The Churchtown Weekly Thursday, October 17, 2024
Learn-Grow-Become-GO!
Shout it in the assembly.
Shout it to the world. (Psalm 40)
Leadership is hard under the best of circumstances.
A compass with a piece of paper on it
And as I have been learning over the past 12+ years, church leadership is something completely different. For nearly a decade, the leadership of this church was more like people walking through a revolving door than people having a seat at the table. There are reasons for this, of course, but the primary reason is the fact that as soon as a person devotes themselves to leading in a submitted, meaningful way, seeking God first in all things (as was preached last Sunday) and leading according to God’s will, Satan comes against that person and the role that they have undertaken in a powerful way. Ask any one of the good folks who have stepped up and stepped in to a leadership role, and there are many – the warfare is real. We have said it many times here at Churchtown, “Satan has no interest in a spiritually dead church, he already has that one.”
When I stepped into the pastorate at Churchtown, I treated this old church as a new church plant because in many ways, that is exactly what it was. Churchtown was brought back from the brink of closure, stripped down to its “bare bones,” set back on to a spiritually sold foundation, and we have not looked back. (this is why I am so adamant about the property as well… so many people poured themselves and their gifts into reviving the physical side of the church as well that I feel a tremendous responsibility to also, leave it better than I found it.)
What does this mean in terms of leadership? It means that for the first 10 years I prayed and sought to discern who might be appropriate for a role on the leadership team. Over the past three years, there has been a shift from that method to the method of having YOU pray and discern whether or not you are being CALLED to leadership – then we all pray and discern together. Affirmation from the congregation completes the process. The only major prerequisite is formal membership, which I have always preached as the first step of congregational leadership.
So, are you being called? Has this been gnawing at your spirit? Have you wanted to ask questions but have never felt that “the time was right?” Well, the time is right. The time is now. Talk to me. Talk to Bill Gable, Olivia Swarner, Taylor Welch, Mark Cole, Stacy Ann Luther, Jeff Schwartz, Audrey Aungst, Ryan Nearhood, rich Eshleman and/or many of the other ministry leaders that are currently active like Valerie Fite with the Children, or Joan Beck with the cleaning.
There is much to do yes, but there is an ongoing battle for the spirit of this church that must be fought as well. We are all armored soldiers in the army of God; but are you being called to help lead the Forward Operating Base that is also known as, The Churchtown Church of God? Spring is right around the corner, and council seats will be open. There are also many opportunities to lead/serve with events – or to create new ministry opportunities! How are you being called to serve?
Our “Forward Operating Base”
It begins inside of YOU!
“The struggle is real because the danger is real. It is the danger of living the whole of our life as one long defense against the reality of our condition, one restless effort to convince ourselves of our virtuousness. Yet Jesus “did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.” (Matt 9:13)
That is the struggle. It is the struggle to die to the false self. But this struggle is far, far beyond our own strength. Anyone who wants to fight his demons with his own weapons is a fool.
The wisdom of the desert is that the confrontation with our own frightening nothingness forces us to surrender ourselves totally and unconditionally to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
These are the written words of Henri Nouwen in his little volume called, “The Way of the Heart” They were written in 1981, but they could not be any more timely or appropriate than they are now. Even as Christians, or maybe especially because we are Christians, we walk through life feeling that we are virtuous people, good people, righteous people – forgetting that any virtue that we display is the virtue of Christ; any good that is within us is the goodness of God made possible by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit; and that it is not our righteousness that the Father sees when He looks at us – it is the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ, who suffered and died as the sacrifice for our sin. We, as Christians, still end up fighting our demons in our own strength and then wonder where God is and why He will not serve us.
Shame on us.
“Anyone who wants to fight his demons with his own weapons is a fool.”
Is this statement even biblical? Read for yourself, “10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints. 19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.” (Ephesians 6:10-20 BSB)
Yes. It is. Repent. Cry to Jesus.
Not just once – with every breath you take.
May God bless you and keep you and
WE WILL SEE YOU IN CHURCH!
I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU
to everybody for everything. The outpouring of love – the messages on all of the cards – and of course, the amazing food at the luncheon was overwhelming to me.
I love being your pastor and your friend.
TRUNK OR TREAT IS THE 31ST! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HELP? THIS IS A WONDERFUL COMMUNITY OUTREACH!
And let’s not forget our annual Christmas Hymn Sing! Sign up early!
We have learned that we will be serving 12 families this year with Thanksgiving meals.
There is a great need!
We will respond!
Thanksgiving bags will be available THIS SUNDAY!
YOU are AMAZING!
Together, we have provided right around $1,250 for each of the organizations we adopted: Selflesservice, Monroe Fire Co., Cumberland Goodwill Emergency Medical, and Puppies Behind Bars.
On top of that, GOD has taken the $1,000 seed money from the general fund and multiplied it to over $5,500 for hurricane relief! Every penny goes to relief!
This is because YOU are faithful.
I truly believe that we honor God when we selflessly share what we have. And I truly believe that we would not have all that we do if we did not seek to honor God.
God bless you all.
ANOTHER BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
You can now subscribe and listen to the
“Churchtown Podcast Network!”
Available on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify, just search “Turning on the Lights!” and “Churchtown Church of God Sermons” – subscribe and then leave a rating and a review! More folks will see it!
*Audio and video are always posted on our YouTube channel @churchtownchurch (there are 1,100 videos there)
Church Calendar
SERVE Saturday October 26
Trunk or Treat Thursday October 31 6-8pm
SERVE Saturday November 2.
BON FIRE – Sunday November 3. 4pm
Thanksgiving Eve Service 7pm Wednesday Nov. 27
Christmas Hymn Sing 6pm Sunday December 1
SERVICE OF THE ORDINANCE DATES:
October 13th
November 27th – Thanksgiving Eve.
Remember, the single biggest reason given for why someone attends church for the first time is that a friend asked them!
As always, we continue in prayer for Churchtown, for our community, for the church universal, and for the lost everywhere.
God is good. God provides. Keep your eyes up and on the cross people.
Be well and do good, my friends. And, as always, Keep Looking Up! The lord comes!
REMEMBER THAT!
Opportunities!
We are always seeking individuals to be trained in technology. We would like to develop TEAMS that could rotate weekends.
There is always the opportunity to provide music – join up with the New Song Singers and / or talk to me about a special prelude or piece.
Gather-Grow-Become-Go
Churchtown Church of God
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Welcome to Churchtown!
We are glad you are here!
Opening Prayer and
Opening Word
Psalm 84 (NLT)
“You Are My All in All”
#180, “Worthy Is the Lamb”
“Thy Word”
“Above All”
Our Time in the Word
Hebrews 2 (NLT)
“Spirit of the Living God” a cappella
Our Time of Corporate Prayer
“The Lord’s Prayer”
“How Great Is Our God”
As a “little” church, we are always asking the question, “What CAN we do?” Well, we can start by caring for the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of each other.We CAN serve the next person God places before us.
We CAN invite that person to church!
We CAN be intentional about going to church and strengthening ourselves and the body.
We CAN serve our community and show who Christ is to those who do not know Him.
We CAN PRAY, PRAY, PRAY – and we can REMAIN FATIHFUL!
I Love Being Your Pastor and Your Friend,
Brian
0 Comments