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Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations |
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Written by Pastor Dan Drew
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Saturday, 24 July 2010 08:27 |
During the month of August we will be looking at the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations as our Worship theme. Bishop Robert Schnase wrote a book with this title in 2007, which has changed the way many churches are looking at their mission. This fall our SPRC will be asked to evaluate me and our church on the ways in which we follow the five practices. So I think it would be a good idea for us to look at each practice from a Biblical prospective during the month of August.
Our themes will be as follows,
- August 1st Radical Hospitality
- August 8th Passionate Worship
- August 15th Intentional Faith Development
- August 22nd Risk taking Mission and Service – This will also be our book bag blessing Sunday and recognition and prayer for all teachers and school staff.
- August 29th Extravagant Generosity
Upcoming in September, we will look forward to Rally Day on the 12th. Also on September 26th we will have special opportunity to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of our church’s move to the new site and the new building on North Street. Please make note and plan to join us for this special occasion.
Summer Blessings,
Pastor Dan |
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Catch the Spirit of God’s Work |
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Written by Pastor Dan Drew
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Sunday, 30 May 2010 05:50 |
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Dear Friends of Jesus,
As we enter the summer of 2010 we have much to celebrate and give thanks for. On Pentecost Sunday, May 23rd we confirmed 12 youth of our church and received 7 new adult members. We also celebrated that since last Pentecost we have received 46 new members of our congregation. Our church is growing numerically and that is a good thing. I believe that we can also proclaim that our church is also growing spiritually as we are striving in many ways to fulfill our mission: “To make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
On Pentecost we also celebrated the Birthday of the Church of Jesus Christ as based upon second chapter of Acts. So how old is the Church anyway?
- Following logic and history, Jesus was born in what became year zero AD, (Anno Domino or “the year of the Lord”.) Jesus lived 33 years on earth and was crucified at age 33. So the church was born 2010 minus 33 or 1,977 years ago.
- May 24, 1738 was known as the day of John Wesley’s Aldersgate experience, which really began the Wesleyan movement. So the Wesleyan movement is 272 years old.
- The Methodist Church was established as a separate church at the Christmas Conference 1784, thus the Methodist Church is 226 years old.
- Our history shows the Chardon Methodist Church was formed in 1818, thus our church is 192 years old.
- The Chardon Methodist Church moved from our building on the town Square to our current site at 515 North Street in 1960 or 50 years ago. This fall we will hold a 50th Anniversary celebration of that dramatic move to this location.
- The United Methodist Church as a denomination is 42 years old. We were formed of the merger of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church at the General Conference in Dallas in 1968. (Dr. John Knecht, Matt’s dad, was the official representative of the EUB church at that signing ceremony.)
We have a rich past, but we have a great future to live into. God is still calling us to reach others, to mature in our faith journey, and to translate our faith into life transforming work in the world.
Catch the Spirit of God’s work among us!
Pastor Dan |
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Pentecost Reenergizing the Church |
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Written by Pastor Dan
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Monday, 03 May 2010 10:24 |
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Pentecost is May 23rd!
Pentecost is the Church’s Birthday Party!
Pentecost is the day of Confirmation for our youth!
Pentecost is the day of welcoming new persons into our church!
Pentecost is the renewal of our commitment to our church!
Pentecost celebrates God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus.
(Based upon the Acts of the Apostles – Chapter 2.) For the five Sundays is May we are going to prepare for and celebrate Pentecost and the reenergizing of our church.
It takes fuel to produce energy. We need energy to produce power. We need to be empowered to achieve our mission, “To make and mature Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”. |
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Written by Pastor Dan
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Thursday, 01 April 2010 00:00 |
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Bill Easum a nationally recognized church consultant says that a church’s “mission statement” tells who you are, and your “vision statement” should tell everyone where you are going. Both should be short and memorable so that a child could recite them. Can you now recite our mission statement? I hope so!
Our Mission is to make and mature Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the World!
How about our vision statement? If someone outside our church asked you what is the vision of our church could you recite our vision statement? Do you have an understanding of where our church is headed? How are we making Disciples? How are maturing Disciples for Jesus Christ? What are we doing to transform the world for Jesus Christ?
In Philippians 3:12-15 Paul describes the process for pressing on towards the goal of the upward call of Jesus Christ. As we continuing worshipping God in the Eastertide season (after Easter and pressing towards Pentecost), I would like to explore with you some of these questions and what it means to be followers of the Risen Christ. I would like to become a community that cheers each other as we press on towards the fulfillment of our mission. Another way of looking at it is to explore the meaning of belonging to the body of Christ – the church universal. At the same time as we prepare to receive our confirmands to explore what it means to belong to the Chardon United Methodist Church, to this part of the bigger body. |
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Lent: The Season of Reflection |
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Written by Pastor Dan
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Monday, 01 March 2010 21:41 |
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I love the season of Lent, as it is a great time for reflection and growth. Lent is the season of 40 days that prepares us for Easter and greater understanding of the resurrection of Christ. Even more important, it helps us to reflect upon the meaning of Christ’s sacrificial death upon the cross for our sake.
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, which recalls for us that we are mortal beings, who will someday die, but we have this possibility and hope for “eternal life” from which we do not die. Ash Wednesday calls us to reorder our lives through the symbol of ashes so that we are reminded that we do not have forever to get on the path to God.
The Sundays that follow Ash Wednesday are all designed in some way to help us accept God’s sacrifice for us. A list of the Sundays and the scripture lessons for each week are listed elsewhere in the Harbinger. As you reflect through the season, I have suggested that you carry a nail as a reminder of Jesus’ gift of love for you. We gave out nails on the first Sunday in Lent, February 21st. If you did not get a nail, feel free to pick up one at the church next time you are here. I am asking that you return the nail as a part of our Easter celebration. |
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