Sharing together at the Circle Church evening services, we related individual needs in an unhurried manner to what had been read.
The open Sunday evenings were a most refreshing interlude, such as holiday weekends when students were away and family plans were in order. Especially appreciated were these times with the children and simply to relax.
On occasion, instead of having a service of our own, we will encourage our people to attend another church. This gives them a healthy perspective as to the value of other congregations, and also of our own.
On one occasion, members signed up with Pastor Hilliard to go to a black church and participate in that service. During an extended citywide crusade, such as one conducted by Billy Graham or Tom Skinner, we canceled all our evening services and encouraged attendance at their afternoon rallies.
Feeling keenly the presence of many internationals in our midst, we thought it would be helpful if we had a better understanding of their basic religious tenets. Instead of inviting Christian “experts” to share what they knew about these different world religions, we asked actual representatives of these faiths to talk with us.
Four Indian students represented Hinduism. Another evening a priest from the Chicago Buddhist temple came. And, on yet another occasion, a Muslim messenger issued a rather high-powered invitation. We felt the entire time had enhanced our appreciation of the thought patterns of our visitors from foreign lands. Later we were delighted by the presence of Father Mike Murphy, a seminarian, who dialogued with us for three weeks on Catholicism.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about? Or, what will you preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon? David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions. We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
