Norm L.

Church Letter to Discouraged Christian

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Discouraged Christian

I understand that you are going through a difficult time right now, and I wanted to encourage you that God cares about you very much, and His desire is for you to find peace and joy in Him. This world can be a sad and scary place at times. We must remember that this world is not our home, and that even in the midst of the worst day of our lives, God is still in control. We don’t always understand why He lets certain things happen the way they do, but we must trust Him.

Job gives us a beautiful example of trusting God through even the most difficult of times. Remember that Job had lost everything that was dear to him. He had been stripped of his wealth, lost all of his children and then even his health was failing. And then Job, amazing servant of God, spoke these words: Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him – Job 13:15 (KJV) It is not easy to have that type of faith, but we must try. Whatever you are going through, Jesus understands. The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every single way that we are tempted (Hebrews 4:15 KJV). That includes fear, depression, loneliness and discouragement.

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Friends and Family Day Invitation Letter

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Dear (FIRST NAME),

I write briefly to inform you of a very special day of ministry and outreach we will be having here at First Christian Church on Sunday October 15, 200_ in the morning service(s).

We will be hosting a “Friends And Family” day, and we are encouraging all members and adherents to think of at least 1 or more friends or family members to invite to attend church with you. The best invitation of course, would be to a person or family who does not attend church anywhere at all, however for this special day I am sure the invitations will not be exclusive in this manner.

Statistics have shown that the most effective manner in building Church attendance is by the invitation of a friend or family member. The goal is not just to build Church attendance, but to quite possibly change lives for eternity!

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Discouraged Pastors: Reasons, and How to Find Encouragement in the Midst of Ministry

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8 Reasons Pastors Leave

A major issue within the ranks of pastors is discouragement. One denominational leader, giving oversight to some 125 churches recently wrote that “70-80% of pastors are discouraged, with some being very desperate.” Those estimates are consistent with what others are saying as well.

Ministry obviously takes its toll. Health providers for clergy are aware that an inordinate amount of payouts are going to therapists treating pastors and their families for depression, stress, and related emotional difficulties. Clergy marriages are at risk. Heavy use of alcohol, prescription drugs, and even occasionally, illegal drugs, is not uncommon. The number of highly capable pastors who leave ministry is a sign that this is not a profession that is easy. Ministers feel they have been beaten up long enough and they are getting out. Day-to-day hassles wear pastors down, and conflicts prove to be the refrigerator that breaks the camel’s back.

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8 Reasons Why Pastors Leave

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8 Reasons Pastors Leave

I always used to wonder why pastors leave. If you have attended church for any amount of time, you will probably have experienced this event at least once. There was a stretch, when I was younger, that we had 4 different pastors in a 5 year period. It’s also possible that you have never experienced a pastor resigning and may be asking why.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are 8 reasons I have encountered myself or seen in others:

1. Burn-out

Although you may feel that a pastor has an easy job, there is much more to it than meets the eye. Preaching, teaching, counselling, praying, fasting, visiting, leading, training, and organizing can take a tremendous amount of time and effort. If a pastor doesn’t have a strong ministry team and/or volunteer team then he may find himself in a state of burn-out. Burn-out is when you just hit that brick wall where you have nothing left to give and you realize you have been leading on empty. The book below describes this in great detail from a pastor’s perspective.

2. Discouragement

Pastors take on new works or churches with the goal of succeeding in winning people to Jesus. Any pastor wants to win souls. That goes without saying, but everybody has a different tolerance for timelines for that growth. One man may be working on a 10 year plan while another may expect immediate results. Either way, once they reach the end of that timeline, or even before, if the results aren’t what they expect, discouragement sets in.

Another type of discouragement is not number related. Pastors invest time training, counselling, and working with people to grow their walk with God or their ministry. Sometimes many years are invested and if somebody decides to give up or turns their back on the pastor, it can be very demoralizing.

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4 Reasons to Share your Church Facebook Posts

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Share those posts!

“Share!”

How many times did we hear that growing up as our parents worked to instill the value of sharing with others?  I don’t know about you, but I heard my “share” of instructions to do the right thing and share with my friends, especially when there was something that would be of benefit to both of us.  (Actually, I never really thought sharing a candy bar was a good idea, and still don’t).
On to my main thought, and it concerns the value of sharing or liking the posts your church posts on the church Facebook page.

As we watch our News Feeds on Facebook “feeding” us, and our “ticker” ticking by with story after story, and like after like, and share after share, we can easily see our friends indeed “like” a lot of things!

Value of Sharing Church Facebook PostsSome of the most “liked” pictures are pictures of cats and dogs, as well as the ever present newborns and pictures of grandchildren.  Lately there seems to be a plethora (lot of) pictures of delicious looking food…not such a good thing if you’re trying to lose some weight!

Share The Love!

Your church needs (and appreciates) your help in sharing the news of the church events, and I wanted to take a moment to “share” about 4 points as to why this is something you may want to formulate as a habit as you are “facebooking”!

1.  Gets The News Out Concerning Church Events

Most churches do not have an endless advertising budget, and even if they did, there is nothing quite so powerful as “word of mouth” advertising.  While “sharing” and “liking” on Facebook is hardly the same as sharing the news by “word of mouth”, and neither should it replace it, there is something powerful about your friend seeing that you think enough of the value and importance of your church to share the news with others.

Even churches with large advertising budgets would exchange all of that for a fired up and excited congregation who can’t wait to get out the door to “share” the news of the next great event at the church!

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The 5 Reasons Pastors Do Not Lead Their Churches

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Reasons pastors don't lead their church

THE 5 REASONS PASTORS DO NOT LEAD THEIR CHURCHES

(Guest Article – Credits at bottom)

I know this sounds like an upside down topic but bear with me. Many senior pastors all over the country have the title of Senior Pastor/Leader but many do not have the authority to truly lead the churches they serve. The consequences of this lack of leadership at the local church level are too devastating to ignore.

Many churches are run by outstanding pastor/leaders. Too many, however, forfeit leadership either because of the pastor’s own propensity to not lead or the church’s propensity to usurp leadership from them. Whichever the case, the church suffers.

Here are the five (5) reasons senior pastors don’t lead their churches.

1. The board runs the show and the pastor lets them.
2. The congregation wants to vote on everything and the pastor lets them.
3. The staff runs the show and the pastor lets them.
4. Nobody runs the show and the pastor is one of the nobodies.
5. The pastor leads by consensus – takes a vote on everything from everybody and until everybody agrees.

So which one are you? After you sufficiently get over the shock of thinking of yourself in one or more of these terms give the following recommendations your consideration in navigating to a higher level of leadership in the church you serve.

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Want to Make Your Pastor’s Day? (Great for Pastors Appreciation)

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Thank your Pastor

WANT TO MAKE YOUR PASTOR’S DAY? (GREAT FOR PASTORS APPRECIATION)

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Here are nine quick ways to show your appreciation throughout the entire year… not just Pastors Appreciation Day!

1.  Write a note telling the pastor how good a particular sermon was.

2.  Invite others to church.  Nothing says, “The pastor is doing a great job” louder than asking your friends and business acquaintances to visit.  Be sure to introduce them to the pastor after the service.

3. Pray for your pastor and his family daily.  Take a few minutes to pray with your pastor whenever he is available during the week.  Stop by the church office early enough on Sunday morning to pray briefly before the service.  Or make arrangements to come to the pastor’s house and pray for his entire family.  Make your visit brief.

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