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Adrian Madison Church board has unanimously requested that the call of their pastor, Rev. Terry Clees, be changed from an appointment to a call. The call will be through April 2012.
THE PROBLEM OF BEING STUCK, PART 3 Robert Coleman says in The Master Plan of Evangelism that Jesus' life was ordered by His objective to reach the world. "Everything He did and said was a part of the whole pattern. It had significance because it contributed to the ultimate purpose of His life in redeeming the world for God. This was the motivating vision governing His behavior. His steps were ordered by it. Mark it well. Not for one moment did Jesus lose sight of His goal." Allen Hadidian – “Discipling others is the process by which a Christian with a life worth emulating commits himself for an extended period of time to a few individuals who have been won to Christ, the purpose being to aid and guide their growth to maturity and equip them to reproduce themselves in a third spiritual generation.” Why is the church not doing that? Why is the church able to grow a little, decrease a little, grow a little, decrease a little—but unable to show sustained New Testament growth. There are at least six problems that a church that is stuck faces. This month we will look at one of them. In the past months we looked at THE PROBLEM OF LEADERSHIP and THE PROBLEM OF SIN IN THE CONGREGATION. This month we will examine THE PROBLEM OF A LACK OF SPIRITUAL PROTECTION from the prophecy of Haggai. Haggai 1:12-15 – 12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. 13 Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: "I am with you," declares the LORD. 14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius. One of the problems in a church that is stuck is that we lose people to other churches or to the world, more to the world than to other churches. Our pastors and leaders are under constant spiritual attack and we have not been trained to pray a spiritual covering over them. Our people do not pray for one another to the extent that we ought in order to provide spiritual covering and blessing over them. We are better at responding to problems—physical disease, financial difficulties, and relationship issues—than we are at preventing them. I see four principles of discipleship—praying spiritual protection over the church—in this passage. GOD REQUIRES OBEDIENCE FROM ALL THE PEOPLE. That includes governors, priests, the remnant of His people, and the prophets. This is an unchanging principle for the people of God in order to bring the blessings of God upon the people – they were all together in unity of purpose, plan, and priority. If this passage had been written today it might say church board, pastors, the faithful twenty percent of the people, and the teachers and small group leaders. Wherever a segment of the church lives in disobedience to the commands of God, the blessing and protection of God is lacking. God cannot bring miracles to a disobedient people. GOD DEMANDS RESPECT. The biblical term is fear. It means awe, respect, and even, fear. The writer to the Hebrews in 10:31b wrote, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” It is unlikely that the God that is not respected by his people will be respected by his enemies. There can be no spiritual covering without an accompanying fear of the Lord. In the modern American church we often find more contempt for God and his word than we see of respect. We routinely ignore the principles of scripture in order to fulfill our own desires. We no longer pretend to keep all the commands of the Lord. We disrespect our God in the name of avoiding legalism. As a denomination we are still theologically correct, but in practice we have moved to the left of center on the continuum between antinomianism and legalism.
GOD PROMISES TO GO WITH US, TO BE WITH US, TO STAY WITH US. Note the following promises from the scriptures. In addition please take note of the conditions imposed by God to activate the promises. Joshua 1: 6-9 – 6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." The promise – The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Hebrews 13:5-6 – 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" The promise – I will never leave you nor forsake you. GOD TELLS US TO GO TO WORK. Pay close attention to verse ten of Ephesians 2, often overlooked in this passage of salvation by grace through faith. Ephesians 2:8-10 – 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. We are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, prepared in advance for us to do. We are not saved by works, but by grace alone. However, we are saved to cooperate with God in doing the work he has called us to do. Hebrews 5:11-14 – 11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. We are made for spiritual growth. We are expected to become disciples that become teachers, who can digest solid spiritual food. Mature believers through a constant diet of solid food have been trained to distinguish good from evil, and empowered to choose good. Jesus says to us in Matthew 28:18-20, 18 "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." Authority is given. Jesus said “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus said to his disciples, “Go, I am sending you out.” Pray to the Lord of the harvest. Do not take bag or sandals. Heal the sick. Cast out demons. Preach the gospel. In essence he said, “Take authority from me, and go and make disciples.” There are five principles that we should embrace in order to make that happen. Our first priority as the Church of Jesus Christ ought to be making Christlike disciples who make Christlike disciples who make Christlike disciples... I want to keep these principles in front of you. They are as follows: 1. PRAYER AND FASTING Jot me an email note with any questions or suggestions at scnnazpastorgary@charterinternet.com. God is growing a great church in Eastern Michigan. We are blessed to be a part of his great kingdom work! I look forward to greeting you Campmeeting. Please make a point of speaking to me about your ideas and thoughts. I want to listen to you. Gary A. Slusher THANK YOU TO ALL PASTORS WHO REPORT ON TIME EACH MONTH June 2008 SDMI Reporting Results First Zone to fully report for the first time: Ann Arbor Zone
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Household needs: Personal needs: Baby needs: Clothing: Also coming on August 17th is our annual Back-to-School Carnival. We still need lots of backpacks and school supplies. Candy to give out at the game stations is also a big hit!
God bless!
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Vassar Dedicates New Facility
The Deer Park Church and Holly Church, both New Start Churches of the Nazarene, have combined their efforts and are meeting in the Holly Church building. Rev. Marv Gerbig, pastor of Deer Park since opening in 2003, is giving leadership to this combined New Start. The Church is located at 961 E. Maple Rd., Holly and is meeting Sunday mornings at 10:30 AM. (see picture right)
Senior High and Primary Camps are now history. (see picture right) Both weeks of Camp were well attended and many spiritual victories were won. Three more camps are ahead and walk-ins are welcome. The camps are: 
As everyone knows very well, our economy is a bit scary lately! Gas is through the roof. Groceries cost more. There are more houses on the market each day. It seems like every other house is having a yard sale (but no one has money to buy anything with). Some of us are blessed to have the bills paid each month. Some of us are blessed enough that we can be stay-at-home moms when other families can't quite pull it off. While there are others that are forced to be stay-at-home parents because of lost jobs. Times are tough. But the thing that gives me peace is: Psalm 4:8 "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." To me, "safety" in this verse means more than physical safety. To me it means safety for all parts of our lives. I also think that He provides that safety so that we can help minister to His flock! Please continue to pray for the people at Eastside Mission: both the volunteers and the people that come to us for help.