UPDATE:
The “Sermon Preparation Guide” by Steve Jussely has been very popular. However, some of you had difficulty downloading the PDF file. Steve now has provided a NotePad document with the same information, and you can find it on the website starting today.
THIS WEEK’S GRAPHICS
Are designed around the phrase “You CAN trust God,” with several Scripture verses to PROVE IT! The graphic is free for use in your non-profit organization’s publications, and can be downloaded at www.timothyreport.com
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Welcome to THE TIMOTHY REPORT for July 26, 2004
“To assist, encourage, enable and equip”
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PREACHER/TEACHER—THIS IS AN EXCELLENT POINT!
"You don't always have to chop with the sword of truth. You can point with it, too." Anne Lamott, in “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.”
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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FOUNDATIONS FOR A HEALTHY CHURCH
Magnolia Baptist Church in Anaheim, California, offered this series of studies in 1998. I thought you might find it helpful to see what they did. The nine-part series focused on “qualities necessary for a church to grow in the 21st century.” Here are the nine parts:
A Heart for the Stranger
A Friendship with God
A Portrayal of Christ
A Passion for Souls
An Uninhibited Worship
A Prevalence of Prayer
An Uncompromised Pulpit
An Enduring Hope
An Attitude of Gratitude
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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(Note: This was sent to me by my beautiful daughter, Jennifer Thomas)
DEAR GOD:
I want to thank you for what you have already done. I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet; I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get a job; I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am going thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier or the challenges are removed; I am thanking you right now.
I am thanking you because I am alive.
I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties.
I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles.
I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better.
I am thanking you because you have not given up on me.
--Author Unknown
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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PASSION IN YOUR LIFE
The absence of passion results in a grim pallor over our lies, the absence of highs and lows. When there is no passion, we live our lives in the smoky fog of sameness. Life loses its distinctions and we no longer see the nuances, the tiny differences. We no longer feel our feelings. They become dull and insensitive. Life without passion is life without texture, contrast, and depth. We walk through life trancelike, going through the motions of living, emotionless, getting through each day, getting by, ending our lives lost and directionless, busy doing something that turns out to be nothing, focusing on what doesn’t matter, missing what does.
--Michael Yaconellli, in “Dangerous Wonder,” NavPress, 1998, 2003, pp. 108-109
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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SERVICE
God might want you to extend his love by offering to baby-sit for the single parent down the street. He might want you to prepare a hearty meal for that lonely old man who lost his wife -- and to sit and visit with him while he eats. Who knows, he might even want you to reach out and touch the life of a total stranger in some way you can't imagine right now. Are you willing to set aside your own comfort to touch someone else with God's love?
--Amy Nappa in "A Woman's Touch"
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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DISAPPOINTMENT
The next time you’re disappointed, don’t panic and don’t give up. Just be patient and let God remind you He’s still in control.
--Max Lucado
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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AMAZINGLY SIMPLE DECISIONS
In 1847, a boy named Homan Walsh went out to fly a kite. Homan was taking part in a kite-flying contest, so he brought his best kite, and plenty of string.
He stood on the Canadian bank of the Niagara River, letting more and more of that string go out, and his little-boy’s kite kept going higher, and higher, and higher ... until it stretched nearly 1,000 feet. When a stranger on the American side of the Niagara Gorge grabbed Homan’s string, the crowd that had gathered let up a mighty roar. For the first time in history, people on opposite sides of this great gorge were holding onto the same string. And Homan won $5, the top prize in the contest.
There was much more than $5 at stake, however. In short order, the string was tied to a tree on the American shoreline, and a light cord tied to the Canadian end of the string. The cord was then pulled across the 800-foot span. A rope was tied to the cord, and pulled safely across. To the rope was attached a wire cable, and to the cable, a thicker cable attached. It was the beginning of an engineering victory over one of the greatest natural barriers that had separated Americans and Canadians.
Fifty-foot towers were built on each side of the river, and more cables became a part of the picture. In time, people rode across the river in buckets, for $1 each, and then they walked on a foot bridge for a quarter. But less than a year after Homan’s kite first flew across the river, people were safely riding their horse-drawn carriages across the Niagara, on a marvelous suspension bridge that hung 220 feet over the rushing water.
Eventually, there were 15 bridges that spanned the Niagara, six of which are in use today. The thousands of passengers that travel across the multi-lane, high-speed bridges today think nothing of the bridge, some of them so familiar with the path, they barely glance at the scenic view. More than likely, it has never occurred to most of those on the great bridges today that somewhere in the past, just to get this modern-day miracle under way, somebody had to fly a kite.
If great bridges can get their start with a boy’s kite and string, then I’ll tell you that great spiritual experiences can get their start with amazingly simple decisions.
--Andy Cook
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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PREACHING: YARD ROCKS BECOME DIAMONDS
Preaching is … more than art or science. It is alchemy, in which tin becomes gold and yard rocks become diamonds under the influence of the Holy Spirit. It is a process of transformation for both preacher and congregation alike, as the ordinary details of their everyday lives are translated into extraordinary elements of God’s ongoing creation.
--Barbara Brown Taylor
(NOTE: On more than one occasion, I have watched as the Holy Spirit transformed my lowly “yard rocks” into diamonds that reflected the Father’s glory. Remembering those times when He has done this when I step into the pulpit to deliver God’s message for the congregation He has entrusted to me casts a holy awe over the moment.)
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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HUMOR: HONEST IN SPEECH
A woman rushes to see her doctor, looking very much worried and all strung out. She rattles off, "Doctor, take a look at me. When I woke up this morning, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw my hair all wiry and frazzled up, my skin was all wrinkled and pasty, my eyes were blood-shot and bugging out, and I had this corpse-like look on my face! What's wrong with me, Doctor?"
The doctor looks her over for a couple of minutes, then calmly says, "Well, I can tell you that there isn't anything wrong with your eyesight."
(NOTE: have you ever been in a position like that doctor was? “What did you think of that solo, Pastor?” “Here is that special recipe you love so much!” “I just know you’re going to like this.” And what you really want to do is tell the truth, but you can’t without hurting someone. It is not always a good idea to blurt out whatever comes to your mind. Saying, “Well, if I think it I might as well say it” doesn’t excuse you or anyone else from the hurt and pain your words could cause. –Rocky Henriques)
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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PAIN IN THE FAMILY
One day, two monks were walking through the countryside. They were on their way to another village to help bring in the crops. As they walked, they spied an old woman sitting at the edge of a river. She was upset because there was no bridge, and she could not get across on her own. The first monk kindly offered, "We will carry you across if you would like." "Thank you," she said gratefully, accepting their help. So the two men joined hands, lifted her between them and carried her across the river. When they got to the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way.
After they had walked another mile or so, the second monk began to complain. "Look at my clothes," he said. "They are filthy from carrying that woman across the river. And my back still hurts from lifting her. I can feel it getting stiff." The first monk just smiled and nodded his head.
A few more miles up the road, the second monk griped again, "My back is hurting me so badly, and it is all because we had to carry that silly woman across the river! I cannot go any farther because of the pain." The first monk looked down at his partner, now lying on the ground, moaning. "Have you wondered why I am not complaining?" he asked. "Your back hurts because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles ago."
That is what many of us are like in dealing with our families. We are that second monk who cannot let go. We hold the pain of the past over our loved ones' heads like a club, or we remind them every once in a while, when we want to get the upper hand, of the burden we still carry because of something they did years ago.
--Tony T. Evans, "Guiding Your Family in a Misguided World"
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
July 26, 2004)
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