Making Our Church Guest-Friendly

We have been experiencing a number of guests in recent weeks and it is good for us to be reminded of how to take care of our guests. Here are some ways you can help to make our guests feel welcome. (Note: all churches think they are friendly, but often times they are friendly to people who have been attending for a long period of time - not new people.) Our desire is to befriend people to Christ!

The first 12 minutes will greatly influence whether or not they return. As they say, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." When an unchurched person visits church for the first time, their greatest emotion is fear. What will people think? What are they going to do? "Am I going to have to sign something, sing something, sacrifice something, or say something?" They don't know what is going on and it is unnerving.

So our first goal is to help guests (let's not use the term "visitors") to relax. Guests must be relaxed if we are going to be able to communicate with them. Here are some suggestions for you to help make guests welcome:

* Reserve the best parking spot for guests. It just shows you are thinking of them.
* Station greeters outside your building. These greeters need to be strategically placed around the campus to greet guests and help them find their way into the building.
* Set up an information table (we now have a Welcome Center!)
* Have taped music playing when people enter. In America almost every public building has music playing. An interesting observation - if you play soft music, people talk softly. If you play loud music, people talk louder.
* Allow guests to remain anonymous in the service. Don't make them stand up and introduce themselves!
* Offer a warm, casual public welcome that relaxes people. If you want guests to feel welcome, to you have to be at ease yourself. We might say, "If this is your first time here at Valley Grace, we are glad you are here. We want you to take a deep breath, sit back, relax and enjoy the service."
* Begin and end each service by having people greet each other. Five times in the New Testament Christians are told to greet one another and share affection. On your way out after the service, look for someone to greet that you don't know - then you can reconnect with your friends.
*Offer a refreshment table at each service. Today in our society, it doesn't seem appropriate to just stand in a crowd doing nothing (this may be a bit of a challenge for us right now with space considerations).

Thank you for helping us welcome guests who are in search of a relationship with God and a church family to support them in their spiritual journey. If you want to read more on this, you can go here which is the source for this information.
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Sanctity of Life

President Barack Obama has been rolling back a number of the restrictions on abortion as he promised to do. He said on the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, “We are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters.”

John Piper responded in a message,

*"No, Mr. President, you are not protecting women’s health; you are authorizing the destruction of half a million tiny women every year.

* No, Mr. President, you are not protecting reproductive freedom; you are authorizing the destruction of freedom for a million helpless people every year.

* No, Mr. President, killing our children does not cease to be killing our children no matter how many times you call it a private family matter. Call it what you will, they are dead, and we have killed them. And you, Mr. President, would keep the killing legal."

You can read more of John Piper's message here which presents the biblical foundation for the sanctity of life.

Note: the picture shown above is of an aborted baby at week 22 which was burned by saline solution. God help us to lovingly speak the truth to our generation who have been blinded!

Brief Reflection on the Inauguration

First, I thank God that we have the privilege of living in a country where the transition from one president to the next is not marked by bloodshed. A very thought-provoking picture to see these two men standing side by side as power is transferred. It truly is a "grand experiment."

I would encourage each of us to remake four commitments to President Barack Obama that Michael Hyatt challenges us with in his blog:

1. I will pray for him and our country.

2. I will assume his motives are good, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

3. I will not speak ill of him, even if I don’t always agree with him.

4. I will cast off the spirit of cynicism, and be a positive force for good.

May we also seize the opportunities that God provides for us to be His church in these days of opportunity.

Living a Life of Success

Is it possible to live a life of success and if so, what are the keys to that success. That is an extremely critical question, and God provides an answer for us because He doesn't desire for us to just wander through life. As Joshua was preparing to start a new phase in his life, three times God challenge Joshua to be "strong and courageous" because there would be battles to fight and struggles ahead. A life of success would not just come easily. Then God spelled out three keys that would provide success in life. These keys are found in Joshua 1:1-9.

1. Center Your Life on God's Word Consistently. Don't be looking to TV personalities, personal experience, unsaved friends, etc., for your direction. It must come from God's word.

2. Deliberate on God's Word Daily. The term that is used is to "meditate" on God's Word day and night. This is much more than a reading a Bible passage and checking it off from the Bible reading schedule. This means to keep focused on how to apply what is learned to the decisions being made each day. These decisions will be guided by God's truth whether they be regarding family, business, relationships, work, school, and any other venue of activity.

3. Obey God's Word Carefully. God challenges that we should not turn to the right or the left - no detours in following the instructions. We are not to think that it is "good enough" if we are close.

These keys come with a promise - "then you will have success and then you will be prosperous." This is the only way to bring about success in life.

Here are some suggested tools to make this possible.

Bible Reading Schedule: You will need a Bible reading program or schedule. I recently came across this schedule that is broken into an Old Testament reading and a New Testament reading for each day. It makes a good option for doing a morning and evening reading. Sometimes one of the passages may be a bit difficult to find application for the day, such as the genealogies, but the other will include something that is applicable for the challenges of the day. This particular program also has only one reading for Sunday from the Psalms. You can go here (http://www.onegreatstory.com/reading.html) to download a PDF file which you can print and keep in your journal (see below) for reference. There are also some helpful hints for making your Bible reading time meaningful listed on this schedule.

Bible version you can understand. Many like King James, and that's fine or else use New International Version (NIV) or the New American Standard Bible (NASB). If you prefer to do your Bible study online, the Blue Letter Bible website will allow you to compare different versions in your reading (www.blueletterbible.org). If you prefer to take a Bible with you in an electronic format, Olivetree has some free Bibles available from their website for Palm, Pocket PC, Blackberry, iPhone, iPod, symbian and some others (www.olivetree.com). Though it is not a strict translation, I have been using God's Word Bible from Olivetree. It is a modern read, though there are some areas where the translation is more loose than what I prefer. It is also possible to purchase the NIV from these folks as well.

Journal & Writing Instrument. You need a journal in which to record your observations and thoughts from the passage which will be a reminder to you of what you have learned - the meditating part. You can write down how you might apply a truth from this passage for a decision which you are facing, or how to respond to a situation at work. Here is a helpful link on how to journal (http://www.enewhope.org/firststeps/journaling/) and here is an example of what your journal might contain (here). You can pick up a journal at any office supply store. Some are spiral bound which mean they lie flat when opened, others are actually bound which means they won't lie as flat originally, but will be easier to store on a shelf since the spiral wire won't get in the way. My preferred size is something close to 8.5 x 5.5 with as many pages as possible so that I can have one page per day for notes and thoughts. Obviously, it may be necessary to use two journals to make it through the year which is fine. I recommend a Pilot G-2 retractable pen for writing.

I would encourage doing your Bible reading with others - perhaps husband and wife, friends, even church family. This is a neat way to have conversation over the same passage/s that has been read for the day or week. This would be a great way to start 2009 on the road to a life of success!

Devotions for Children: If you are looking for a thoughtful devotional reading with interaction for children, Key's for Kids is a great devotional which you could read after supper at the table. Someone could read the Scripture passage, another person the devotional story which also includes great discussion questions and then have closing prayer. Here is a link: http://www.cbhministries.org/kfk/home.php where you can choose to print out a month of devotional readings or have each day's emailed to you. Campus Journal was an effective tool for High School age on up, but I haven't been able to locate it any more. If you know of one for this age group, let me know and I will add it to the list.

Suggestions to Make it Work:

1. Pick a time and place where you can consistently develop a this habit. Perhaps at breakfast, pour yourself coffee and your cereal, and ask God to give you insight. Then get out your Bible and journal and begin your reading and study.

2. Partner with someone else.

3. Keep at it! If you miss a day, keep on your schedule and make it up when possible.

Tomorrow, New Years Day, begin a new habit! The reading for the day is Genesis 1-2 & Matthew 1. Isn't 20 minutes a day with a guarantee of a life of success worth the investment?!

How Many Kings? - Christmas Thought

I recently came across this song and video clip from song entitled "How Many Kings" which reminds us of what Jesus did for each of us. The song is performed by Downhere. Here is a clip from Youtube and you can download the individual song from Amazon.com (much better audio quality - plus helps support this group). It is a song that keeps running through my head. Trust you enjoy it.

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliness hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

Cause how many kings, stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the newborn savior
All that we have whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for his honor and frankincense for his pleasure
And myrrh for the cross he’ll suffer
Do you believe, is this who we’ve waited for?
It’s who we’ve waited for

Angie Wyand and Josh Hoy Engaged!

Angie and Josh have announced their engagement. Their wedding is scheduled for July 18, 2009. Please keep these two young people in your prayers as they plan to commit their lives together before the Lord. Dave & Phyllis Wyand and Dave & Jane Hoy are the parents.

Seeing the Miracle of Developing Preborn Infant

The ultrasound picture on the left is of preborn infant with normal Week 14 development. GE Health Care has images and facts about the developing life of a preborn infant. You can click through each week, beginning with Week 6 and follow the development of the preborn infant. The site also lists important developments in each week. Absolutely amazing what God has done and worth sharing with your children. The link is here.