Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)
Summer Break
I sometimes hear people say that they look forward to the summer because we take a break in some of our ministries. There are many reasons why such a break can be beneficial. Think of it as a sort of Sabbath rest (see Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
Many academic institutions allow some of their tenured professors to take a Sabbatical, and some churches allow their pastor to take a Sabbatical. When it comes to our church, I think it's good for Sunday School teachers, youth group leaders, and small groups to take a similar Sabbatical. One church explains the purpose of a Sabbatical as:
A period of time away from . . . regular duties . . . for the mutual benefit of the church and [teachers and leaders]. Its purpose is to provide [teachers and leaders] opportunities for . . . study of new ideas, improvement of . . . skills relevant to the ministry, development of [teachers' and leaders'] spiritual resources, and spiritual and physical renewal and refreshment.1
Taking a summer break is a time for planning and recharging our batteries, but it doesn't mean that everything stops. As our church grows and we have teachers and leaders who can fill in for those who are taking off time to recharge their batteries, we may be able to continue some of our ministries during the summer. Some suggestions for the Sunday School hour have already been planned such as the prayer meetings on the last Sunday of the month--June 26th, July 31st, and August 28th. I encourage you to meet with us during these special prayer meetings.
While some of you will be taking a much deserved rest from regular ministries, the Elders, other church leaders, and I will be planning upcoming ministries. We need your prayers for these ministries. Some of the prayer needs include:
- Memorial Day Outreach
- Please pray for and, if possible, help us on Memorial Day at the Teaneck Cedar Lane Family Festival where we will have a booth.
- Congregational Meeting -- Sunday, June 12th
- We will vote on new members and assess needs of church facilities.
- Revitalization of Ushers and Greeters Ministries
- Several men have agreed to serve as ushers and women as greeters.
- We will have a meeting soon to coordinate these important ministries.
- International Sunday -- sometime in September
- A Special Events Committee will help with planning this event.
- Please pray that we can form this committee soon.
- Evangelism/Outreach
- An Evangelism/Outreach Committee has met to make plans to help reach people who need the Lord.
- One idea that we're working on is making a Facebook page for the church.
- The Evangelism/Outreach committee has also encouraged the Men's Group to reach out to men of our church families.
- Youth Group
- Please pray for our youth over the summer.
- New ideas are being discussed for next year's youth group.
- Pray that God will guide us in plans for next year and how you might be able to help in this important ministry.
- Small Groups
- Kathy Lorenz has agreed to help me plan new small groups that will start up again in September.
- Please pray for these plans and consider how you can be a part of our Small Group Ministries.
So we take a break from our regular routines, but we never take a break from serving God. We have more than enough opportunities to stay involved in serving the Lord. I hope that you have a wonderful summer. Enjoy your break from Sunday School, small groups, and youth group; but don't take a break from serving the Lord. The future success of our ministries depend on your using this "summer break" wisely so that you can be rested and our ministries are set and raring to go in the fall.
Already can't wait for what God has planned,
Pastor Steve
May 27, 2011
Footnotes
1 Sabbatical Policy, [on-line] document available at: www.crcna.org, Internet accessed on May 27, 2011.
Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived. One of Jesus' techniques was to relate spiritual ideas to common everyday life. Pensamientos (afterthought) is an attempt to follow Jesus' method of teaching. Its title is in Spanish because we recognize the importance of multi-culturalism. We hope to translate some of these messages into Spanish soon.
Find more afterthoughts at Pensamientos (afterthoughts).
You can read recent sermons by Pastor Lorenz at Featured Sermon.