poignant image

Please check out this amazing image!

We are in the middle of 40 Days of Love here at FPC. This means we have 45 people reading the same book on a daily basis, meeting weekly in a small discussion group to view the video teaching of Pastor Rick Warren, and then on Sunday mornings with the entire church family, we explore the implications of 1 Corinthians 13.

So last Sunday our title was “do your words love?” The question is answered by reviewing the kind of words we use in our relationships. The Bible tells us to ….

1. Love people with honest words (1 Corinthians 3:6, Ephesians 4:15)
2. Love people with careful words (Proverbs 15:1, 16:28, 21:23, Ephesians 4:26, 27,)
3. Love people with building words (Proverbs 12:18, 25, 16:21, Ephesians 4:29)

Words are so powerful that they leave deep footprints. Many of us have been wounded by careless and/or vicious words. We all know what it is like to ‘say the wrong thing’, but the toothpaste is already out of the tube!

You may make your living talking, or you may live to talk; you may ‘yearn to yap’ when it’s better to ‘shut your trap’ or you might be the master of the small ‘sound-byte’; - it does not matter how much or how little you speak: it does matter how you speak.

And this graphic is now forever etched in my mind. Take a moment and let it speak to you too.

tough homework

So I just posted on my ‘Facebook’ page how difficult our church homework for this week seemed. I asked everyone on Sunday to commit to praying Psalm 19:14 every morning for a week. I reflected that it is not the praying that is tough, it is meaning this prayer that is the tough part!

Praying it with integrity and resolve, that is the key. We all suffer from “heart and mouth disease”. So I went back to the 40 Days of Love Reading for day 8. Here is the answer that Tom Holladay gives us:

“Christianity is not trying harder; Christianity is trusting Jesus. I need the power that only Jesus can give.”


I’m thinking 40 Days of Love is so good every church should be doing it!
Have a good week.

Doug

40 Days of Love "hype" part #2

volume 3 ... issue 02 .... January 27, 2009

Right now we are beginning the search for Hosts and Navigators.

What is a HOST?
Have a heart for people
Open your home
Serve a snack
Turn on the DVD

What is a Navigator?
Someone who will gently lead the discussion time in a sensitive and non-threatening manor, one who takes on the oversight of the group for six weeks.

Potential Hosts and navigators should contact Rev. Johns as soon as possible.

Congregations involved in similar campaigns report a resurgence of spiritual enthusiasm, a sense of common identity and purpose, and new initiatives in the areas of fellowship, outreach and mission. Rick Warren, Lead Pastor of Saddleback Church has designed the program. Rick is well known for his best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, his ‘Aids work’ in Africa, and the one giving the Invocation Prayer at the historic Presidential Inauguration on January 20, 2009.

40 Days of Love 'Hype'

VOLUME 3 - ISSUE #1 ... JANUARY 27, 2009

There can be no question that “LOVE” is at the centre of our faith. The challenge comes when we try to translate what we believe into the way that we live. We can help each other with this. In fact God wants us to work together on this project. This is what Hebrews 10:24,25 says:

“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another”

So February & March will be devoted to this focus - Sunday morning teaching, daily readings, and multiple small groups. There are even ways to get the children involved in the campaign. Think of how helpful, uplifting and motivating it will be to have so many of our congregation zeroing in on the ‘heart of God’ at the same time. Both our church and our community will benefit so much.

The small groups will meet weekly, starting right after Valentines Day, for six weeks. Multiple groups will allow for maximum congregational participation – timeslots to fit your schedule.

You will be given an opportunity to register your commitment to this 40 Days of Love Campaign between February 01 and February 15.

Right now we are beginning the search for Hosts and Navigators.