Many churches offer “come & go events” in spring. Lots of them! Easter breakfast. Mother’s Day teas and Father’s Day donut gatherings after services. Graduation and Confirmation receptions. Sunday school staff meet & greets.
Honoring members in this way is a good idea. But how could you step the value up from merely good to great, [...]
By Jane Fryar
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Posted in Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Graduation, Lent/Preparing for Easter, Ministry, Visitors
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Tagged assimilation, Encouragement, Father's Day gift, Graduation, Mother's Day, Sunday School, Volunteers|
February 25, 2010 – 8:24 am
Here are 10 commandments for planning a retreat with panache!
Women go to retreats be fed and nourished spiritually, as well as for the fellowship. Women love to be in the Bible, so enlist a speaker who is willing to help you lead your group into Scripture. (Can’t find a speaker like that? Then consider using [...]
By Jane Fryar
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Posted in Ministry, Women's Ministry
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Tagged bible, devotion book, God, lesson, planning guide, prayer, prayer partner, Scripture, teacher, Women's Ministry, women's retreat|
February 24, 2010 – 1:19 pm
Christians from many different traditions use the weeks and days leading up to Easter as a time to prepare our hearts to celebrate Easter with joy. As we journey through Lent, I like to spend quiet time reflecting.
This year, I find my thoughts focused on what I do and do not have. Most people at [...]
By Anne Conway
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Posted in Christian Worker, Easter, Lent/Preparing for Easter, Men's Ministry, Pastor, Women's Ministry
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Tagged Christian, Easter, Easter preparation, Lent, men's ministry, Pastoral Ministry, Women's Ministry|
February 11, 2010 – 10:58 am
C. S. Lewis may have been the first to tell about the little boy who was asked what God is like. The boy responds in words like these: “God’s the sort of fellow who goes around looking for someone who’s having fun—and tries to stop ’em.”
This picture of God, mistaken though it is, nonetheless captures [...]
By Jane Fryar
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Posted in Devotions, Easter, Free Resources, Lent/Preparing for Easter, Ministry, Sermon Ideas
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Tagged Care and Comfort, devotion, Easter, Encouragement, Fat Tuesday, Lent, Pastor, Pastoral Ministry, Sermon Ideas|
February 9, 2010 – 9:26 am
We love because he first loved us.
Short. To the point. Powerful in its simplicity. First John 4:19 is all that and more. I call attention to this verse as I work with my kindergarten students and as I talk with my own children each year whenever we focus on Valentine’s Day.
Looking around at the flowers, [...]
February 3, 2010 – 11:31 am
It’s a truism in marketing. Customers must see an ad 5–7 times before it has any potential for changing their behavior. That’s why Nike puts its “swoosh” everywhere, positioning it prominently in televised sports and other athletic venues.
It’s also why more and more churches have begun to look for ways to “theme” major celebrations—like the [...]
By Jane Fryar
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Posted in Devotions, Easter, Free Resources, Lent/Preparing for Easter, Ministry, Pastor, Sermon Ideas
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Tagged children's Easter ideas, Easter, Easter preparation, Lent, Lent theme, Lenten theme, Pastor, sermon helps, Sermon Ideas|
February 1, 2010 – 12:35 am
As regular readers know, I serve on the faculty of a Christian preschool. As I teach, I love taking students into our church on sunny days. Among other things, they enjoy seeing the way the light shining through the stained glass windows casts a colorful shadow on the walls and floor. The children love seeing [...]
By Debra Kreienkamp
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Posted in Christian Worker, Church Volunteers, Devotions, Encouraging Volunteers, Epiphany, Men's Ministry, Pastor, Women's Ministry
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Tagged Christian, devotion, Encouragement, men's ministry, Pastor, Women's Ministry|
January 22, 2010 – 12:46 am
You may know several young men like Sam. He grew up far from where he now lives. He moved into your neighborhood after college, looking for a job and for other opportunities, opportunities unavailable back home.
Now he’s arrived on the doorstep of your church. You are strangers to him, and he’s a stranger to you, [...]
By Bobbi Dunn
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Posted in Christian Worker, Church Volunteers, Encouragement, Encouraging Volunteers, Men's Ministry, Ministry, Women's Ministry
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Tagged Christian, encouraging, legacy, mentor, Volunteers, young adults|
January 20, 2010 – 12:53 am
As editor of CTA’s monthly Grab & Go newsletter, I just put the February issue to bed. If you’re subscribed, you’ll be receiving your copy in your E-mail box the first Tuesday in February.
While it’s on my mind, I wanted to alert you to the fact that Tim Wesemann wrote the cover article for the February issue, focusing [...]
January 18, 2010 – 9:03 am
We are now several weeks into the New Year, and I find myself reflecting on New Year’s resolutions and another new year in my own life.
Here in Minnesota, it can be hard to think of January as a time of new beginnings. We are in the heart of winter; everything is covered with snow and [...]
