Then consider CTA’s new fall festival theme: Light the Night with Jesus! And check out the new event planning guide that accompanies that theme–it’s free, downloadable, and fun!

If you’ve never sponsored a fall festival before, you may find our free Trunk or Treat Planning Guide and the free Fall Festival Planning Manual helpful, too. Both are downloadable.

Across the nation, year by year, more and more churches are finding ways to leverage Halloween alternative events as opportunities to share Jesus with children and their families. How will your children’s ministry capitalize on this trend in 2010?

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include the copyright lines below and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Article with permission grant #081810 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

Which would you rather be? Someone’s servant or someone’s friend? The answer is obvious. Or is it? A servant does what he’s asked out of a sense of duty or even under duress. But if a close friend asked a favor, you wouldn’t hesitate to help, would you?

Faithful servants and friends have many things in common. They are similarly dependable. Both share a sense of loyalty. So what makes the title friend so much more desirable than the title servant? Jesus himself answers this question: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15).

A servant simply does what he is told to do. He arrives on time, performs his duties, and goes home again. He does not know or understand the master’s plans or purpose. What a blessing, then, to know that Jesus has called us his friends! Jesus has taken us into his confidence. He has let us in on our heavenly Father’s plan of salvation, a plan set in motion on our behalf and for the sake of thousands and millions of people down through history.

Our Father’s heart aches with the hope of adopting human beings into his own family through Jesus’ cross and resurrection. Now members of that family ourselves, we eagerly serve in whatever ways we can in order to help more and more people know Christ’s friendship.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for choosing me as your friend! Let your friendship encourage my heart and ever help me demonstrate your true friendship as I serve others. Amen.

Editor’s note: Looking for resources to help you encourage volunteers? CTA has many cost-effective options!

You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include the copyright line below and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Devotion used with permission grant #081610 © 2010 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this article is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.

1. 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 one of CTA’s new free women’s retreat planning guides: Recipe for Life or Woman of God. Scroll down to find the retreat planners.) 







Women of God - Moments of Grace Devotion Book

2. Find a way to include a “Personal Retreat” time for the women towards the end of the retreat. This is an hour or more when they go off by themselves to have quiet time with God. They are in the Word and prayer and they can reflect on what they have heard at the retreat. Many women never have a whole hour of quiet for devotions and they relish this time without the normal distractions or busyness of life. (Both of CTA’s free retreat planners have built-in activities just like this!) 




3. Try to book a site where women can enjoy God’s creation—walking, sitting outdoors, or singing around a campfire. But be aware of costs. You don’t want to exclude anyone because the retreat is too expensive. Might you scholarship some women who might not otherwise get to attend? 




4. Include time for discussion! This could be during the presentations with pauses to talk with a partner or small group—discussion questions are included in both Recipe for Life and Woman of God.




5. Music! Food! Candles or decorations on tables! Mixers! Crafts! Chocolate!  




6. Prayer partners: If possible, have women who aren’t attending the retreat pray for specific participants ahead of time and during the retreat. They could also write personal prayer letters ahead of time which can be given to the attendees as they arrive. Participants will love knowing that someone is praying specifically for them and took the time to write them a personal note. 




7. Allow time for sharing at the end of the retreat—either with a partner, in small groups, or in the large group. Sharing helps everyone think about ways God touched them through His Word. Women love to hear how God is at work in their sisters’ lives. 




8. Keep registration forms simple and easy to use. Think it through! The part registrants send in should clearly include contact information so you can reach them before the retreat if you have questions. Pre-address it if you can so there’s no question about how to return it! The part the registrants keep should clearly list retreat dates, times, the retreat location/address, contact information in case they have questions ahead of time, and a list of what to bring.




9. Door prizes are always fun. No need to spend a lot of time gathering them if you use one of CTA’s retreat themes. Inexpensive, fun items are available for both Woman of God  and Recipe for Life. 




10. Bathe the retreat in prayer: for the speaker, that God would bring women, for the committee, all the details, the weather and especially that Christ would be glorified and everyone who attends would be encouraged.

Many thanks to Renee Gibbs and Amelia Fortmeyer for the valuable ideas and advice they contributed to this article!

Grandparents help provide the roots we all need–when we’re young and later on in life, too. Unconditional love. A sense of history and of being part of something bigger than ourselves. A listening ear. A storyteller’s heart. Oatmeal cookies. Lessons in hook-baiting and kite-flying. Grandparents touch our lives in all these ways and more.

If you plan a recognition of Grandparents Day in your church this coming weekend (September 13, 2009), good for you! Thank God for his gift of family and for the legacies each worshiper has received from previous generations.

Check this site if you want to learn more about how Grandparents Day began. Think, too, about offering a simple intergenerational Sunday school event. You might serve home-made cookies and cocoa. Invite each family in attendance to partner with one or two other families. Each family may share 1) ”favorite grandparent stories”; 2) the faith legacy of each family–even if that legacy is beginning with the current generation; and 3) thoughts about 2 Timothy 1:3-7.

As you ponder the Bible text, consider what Timothy’s family must have been like. How must their faith have encouraged the great apostle Paul?! Then ask yourselves, “Who might we as a family encourage?”

One last thought. Be sure to extend a special invitation to widows, widowers, and single seniors to your event. They, too, have a contribution to make, a legacy to leave, as they mentor, teach, and serve as examples in your church.

I like to leverage the homework-free summer months to explore the Bible more fully with my children. They take a special interest in our family’s fully illustrated children’s Bible, and I’ve found that reading the stories together opens up many very teachable moments.

Whether you have children at home or not, it’s also important to walk through the doors summer opens for personal spiritual growth. I highly recommend that you find a retreat center in your area and take full advantage of it!

I’ve developed a habit of doing that once a year. It helps me rest, relax, and recharge. It also makes it possible for me to continue to do my best with the various life responsibilities Jesus entrusts to me throughout the rest of the year. Type “Christian Retreat Centers” into your Internet search engine to find a facility near your home.

Christian retreat centers are usually operated by religious orders, some by local churches or groups of churches. Most are simple, but comfortable. In general, they cost much less per day than a motel and are located in quieter settings, more conducive to prayer, Scripture study, and meditation. For people inclined to solitude, two or three days at a retreat center can create more relaxation than the two or three weeks of a typical sight-seeing vacation!

Visit Bill Federer’s website: AmericanMinute.com.

CTA offers an impressive selection of patriotic gifts that help congregations celebrate God and Country.

This is the third video in the series of six on the subject of God and Country.

Visit Bill Federer’s website: AmericanMinute.com.

CTA offers an impressive selection of patriotic gifts that help congregations celebrate God and Country.

This video is the second in Mr. Federer’s series of six on God and Country.

Visit Bill Federer’s website: AmericanMinute.com.

CTA offers an impressive selection of patriotic gifts that help congregations celebrate God and Country.

This is the first in a series of six videos that will be posted here on the subject God and Country, all featuring Bill Federer.

Visit Bill Federer’s website: AmericanMinute.com.

CTA offers an impressive selection of patriotic gifts that help congregations celebrate God and Country.