How to be a small group member.

It is great to gather as a congregation to glorify God through the singing of God’s glory and the preaching of God’s Word.
Yesterday’s post was on how we can be an encouragement on Sunday morning in the large group.

At the same time, it is important to meet together with a smaller group of people with the purpose of challenging one another through prayer that is God-honoring, Bible based and personal and have discussion about ways to even more specifically apply the sermon to life.

Our primary reason for belonging to a small group is to give us opportunity to love and encourage other people in Christ.
It’s not about Me; it’s about Them.
And it’s about Them because of Christ.

There are many ways we can love and encourage the other people in our groups. Here are five powerful ones (complete with alliterative titles):

1. The power of presence.  “Be there”
2. The power of preparation.  In our Soul Care groups, preparation looks like listening to and thinking about the sermon.
3. The power of prayer.  “Praying for others is hard work, but real work.”
4. The power of personality.  ” a powerful way of loving others in your small group is to be willing to share your own life and personality with them.”
5. The power of love.  “Look for how you can support and help the leader. Look for ways to care for the members of the group—those who could really do with a phone call or visit; those who would benefit from having someone to pray or read the Bible with; those who need financial or other material help; those who just need a friend to come over for pizza and a video.”

These are taken from “How to be a small group member.”  You can read the entire  article at http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2006/02/how-to-be-a-small-group-member/  

Krista is heading to Argentina

Krista has a great ministry opportunity in Argentina at the end of this month.

Read her letter below and watch this video from Pastor Duke...


Argentina Update from Pastor Duke from Emmanuel Baptist Church on Vimeo.

HERE is another link from Mark Self about the trip.https://vimeo.com/133691156

Dear Family and Friends, 

Merry Christmas!  I hope you are enjoying this season of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ!  In our family we’ve been talking about why Jesus had to come to earth.  He came because we are sinners desperately in need of a Savior!  Seeing Christmas through these eyes makes us rejoice even more as we celebrate His birth!

I want to share with you something exciting that has been going on for the past 35 years in the country of Argentina...people have been coming to know Jesus as Savior from their sin and lives are being changed!  Specifically, in the city of Buenos Aires and vicinity, our church’s missionaries, Ron and Chris Self have been involved in planting 4 churches!  Their sons and wives have joined them and serve alongside them.  We became friends with their son Mark and his wife Anahi when they lived in Toledo for 2 years while raising support to return to Argentina 1 ½ years ago.  Mark is now starting the 5^th church plant!  Currently it is a Bible study meeting in a narrow hallway and ready to transition to a building of their own.  At the end of January, I will have the privilege of being part of a team of 32 teens and adults sent by Emmanuel Baptist Church to help construct their new church building!  I am very excited to once again serve alongside Mark and Anahi and see firsthand the work God is doing there.  As you know I spent 6 years after college serving in the Dominican Republic where I was able to learn Spanish.  One of my roles on this trip will be to help translate for our team.  I will also be helping with the construction tasks.

Would you consider joining me and the team by praying for us and/or supporting our trip financially?  As a team we need to raise $75,000 to cover costs.  Our trip is coming quickly, January 29 through February 7, 2016.  

Please pray for me as I prepare spiritually, mentally (practicing the language), physically (staying healthy and strong), and preparing my family for my time away. 
Pray as well for our team in general. 

If you are able to support us financially, enclosed or attached you’ll find a form to fill out if you wish to receive a tax deduction.  
Checks can be sent to: 
Emmanuel Baptist Church
4207 Laskey Rd, Toledo, OH 43623. 
Please write ACT 4 on the memo line.  

Thank you for considering being a part of this exciting adventure!

To God be the glory!

Krista Rodgers

Your Ministry in the Pew

Here are some quotes about the ministry of the pew, which is the ministry each of us have on Sunday morning.

“Church is a gathering of God’s people to hear his word and respond in faith and obedience. In this gathering, we are in fellowship with each other, through the blood of Jesus, and, because of our fellowship, we seek to serve each other. We use our gifts and abilities to strengthen one another and build Christ’s Church—‘edification’ is the word often used to describe what goes on in the church. All believers are involved in building the church, not just clergy or preachers.”

“If at church we are working to strengthen our fellow believers, where we sit becomes important since part of our work will be talking to our neighbor in the pew, welcoming people, helping each other understand God’s word and praying with each other.”

BEFORE

Prepare.  “We prepare by studying the Bible passages.”
Meeting visitors and newcomers.  “We enjoy meeting our friends at church, but we need to develop a nose for new people.”
Arriving early.

DURING

Active Listening.
Singing
Logistics
Newcomers.  “If ‘a newcomer’ can’t find their way around the Bible or the service outline, or they don’t have a Bible, help them yourself.”

AFTER

Discuss God’s Word.
Pray with others.

“Newcomers tend to leave fairly quickly so we have to move fast by identifying the visitor in our pew and offering them conversation immediately after the service ends.”

“Once you catch this vision of church, you are always the last to leave because the opportunities to minister don’t end until the last person leaves. Gone are the days of fitting church in between breakfast and brunch.”

Church requires a lot of effort, if we are to build the body of Christ.”

Taken from “The Ministry of the Pew!”  Read the entire article at  http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/1994/03/factotum-1-the-ministry-of-the-pew/