Friday Five

1.  This Sunday I’m beginning a new message series entitled Real Life in the Real World which will cover a variety of topics intended to address some real life issues that people wrestle with. Some of the sermon titles are:

• Is it Okay to be an Average Christian?
• What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life
• What to Do When Someone You Love is Making Bad Choices
• Simplify
• Choose Friends Wisely
• And more

 2.  The first message in the series (this Sunday) is When Parenting Becomes Unbearable.  Children have the ability to bring unrivaled joy into our lives.  But they can also bring levels of unrivaled frustration, worry, and heartache.  During those times parenting can become unbearable which is why trusting God is so critical. 

 3.  Next Sunday’s message is Does a Godly Home Guarantee Godly Kids?  We’ll be taking a closer look at Proverbs 22:6 which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” and the assumptions that surround it.  This verse, particularly the second half of it, gets butchered and twisted beyond recognition and re-phrased to say something it does not say.

A lot of parents suffer from guilt – boatloads of it – and this message from God’s Word will liberate you.

4.  Pastor Gary Wieborg did an exceptional job preaching for us last Sunday.  I look forward to hearing him again.

5.  Teaching team.  I’m very glad our church is growing in this manner – i.e, the development of other speakers as a teaching team.  This year our congregation has been exposed to three teachers/preachers of God’s Word – besides myself – and it has been a good thing.  That means there are a now total of four men who are “apt to teach” (I Tim. 3:2), capable of handling the Sunday morning service.  At this level PCC will never lack or be in want of a gifted teacher for the weekend services.  And there are one or two others that I have identified for future use too!

I have been very deliberate about moving this direction for a long time and late last year I dedicated myself to the task.  Now it’s beginning to take shape and I’m very glad to see it so.

I wrote about this in September of last year if you’d like to refresh your memory.

Sharing the pulpit – Introduction

Sharing the pulpit – Part 1 (The Benefits)

Sharing the Pulpit – Part 2 (How to Make it Work)

Over the years I have made numerous attempts at doing this and my efforts have fallen short.  One ended in a colossal disaster.  Just when it looked like I had found the right person to help carry the load, conflict broke out.  It was one of the worst seasons in my entire ministry. 

Thank God that’s over.    We are in a much better place right now and I predict good fortune in our future.