Ideas That Work
January 1, 2004
Shelter in the Storm
Chaparral Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas, has turned tornado warnings into ministry opportunities. When a number of mobile homes were moved into their neighborhood, the church surveyed owners about their needs. The response was a tornado shelter. When the church built an activity center, they included a basement that could be used for that purpose. Five members who live nearby were given keys so they could open the shelter when the tornado warning is sounded. More than 100 people came at the first warning.
Marked for Life
After many weeks of volunteer construction in our chapel, we were ready for the carpet layers to cover the plywood subfloor we had nailed in place. But before they did, during a worship service, we invited the people to think about what they hoped Jesus would do in this room. After a few minutes, ushers passed out permanent markers, and we turned people loose to write that request on the floor. They wrote the names of family members who would sit in the seats, and teens (under the back row) who would become the next generation of church leaders. Where couples would stand to be married, someone wrote, "marriages that last—and bless."
Several weeks later, a visitor said, "Hey, my name was written on your floor!" And soon, we will wed a couple who visited on marker-Sunday, who have since come to Christ and want to be the first married on that spot.
Let Sabbath be Sabbath
Sundays were wearing us out. For several years, we had preached about the busy-ness of our culture, only the discover that we were contributing to that. Sundays were busier than weekdays. So we declared a day of rest. One Sunday each month, we share a meal after the morning service, Afterward we dismiss for the rest of ...
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