Posts Tagged ‘ministry’
THANK YOU TO DECATUR’S HERALD & REVIEW NEWSPAPER
Saturday, June 29th, 2013CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ARTICLE ON HERALD & REVIEW’S WEBSITE
Ministry focuses on young males
and keeping families intact
Robert Kennedy and Roger Priestley discuss parking arrangements before the start of Christian MusicFest at Central United Methodist Church. (Herald & Review/Jim Bowling)
“We are men in the business of Christ, and our mission is to build up the discipleship of men through doing outreach and service,” said chapter leader Roger Priestley of Decatur. “It doesn’t matter where you work.”
Indeed, Priestley, 51, works in Springfield for the state’s Central Management Services.
He and roughly a dozen other members from a variety of church backgrounds meet at 7:30 a.m. the first Saturday of every month at WLCF-TV’s studio at 2510 Parkway Court. The next meeting is July 6.
Chapter members are now preparing to host their second annual retreat in July for young men, junior-high age to adult.
Called “The Ultimate Challenge,” the daylong event is designed for males whose dads aren’t that involved in their lives. The idea is to help make them better leaders in their families, their churches and their communities.
Jerry McKee, 37, of Decatur, who works for Randstad Technology, takes the lead on that because of his experience in youth ministry. He’s also the pastor of Agape Christian Center in Decatur.
“Teenagers tend to think of themselves as consumers, and we want to teach them to break out of that mentality,” he said. “They’re not too young to step up and contribute.
WHY MINISTER TO SENIORS…..
Thursday, November 11th, 2010“The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, If it is found in the way of righteousness.” (NKJV)
All Seniors want to know is someone cares.
As another year draws to a close, we hear it everywhere: “man, time is going by quickly”…or “where did the year go” and so on. It used to be when we were young whipper snappers, we couldn’t wait to get old! Then we got old and oh… to be young again! Then, it used to be that only older folks would say the years are going faster as the grey hairs added on…or disappeared entirely. But now, even young people are complaining it is going by too fast!!
How do we ‘splain this phenomenon?! Well, if we entirely thinking in the worldly sense, we could say, well – think of life as a roll of bathroom tissue. The close you get to the end of the roll, the faster the sheets fly off it! Well, extrapolate that to the Bible. LIKE IT OR NOT – THESE ARE THE END TIMES…and not just because all the prophesies of Scripture point to it! But we are seeing these events unfolding right before our eyes!
So what do we do? Well, we look into our hearts and develop a passion for God’s people! For example, Senior Retirement Centers (whether assisted living or otherwise) are full of so many lost and lonely people, we have a veritable field of Ministry just waiting for missionaries like you and I! We don’t need any vaccine shots, passports and fundraising for overseas travel for this – all you need is love (Beatles 1967)!!
Who lives in these homes? Well, they are not just parents and relatives, but folks who were just working down with hall in the office just a couple years ago….or were put there by their family (who never heard of the only Commandment with a condition…honor your father and mother….). Having gone to pass out Gideon Bibles in different towns in Illinois since the mid 1990’s to minister with my wife, kids and her parents (Sonshine Outreach Ministries), I can testify to the urgency of not just ministering in song and smiles to them…but getting them the Gospel now!! They have a desperate need to be saved!!! I don’t care if they don’t know it yet, but they are closer to meeting Jesus than most of us are.
When ministering to Seniors, preach the Gospel...sometimes use Hymns and songs of Praise!
So, in order to keep this short, what can you and I do? Start by figuring out what gift God gave you. Is it Mercy, compassion or caring for the sick? Buy some Gospel tracts. Christmas is coming, well, go ahead and call a nursing home and take some fruit or hand towels or even a talking bird! Take your guitar and sing them some songs then read the Bible to them…tell them your testimony….I can go on for hours here! There are many opportunities like these in almost any town in America. It is the largest unreached people group as most churches won’t go there…the same way the churches won’t do street evangelism – (same reason – not flashy enough, I guess).
In other words, we know the answer. Let’s do as Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers once said “brothers and sisters – Do something, do something, DO SOMETHING”!!! If you have any information or need help starting a senior ministry in your town, feel free to email me or leave a comment here or on Facebook!
(photos courtesy Google Images)