In no particular order...
1. More congregational picnics and Potlucks
2. Congregational Chats. On Sunday nights have Elders visit with the congregation (quarterly)
3. Focus on home Bible studies with non-members
4. Build a strong community of young adults/college students
5. Provide teaching opportunities for young men who have an interest in teaching.
6. More members involved in volunteer social organizations… Child Protective Services, Big Brother/Big Sister, etc.
7. Vacation Bible Schools in Apartment Complexes and Trailer Parks.
8. Bigger foot print at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi
9. Class to learn and practice songs (monthly)
10. First Wednesday services that are well thought out and inspirational.
11. One Gospel meeting per year on personal evangelism
12. Amazing Gospel meetings
13. An active and updated Website.
14. Song leaders who don’t lead new songs on Sunday mornings.
15. More services in the courtyard
16. Information packet for visitors
17. Add new songs to supplemental song book
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Sunday, December 25, 2011
A Few Thoughts on Sharing God’s Word with Other People
- It is God’s Word that converts people to Christ. It’s not me or you… it is God.
- What you teach depends on who you are teaching. Are you teaching an Atheist? Then you need to teach about the existence of God. Are you teaching a Christian who is following a false system of belief? Then teach New Testament doctrines. Are you teaching someone who is morally bankrupt? Focus on what the Bible teaches about how we should live and what Jesus does for us.
- What is my objective as a teacher? It is not to vanquish or overwhelm someone with biblical superiority. It is not to get them to switch churches. My objective as a teacher should be to teach God’s Word and build faith in God.
- As a teacher I should live a righteous, unselfish life. I should have a comprehensive knowledge of the scriptures. I must be intellectually honest and not be dogmatic and opinionated about questionable things. I must come to understand and know my student and I must be a learner. I must strive to be effective.
- Who can I teach? Those who are looking for spiritual help. Those who have an obvious need for spiritual help but are not looking for it.
- As a planter of God’s Word I am not responsible for the outcome… God is. But still I can learn to be an effective, opportunistic teacher.
- The age of working miracles to get peoples attention is over. We live in an age where the only miracle people will witness is the miracle of a godly life in an increasingly morally bankrupt society. That miracle is an attention getter and will create opportunities to teach.
- What you teach depends on who you are teaching. Are you teaching an Atheist? Then you need to teach about the existence of God. Are you teaching a Christian who is following a false system of belief? Then teach New Testament doctrines. Are you teaching someone who is morally bankrupt? Focus on what the Bible teaches about how we should live and what Jesus does for us.
- What is my objective as a teacher? It is not to vanquish or overwhelm someone with biblical superiority. It is not to get them to switch churches. My objective as a teacher should be to teach God’s Word and build faith in God.
- As a teacher I should live a righteous, unselfish life. I should have a comprehensive knowledge of the scriptures. I must be intellectually honest and not be dogmatic and opinionated about questionable things. I must come to understand and know my student and I must be a learner. I must strive to be effective.
- Who can I teach? Those who are looking for spiritual help. Those who have an obvious need for spiritual help but are not looking for it.
- As a planter of God’s Word I am not responsible for the outcome… God is. But still I can learn to be an effective, opportunistic teacher.
- The age of working miracles to get peoples attention is over. We live in an age where the only miracle people will witness is the miracle of a godly life in an increasingly morally bankrupt society. That miracle is an attention getter and will create opportunities to teach.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Building Faith: Prayer
Prayer is one of the activities Christians were engaging in when they assembled. Prayer directed towards God is an admission that “God Is” and reflects our dependence upon him. The scriptures describe prayer as the “sacrifice of our lips”.
In public prayer the primary audience is God and the secondary audience is the assembled congregation.
Prayer is a teaching tool. There are several prayers recorded in the Bible and they are recorded there for a purpose… they teach us. We can also teach with prayer in our assemblies.
Public prayer can be thought provoking and can create an emotional response in the listeners. I’ve had two occasions when I have led a public prayer and have had people come up to me afterwards with something special to say.
One of those was in Houston. My dad was either sick or had just passed away… I don’t remember which and I was leading the closing prayer. I don’t really remember what I said but I do remember that I was trembling and Julie reached down and held my hand during that prayer. Afterwards a friend came up to me with tears in his eyes and said, “That was a powerful prayer”.
To pray well in public we have to have an active prayer life in private. To have an active prayer life in private we need to have a broad understanding of who God is and we need to spend time thinking about God. We need to pray to God when things are troubling us and we need to pray when we’re happy or have been blessed with good things and for every emotion in between.
We need to also break away from the old traditional prayers we often hear in assemblies and pray with our own words and our own thoughts.
Here is a sampling of things we can pray for…
- We can pray for other people than just those in our congregation. Pray when tragedy or suffering happens in the community. For example, a school bus gets in a wreck and children are injured.
- Pray for things that seem impossible. Pray that Osama Ben Laden will hear the truth and become a believer.
- Ask God to tell a loved one that we’re thinking about them.
- Pray for the simple gift of healing… don’t tell God how to heal, “Lord touch them with your healing hand”.
- Confess in prayer whatever short comings you have in your life.
- Ask for blessings but confess that if you don’t receive them that God is still your God.
- Pray for God to take us all to heaven right now as a church family.
- Pray for things that are expressed well in songs… “O Lord our God, when we in awesome wonder, consider all… “
Public prayer is one of the essentials of congregational worship. God is listening and the congregation is listening. Prepare yourself by immersing yourself in the word and by spending much time in quiet personal prayer. When you stand before the congregation try as much as is possible to let it be just you and God and pray from your heart with your own words just as if you are sitting in your own back yard thinking about things and sharing them with God.
In public prayer the primary audience is God and the secondary audience is the assembled congregation.
Prayer is a teaching tool. There are several prayers recorded in the Bible and they are recorded there for a purpose… they teach us. We can also teach with prayer in our assemblies.
Public prayer can be thought provoking and can create an emotional response in the listeners. I’ve had two occasions when I have led a public prayer and have had people come up to me afterwards with something special to say.
One of those was in Houston. My dad was either sick or had just passed away… I don’t remember which and I was leading the closing prayer. I don’t really remember what I said but I do remember that I was trembling and Julie reached down and held my hand during that prayer. Afterwards a friend came up to me with tears in his eyes and said, “That was a powerful prayer”.
To pray well in public we have to have an active prayer life in private. To have an active prayer life in private we need to have a broad understanding of who God is and we need to spend time thinking about God. We need to pray to God when things are troubling us and we need to pray when we’re happy or have been blessed with good things and for every emotion in between.
We need to also break away from the old traditional prayers we often hear in assemblies and pray with our own words and our own thoughts.
Here is a sampling of things we can pray for…
- We can pray for other people than just those in our congregation. Pray when tragedy or suffering happens in the community. For example, a school bus gets in a wreck and children are injured.
- Pray for things that seem impossible. Pray that Osama Ben Laden will hear the truth and become a believer.
- Ask God to tell a loved one that we’re thinking about them.
- Pray for the simple gift of healing… don’t tell God how to heal, “Lord touch them with your healing hand”.
- Confess in prayer whatever short comings you have in your life.
- Ask for blessings but confess that if you don’t receive them that God is still your God.
- Pray for God to take us all to heaven right now as a church family.
- Pray for things that are expressed well in songs… “O Lord our God, when we in awesome wonder, consider all… “
Public prayer is one of the essentials of congregational worship. God is listening and the congregation is listening. Prepare yourself by immersing yourself in the word and by spending much time in quiet personal prayer. When you stand before the congregation try as much as is possible to let it be just you and God and pray from your heart with your own words just as if you are sitting in your own back yard thinking about things and sharing them with God.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Young Adults at Tornos
We have a monthly schedule for people to have our young adults/college students into their homes. Cyndi Garcia had them last month and we are booked up through May. However, I'm sure if you wanted to have them over they wouldn't mind getting together twice a month. A lot of our students are going out of town but we will have several in town over the holidays... I'm just saying.
Shane Torno's Class
Shane's class prepared holiday baskets for some of the members. Not pictured is McKenzie.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Building Faith: The Lord's Supper
When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper he gave his instruction to the 12 disciples who were with him at the time. Some might argue that it was for them and no one else. However, we see the practice of “observing the Lord’s Supper” in the early church when the disciples gathered together.
Obviously, Peter and the Apostles taught early Christians to observe the Lord’s Supper. We practice it today because of the example of early Christians. Also, by example we observe it on Sundays because that’s when they did it… every Sunday.
There is evidence that the Lord’s Supper was the primary reason the Christians assembled on Sundays. That’s interesting because in many modern day churches the Lord’s Supper is not observed every Sunday. They assemble every Sunday but not for the purpose of taking the Lord’s Supper. They assemble for some other purpose. Many church assemblies today gather *apparently* to listen to preaching or for social reasons. That’s a huge departure from God’s plan for the Church.
If God’s purpose for the Church is to help Christians to grow in faith and the Lord’s Supper is one of the tools to accomplish that purpose then many Churches today are failing in their purpose. It would be like trying to build a house without a hammer or without nails.
If you want to find a church so that you can grow in faith then don’t pick a church that under emphasizes the Lord’s Supper.
On the other hand there are churches who offer the Lord’s Supper every single Sunday but it is a mechanical, obligatory, emotionless sort of observance. Leaders, individuals and the congregation are all responsible to not let that happen. Elders need to select men to wait on the table who can offer thought provoking comments in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. One of my favorite guys is Ken Case. There is not a quieter guy in the congregation than Ken, but when he prays or makes comments at the Lord’s Table then I’m “all ears”. I wish I could record the things he says so I could share them with other congregations.
Individuals have the responsibility to focus their thoughts on what the supper means. The congregation has the responsibility to not cause distractions like whispering or fiddling through your things. If your kid starts screaming… take him out. If he is repeatedly a screamer take him out before the Lord’s Supper starts.
The Lord’s Supper is one of God’s greatest tools to build faith. Let’s be responsible and not neglect it.
Obviously, Peter and the Apostles taught early Christians to observe the Lord’s Supper. We practice it today because of the example of early Christians. Also, by example we observe it on Sundays because that’s when they did it… every Sunday.
There is evidence that the Lord’s Supper was the primary reason the Christians assembled on Sundays. That’s interesting because in many modern day churches the Lord’s Supper is not observed every Sunday. They assemble every Sunday but not for the purpose of taking the Lord’s Supper. They assemble for some other purpose. Many church assemblies today gather *apparently* to listen to preaching or for social reasons. That’s a huge departure from God’s plan for the Church.
If God’s purpose for the Church is to help Christians to grow in faith and the Lord’s Supper is one of the tools to accomplish that purpose then many Churches today are failing in their purpose. It would be like trying to build a house without a hammer or without nails.
If you want to find a church so that you can grow in faith then don’t pick a church that under emphasizes the Lord’s Supper.
On the other hand there are churches who offer the Lord’s Supper every single Sunday but it is a mechanical, obligatory, emotionless sort of observance. Leaders, individuals and the congregation are all responsible to not let that happen. Elders need to select men to wait on the table who can offer thought provoking comments in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. One of my favorite guys is Ken Case. There is not a quieter guy in the congregation than Ken, but when he prays or makes comments at the Lord’s Table then I’m “all ears”. I wish I could record the things he says so I could share them with other congregations.
Individuals have the responsibility to focus their thoughts on what the supper means. The congregation has the responsibility to not cause distractions like whispering or fiddling through your things. If your kid starts screaming… take him out. If he is repeatedly a screamer take him out before the Lord’s Supper starts.
The Lord’s Supper is one of God’s greatest tools to build faith. Let’s be responsible and not neglect it.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Effective Christian Singing
Eph 5:19 and Col. 3:16 give information and instruction regarding Christian singing. The verses are not specific to congregational singing alone but apply to individual, group and congregational singing.
Christian singing has two audiences; others and God. When we sing to others, according to the above mentioned verses, we are teaching things from God’s word and correcting non-Christian behaviors (admonishment).
An example of a song that attempts to correct behavior is the song, “Angry Words”. An individual, group or a congregation can sing this song to correct behavior. Imagine that a Christian has inappropriate anger and the recipient of that anger starts singing, humming or whistling the song… message delivered.
The teaching aspect of singing is huge and effective. Remember when we were kids in Bible classes? So many Bible concepts, including learning the books of the Bible, were taught with a song. It’s a shame we relegate those kids songs to small groups in the classrooms, they really are powerful teaching tools.
When we sing in the assembly we must remember that the primary goal of singing is teaching and admonishing. Sounding good is important but not as important as teaching and admonishing. There are at least two areas of responsibility in congregational singing; individual and leadership. Elders in congregations are responsible for overall teaching. They must provide the tools and song leaders who can effectively lead the congregation in teaching and admonishing by song.
Songs are written and set to music to provoke an emotional response. There are songs designed to produce reflection and sadness and songs that are designed to produce happiness and hope. An ineffective song leader can kill those emotions. In general, song leaders need to select songs that the congregation knows and loves. Technical difficulty can render a song useless in teaching and admonishing. That’s not to say we should never learn new songs. At Parkway we learn new songs that are tremendously effective but hopefully we are not learning them for the first time on Sunday mornings.
There are both objective and subjective ways to measure the effectiveness of a song leader. Objectively we can measure things like the ability of a song leader to pitch a song, pay attention to dynamics, lead songs the congregation knows and maintain proper tempo. Subjectively, congregations do tend to respond to the energy, passion and emotions of the song leader. My advice to song leaders is to select songs that affect you emotionally and get lost (emotionally) in the song.
Over the years I have written down the songs that were led at funerals of our church family. Those songs will provoke emotion. I really have a tough time when I lead songs that were sung at my dad’s funeral. Like…
“Seek ye First the Kingdom of God”
“Does Jesus Care”
“He Leadeth Me”
“How Great Thou Art”
“Victory in Jesus”
“Amazing Grace”
“Alleluia”
“Blest Be the Tie”
Let’s work hard to be more effective in our singing.
Christian singing has two audiences; others and God. When we sing to others, according to the above mentioned verses, we are teaching things from God’s word and correcting non-Christian behaviors (admonishment).
An example of a song that attempts to correct behavior is the song, “Angry Words”. An individual, group or a congregation can sing this song to correct behavior. Imagine that a Christian has inappropriate anger and the recipient of that anger starts singing, humming or whistling the song… message delivered.
The teaching aspect of singing is huge and effective. Remember when we were kids in Bible classes? So many Bible concepts, including learning the books of the Bible, were taught with a song. It’s a shame we relegate those kids songs to small groups in the classrooms, they really are powerful teaching tools.
When we sing in the assembly we must remember that the primary goal of singing is teaching and admonishing. Sounding good is important but not as important as teaching and admonishing. There are at least two areas of responsibility in congregational singing; individual and leadership. Elders in congregations are responsible for overall teaching. They must provide the tools and song leaders who can effectively lead the congregation in teaching and admonishing by song.
Songs are written and set to music to provoke an emotional response. There are songs designed to produce reflection and sadness and songs that are designed to produce happiness and hope. An ineffective song leader can kill those emotions. In general, song leaders need to select songs that the congregation knows and loves. Technical difficulty can render a song useless in teaching and admonishing. That’s not to say we should never learn new songs. At Parkway we learn new songs that are tremendously effective but hopefully we are not learning them for the first time on Sunday mornings.
There are both objective and subjective ways to measure the effectiveness of a song leader. Objectively we can measure things like the ability of a song leader to pitch a song, pay attention to dynamics, lead songs the congregation knows and maintain proper tempo. Subjectively, congregations do tend to respond to the energy, passion and emotions of the song leader. My advice to song leaders is to select songs that affect you emotionally and get lost (emotionally) in the song.
Over the years I have written down the songs that were led at funerals of our church family. Those songs will provoke emotion. I really have a tough time when I lead songs that were sung at my dad’s funeral. Like…
“Seek ye First the Kingdom of God”
“Does Jesus Care”
“He Leadeth Me”
“How Great Thou Art”
“Victory in Jesus”
“Amazing Grace”
“Alleluia”
“Blest Be the Tie”
Let’s work hard to be more effective in our singing.
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