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Sunday School Ministries
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COUNCIL
MEMBERS
(a partial
listing)
Floyd DeVoe
Treasurer
(989) 892-9026
ffdfed@aol.com
Cheryl Rockefeller
Statistician
stats@minaz.org
www.minaz.org/ssm/stats/stats.asp
Call your
zone chairperson by
9:00 p.m. on the last Sunday
of the month.
Marlene Webster
Children’s
Ministries
(989) 723-2229
ocnmarlene@michonline.net
Marilyn Tran
Adult
Ministries
(517) 283-1818
Karen DeFord
Laymen’s
Retreat
(517) 321-5748
Ina Strait
Prime Time
Ministries
(269) 649-4504
ina@inastrait.com
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FROM THE CHAIRMAN:
Here we are at the beginning
of another church year! As we start this fall season, it is a
time to reassess our Sunday school and discipleship ministries.
How are we reaching out to others? How are we doing in
discipling those we have? Are we making sure that the ministries
that we do provide are serving our mission of “… carry(ing) out
the Great Commission to children, youth, and adults in
preparation for a lifetime of Christian holiness?”
I have been struck in the
recent months leading up to District Assembly, and then
especially afterwards by the mandate to be making disciples who
are making more disciples. This has become a real burden for me
in these last several months. Are we (am I?) doing our part to
help others grow deeper in their walk with Christ? You know, if
we were taking care of this, it would resolve a lot of the other
relationship issues that we have in our world and church. I have
been contemplating the book “Making Disciples One Conversation
at a Time” (available from our Nazarene Publishing House) and
this really is how we can most effectively make reproducing
disciples. It is by fully engaging in the forming of deeper
relationships with fellow Christians and being willing to ask
the probing questions to see how each of us are doing.
As I listened to Dr. David
Slamp (author of “Care Rings – Sunday School and Small Groups
side by side”) at the Sunday school convention this year, this
became even clearer to me. We have the tools. We need to be able
to invite people for times of digging deeper into our Sunday
school lessons in a more relaxed setting. Our Sunday school
teachers always say that they don’t have enough time in class,
use a Care Ring from the class to get people more involved and
to go more in depth. Form some deeper friendships, help each
other grow closer to Christ. We really do need each other.
His for a Growing Sunday
School!
- John -
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Children’s Quizzing is
studying Genesis!
With a new school year, comes
a new children’s quiz season. The quizzers will be studying
Genesis this year. This is a great book to start your kids into
the reading and learning of God’s word. For details about the
upcoming quizzes, please contact Tom Hruska at
tomhruska@comcast.net
or visit the Children’s Quiz Web Page at
www.minaz.org/ssm/quizkids |
Don’t forget—Red Carpet Days
are coming up!
This annual event (Sept 27-29)
at Olivet Nazarene University is open to all High school 10th,
11th,
and 12th
graders. This is an event to help introduce our students to OUR
University (recognized as one of the nation’s best university’s
in U.S. News and World Report.) This is a great event.
Information has already been sent to our churches. For more
information, or to set up your own weekend to take your students
down to ONU, please contact our own Admissions representative
Kali Smith at
ksmith@olivet.edu or (815) 928-5595. |
Regional Singles Retreat at
Indian Lake
October 5-7 at our own
District Campgrounds! Many singles from across our Region will
be here for a great time recreation, relaxation, and
encouragement and spiritual enrichment! Information has been
sent to each church or for more details, you may contact Rev.
Marilyn Tran, District Adult Ministries Director, at
mrtranmusic@yahoo.com
or (517)283-2355. |
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Check out the Sunday School
Superintendent Certificate from Continuing Lay Training
The Sunday School
Superintendent is the key to effective ministry within your
church's Christian education mission. It is imperative that the
Sunday School Superintendent be fully equipped to this
ministry. Curriculum through the Continuing Lay Training (CLT)
courses provide exposure to the basic building blocks of
successful Sunday School supervision. Even if you are a veteran
SS Superintendent, you will be challenged by the learning
experiences offered in this area of study. I want to encourage
every local Sunday School Superintendent to begin now to
"sharpen the skill" by enrolling in the studies for the
Certificate. For more information about CLT and other materials
here's the contact information: Continuing Lay Training, Attn.
John Comstock, 6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO, 64114,
1-888-243-2767, or email
clt@nazarene.org. For more information, visit
www.clt.nazarene.org |
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District Ladies Retreat in
November has been cancelled!
Due to unforeseen
circumstances, the Ladies Retreat has to be cancelled for this
year. Plans are in the works for a retreat next fall. Watch for
more information about Ladies Day at ONU in the spring. |
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Have you planned your summer
2008 vacation?
How about joining Oregon
Nazarenes on a relaxing 7 Night Alaskan Explorer Cruise via
Glacier Bay on Princess Cruise Lines? Dr. David and Kathy Slamp
have invited the folks from the Michigan District to join them
on the cruise June 14-21 from Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada, to Whittier, Alaska. You will visit and see Ketichikan,
Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjord, as
well as enjoy worship services with the Slamps on the ship.
Dr. Slamp spoke at our District Sunday School Convention this
past summer and is author of Care Rings. Mrs. Slamp is also an
author and lived in Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska at the Nazarene
parsonages as a young child. She is also the naturalist on the
cruise. Space is limited. If you are interested in this great
time, please contact Darlene Harris at (517)675-7442 or
darleneharris@tds.net
for more information or a brochure. |
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The
following article is taken form our friends On the Eastern
Michigan District:
THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF MAKING CHRISTLIKE
DISCIPLES
18 Then
Jesus came to them and said,
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And
surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20
The mission
statement of the Church of the Nazarene is “To make Christlike
disciples in the nations.” Based upon the above Scripture that
we call the Great Commission, this new mission statement
succinctly captures the essence of the Church of the Nazarene.
The new name for Sunday School Ministries is
Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries International
(SDMI). The focus of SDMI is changing to emphasize making
Christlike disciples, whatever venue we find to do that. In
order to make Christlike disciples, one must be in process of
becoming Christlike. What do Christlike disciple look like?
Three qualities are needed. |
CHRISTLIKE DISCIPLES ARE TRUSTWORTY.
What makes a disciple trustworthy? Jesus looks for
immediate obedience.
“’Come, follow me.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.”
(Matthew 4:19-20) Delayed obedience is called disobedience. Jesus
wants disciples who display
intentional accountability.
A disciple allows his teacher to question his intentions, his motives,
and his actions. He becomes vulnerable to become like his master.
Jesus requires disciples to have an
invested faith.
He wants disciples who know no other master, and want no other teacher.
CHRISTLIKE DISCIPLES ARE TEACHABLE.
A teachable disciple is one who is
willing to listen.
He hears, he seeks to understand, he evaluates, and he responds to the
message of Scripture. A teachable disciple is
willing to learn.
She is educable—willing to be melted, molded, and strengthened in order
to become a useful utensil in the hands of the master. A teachable
disciple is
willing to grow.
Growth is spelled C-H-A-N-G-E. As rubber bands are made to stretch
disciples are made to grow and to change.
CHRISTLIKE DISCIPLES ARE TRANSPARENT.
A transparent disciple has nothing to hide. Transparency allows us to
exhibit
genuine empathy.
Transparency brings to us an attitude of
gentle expectations
of people in our lives. Transparency commands a response of
genial endurance.
We endure suffering and pain, rejection and vitriol for the sake of the
Gospel.
Robert Coleman tells
us that Jesus method was men. “It all started by Jesus calling a few
men to follow Him. This revealed immediately the direction His
evangelistic strategy would take. His concern was not with programs to
reach the multitudes, but with men whom the multitudes would follow….
Men were His method of winning the world to God.” Here are
FIVE PRINCIPLES OF THE MASTER’S PLAN FOR MAKING CHRISTLIKE DISCIPLES.
-
PRAYER AND FASTING.
-
THE AUTHORITATIVE WORD OF GOD
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THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
-
GENUINE ACCOUNTABILITY
-
RELATIONAL MULTIPLICATION
We cannot take any
shortcuts to becoming a people of God who make Christlike disciples. It
must begin as we pray and fast for an outpouring of God’s grace and
wisdom in our lives. With God nothing is impossible. Nothing is even
hard. God has a thousand resources that we have not even considered. |
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Nazarene
Missions International
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KEY CONTACTS
(a partial list)
Darlene Harris
Publicity Secretary
nmipubsecretary@minaz.org
Brenda Shook
Treasurer
334 Grafton Ave.
Alma, MI
48801
(989) 466-2777
Mark Baker
Secretary
404 Hibbard
Jackson, MI 49202
(517) 414-0267
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From the President:
“Power of Prayer”
As our Adult
Sunday School class continues to study the Dialog
book, “Teach Me to Pray”, it has become more evident
than ever before how much the church, being the
people, needs prayer. Prayer is more than just
conversing with God; it is the relationship one
builds with the Almighty in such a way that one
always touches heaven every time a prayer is
spoken. Sad to say, however, I fear the church is
losing its ability to grasp the power of prayer.
Our prayers fall short because we don’t believe God
can do what we ask or what He says.
Today it seems
that we are becoming more like the Pharisees who
prayed in the temple. Their prayers were long and
without meaning. Are we simply saying the words,
going through the motions of Christianity without
the power? Are our people not being taught what the
power of prayer can do? What do we believe in if
not the power of God?
If your church
struggled last year due to the economic situation in
Michigan, don’t despair; continue in the power of
prayer. Believe God’s promises to never leave or
forsake but to pour out blessings we cannot
contain. Believe that His WORD is TRUTH and He will
bring us through the storm. Draw from His strength
and power and rest in his sustaining arms.
We can, as the
Michigan District, accomplish great things for God
and the mission of the church in this new year.
Pray and believe God for power to do great things
both here and around the world. Pray for God to
show you what you can do and who you can help.
Believe He can bring forth abundance in all things.
Let’s be a Praying District, praying churches that
are determined and dedicated to reaching the lost
world around us.
— Carol
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PRESIDENT’S DAY
A day
of learning, sharing, relaxation, and
fun
September 22, 2007
District Office—Grand Ledge
10:00am—3:00pm Lunch—Subway
RSVP
by September 15, 2007 (limited space)
cjb03nmi@sbcglobal.net or phone:
517-484-1325
Bring
with you your convention booklet with
new labelsin place, and the NMI Handbook
(R-2005—$5.99 from NPH) |
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MISSIONARY ZONE RALLY TOUR
With Rev. Brian
Heil—Caribbean Region
Weeknight services
begin at 7:00 p.m. |
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Date |
Zone |
Church |
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Wednesday, September 19 |
Shiawassee Zone |
Chesaning |
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Thursday, September 20 |
Mt Pleasant Zone |
Alma |
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Saturday, September 22 |
Central Zone |
Grand Ledge |
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Sunday, a.m., September 23 |
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Reading |
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Sunday, p.m., September 23 |
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Coldwater |
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Monday, September 24 |
Tri-City Zone |
Midland Community |
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Tuesday, September 25 |
Lansing Zone |
Lansing Waverly |
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Wednesday, September 26 |
Jackson Zone |
Spring Arbor |
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Thursday, September 27 |
Kalamazoo Zone |
Three Rivers |
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Saturday, September 29 |
Grand Rapids Zone |
G.R. Int’l Fellowship |
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Sunday, a.m., September 30 |
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Lowell |
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Sunday, p.m., September 30 |
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Okemos |
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October Missionary Visitation with L&P W
October 2-11, 2007 |
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Tuesday, October 2 |
OPEN |
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Wednesday, October
3 |
South Haven |
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Thursday, October 4 |
OPEN |
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Friday, October 5 |
Lansing Central |
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Saturday, October 6 |
St. Johns |
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Sunday, a.m,
October 7 |
Lansing Woodview
A.M. |
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Sunday, p.m.
October 7 |
Durand P.M. |
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Monday, October 8 |
OPEN |
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Tuesday, October 9 |
Lansing 1st |
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Wednesday, October
10 |
Sumner Center |
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Thursday, October
11 |
Bay City 1st |
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If you are interested in any of the open dates,
please contact Linda Newvine at (810) 638-5760 as
soon as possible. |
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Get creative this fall with
Alabaster! |
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 Everyone
can participate in Alabaster. Place several
Alabaster boxes around throughout your
home. Sit them near every phone and near
every place where you drop your keys and
CHANGE. It’s easy to drop your change into
the box if it’s handy. When it’s time for
Alabaster Sunday, combine all the change
into one or two boxes and join the march at
church. |
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Gather your
children and teens in one night and explain
the story of Alabaster in
the Church of the Nazarene – why we make the
effort to give twice a year to build
buildings around the world. Then, give each
one an Alabaster box to put in their room,
where they play, on the dining room table,
in the family room or den or in the living
room, wherever is best for them to remember
and ask them to contribute whenever they
can. |
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If
your children/teens have regular allowances
or jobs, explain the concept of tithing and
other offerings, like Alabaster that God
expects from us the first and the best we
can do. And then, ask them to begin tithing
what they earn and saving in their Alabaster
boxes right away. (Have the tithing
envelopes and Alabaster boxes handy.) |
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You never
know. This could be the year your children
or teens learn how to give
according to God’s design because you took
the time to teach them. They will benefit
for the rest of their lives, God will bless
them and you will reap a harvest of joy just
watching the results. |
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Challenge Day
An
Event You Won’t Want To Miss!
JIM WILLIAMS
. .
.who has lived in Taiwan and Hong Kong since August
1976, will be sharing with us some of what God is
doing among the 489 people groups of Greater China
(i.e., Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan)
October 20, 2007
10:00am – 3:00pm
Mason First Church of the Nazarene
415 E. Maple Street
Freewill offering will be received. |
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ARE YOU EMPLOYED BY THE GOVERNMENT?
DOES YOUR EMPLOYER HAVE A UNITED WAY FUND DRIVE THIS
FALL?
When you are asked to
give to the charity of your choice through the Combined Federal Campaign
or United Way charities by payroll deduction, we ask you to please
consider
Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Inc. (NCM).
NCM provides food,
healthcare, and rebuilding assistance in response to crises and
disasters around the world. The long-term goal for NCM is the
empowerment of impoverished people, which will result in self-reliance,
self-respect, and stronger communities. These services are delivered
through the local church. If you would like to designate NCM as your
organization of choice, their # is 11735 or simply write in NCM, Inc.,
2111 E. Santa Fe #343, Olathe, KS 66062 and our toll-free phone number
1-800-214-4999 on your donor card. For more information, see
http://www.opm.gov/cfc/,
www.ncmi.org, or call Rev. Donald
Wilkins at (269) 979-4565 |
