Have you ever thought about this? “Satan is very organized with his team of demon. He has assigned certain demons to you, your church, and your people to try to defeat your church and everything you do.”

As we begin this New Year, we must be aware of Satan’s tactics as He tries to defeat us.  He will try to deceive us by targeting our minds and the people we serve. He will use his weapons of lies.  His whole purpose is to make us doubt God and be ignorant of His will for our lives. His goal is for us to believe his lies instead of God’s truth.

You might be thinking, “You just don’t understand…there are times in my life when I feel so helpless and weak that I don’t even have enough energy to read my Bible.”

Paul must have known that his fellow Christians had those same feelings when he wrote 1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you want to defeat Satan…YOU MUST STAY IN GOD’s WORD! The only defense you have against Satan is God’s Word.  How do you do it?

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

1. Present your body. The first thing to do when you wake up and set your feet on the ground is to tell the Lord, “I surrender my body to You, and I am preparing for today’s battle.
2. Present your mind. The next thing to do is do reach for your Bible. Present your mind to God for spiritual renewal. It is only through God’s Word that we can renew our minds and transform them.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t read long chapters. As you are reading…, stop…when you get to a passage that speaks to you. Meditate on that passage. Memorize a verse that will help you in your battle for the day. I came across a wonderful app for memorizing Scripture. (Scripture Typer)

3. Present your will. You do this by prayer. The Word of God and prayer always go together. Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. Whatever you pray, always pray according to God’s will…not your own will.

Now it’s time to put on God’s armor. My husband and I got matching T-shirts for our Christmas pajamas that said, “Put on the armor of God…in smaller print below that it said…put on the whole armor”

Sometimes we go out of the house with partial armor on, and Satan attacks us in an area where we are not protected.

• Girdle of truth: Since Satan is a liar, we must oppose him with God’s truth.
• Breastplate of righteousness: Since Satan is our accuser and reminds of us our past sins, we must remind ourselves that we are justified through Christ’s righteousness. The breastplate covers our heart. Often Satan uses people—including Christians—to slander and accuse us, and we are tempted to fight back. But we must not allow these fiery darts to penetrate our armor.
• Shoes of peace: Our shoes help us keep our footing…helps us from falling down. Psalms 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
• Shield of faith: We have the promises of God to quench those fiery darts. That is why it’s so important to memorize Scriptures. When Satan hurls those darts…hold that shield up reciting a promise!
• Helmet of Salvation: 1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. Depression and discouragement comes to all of us but…Praise the Lord…we are saved and we have the hope that soon Jesus will return and take us home.
• Sword of the Spirit: The Word of God is our defensive weapon. A material sword must be handled with physical power, but the Spirit of God enables us to use the Word of God effectively to defeat Satan. Our Lord always said, “It is written!”

 I came across a prayer in Warren Wiersbe’s book The Strategy of Satan that is a great prayer for us to pray every day:

Father, thank You for the provision You have made for victory over Satan. Now, by faith, I put on the girdle of truth. May my life today be motivated by truth. Help me maintain integrity. By faith, I put on the breastplate of righteousness. May my heart love that which is righteous and refuse what is sinful. Thank You for the imputed righteousness of Christ. By faith, I put on the shoes of peace. Help me to stand in Christ’s victory today. Help me to be a peacemaker and not a troublemaker. By faith, I take the shield of faith. May I trust You and Your Word today and not add fuel to any of Satan’s darts. Thank You that I can go into this day without fear. By faith, I put on the helmet of salvation. May I remember today that Jesus is coming again. Help me live in future tense. Protect my mind from discouragement and despair. By faith, I take the sword of the Spirit. Help me remember Your Word and use it today. Father, by faith I have put on the armor. May this be a day of victory.

I remember when we were living in Rhode Island, I planned some pretty intense Christmas plays. The nice thing about it, we had a Christian school, and we could practice every afternoon for several months. It took much  planning, hard work, and commitment for me and the children. Most smaller churches don’t have the resources or time to this.

Don’t feel that you must have months to plan and rehearse a children’s program to be a blessing to your church. Here are a few suggestions to help you plan a simple children’s program.

• Keep it simple.
• Don’t be too intense with the children…have fun with them.
• For very young children, use a few inexpensive musical instruments like bells, drums, etc.
• Begin your program by letting the children enter the auditorium carrying battery operated candles and singing a Christmas Carol.
• Have an adult or teen narrate the Christmas story by reading it from Matthew or Luke.
• Use power point slides as the children sing.
• Download some of the Christmas Carols from a Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. Use the picture on the sound tract as a slide and play the music as the people are entering the auditorium.

WHEN YOU COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, BEGIN HERE

Thank God for His Promises to Us

By Dr. Paul Chappell | November 19, 2015

When you begin your Thanksgiving gratitude list, what do you include? Most of us probably begin with God’s gifts of salvation, family, church family, and friends. We then move to tangible gifts such as shelter, clothing, vehicle, and financial provision. If we stay at our list long enough, we add events and highlights of the past year.

I want to encourage you this year to add a new category to your list. This category represents one of the greatest reasons to be thankful—and every item on the list can be found between the covers of your Bible.

What is it? God’s promises. Through God’s promises we have comfort for today and hope for tomorrow. Regardless of what we’re facing in the moment, God’s promises provide an unending reason for gratitude.

If you want to count your blessings, begin with God’s promises! Here are ten to get you started:

1. God’s presence: I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.—Hebrews 13:5

2. God’s protection: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.—Genesis 15:1

3. God’s power: I will strengthen thee.—Isaiah 41:10

4. God’s provision: I will help thee.—Isaiah 41:10

5. God’s leading: And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.—John 10:4

6. God’s purposes: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.—Jeremiah 29:11

7. God’s rest: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.— Matthew 11:28

8. God’s cleansing: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.—1 John 1:9

9. God’s goodness: For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.—Psalm 84:11

10. God’s faithfulness: For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake.—1 Samuel 12:22

Grandparents Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day. It originated with Marian McQuade, a housewife in Fayette County, West Virginia. Her primary motivation was to champion the cause of lonely elderly in nursing homes. She also hoped to persuade grandchildren to tap into the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide. This day is celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day.  September was chosen for the holiday to signify the “autumn years” of life. This day’s purpose is to 1. To honor grandparents 2.   To give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children. 3. To help children become aware of their grandparent’s strength, information, and guidance.  This year Grandparents Day will fall on Sunday, Sept. 11th.

GRANDPARENTS.
Few can bring the warmth
We can find in their embrace,
And little more is needed to bring love.
Than the smile on their face.
They’ve a supply of precious stories,
Yet they’ve time to wipe a tear,
Or give us reasons to make us laugh,
They grow more precious through the years.
I believe that God sent us Grandparents
As our legacy from above,
To share the moments of our life,
As extra measures of His love.
~Author Unknown.~~

GRANDPARENTS.
Grandparents bestow upon
their grandchildren
The strength and wisdom that time
And experience have given them.
Grandchildren bless their Grandparents
With a youthful vitality and innocence
That help them stay young at heart forever.
Together they create a chain of love
Linking the past with the future.
The chain may lengthen,
But it will never part….
~~Author Unknown.~~

GRANDPARENTS AND CHILDREN.
Grandparents and grandchildren,
Together they create a chain of love
Linking the past,
With the future.
The chain may lengthen,
But it will never part.
~~Author Unknown.~~

35  Outreach Ideas for Small Churches

1. Sponsor a school or classroom
2.  Annual revivals
3. Christian-Family movie night
4. Neighborhood dinner
5. Community festival
6. Halloween alternative
7. Honor community heroes
8. Christmas play
9. Community garden
10. Buy school supplies for poor children
11. Parents’ night out or Mother’s morning out
12. Homecoming…invite former members back
13. Recognize veterans and military
14. VBS
15. Community thanksgiving service
16. Church day camp (Good soul-winning and training tool for children)
17. Day trips for senior citizens
18. Senior adult programs, lunch
19. Church yard sale
20. Free carwash
21. Host English as a second language class or a computer training class
22. Grief ministry (Check obituaries and deliver baskets with goodies and a pastor’s letter)
23. Grandparents day
24. Mother’s day and Father’s day
25. Church Anniversary
26. Nursing home ministry
27. Report card rewards and recognition
28. Lock in or lock out
29. Door-to-door food collection for community food bank (Good way to hand out tracts)
30. Christmas parties for seniors, kids, families, target groups
31. Volunteer recognition (Could be for church volunteers or community volunteers)
32. Addiction programs
33. Single adult or single parent programs
34. Neighborhood inventories and assessments
35. Prayer ministry

Jelly Bean Story

 Little jelly beans, tell a story true
A tale of our Father’s love –
Just for you and me.
Green is for the waving palms
Red is for His precious blood
Black is for the sin He washed from your soul and mine
White is for our hearts now clean from sin
Purple’s for the sadness of His family and friends
And Yellow is for the glory of the day He rose again.
Now you’ve heard the story, you know what each color means.
The story of our Father’s love told by some jelly beans.
So every morning take a bean, they’re really very yummy.
Something for the soul, you see, and something for the tummy.

If you need coloring pages and stories for Resurrection Sunday check out http://ministry-to-children.com/childrens-ministry-links-for-easter/. This is a great resource for Sunday School lessons, coloring pages, video clips, etc.

• Pay attention to the time you have to prepare. If you are planning a complicated play, don’t wait until November or December to begin practicing.
• With smaller children, keep your performance simple by narrating the program yourself. Parents and church members love to watch children perform no matter how elementary the program.
• For a fun touch, let your angels wear battery operated halos or carry battery operated candles.
• Use your teens as much as you can. (They are full of ideas, and sometimes younger children will listen to them better)
• Let small children use inexpensive musical instruments when singing carols. (2 years old can play
Toddler Glockenspeils or Rhythm Instruments such as blocks. If they are 3 years or older, they could play children’s Xylophones or use Kids’ Maracas. (If a child doesn’t have an instrument to play, let him hold a battery operated candle)

I have taken this poem and quotes from the book my brother Gary Smith wrote entitled Life Changing Thoughts. If you do not have this book, I would recommend ordering one. Gary spent several years collecting poems, quotes, and ideas about many different subjects that you could use in your ministry. I have used his book many times when I have needed information to prepare bulletins,seasonal banquet programs, etc.

In Everything Give Thanks

Thru sunshine, cloud or stormy days,
When hope abounds or care dismays;
When trials press down and toils increase,
Let not thy faith in God decrease;
“In everything give thanks.”
For we know all things work for good,
Nor could we change them if we would;
It will be well if only He commands,
For all of His promises forever stand;
“In everything give thanks.”

• Be grateful for door of opportunity and for friends who oil the hinges.
• If I spend my time filling my heart with regrets of yesterday, and worries of tomorrow, I will have no time for giving thanks today.
• Thanksgiving is not a time of the year, but an attitude of the heart.
• It is better to appreciate things you don’t have, than to have things and not appreciate them.
• When all of our earthly resources have failed we can still give thanks, for we know God will never fail us.
• One of the most embarrassing moments for an atheist is when he knows he has been blessed, but he has no one to thank for it.
• I murmured and complained that I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.
• 0h Thou, who hast given us so very much, please grant us one thing more, a grateful heart.
• Be thankful for the Giver and not just the gift and for the Blessor and not just the blessings.
• When you are discouraged don’t just sit and frown; instead, get a piece of paper and write your blessings down.
• Don’t be sorry when your purse is half-empty; rather, be thankful that it is half-full.
• Boy to his sister: “I just don’t get it, dad thanks God for giving us our food, then he bawls mom out for the grocery bills!”

This is a service where Christian parents dedicate their children to the Lord. They promise the Lord and church to raise their children in a godly way until children can make their own decisions to follow the Lord. Pastors should contact families who have had children during the previous year and invite them to a meeting to discuss the service. He can use this meeting to teach and explain the reason for the service and reinforce a biblical vision for Christian parenting.

Actual Order of Baby Dedication Service

• Parents stand before the congregation with their children, and the pastor asks the following questions:

Do you today recognize these children as the gifts of God and give heartfelt thanks for God’s blessing?

Do you now dedicate your children to the Lord who gave them to you all, surrendering all worldly claims upon their lives in the hope that they will belong wholly to God?

Do you pledge as parents that, with God’s help, you will bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, making every reasonable effort, with patience and love, to build the Word of God, the character of Christ and the joy of the Lord into their lives?

Do you promise to provide, through God’s blessing, for the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual needs of your children, looking to your own heavenly Father for the wisdom, love and strength to serve them and not use them?

Do you promise, God helping you, to make it your regular prayer that, by God’s grace, your children will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of their sins and for the fulfillment of all his promises to them, even eternal life; and in this faith follow Jesus as Lord and obey his teachings?

• Insert these same promises in the bulletin to reinforce a Biblical vision of parenting for the whole congregation. The pastor can invite all parents silently to re-commit these promises.

• After the parents have confirmed their promises, the pastor can pray a prayer of dedication.

Prayer of Dedication

(child’s name), together with your parents, who love you dearly, and this people who care about the outcome of your faith, I dedicate you to God, surrendering together with them all worldly claims upon your life, in the hope that you will belong wholly to God for ever.

• After the ceremony, the pastor can present parents with a Child’s Bible, a certificate, and a pastoral letter to give the child on his 12th birthday.

Sample of a Pastoral Letter:

Name of Church
Address of Church (City, State Zip)
Date of Dedication Service
Infant’s Full Name

Dear (child’s first name)

I would like to wish you a Happy Birthday today. I am writing this letter to you on the day that your Parents dedicated you to the Lord at (church name). As you read this letter, you are celebrating your 12th birthday. I hope today is a special day for you.

God blessed you with two very special parents. They prayed for you during your mother’s pregnancy. Earlier today at your dedication, I reminded your parents of their responsibility to provide you with a home that would honor Christ.

As a church, we prayed that you would grow up to know and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

Up to this point, your parents have made most of your life’s important decisions. Now you are 12 years old, and there is one decision that only you can make. You alone must accept Jesus as your personal Savior. If you have already done this, I pray that you will continue to grow, as a Christian and that, you will stay close to Jesus in your years ahead.

May God bless you on this special Birthday.

In Christ’s love,
Pastor’s Name

Consider having a special day to promote attendance by recognizing all teachers. (Public school, Christian school, University, etc) You could plan this day for the spring or fall.

• Announce two or three weeks in advance that the church will have a Teacher-Appreciation Sunday.
• Encourage everyone to invite a teacher for that day.
• On the special day, have all the visiting teachers sit in a reserved section. (The person who invites a teacher could sit in that section with him)
• Pastor could speak briefly about the appreciation the church has for the teachers and how difficult their jobs might be.
• Have each teacher stand, give his name and the department and class he teaches. As the teacher stands, have someone ready to present the teacher with a wrapped gift. (Gifts should be of a spiritual benefit to teachers such as a Bible, a one-volume commentary of the Bible, a Bible dictionary, or a picture with a spiritual theme)
• Pastor could then offer a prayer of dedication and thanksgiving for all the teachers.

Quotes about Teachers

Matthew 18:5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

A great teacher is a great artist; his medium is not canvas, but the human soul.

A Good Teacher is like a candle; it consumes itself to light the way for others.

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.     ~Dan Rather

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings.

The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires.    ~ William A. Ward

One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.    ~ Forest Witcraft

When God created teachers, He gave us special friends to help us understand His world and truly comprehend the beauty and the wonder of everything we see, and become a better person with each discovery.

God understood our thirst for knowledge, and our need to be led by someone wiser;  He needed a heart of compassion, of encouragement and patience; Someone who would accept the challenge regardless of the opposition; Someone who could see potential and believe in the best in others… So He made teachers     ~ Unknown