Seasonal - Holidays | Christian Ministry Training Blog

Father’s Day Is …

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 2 Comments ↓

On Father’s Day we honor the fathers among us. Scripture clearly teaches that the role of fathers goes beyond mere providers and protectors. Notice how Ephesians 6:2-4 reminds us of their responsibility beginning with how not to do it. — Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Three Points About What Father’s Day Is …

You’ll find the following three key reminders for Father’s Day in the Holiday Reflections Discipleship Guides resource, along with additional subpoints, Scripture, and some questions to reflect on. Father’s Day is one of fourteen holidays covered in this resource which can be used for personal benefit, in a small group, or distributed to your entire church.

Father’s Day is a time to remind fathers to bring up their children “in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

It’s a time to remind children that to honor and obey their fathers isn’t just for the benefit of the parent but also for their own good “so that it may go well with” them (Eph. 6:1-3).

And, Father’s Day is a time to remember God as the Greatest Father, “a father to the fatherless” (Ps. 68:5) which would include those whose father is no longer alive and those whose father wasn’t there for them as they should have been. Check out this post: God as Our Father

Easter is . . .

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — No Comments ↓

We know that Easter is about Jesus dying on the cross and then being raised from the dead. But, Easter is more than a nice story. It’s a reality that demonstrates truths about the kind of God we serve.

Check out the Holiday Reflections resource for questions to help you reflect on the truths about God listed below. This resource includes discipleship guides for 14 different holidays.

Easter is a Demonstration of Who God Is

Easter is . . . a demonstration of God’s love and grace.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

For more:

Easter is . . . a demonstration of God’s judgment on sin.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 6:23)

For more:

Easter Points to the Holiness & Righteousness of God

Easter is . . . a demonstration of God’s power.

By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. (1 Cor. 6:14)

For more:

Easter is . . . a demonstration of God’s wisdom.

but we preach Christ crucified … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor. 1:23-24)

For more:

Easter Points to the Wisdom of God

Easter is . . . a demonstration of God’s plan for the future.

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:19-20) But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. (1 Cor. 15:23-24)

Praise God for Easter!

For Teaching During this Holiday Season, Go To: Bible Lessons for Easter – A Real Act of Love

Our Creator God: Seeing God in What He Made

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 2 Comments ↓

Beauty of Pike's Peak and Grand Canyon Points to Our Creator God When I went to graduate school I camped across the United States from Pennsylvania to get to California, taking in many of the wonders of our Creator God in the great outdoors. I viewed the Grand Canyon via a rim tour by bus and also in a small Cessna plane, camped near the base of Pike’s Peak, and more.

I could only come away from these spectacular sights saying, “How can anyone say there is no God?” “How can we not attribute all this to a Creator?” I concluded that it would take more faith for me not to believe than to believe. It was like nature spoke, without words, about the great God we have.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Ps. 19:1-4)

We can see who God is reflected in what He does.

Here is some of what I saw about our Creator God in what He made:

1) He is a great and powerful God to be able to bring all of this into being.

2) He is a wise God to be able to be able to design such intricacies and coordinate it all so that it all works together.

3) He is a good God to be able to bring so much beauty into being.

4) He is a creative God to be able to provide so much variety.

I can determine all of that about God without opening a Bible, just by looking at nature around me.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Rom. 1:20)

Check out the Our Great God from A to Z Discipleship Tool Download for a list of traits from A to Z about our Creator God. It also contains other alphabetical lists about who God is and what He does.

Are you seeing evidence of God in what He made?

Let me encourage you as you vacation, or even as you look out the airplane window on a business trip, to not just be in awe of what you see in the great outdoors but to stop, even for a moment,

to reflect on what it tells you about our great, powerful, and wise Creator God,

and then to thank and praise God for who He is.

If you are on a family vacation, use these spectacles as teachable moments to point your children to God.

But My Mother (Father) Abused Me

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Ministry Tools Resource Center

Sometimes the people who are supposed to love and care for us the most are the ones who abandon, neglect, or abuse us. The question is asked, “How do I get to the point of being able to forgive those who abused me?”

3 Suggestions for Those Abused by a Parents

I am going to make three suggestions for those abused by a parent. I trust it won’t sound too trite because it’s anything but that. Getting to the point of being able to do these suggestions is monumental when you have suffered at the hand of a parent.

1) Gain a biblical perspective.

God’s command to “honor” our parents comes without qualification. And, His Word specifically warns against scorning them (Prov. 20:20; 28:24; 30:11,17), letting us know that it is destructive for us to do so. Yet, the Bible nowhere tells us to accept abandonment, neglect, or abuse as normal or acceptable. We can “honor” them as our parents without agreeing with them or condoning what they do. Likewise, forgiving someone does not mean we agree with, condone, or even forget what they’ve done. Rather, we are not holding it against them. We are unlikely to honor them if we do not forgive them and vice versa.

2) Transfer your dependence onto the Lord.

Part of the anger and resentment we hold over these kinds of parents comes because we feel betrayed by them, the ones who were supposed to love, care for, and protect us. Accept that your parent may never be what you want or need him/her to be. Rely on the Lord to be there for you, to be the One who will meet your innermost needs. — “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” (Ps. 27:10) We will not forgive until we let go of our anger. We will not let go of our anger until we let go of our expectations.

3) Relinquish control to the Lord.

When a parent or other significant adult in our lives has harmed us in some way (physical or emotional), we tend to become self-protective. We are going to do whatever is within our power to shield ourselves. To forgive may seem like you are letting that person win, like you are relinquishing control or power to them. However, by forgiving, you are actually helping yourself become whole. You will not truly heal until you forgive. To be able to choose to forgive, you will need to turn over that control to the Lord who has promised to be there for you. That does not mean you will never need to put boundaries in place to protect yourself from the dysfunction. But, you will be doing it for healing purposes, not simply to protect yourself.

Scripture makes no exceptions on whom we are to forgive (Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13). When we don’t forgive, it not only keeps a wedge between us and the other person but also hinders fellowship with the Lord (Matt. 6:12-15). Maybe your parent doesn’t deserve your forgiveness. Neither do any of us merit God’s forgiveness yet He went so far as to send Jesus to die for us so we could be forgiven. For the sake of the Lord and your relationship with Him, as well as your own inner healing, ask God to help you let go of your anger, bitterness, and resentment and forgive as He has forgiven you.

Mother’s Day Is …

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Ministry Tools Resource Center

Before getting into what Mother’s Day is, we should look at what this holiday is not.

This Holiday Celebrating Motherhood is Not in the Bible.

We can find verses where mothers are recognized. Proverbs 31 states that the children of a godly woman will “arise and call her blessed.” The Apostle Paul called attention to the contribution of Timothy’s mother and grandmother in his life (2 Tim. 1:5). And, we can find verses in the Bible about honoring our parents which goes beyond verbal recognition and certainly extends beyond what is done on one special day (Ex. 20:12; Matt. 15:4-6; Eph. 6:1-3).

But, Scripture does not command us, or even suggest, that we set aside a special day, like Mother’s Day, to do so. Consequently, this is a holiday about which we must develop personal convictions for celebrating it and we must also respect others for their opinions about it. Let’s apply Romans 14:5-8 to Mother’s Day.

What Mother’s Day is . . .

We can look at this holiday in the following ways:

Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate motherhood.

It’s a time to make moms feel special.

Mother’s Day is merely one day to honor our mothers.

It’s a day to remember mothers who are no longer with us.

And, Mother’s Day is also a time to be sensitive toward those who want to be moms but can’t, those whose mom is no longer alive, and those who didn’t have a good mother.

While we might want to use this holiday to celebrate motherhood in the church, let’s do it in a way that is respectful and encouraging to all.

You can use the discipleship guide in the Holiday Reflections resource to help people think through the above points. It includes brief input on each of the points along with Scripture and some questions. (Mother’s Day is one of fourteen guides included in this resource.)

Also See: Mother’s Day Resources

Palm Sunday is …

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 2 Comments ↓

We celebrate Palm Sunday the week before Easter. On that day we remember Jesus’ procession into Jerusalem with the crowd waving palms and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matt. 21:1-19)

The discipleship guide for Palm Sunday in the Holiday Reflections resource reminds us that what happened that day gives us a reason to worship today. (This resource includes guides for 13 other holidays with reflections that take us beyond the holiday itself.) The Palm Sunday guide contains the following points plus a bit more input. It also provides some questions for reflection about our worship.

Think about what Palm Sunday is and how that gives us cause to worship.

Reflect on Palm Sunday as …

fulfillment of prophecy

Certainly fulfillment of prophecy should lead to belief that Jesus is who He says He is.

hope for a deliverer

Hosanna can turn into maranatha for us … as He is yet to come as reigning King to deliver from the presence of sin.

more than a procession on the road to Jerusalem

We also see Him in the temple overturning tables (Matt. 21:12-13) and healing the blind and lame (Matt. 21:14). This should remind us to see Jesus for the whole of who He is, not just the “feel good” part.

time for a heart check-up

The religious leaders demonstrated displeasure and indignation (Matt. 21:15-16). Though the crowds reacted positively on the road to Jerusalem, in the temple only children continued in praise. May this day be a time for us to reflect on our own heart’s condition.

Click Here for Ministry Resources for This Holiday