The Citizen, 2015-05-07, Page 25THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015. PAGE 25.
By Pastor Mark Royall
Huron Chapel Evangelical
Missionary Church, Auburn
There is this wonderful leadership
principle in the Bible that, when
followed, allows churches to grow
and impact their community. When
it isn’t followed, it will quickly stifle
the effectiveness of a church to the
point where many end up closing
their doors for good. This Biblical
principle not only affects the life of a
church, it will also greatly influence
whether or not you will reach the full
potential of what your life could be
like in this world.
Paul advises us and the Church
with these six words, “Do everything
without grumbling or arguing…” 1
Corinthians 8:10. That’s it. These
six words will make or break the
effectiveness and potential of a
church and even your life.
Grumbling is the reflection of a
spirit of ingratitude. I don’t want to
be an ungrateful person. There is so
much to be thankful for. A woman in
our church came into my office this
past week and told me, “I am so
grateful for the people who speak
God’s truth and love into my
children’s lives each week here in
our church.” She was so moved by
this blessing and I thought to myself,
you can’t go and buy that at
Walmart. You can’t order that from
Amazon…but by God’s grace…we
get to experience those blessings
here at Huron Chapel. I am so
grateful.
We can have this problem when it
comes to gratitude. We all tend to
think, “I’ll be grateful to the extent
that I receive things in my life to be
grateful about. The more good
things I have, the more grateful I'll
become.”
Can you imagine if we raised our
kids that way? I am a parent and I
want my child to grow up to be a
grateful person so I just give them
everything they ask for and want
believing if I do, they will somehow
develop into a grateful person. It
doesn’t work this way, does it?
Instead of our children becoming
grateful they become spoiled. We
ruin them. Instead of becoming
grateful they become more and more
unappreciative for what they have,
and the great irony is, they still think
they should have more.
We know this as parents and yet
somehow in our twisted thinking,
we want our Heavenly Father to treat
us differently than what we know is
best for our own children. We say,
Heavenly Father, “If You give me
more, then I will be grateful. Let me
have my way here and then I will
stop grumbling.”
The only way we will ever do
everything without grumbling in our
life is that we first have a grateful
heart on the inside. John Ortberg
writes, “Gratitude is not a matter of
the circumstances I inhabit; it’s a
matter of the person I become. It’s
not about the stuff I get; it’s about
the character I develop.”
Grumbling and gratitude become
church growth issues because if the
devil can convince people in a
church to have a spirit of ingratitude,
he has just scored a major victory in
impeding the work of that church.
I used to be invited each year to an
informal conference in Calgary
where the pastors from the stronger
churches in our denomination
gathered from across the country to
brainstorm and learn together. One
year we were asked to see if we
could figure out what was keeping
some of our churches from growing.
We were surprised by our
conclusion. We discovered that the
churches that were not being
effective in their community, the
churches that were not growing, the
churches that were dying a slow and
painful death had this one thing in
common, they had people who liked
to grumble a lot.
Now this was not only an attitude
problem but it was a leadership
problem. The problem was that the
leadership in these churches would
not move forward in any decision
unless they had a consensus of the
whole church. If they tried to launch
a new initiative that would promote
and allow growth to take place, the
leadership would quash it if
someone grumbled about it. The
leadership’s intentions were good.
They didn’t want any unhappy
people. The only problem is, it is
nearly impossible to get a consensus
among a few people let alone a
whole church of people.
What would it be like for you and
those around you if you choose to
have a grumble-free day? Would
people notice? One way you can do
this day is to choose gratitude. The
Bible says, “Don’t worry about
anything; instead, pray about
everything. Tell God what you need,
and thank Him for all He has done.
Then you will experience God’s
peace, which exceeds anything we
can understand. His peace will guard
your hearts and minds as you live in
Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t you want that? Don’t you
want to experience God’s peace?
Then you need to choose gratitude
every chance you get.
About 300 to 400 students in
Huron County could be suspended
from school due to incomplete
immunization records.
On May 8, the Huron County
Health Unit will send suspension
notices out to students who did not
respond to the second notice.
If families don’t provide the
Health Unit with proof of
immunization or a valid exemption
for their child, the student may be
suspended effective May 26 for up to
20 school days.
Families who have received
notices are asked to please call the
Health Unit at 1-877-837-6143 ext.
2025.
“Parents are busy and kids need to
go to school, which is why we work
with parents to update records and
arrange immunizations,” says
Christina Taylor, Public Health
Manager. “One phone call is the key
to resolving the issue.”
In some cases, students may be
properly immunized but the Health
Unit may not have the records. It is a
parent or guardian’s responsibility to
Health Unit to suspend
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph’s
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, MAY 10
Nursery care available
519-887-9017
Worship & Sunday School - 10 am
Coffee & Snacks - 11 am
We invite you to join our church family in:
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
No Evening Service on May 10
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Sunday, May 10 ~ Mother’s Day Service
Sunday, May 17 ~ Food Grains Bank
~ Guest Speaker Jean Art
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.
Children
Welcome
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, May 10
Brussels Business & Cultural Centre
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and
preschoolers during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
BRUSSELS
WORSHIP SERVICE
AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 10:00 am
All Welcome
United Church
Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div.
Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224
blythunited@tcc.on.ca
Church bookings: 519-887-6377
Other concerns: 226-963-1175
getlivingwater.org
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God)
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Sunday, May 10 ~ Jn. 19:26f.
Evangelical Missionary Church
Small Groups Weekly in Blyth & Wingham
Guest Speaker GARY LISLE
“Loving Our Mothers”
From the Minister’s Study
Grumbling, gratitude as church growth issues
At Huron Chapel, we're committed to providing
parents the resources and encouragement you
need, while giving your kids good values in a fun,
safe environment. Join us this Sunday and see
what church has to offer your family!
SUNDAY SCHOOL for all ages @ 9:30am
huronchapel.com
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