When it comes to knowing how to comfort others we can sometimes overthink things. We might be afraid we'll say the wrong thing so we don't say anything at all. Or we might draw the conclusion that hurting people need space more than anything and so we don't show up. But I believe God wants us to be involved in each other's lives. He wants us to bear each other's burdens and ... Read More »
31 Days: Day 23 – Comforting others as a means of outreach
II Corinthians 1:3-4 - "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." Isn't this awesome? According to these verses God comforts us in our affliction. He does this because he loves us ... Read More »
31 Days: Day 22- Francis Chan: Rethinking Outreach
Francis Chan is so passionate and has such a unique way of communicating. He offers up three great Biblical principals in this session when it comes to God doing amazing things that only God can do through outreach. ... Read More »
31 Days: Day 21 – Just Walk Across the Room/Bill Hybels
I want to share a study that Randy and I have used in both small group settings and a large group setting. Bill Hybels has such an incredible heart of outreach and he shares practical ideas and thoughts in this dvd series called "Just Walk Across the Room". Hybels makes the point that it's really not that hard to reach out - sometimes it simply involves walking across the room. ... Read More »
31 Days: Day 20 – A Halloween Outreach
Oh how I love Halloween. It's so much fun to dress up and as an adult you can dress up without being considered totally cray cray. I have a Nun costume and was dared by our outreach ministry team to wear it and make an announcement for our upcoming outreach on Halloween night but I declined. As much as I love to dress up I just am not feeling the costume on Sunday morning for ... Read More »
31 Days: Day 19 – A Community Prayer Project
Our church has been in a season of prayer for our community and I can't help but want to share in this space what God is doing. It started with a vision for a prayer series Randy had for our church. He had this in his heart for months before starting it in August. What was awesome is that the movie "War Room" came out just as Randy began the series on prayer. Our church went ... Read More »
31 Days: Day 18 – Pastoral lingo can start rumors if not careful.
We had a wedding, a funeral and hospital visits this weekend - It's a natural part of the pastor's life. It's a privilege to be welcomed into such delicate and intimate times of life. Not always easy and many times heart wrenching yet exactly what God has called us to. I was reminded this weekend of how ingrained we get as pastors and pastor wives with church terminology and ... Read More »
31 Days: Day 17 – Use your talents to reach out
Outreach is a heart attitude. It's not an event. It's not a church line item. It's a place of heart that aligns itself with the heart of Jesus in loving people right where they are. Sometimes people come to us in our churches but most of the time they don't. We as Christ-followers must go to them. People who need to know Jesus are all around us. They are next door to us. They ... Read More »