Questions to Ask Before Preaching a Sermon

Discussion of the importance of asking the question to communicate the message of God more powerfully.

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Kevin

Fresh Air for a Desert People

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fresh-air-desert-people-tom-sims-pyvic/

Say More in Less Time - The Two-and-a-Half Minute Version of a Thirty-Minute Sermon

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/say-more-less-time-two-half-minute-version-thirty-sermon-tom-sims-sxycc/

Building a Church Web Page

Advice on building a church web page.


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Kevin Rayner

Facebook

Facebook: The Good and Bad of Social Networking in Ministry

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Make it a great day,
Kevin Rayner
Highland Church of Christ
Tecumseh, Ok

Ideas for Honoring Graduates

Ideas for Honoring Graduates

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Make it a great day,
Kevin Rayner

Great book
How to Stay Christian at College

How To Maintain Your Faith After Being Fired as a Minister

How To Maintain Your Faith After Being Fired as a Minister

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Kevin

How To Be A Better Youth Minister

How To Be A Better Youth Minister

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Have a great day!
Kevin

How to Find a Publisher

How to Find a Publisher

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to listen online, go to this link.

Make it a great day,
Kevin

Thought provoking interview with LaGard Smith

Resource to download and listen to with F LaGard Smith

or try this link

Prayer: Empty Chair

A woman's daughter had asked the local minister

to come and pray with her mother.

When the minister arrived,

he found the woman lying in bed with her head

propped up on two pillows.

An empty chair sat beside her bed.

The minister assumed that the woman

had been informed of his visit.

'I guess you were expecting me", he said.

'No, who are you?' asked the mother.

The minister told her his name and then remarked,

'I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew

 I was going to show up..'

'Oh yes, the chair,' said the bedridden woman.
'Would you mind closing the door?'

Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

'I have never told anyone this,

not even my daughter,' said the woman.

'But all of my life I have never

known how to pray.

At church I used to hear the minister talk about prayer,

but it went right over my head.'

I abandoned any attempt at prayer,'

the old woman continued, '

until one day four years ago,

when my best friend said to me,

 ' Prayer is just a simple matter

of having a conversation with Jesus

Here is what I suggest.

'Sit down in a chair;

place an empty chair in front of you,
and in faith see Jesus sitting there.

It's not spooky because he promised,

'I will be with you always'.
'Then just speak to him in the same way

you're doing with me right now.'

'So, I tried it and I've liked it so much

that I do it a couple of hours every day.

I'm careful though,

if my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair,

she'd either have a nervous breakdown

or send me off to the funny farm.'

The minister was deeply moved by the story and

encouraged the old woman to continue on the journey.

Then he prayed with her,

and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called

to tell the minister that her mama

had died that afternoon.

Did she die in peace?' he asked.

Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock,

she called me over to her bedside, and

told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek.
When I got back from the store an hour later,

I found her ..

But there was something strange about her death.

Apparently, just before Mom died,

she leaned over and rested her head on the chair

beside the bed. What do you make of that?'

The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,

'I hope we can all go like that.'

Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive.

I asked God for water, He gave me an ocean. 

I asked God for a flower, He gave me a garden.
I asked God for a friend, He gave me all of YOU...
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

Happy moments, praise God.
Difficult moments, seek God.
Quiet moments, worship God
Painful moments, trust God
Every moment, thank God.

HOLY EMAIL

One day God was looking down at earth and saw all of the rascally behavior that was going on. So He called one of His angels and sent the angel to earth for a time.

When he returned, he told God, 'Yes, it is bad on earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.

God thought for a moment and said, 'Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion.'

So God called another angel and sent him to earth for a time. When the angel returned he went to God and said, 'Yes, it's true. The earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good.'

God was not pleased. So He decided to e-mail the 5% who were good, because he wanted to encourage them, and give them a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what the e-mail said?




Okay, I was just wondering, because I didn't get one either.

Prodigal Son in Key of F

Prodigal Son in Key of F
------------------------------------

Feeling footloose and frisky, a featherbrained fellow
forced his fond father to fork over his farthings. He
flew far to foreign fields and frittered his fortune,
feasting fabulously with faithless friends.

Finally facing famine and fleeced by his
fellows-in-folly, he found himself a feed flinger in a
filthy farmyard. Fairly famished, he fain would have
filled his frame with foraged food from the fodder
fragments.

"Fooey, my father's flunkies fare far fancier," the
frazzled fugitive fumed feverishly, frankly facing
facts.

Frustrated by failure and filled with foreboding, he
fled forthwith to his family. Falling at his father's
feet, he floundered forlornly, "Father, I have flunked
and fruitlessly forfeited family favor."

But the faithful father, forestalling further
flinching, frantically flagged the flunkies to fetch
forth the finest fatling and fix a feast.

The fugitive's fraternal faultfinder frowned on the
fickle forgiveness of former folderol. His fury
flashed, but fussing was futile.

The farsighted father figured, "Such filial fidelity
is fine, but what forbids fervent festivity for the
fugitive is found. Unfurl the flags with flaring, let
fun and frolic freely flow. Former failure is
forgotten, folly forsaken. Forgiveness forms the
foundation for future fortune."

Sistine Chapel Link

Very amazing.

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

U.S. Capitol Tour with David Barton

Work of Shepherds

Holy Spirit Elders: God's Way to a Dynamic Church
I have heard that Harold Taylor's book on "Holy Spirit Elders" God's Way to a Dynamic Church, is a good book. What other books or resources would you recommend supplementing the Bible?

Also, They Smell Like Sheep.

Walking The Narrow Road

Book written on conversion to Christ call, "Walking The Narrow Road." by Kathleen Cobb

Rough Landing

An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy, which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, give a smile, and a "Thanks for flying XYZ airline." He said that in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment, but no one seemed annoyed. Finally everyone had gotten off except for one little old lady walking with a cane. She approached and asked, conspiratorially, "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?" "Why no Ma'am, what is it?" "Did we land or were we shot down?"

Gaius and Diotrephes

Gaius and Diotrephes belong to the same church (3 John). But that is about all they have in common. They do not possess the same spirit, nor do they exemplify the same truth before the world.

The egotist feels if he hadn't been born, the world would wonder why. Diotrephes felt this way. He believed that "for me to live is to make myself important."

Gaius is more than esteemed. He is truly loved, and loved for the truth's sake. Gais and Demetrius were men who followed Jesus in expressions of love, which were shown in tangible service. Gaius is a man who is spiritually healthy. John's prayer is that he might enjoy the same degree of bodily health that his soul enjoys. The triumph of his soul in great principles is so large that it far overshadows his physical well being. Happy is the man of whom this can be said. Gaius was among those who rendered service to the brethren, especially strangers. He helped by supporting those in God's work, and thus became a fellow worker in the truth. His life was true, and he followed the truth. Thus John writes, "No greater joy can I have than this, to hear that my children follow the truth."

Diotrephes is a bird of a different feather. Above everything else Diotrephes likes to put himself first. He is so bold that he will not even acknowledge the authority of the apostle John. John says that he is "prating against me with evil words." Who then is safe from the strife of tongues? If reviling is the one talent you have, then I suggest you bury it. Yes, there are church members like Diotrephes today -- there always has been a likely will always be. They give Christianity a bad name. Remember there are also Christians like Gaius ans Demetrius.

One should not imagine that he is a person of influence simply because he has the power of destruction. If power it be, it is the lowest power. Hindering good movements and abusing good men is nothing to take pride in.

Every man has it within his power to be a Gaius or a Diotrephes. "Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God" (3 John 11).

Unity

Unity

http://highlandcoc.podomatic.com/entry/2010-07-22T21_09_22-07_00

The Divided Church

https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2022/october/divided-church.html

Book of Titus Research

French

France is the fourth leading economic power in the world, and French is the second most spoken language in the world.  However:

19% of France call themselves atheists.

Only 16% of France believe that there is one true religion.

France is called "the graveyard for missionaries."

World-Renowned Harvard-Trained Eye Surgeon Comes to Faith

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/85Glqq_JRSQ?feature=share