At First Assembly of God on Friday, July 11, locals crowded the small church parking lot, picking out backpacks, clothes and other goodies made available by four people who came together to give back to Blythe.
Praying everyday for the past four weeks at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., Cyndi Silvas said her and Pastor Clifford Short and Pastor Greg Terrazas sought the Lord on how they could work together for the good of the community.
“We’ve been praying for something like this,”Silvas said, “but we only had the clothes.”
Thanks to a brother in Christ by the name Hector, a Blythe resident who helped the trio receive 200 backpacks from Abundant Life Church in Indio, after their donation of 1,000 backpacks in the area, First Assembly of God and Church of God’s vision came to life.
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Giving back to the people of Blythe, the church yard was packed with an overflow of many grateful hearts taking home backpacks packed with school supplies, soap, clothes in baby, small children, women and men’s sizes and baby formula.
However, before anyone was able to leave, households were fed a free spaghetti dinner, including buttered toast and corn.
As some parents shook the hands of the church leaders and shared just how thankful they were, because of the nice things the church were doing, one resident said she was very happy to be able to start the school year, by finally having everything checked off her list.
“This shows that churches can come together, no matter the denomination and work together for the good of our community,” Short shared with the Times. “It’s all about the community and we always wanna try to do something.”
“We kept saying we have to do something, we need to do something to bless the people, and God expanded what we even thought of doing,” Silvas
Although the history of Haslett Community Church may not be as long and storied as other churches, it is nevertheless a rich history. The roots of our community church began to grow on March 23, 1954 when several persons met at the home of Conrad and Rose Haney to discuss the need for a new church in Haslett. An open meeting was held at the Township Hall on March 31, 1954 to plan for a church. At that meeting, forty-nine people elected a steering committee and planned for services. One month and two days later on April 25, 1954, and one week after Easter, one hundred forty five people attended the first worship service and Sunday school above the old Township Hall and fire station on the northeast corner of Haslett and Okemos Roads. For the first year or so, guest ministers provided most of the sermons. Occasionally there would be a fire call and the siren would blow, interrupting the service. This always delighted the young children.
"Matthew." Serendipity Bible for Groups: New International Version. 3rd ed. Ed. Lyman Coleman. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998. 1326-1377.
Chapter 1 of Amazing Grace opens with a startling fact. It tells the reader that when one boards the Number 6 train from Manhattan to the South Bronx on East 59th Street "you are in the seventh richest congressional district in the nation." When you get off the train on Brook Avenue just eighteen minutes later "you are in the poorest." Brook Avenue is in Mott Haven, which has a population of 48,000. They make up the neediest people in the South Bronx. The average household income is $7,600; thirty-five percent of the people who live there are children. The neighborhood's focal point seems to be St. Ann's Church. Considering that these people are the poorest of the poor they have an amazing abundance of faith. Crack-cocaine and heroin addiction run rampant, ...
...al Church in Philadelphia, were a way founded by former slaves to locate their family members. It was a big step forward and meant freedom for many backs.
“What is the Cooperative Program?” Cooperative Program: Love in Action. Southern Baptist Convention, n.d. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.
E.M. Bounds wrote a wonderful book devoted to prayer entitled Power Through Prayer. This book encourages the preacher to become a true prayer warrior. E.M. Bounds has written many books on prayer, encouraging Christians to devote their life to prayer. Since the writer is coming from a preacher background himself, one can clearly see the passion he has for prayer in his life. Fellow preachers will hopefully be encouraged by this and want to devote their life to prayer, so that they will better their preaching. Bounds exemplifies through his work that preaching has no power without prayer. He also sets forth the idea that prayer is the life-giving force behind our work for God. In reading this book, it inspires one to pray more and be able to be more effective in their ministry.
It is apparent that the issues are similar at Willow Creek and New Hope, as both have experienced great growth. They are addressing these issues by adding additional services and by assignment of small groups or small ministries to meet their congregation's needs. They have been successful in addressing the issue based on each church's individual needs. Willow Creek has added services to accommodate the service seekers or the un-churched. New Hope attempts to match congregation member's needs through joining auxiliaries or other ministries of the church.
My first visit was a simple observation visit. I met with Gary and Dina at the Kingdom Hall for the 1pm Bible Talk service and the Wa...
... We accept the challenge to work at restoring God’s overall design. Moved by faith in God, we commit ourselves to promote the healing that rises at one as well as the other private and environmental levels from integrated lives dedicated to serve God and humanity.
An example of this movement is at the First Baptist Fellowship Church in Pine Bluff, where aggressive steps have been taken to introduce the youth to the teachings of Christianity. Youth pastor Chris Meyer says that in the past seven years the inrolment of the youth has grown from around Fifty to over two hundred as of February 1999. Meyer says “ The membership in our youth program began to explode in such a short time that the church didn’t have a place big enough to hold them.” Of the two hundred or so young people (ages 14-24) 25% of them come from Pine Bluff’s low income black population. Most of the black children came to the church by way of the Light House, a old bakery in the middle of the black majority neighborhoods that the Church set up to counsel people in the poor part of town. Meyer says “ kids began to hang around the ce...
As my friend Jenni and I entered the hall of the big church, a feeling of apprehension overwhelmed us. Our feelings were soon comforted when we entered a sea of smiling faces and outstretched hands. A sense of belonging engulfed us. Ms. Shirley, an older colored woman was first to extend her arms. She did not know us from Adam, but it did not matter. She threw her arms around us. "You girls have the prettiest smiles", she declared. "I am so glad you came to be with us this morning." Words can not describe what the act of kindness did to our feelings of apprehension, and that was just the beginning.
The churches in the world play a huge role in the determination to access of food, clean water, and shelter. No matter what religious affiliation, people will donate money to churches to help this growing problem that has arisen. This is important because churches are a good way to give those in need the supplies they need. The churches give the money raised by the offerings that people donate. This is effective because there are so many churches around the world. If most people donate a little bit of money, a substantial amount of people will be helped. The Christ House is a p...
His church is a “good sized” suburban church that has been around for 295 years. He describes the parishioners as having a “broad tent” of theological views. This congregation is open to new ideas and re-visiting the old. They appear to be carrying out intentional missional work in their community
My interactions with Jim left me with a number of questions that I continue to struggle with to this day. What does hospitality look like for those who profess to be Christians? Should Christians be trying to work harder towards better relationships with the other and those who believe differently than us? Is pluralism a plausible concept? What is my role as a pastor in leading the congregation in a time of Joys and concerns? As a pastor, how do I respond to Jim’s claims when I feel so passionately about interfaith relations? Who is my neighbor? The main focus of this project will be the challenge that Christians face to be witnesses of their faith in an increasingly pluralistic world. To examine these issues and questions, I will be looking at them from a wide variety of lenses including scriptural, theological, doctrinal, historical, and pastoral care.
During our little stroll down the hill toward the lake to God Is Here,' my campers were chatting and giggling. "What is God Is Here?" asked Megan. "It's a spot just down a ways overlooking the lake. There is a huge wooden cross behind a place for a campfire. Printed evenly in yellow paint across is the phrase God Is Here.' This is the place where 4 people prayed Lutherdale into being." We joined the 75 plus campers on the ten foot 2x4s. During Alpha, it is a time to motivate all the campers for the day and introduce the theme.