sates Marines slogan is Semper Fidelis, which is Latin for "always faithful." Psalm 36:5 says, "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies." 2 Timothy 2:13 says, "If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself." We should be grateful that God is totally faithful. Why? If He is not faithful, we would never know when to believe Him or in what circumstances we could believe Him.  

 

The implications of God's faithfulness are immeasurable. We can sing the words of Lina Sandell -

 

Day by day and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond on all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best -

Lovingly, it's part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.  

 

For many years a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she worried about burglars. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he did find a burglar. "Good evening," said the man of the house. "I am very pleased to see you. Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting ten years to meet you."

 

What is the burglar in your life? How long have you been worrying about it? Isn't it time to put it to rest? Promise you'll do it now. Promise? Do it every day. You have a faithful God. He is the God of the Bible. He is compassionate! He is faithful! "Amen (meaning to affirm and confirm the the statement)!"

 

6 Biblical Ways to Handle Disunity
By Rick Warren, Ministry Toolbox, January 2014
(Note: In some congregations this article should be shared with the Board of Elders and the Church Council)

The Bible says that pastors are accountable to God to manage and direct the church (1 Peter 5, 1 Timothy 3:5, 1 Timothy 5:17). Good shepherds are good protectors against wolves, and wolves are everywhere. The Bible also says that members of the flock are accountable to submit to the leadership of the church (Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Corinthians 16:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13). God warns pastors about people in the church that have an unhealthy interest in controversy, arguments that result in envy, quarreling, strife, evil suspicions and friction between men.

Satan's favorite way to destroy a church and its effectiveness is to make it ingrown by creating dissension. If you've been a Pastor for any length of time, you've seen this happen. Much of the email that we receive from Pastors pertains to handling conflicts and sorting out the relational issues that occur in the church. You may have personally seen a good church go under or be neutralized because of dissension.

Because it is the advancement of God's kingdom that is at stake, pastors are charged by God to do whatever is necessary to prevent this. Specifically, there are six things pastors are called to do. [read more]

What Should Worship Look Like?
By Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today, February 3, 2014

There are at least 3 questions to ask when planning a worship service. . . . The prominence of worship in our churches is no accident . . . In the Old Testament, they prepared and planned for worship and we should do no less. Often, though, these times of praise and worship become forums driven by consumerism rather than gratitude, and opinion rather than orthodoxy.

Churches that embrace God-centered worship are doing three things: they are keeping the focus on Creator rather than the creatures, they are giving multiple generations present an opportunity to worship God, and they are pointing people to Jesus (lost and believers) as they equip the hearts as well as the minds of the saints. To do that, I encourage you to consider three questions: [read more]

Stack of Stuff

Why should you work as hard
to get your people into your Sunday morning Bible class as you do to get them to worship? Now think about that. It's not a difficult question and the answer makes all the difference in the world. Dare you to give the answer! Okay, double dare!

Suggestion: Print off a hard copy
of each Newsletter and highlight or underline those sections that need further attention. And forward this Newsletter to a Christian friend and to leaders in your church.

A free electronic book: It's a concise commentary on Romans from The Moody Bible Commentary. You can forward this email and share the free Romans Commentary ebook with others in your church. This is a good deal. Just click Romans.

This pays BIG TIME. Purchase a large number of church business cards and include the words: "We invite you to worship with us next Sunday." Periodically give several to each worshiper. Ask them to give a card out during the week and extend a personal invitation to visit next Sunday. Try it. It really works!

If you follow a daily Bible reading schedule, beware of just following the schedule, but instead accent comprehension. Example: Many Bibles give a simple explanation for each Bible verse. Take time to read these notes so that you better absorb Scripture. This is time well spent.

For Those Who Say They Don't Believe the Bible - There are some pretty strong arguments that the Bible is God's Word. Here are just four:
  1. The amazing way in which all the prophecies of the Bible have been and are being fulfilled. In the O.T. there are 333 prophecies dealing with Christ alone and all were fulfilled. [read more
Let's do more of it! Ronald Reagan gave us this gem: "Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere."

R E M I N D E R - Read at least one good book a month. Make it a habit. Discipline yourself until you're in the rhythm of it.

What can your church do to impact and care for men and women in the military who are serving overseas - not just those from your church, but also those from your community? Ask a former military family to spearhead the venture.

Dog Thoughts to Think About
  • "I loath people who keep dogs. They are cowards who haven't got the guts to be owned by a cat." - Rubin
  • "Ever consider what they must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul - chicken, pork, and half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!" - Anne Tyler
  • "Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful." - Ann Landers
  • "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." - Robert Heinlein
  • "In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
  • "When a man's best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem." - Edward Abbey
  • "Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail." - Unknown
  • "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." - Josh Billings
  • "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Unknown   
Another Way to Promote a Bible Study Group
From Christ Lutheran Church (LCMS), Scituate, MA, Rev. Dan Eddy

Brown Bag Women's Bible Study: Noon - 2:00, Fridays - JOIN US! The women's study includes many different denominations, depth of knowledge, and ages of women. We love new people! It's okay if you can't make it every week. Feel free to bring your own lunch and join us. Host provides beverages 12:00 - 12:30 as we gather for lunch; 12:30 - 2:00 discussion and encouragement. We typically meet at (name and address).

The mission of our study group is to encourage one another to spend daily time with God which will grow your Biblical and Christian knowledge, develop your relationship with Jesus Christ, and as a result you will find a great sense of peace. For any questions or to be added to the email list for reminders (host's email address).

How to Resurrect a Dying or Plateaued Church
By Brian Moss, Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox, January 28, 2014

Before I came to my current church, they had been on a 15 year plateau followed by a near death experience due to a leadership conflict. What was left was a building with about 100 seats, four Sunday school rooms and an average attendance of about 35. It was a real fixer upper if you know what I mean.

As I reflect back and try to understand how our church was transformed I never land on any specific programs, strategies or methods that were the secret. I have found that it was a culmination of several factors over time. For what it's worth, here's a few of my suggestions for resurrecting a plateaued or dying church: [read more]
 
The Absence of Affirmation
By Hans Finzel, The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, pp. 61-63

Empathizing. (Romans 1:19) If others are happy, share their joy. If there is tragedy in their lives, stop everything and weep with them.

Encouraging. (1 Thessalonians 5:11) Let people know often that they are doing a good job. Look for the good and point it out, and you'll see more and more good come for your colleagues. "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

Get out of your office. When someone does a good job, pay him or her a visit to say thanks. It'll make a bigger impact than a memo, a phone call, or an invitation to your office.

Place This in Your Worship Bulletin
I Have Good News for You Leader's Guide, p. 149, by Pastor Ginkel

Six suggestions on how to retain the main points of the sermon:
  1. DURING THE SERMON jot down a few words on your bulletin which contain the main points of the sermon.
  2. DURING THE RECEPTION of the offering review these points in your mind.
  3. DURING THE SILENT PRAYER at the end of worship let your prayer zero in on these points as you talk to the Lord.
  4. ON THE DRIVE HOME review and discuss the main points again with the people riding with you.
  5. SUNDAY EVENING, in your private prayers, go over these points with the Lord and include implementation.
  6. ON MONDAY be conscious of what you need to do. Act out the instruction of the sermon in your life.   
4 Sample Cards for Baptisms Free

"A Gift from God to See, to Hold, and to Love" card. Send to parents of a new born baby. Scriptures inside address four unique blessings for the child.

 

Child Baptism Certificate. Has a poem by Martin Luther, Scripture verses, summarizes blessings of Baptism, and information on the newly baptized.

 

Sponsor Certificate. Scripture verses, information on the newly baptized, and lists five distinct duties of a sponsor.

 

Adult Baptism Certificate. Has poem by Martin Luther, Scripture, and information on the newly baptized.

 

We'll send you a sample set of these four cards free. Just email us and ask for Sample Card Set #696. Include your address in the email. 

 

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