Psalm 34:1 – 34:10

I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear it and rejoice.
O Magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His name together.
I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried and the LORD heard him.
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
O fear the LORD, you his saints;
For to those who fear Him, there is no want.
The young lions do lack and suffer hunger,
But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.

Life has an ebb and flow.  There are definite seasons.  When I am overwhelmed or not in good spirits, I read the Psalms.  They bring great comfort.  Seek God, and call on him.  He is there for all of us.

Most gracious and Holy God.  You are my rock and my strength.  I stand in awe and in fear of the maker of heaven and earth; the most high God. 

I pray for those who feel they are without hope.  I pray they will seek you even in their despair.  I seek you now.   Fill me with grace and wisdom.  Your word says if I seek you I shall not want for any good thing.   I seek you, LORD.  Hear my prayer. 

I am a speaker, and visit many small churches throughout the year.  I  have been a member of a small church, also a medium size church (which are rare these days), and I have been on staff at a large church. 

There are phrases I hear over and over from church members in my travels.  There are things we speculate, some are right and some are not.  I will elaborate on a couple ideas we need to consider.  The numbered entries are the phrases I hear frequently, and the indented green copy is a result of my thoughts and research on the subject.

1. People only want the entertainment and activities of the mega church.  We can’t compete with that.

Not everyone is looking for the stadium environment.  Many people prefer the closeness, the simplicity, and the smaller family environment of the small church.  Small church has a special place and offers a unique quality in our lives. 

Don’t try to compete with a church with a $3 Million dollar budget.  Find your own offering that is unique to the small church.  My number one suggestion is to open the church up once a week for an hour of prayer.  Jesus said the temple was a House of Prayer Luke 19:46.  There was teaching, but people certainly came to pray.  You don’t need a huge staff or budget to add this hour one evening a week.  (It has to be in the evening, so people who work, can have the opportunity to come.)  Older churches with aging congregations tend to have all activities during the day and wonder why they can’t get younger people to come.  We are all working at 10:00 am. 

Some soft music (pre recorded instrumental is best), quiet environment, open sanctuary.  Light some candles, and create a sacred time for people to meet and be with God. 

If you can possibly raise some money for it, have a trained graphic artist design a flyer or a postcard about your new hour of prayer.  Get a hundred or more copies to start.  Open up 15 minutes early, and close up 15 minutes after.  Have a greeter welcome people as they come in, and thank them for coming as they leave. 

2. People can find us, they know we are here.

People will drive past something for years and not notice it.  I have done that very thing.  “Oh, there is a watch repair shop. Never noticed that before.”  Your church might have been there 100 years.  People drive by every day, but don’t notice. 

Also there is an entirely new generation of people who were not raised in church, (76 million of them).  Some have never been to church even for Easter or Christmas.  They don’t know what you are about at all!  They don’t know a church family is waiting to embrace them, to share the love of God with them and to grow with them on the spiritual path.  Truly, they don’t know.

3.  Young people just don’t want to go to church.

If you explore the thousands of self improvement and self development websites you will notice a couple of continuous themes.  Spiritual awakening and simplicity are nearly an obsession for many people from 20 to 35 in these online communities.  They are aware there is a spiritual dimension to their being.  They are searching,  they are into meditation.  They say, “I am spiritual, but not religious.”   Yet they search.

They are looking for simplicity as their lives are busy and high tech with work and starting out on their own.  They are minimalists in some cases.  They want to their spiritual life to be simple and straight forward.  It seems we always want what we don’t have.  Their parents complained of being forced to go to church.  This new generation is actively looking for God.  This is an amazing opportunity for your small church.

They may not want the traditional service you enjoy on Sunday morning, but your new hour of prayer can open up a new opportunities for members and you can keep your traditional service.  You may also want to add an evening bible study.  You can keep the 10:00 am one. 

So don’t feel you have to give up everything you hold dear about your church.  But do open up some new and creative ways for God to work in the lives of others through your church.  It isn’t an exclusive club, it is God’s house.  It is a house of prayer. 

4.  It is such a sad thing our church in dying.  There is nothing we can do.

There are things you can do!  It is going to require some change.  It will require a little bit of effort.  But not as much as you might think.

- Your image.  At the turn of the century, the church was a big part of people’s social lives.  There were not a lot of other distractions.  Young people have dozens of their own distractions now.  So they are looking for something different that your grandparents were looking for in church.  For the new image of the small neighborhood community church, think simple, inviting, quiet, consider the mystery of God, the sacredness, divine order and time for listening for the spirit of God.

As your graphic designer works on your marketing piece about the new hour of prayer, make it simple, inviting, a time quietness in the presence of God.  A simple time of prayer.  Nourishing your spirit.  It is a special treat, and special break from the hectic demands of the world.  Take an hour to be with God.  Make sure the marketing piece contains the W’s.

What:  New Hour of Prayer 

 When:  Day and time

Where:  The address and name of the church, remember not everyone knows you are there.

Why:  Simplicity in prayer. A break from the hectic demands of life.  A special time to nourish the spirit and explore the mystery of God. 

Take care in creating your image and message.  People need to know the benefits of coming there.  What is in it for them, not you.

- The power of doubling.  I’m sure you have heard about the power of doubling with a penny.  If you double it every day for 30 days, this is what happens:

Day 1: $.01
Day 2: $.02
Day 3: $.04
Day 4: $.08
Day 5: $.16
Day 6: $.32
Day 7: $.64
Day 8: $1.28
Day 9: $2.56
Day 10: $5.12
Day 11: $10.24
Day 12: $20.48
Day 13: $40.96
Day 14: $81.92
Day 15: $163.84
Day 16: $327.68
Day 17: $655.36
Day 18: $1,310.72
Day 19: $2,621.44
Day 20: $5,242.88
Day 21: $10,485.76
Day 22: $20,971.52
Day 23: $41,943.04
Day 24: $83,886.08
Day 25: $167,772.16
Day 26: $335,544.32
Day 27: $671,088.64
Day 28: $1,342,177.28
Day 29: $2,684,354.56
Day 30: $5,368,709.12

If you are starting with 20 people in your church, go ahead and look at day 12.  If every person is praying to find people to invite to your hour of prayer and each get one person per month, in 12 months you will have 83,886 and some change and you will need a larger church building.

- Canvas the neighborhood around the church.  This marketing piece about your new hour of prayer is a wonderful conversation starter.  Let people around you know about it and that you would like to invite them for the prayer time.  Leave the flyer or postcard with them, don’t be too pushy, just invite.  Move on to the next house.  Keep doing this until everyone within 12 blocks of the church knows about this.  Also they have your marketing piece so they have it all written down, the W’s.  If professionally designed and printed, it looks cool and they will keep it around, even if their first instinct was to say no.  God can work with it and they can change their minds.

- After sprinkling this inviting image around the neighborhood, also take it with you and look for opportunities to invite others you run into or meet.  God can certainly arrange meetings, especially if you are prepared to give people some information.  Keep a marketing piece with you all the time.

 - Get a sign made for the church that states you have a new Hour of Prayer time and the day and time.

- Give this some time to work.  Plan on supporting this hour of prayer for the next year and give it time to take off.

You have had a prayer vigil.  You have created a new hour of prayer and a marketing piece with an image of simplicity, love and the mystery of God.  You are well on your way.  You have inquired of God.  You have opened your hearts and your church up to grow and to serve God.  Expect miracles.  Next week, let us explore the new simple, modern community church.  So you can continue to grow and be a blessing to the new people coming into the fold.

Flickr photo

God, we lift up the people of Haiti, placing them tenderly in your care.  We ask that an end is brought to the suffering.  We ask for strength, wisdom and a spirit of cooperation for them and the relief workers.

Let there be divine order and complete restoration for their lives there.  We ask for miracles of their behalf.

Guide them, keep them, comfort them, prosper them and build up their nation.  Let there be more than enough aid, medical care and supplies to sustain them.  Let the clean up and rebuilding get moving quickly.  Move the hearts of their neighbors to assist in the best possible way. Be with them, and all those who volunteer, donate, and pray for the people of Haiti.  Amen

Photo by Chrissy Oldham

Many of us begin the new year with the hope of changing something in our lives.  I want my life to improve in 2010.   My personal goal is to slim down and eat less.  We all have something, smoking, drinking, gossiping, overeating, wasting too much time on video games and Internet surfing, and countless other things.  Let he who is without sin toss the first rock.

The important thing to know is you can overcome.  You are more powerful than you realize.  What ever you want to do, do it today.  Just today.  Don’t even think about or worry about tomorrow.  Time is a finite resource.  How will we use it best today?

Holy God, our rock and our strength.  Help us to overcome the weakness of the flesh.  Give us courage to act, and fill our spirits with your breath and resolve. You have said that through Christ all things are possible.  You have given us authority to do many things.  You have said that both life and death are in the power of the tongue.  Let us choose life.  Let us find our stride and our courage.  Today we call on you and you hear our prayer and answer us.  Amen

Romans 5:5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Photo by Chrissy Oldham

There is a spirit within us that is never poor, yet I think sometimes we go hungry because we are afraid to ask for what we want. We fear we may be inadequate.  We fear there may be some powerful world-changing gift we have, and therefore we are responsible to utilize it.  Is there a huge audacious idea you caught a glimpse of that could make a positive impact on humanity? What holds us back?  What keeps us from acting on the large, or small important things?  Our fears.  What if we are wrong?  What if we fail?  We can’t see too far ahead. Usually that is a good thing.

 

Father God, guide our steps.  Help us live in faith.  Help us each to know we are capable of sharing the great and wonderful gifts you have given us.  We invite the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and connect us to you.  Let us each be a force for good.  Let us encourage each other and bring out the very best in all that surrounds us.  Amen

Photo by Chrissy Oldham

Heavenly Father, Keep me in this present moment.  I draw strength from your redeeming love.  Let me overcome those old habits and ways I wish to change. Make me strong in spirit and body.  Allow me in this exact and present moment, to sow to the spirit and not to the flesh.  I know I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   I choose to stand on the word of God and to believe that what I pray for and ask in faith has come to pass. Fill me with your word and a faith that leads me through the valley of the shadow and into the light.  Amen

I would like for us all to pray for people to find great jobs with wonderful pay.  Also let’s pray for property to sell at the asking price. 

Father God, we ask for your rich and wonderful blessings for people everywhere.  Let those who need work, find it.  Let property be released and sold at asking price.  We thank you for answered prayer.  We thank you for hearing us, caring for all of us, and for guiding and directing us.  Amen

 

Willows bent and shaped

In our minds we work it all out.  Sometimes being flexible and open to other ideas can be better.  It seems that some folks are quite rigid while some are like cooked spaghetti and all over the place.  Which one are you?  Are you something in between?

The Unity Minister Catherine Ponder always suggests we ask that God’s unlimited good will be done in our lives in prayer.  Also when we ask for something specific, to say “This or something better, Father”.  In this way we are not limiting God.  I do ask for very specific things  when I pray and don’t usually add the qualifier.  In the Lords prayer it does state “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.”  You hear people say, “God willing”.

Holy and powerful God.  I would open my heart and mind today to the unlimited good you have for my life.  I am grateful that you care so much for me and your blessings for my life are far greater than I can even imagine. Let me be flexible and able to bend without breaking.  Shape my life.  Amen

Off road testing in Stucksville

Sometimes you feel stuck.  Where is the hope and joy?  How do we make a change where each day is filled with excitement and possibility?

My friend Aaron recently purchased a used jeep.    He was so happy to get this jeep.  Once you have a vehicle capable of going off road, it must be tried out.  The following photo is the result of the off road test.  It had been raining hard at the time of the incident and the soil is expansive clay. I have driven several jeeps over the years and sometimes you go to Stucksville.  Even if you tell yourself you won’t.

To get out of Stucksville you need a couple of things, tools, if you will. 

One is a high jack lift.  This is a large red tool you can use to quickly lift one end of a vehicle.  You see those rock crawling 4-wheel guys all have one of those.  I think a round nose shovel is also critical (you can’t dig dirt with a square end shovel).  Sometimes you need to construct a temporary road out.   You also need a couple of good friends with 4-wheel drive vehicles and a little experience in being both stuck and un-stuck.  You will need a couple of chains or tow strap to attach and pull with and basic wrenches and sockets.

For your spiritual life you will also need a couple of things, tools, if you will.

One a good working knowlege of prayer as well as a knowledge of your value as a child of God.  Utilization of the word of God,  good friends who have experience being stuck and un-stuck.  A prayer partner.  Faith (this lifts the vehicle like the high jack lift).  You will also need a heart of service and a willingness to walk by faith and not necessarily by sight.  It is helpful to see yourself as God sees you with his radiant light filling every cell of your body and soul.

Father God,  Open our minds and hearts to the wonderful possibilities and purpose this day can hold for us.  Help us to move forward with our lives.  Lead us in overcoming the obsticles and difficulties.  Also let us be part of the group that help others out of being stuck or discouraged.

Thank you for the rich blessings you shower on us and thank you for allowing us to bless the lives of others.  Amen

Let us go out find the joy in this day.  It can be fun and exciting to be on the rescue team that gets someone out of Stucksville.  More photos from the rescue mission.  Additional note.  Do not remove the tire when you are stuck.  See yourself driving out.

Tire off didn't help

Jeremy on the rescue team

Supervisor who's been stuck before

Amazing God, I stand in awe of the beauty around me.  The wonders you have created and the joy I feel  in my journey.  The new work week is at hand, and I ask for guidance and divine order as each task gets done.  Thank you for being with all of us this week.  Thank you for meeting our needs.  There is more than enough time, money, compassion, grace and joy.  Amen

Summit of Pikes Peak 6-7-09