Pastor's Blog

Wow, it has been a while since my last blog entry and website update. We have made it all the way through the summer and into mid-September already.

Through the summer, we have been having "Interactive Families" each Sunday. The attempt has been to interweave the Sunday morning sermon with the Sunday School lesson, and the Sunday evening lesson for the children and youth. The summer season saw us study the Parables of Jesus, and with the beginning of September, we have switched to the heroes of the Bible.

In addition to moving to the heroes sermon series, the Sunday evening session for the adults has switched focus. Through the summer we studied the "Five Love Languages", and with the beginning of September we have switched to the "Personality Plus" study. Our hope is that as we learn more about ourselves, we will be able to interact with others in a more appropriate manner. The materials have been very helpful in learning why we think and act as we do, and it has also helped to see how to keep from running headlong into conflict on an ongoing basis.

We have also decided to continue with the Sunday evening meal. The goal is to have families come together for an evening meal and stay for the lessons.

The Interactive Families ministry approach will end at the end of November. the decision was reached because of the hectic nature of the holiday season, and because of the unpredictable nature of the weather through the winter. We will not abandon the family approach, but it will go on hiatus at the end of November. The good news is, we will continue to hold all regularly scheduled services, but we will not be having the family mealtime each week, and the lessons will not be as cohesive through the holiday season. The lessons will be season appropriate, so there will be a certain degree of unity, but not as thoroughly integrated.

If you haven't joined us for Interactive Families, there is still plenty of time to experience this ministry approach and help us determine if this is a good approach to re-visit next year.

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Just wanted to post a heads-up about the summer sermons. I am not going to be posting the sermons for the summer, unless I receive a specific request to do so. The sermons for the summer are about the Parables of Jesus, and with the way we are trying to incorporate morning sermon into the evening activities. I plan to keep the sermons short, simple, and to the point. In doing that, I will be trying to utilize some visual elements and illustrations to help engage the children. Those elements would be completely lost in trying to post an audio file alone for the sermon, so I suggest you attend the sermons so that you can experience it for yourself firsthand. If someone wants an audio file, we can arrange that, but unless someone asks, they won't be uploaded.

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Here is piece I wrote about Interactive Families to put in the newspaper. I am including it here also, as I don't know what they will or won't print:

Beginning on June 3, the Centralia Church of the Nazarene will begin a new approach to ministry for at least the summer months of June, July, and August. Following is an example of what the services through the summer will be like. At 9:30 AM, all of the children will gather for a common time of music targeting their ages. After about 15 minutes of music time, they will disperse into their Sunday School classes. Following Sunday School, the church will begin its morning worship service at 10:30 AM. The message for June 3 will be over Jesus’ parable of the sower and the four types of soil. The children will be presented with activity packets that contain such items as coloring sheets, word searches, crosswords, or other activities that help reinforce the parable. These activity sheets will be collected at the end of the service and put on display for all to see as they enter the foyer of the church.  That evening, the doors will open at 5:45 PM for a time of fellowship, and a meal will be served at 6:00 PM. Following the meal, at approximately 6:30 PM, the adults will gather in the sanctuary for a discussion session with the pastor. The topic of the discussion will be centered on the work of Dr. Gary Chapman, “The Five Love Languages”. Dr. Chapman’s material has also been revised for both children and teens. The object of this discussion session will be to learn the principles of these love languages, how to apply them, and how not to apply them. This will not be a one-night discussion, as each evening will tackle a different love language. The material will strongly deal with family issues; however, the principles will also apply to those without children of their own as they can be extrapolated into numerous other interpersonal relationships. While the adults are in the discussion forum, the children will be enjoying a VBS atmosphere each evening. The Bible story that the object lessons, crafts, activities, etc. will be centered around will be the parable from that morning. For example, one of the activities for June 3 will be for the children to plant seeds in each of the four types of soil described in the parable. They will be able to then watch the seeds grow over the next 12 weeks and see for themselves the fulfillment of this parable in a practical fashion.  Each week the sessions will conclude by everyone coming together at 7:15 PM for a closing session. During the closing session, a door prize will be given away for each of the age categories: children, teens, and adults. The prizes have been chosen to place some of the resources being utilized in the program into the hands of the participants.

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OK, the title is a bit misleading, because I am doing anything but catching up. I am catching up on updating my blog postings though, so that is why the title.

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted anything, and in that time my son has graduated from Olivet Nazarene University, gotten a job, and commissioned as an officer in the Army National Guard.

The church has ended another church year, and the church board re-elected for the upcoming year. That squares us away for the business side of the church year, except for me finishing my annual pastor's report, which will happen in a day or two.

That gives me an opportunity to look forward a little bit (but not too far). This coming week is especially busy, and I wanted to give a few reminders. On Wednesday night at 7:00 PM, we are hosting a zone missionary rally. Saturday the 19th, Doug Carmel from the Rock of Israel Ministries will be here to lead us in a Seder meal (the Jewish Passover meal). Tickets are still available for this, and cost $5 each. On the 20th, Doug will speak in the AM service.

Which brings us to the evening service of the 20th. During that time, we will be working on ironing out some of the plans for the upcoming Interactive Families ministries which will begin on June 3. Please plan to join in the planning service if you can so that we can make Interactive Families as incredible as possible.

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The board voted on a name for our new summer ministry and chose the name "Interactive Families", so from now on, that is what I will be referring to when I mention Interactive Families. For a thorough explanation of Interactive Families, please visit the page on the main site. You will find a link on the homepage to get all of the latest information.

Another important announcement that I need to make. On May 19th, Doug Carmel of the Rock of Israel Ministries will be sharing a traditional Jewish Seder (the Passover meal) with our congregation. Mr. Carmel came a few years ago and spoke, but we did not have the Seder at that time. He is coming to share the Seder this time,and then will be speaking on Sunday morning the 20th as well. Because of the need to have an accurate count for preparation purposes, we will be selling tickets to this event. Space will be limited to the first 60 people as we cannot adequately host any more people for this event. Tickets will be sold on a first come, first sold basis and will be $5 each. They will be available at the church beginning this coming Sunday morning, 04/22/2012.

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