Ministry127 and Graphics

I have mentioned Ministry127 here a few times, and they are a great resource to share. One of the things I like best about Lancaster, is that they freely share their online resources (a belief I share). They allow you to repost and use almost everything you find at Ministry127. If you are not familiar with it, it is a ministry of helps from Lancaster Baptist Church (West Coast Baptist College), with Pastor Paul Chappell.

An area of Ministry127.com I appreciate is their graphics work section. They provide these images for powerpoints, blogs, pictures for your church bulletin - really anywhere you want to use them. I have even used them as backgrounds for verses for my facebook page, and I have seen a number of tracts designed using them. To get right to the graphics, click here: ministry127.com/resources/slides. Here are some recent examples:

One nice feature, is that they also upload blank graphics, so you can customize with your own text.

Happy Memorial Day - Don't Forget Them

Beginning a Military Ministry - Integrating Military Families into Your Church

When military people are saved and discipled they make great church members. They are different than the average church member due to the nature of their work:

• They may not be in your church as long as your average civilian members.
• They must be integrated on purpose.
• There is the possibility that they have been trained in a good military church.
• Don’t treat them as outsiders. Realize their great need and their great potential for the cause of Christ. Below are some pointers on integrating military families into your church.

1. Realize That Their Families Have Unique Needs

• The children—they have moved many times and need to be embraced quickly by members, teachers, and other children.
• The teenagers—the teenagers have made friends and left them on more than one occasion. The best teenagers in the church must reach out to the military teens.
• The wife—she has many special needs. She needs a good Christian friend. One who will be there when troubling news comes (his unit came under attack—or worse). She needs a weekly opportunity for a mother’s day out. Forming a support group for wives of deployed soldiers would be a great blessing. She needs an accessible, loving pastor’s wife. She needs to be offered the opportunity to serve in the church. Many times in a well established church every job is filled by an ‘old timer,’ and the military wife is looked upon as temporary. Make a place for her to serve. Be there for her. Keep in touch with her regularly. Someone should know about the car or any repair that needs to be done at the house. The teens could be led to take care of the yard while her husband is deployed.

2. Remember Deployed Soldiers

• Pray for soldiers privately.
• Pray for soldiers publicly. Call their names in church meetings, Sunday school classes, prayer meetings, and the pulpit.
• Correspond with deployed soldiers.
• Send deployed soldiers gift boxes periodically.
• Lead your people or a class to adopt a deployed soldier and his family.