MINISTRY

A RANDOM SPLIT OF A DAY: A Funeral, Founder’s Day and the Relay For Life

/ joseph elon lillie / 4 Comments

I was describing the job of a minister to a friend the other day. It is not like most jobs. It’s the ultimate split shift rotation. I start in the early morning and then take a break for breakfast and to walk the dogs. Then I usually have some morning work to do. Then I take a break for lunch (usually I go home and walk the dogs during that time). Then I have an afternoon commitment of some kind and always more prayer. Then I take another break sometimes I get to work around the house and the garden and then it’s more prayer and sometimes an evening commitment.

Today for instance. I started with prayer around 4 A.M. and prayed for a few hours. Then Amanda and I had a funeral to attend for a dear lady we know through disabilities ministry .

Anne-Marie was a wonderful woman of faith and Amanda and I were blessed to be able to attend her funeral. We stayed for the reception and got to catch up with many church friends from the area.

Then it was back home to meet up with Joe and Kristine and Sevy. They had an open house to attend in a neighboring town this morning. The house was not something they were very interested in but they keep looking and waiting for the right thing to come along.

Kristine, Sevy and I then headed out to one of the two big events going on today. It’s Founder’s Day in Winchendon.

And Relay For Life in Gardner. We had church staff and leaders at both. The Prayer Shawl Ministry gave out 64 shawls at the Relay!

Meanwhile we had several of our members working as volunteers at the Founder’s Day event.

I was just an attendee at the Founder’s Day, but I had some great opportunities to chat with people from town including one of my classmates, and one of the police sergeants whom I have known since childhood.

Then I went home to do a bit of gardening and to put together my devotional video for the church and to get myself ready for church tomorrow morning

I opened up the bushes next to the drive a bit.

I have one more prayer session for bed. It’s been a wonderful day!

WHAT’S ON YOUR AGENDA FOR THIS WEEKEND?

Prepare Your Hope Pt. 1

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This year our church has been given direction from God that we are to fast and pray that we would be prepared. We have been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I am breaking these seven prepare statements into 21 weekly devotionals. This is week 16.

Prepare your hope and faith( think hope, speak hope, act in hope).

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Hope is not a wish. It is a confident assurance in a certain future. It is big picture thinking. Our hope is not in this present age. Our hope is not in this present kingdom. Our hope is not in this present culture. Our hope is in the sure and certain future Jesus has promised us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.JOHN 3:16,17

the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 PETER 3: 10-18

To think hope means to contemplate the coming of this future kingdom. It means to put away thoughts that get us stuck in this present time of trouble and turmoil.

WHAT DOES THINKING IN HOPE LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

PREPARE YOUR WITNESS PT. 3

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This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

These seven prepare statements will each be broken down into three brief devotionals. We are currently on devotional number 15.

 Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example).

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We are being called to build relationships within our wider community. The easiest way to build those relationships and share our example is according to our gifts. “Gifts” is what the Bible calls them. In today’s terms we would probably use the words “personality traits” instead of the word “gifts”. We are not talking about talents or abilities like guitar playing or being good at football. We certainly aren’t talking about Christmas presents or birthday presents. We are talking about our character traits.

We will build relationships easily when we build them while going with the grain of our character. Let’s talk about the 7 most prominent “gifts” or “personality/ character traits.”

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12: 6-8

Last week we talked about prophesying, serving and teaching. Let’s talk about the last four “gifts” today.

The Encourager’s personality- is focused on helping people reach their potential or achieve their personal goals. The encourager approaches life with a “can do” mentality. The encourager is an idea person who sees the steps between point A and point Z in a person’s life and he helps people to see what they can do to take those steps.

The Giver’s Personality– is focused on resourcing. The question the giver asks is “What do you need?” Not only does she try to find out what is needed, the giver is talented in finding the resources necessary and connecting those resources to the person who has the need

The Leader’s personality– is focused on building a team that will be able to accomplish the work ahead. They are good at laying plans and executing those plans, but he is not the ones who carry out the plans. Often the leader is not even the one who gets the credit. This type of leader prefers to work behind the senes as long as the ones he works with see him for who he really is. The first question he often asks is, “Who do we need to help us.” The leader is the organizational people mover of a community. 

The Mercy Giver’s Personality- The mercy giver is the healer of a community. Her first question is generally “How can I make this better or more comfortable for the people involved?” These are the folks who, when you are in trouble, will bring you a casserole and watch your kids while you take a much needed nap. Often the mercy giver looks just like a servant on the outside, but she differs in that the servant is only concerned with “Did I do something help?” The Mercy giver is concerned with “Did what I do make the person feel better?”

DO YOU RECOGNIZE YOURSELF IN ANY OF THESE “GIFTS”?

You Know It’s Spring When…

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THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO DAWN’S FESTIVAL OF SPRING 2024 WEEK#8. You can see all the festival contributions by clicking that link.

You know it is Spring when all the churches have their “All Church Spring Cleaning Gathering.”

Ours was today, and the congregation showed up!

We planted the front prayer garden.

We trimmed the bushes in the front and on the sides of the church.

We power washed the North side of the church and the back deck getting that ready for sealing.

We raked the playground.

We put in some base board.

We sanded the men’s bathroom getting it ready for painting.

We Spring cleaned the children’s closets.

It was a very productive Spring cleaning.

PREPARE YOUR WITNESS PT. 2

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

In 2024 God has given us direction that we are to fast and pray that we would be prepared. We have been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I have broken these seven prepare statements into 21 daily devotionals which I am posting here on Mondays. This is week 14.

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DAY 14: Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example).

Last week we talked about earning the right to speak by building relationships with the people all around us. We talked about being an example of Jesus love to all men. The easiest way to build relationships and share our example is according to our gifts. “Gifts” is what the Bible calls them. In today’s terms we would probably use the words “personality traits” instead of the word “gifts”. We are not talking about talents or abilities like guitar playing or being good at football. We certainly aren’t talking about Christmas presents or birthday presents. We are talking about our character traits.

We will build relationships easily when we build them while going with the grain of our character. Let’s talk about the 7 most prominent “gifts” or “personality/ character traits.”

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12: 6-8

The Prophet’s personality- is focused on what goes on under the surface. They are sensitive to people’s emotions and spiritual conditions. Prophet’s should focus on building relationships out of their empathy and desire to see people grow emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Prophets love to sit and have deep conversations based on feelings and thoughts. They love helping people bring context to their feelings.

The Servant’s Personality– is focused on helping. “How can I help?” is the servant’s natural and desired first response. The servant builds relationship by helping people where they need it. It is often what they do not what they say that causes people to know and love them.

The Teacher’s personality– is focused on helping people acquire knowledge. The teacher builds relationships best with people who want to learn. Teachers do well when they are helping someone discover something new in life.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE YOURSELF IN ANY OF THESE “GIFTS”? IF NOT DO NOT WORRY THERE ARE MORE GIFTS TO COME.

SHARING MY WORLD FROM APRIL 22ND ON APRIL 26TH 2024

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THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO PENSITIVITY 101’S WEEKLY SHARE YOUR WORLD CHALLENGE.

You can click the link above to go and see how other bloggers answered the challenge.

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS AND MY ANSWERS:

1. Have you ever attended a First Aid Course? It has been years but there was a time I was First Aid/ CPR/MED and RBV trained for my job. Those trainings served me well in working with the disabled population in my area.
2. Apart from grazed knees and applying a band aid, have you ever applied First Aid? Actually my First Aid training was some of the least utilized training I had. I used my Med certification all the time and my RBV (responding to violent behavior and deescalation) training a lot.
3. Are you squeamish about the sight of blood? No blood doesn’t bother me.
4. How far away is the nearest hospital? The nearest hospital is 15 minutes from my house and about 5 minutes up the road from the church. Living in Massachusetts we are blessed to have many hospitals close by. I know that is not the case with many locations in New Hampshire and Vermont or even Maine. I remember when one of my parishioners broke her hip in a nursing home up in New Hampshire they had to transfer her to Hartford CT for surgery.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS THURSDAY

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Today would normally be the day on which I posted my Festival of Spring 2024 post, but this has not been a normal week, or maybe it is just the new normal.

Since Mom has passed we have all been relearning how to live life. Many of the folks in church told me that care-giving to the end of life, left the care-giver with a sense of identity loss, when all was said and done. I thought I believed them when they said it. I thought I knew what they meant. I also thought I had bolstered myself against that very thing by being “pastor”. I realize now, that it did not work as well as I had hoped. Maybe it worked as best as it could. Maybe like the rest of the grief process, coming to our new identities, apart from being Mom’s caregiver, is just going to take time and be a several step journey.

All that to say, I am not doing my Festival of Spring Post today. I will probably do that tomorrow. Today I will just blather on a bit about our lost identity.

In the last weeks we have had to relearn that someone does not always have to be home. The whole family can go out together whenever we want because no one has to sit with Mom. It actually took us about three days to figure that out and it still feels strange to do it, almost like a betrayal. It feels even stranger to come home to an empty house.

Learning silence is another part of this new identity. I had not realized it until I cancelled cable and shut the television off but the TV has been on for the better part of a decade from 7 AM until 10 PM everyday. Mom liked the noise and never wanted it off. We got used to eating our meals to the sound of “Murder She Wrote” or “Perry Mason”. The first time we gathered around the table for dinner, and the television was not on, there was this deep sense of peace and breath and a weird finality that felt at odds with the table conversation. I guess I thought I would be struggling with who I was or who I was going to become in this new phase of life. It’s not really that at all. I have plenty to do and I don’t really feel like I am a whole new person. Rather I am struggling with how to be in the world. I feel like I have a pretty good grip on who I am. It is the new world of silence and emptiness that feels alien to me.

PREPARE FOR THE STORM PART 3

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This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I am breaking down these seven prepare statements into three daily devotionals which I am sharing on Mondays for twenty one weeks. This is week number 12.

PREPARE FOR THE STORM (PRAY FOR ACTION PLANS, PRAY FOR A SPIRIT OF PERSEVERANCE)

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In this final devotional thought about preparing for the storm let’s finish our pass by of Matthew 24.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.Ma. 24:3-14

The storm ahead will involve great upheavals in nature and the economies of the world. It will be an increasing softening of the strength of nations to set up the world for the coming of anti-Christ. In the midst of that softening the gospel and those who carry it will become increasingly unpopular. In all of this our job does not change. We must bear witness to the truth of Jesus.

PRAY FOR THE ABILITY TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE GOSPEL IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLE.