You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction…. Eph 4:4 MSG

 When my husband and I were planning a road trip a few years ago we did a lot of research on the areas we would travel through and prepared maps. My husband made me a notebook that showed each days planned travel on a road map and highlighted places of interest we would visit along the way.  Though we never got lost, this teddy bear navigation system would definitely have come in handy.  Link to SCI FI Tech

When seeking direction in your lives we have a navigation system as well.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God…”  God has laid out a complete roadmap for our lives. It’s called the BIBLE.  He even sent us someone to follow on this path. His name is JESUS.

For the word of God is alive and powerful…   Hebrews 4:12, NLT

Need more ideas to show appreciation to your pastor this month?  This book is filled with ideas for Pastor Appreciation and other events.

The How’d I Get to Be in Charge of the Program Help Book This book has something for almost every holiday and that’s not all. Need a monologue to honor your graduates? A poem honoring your baseball team? Or how about a skit about youth camp or the annual church picnic? Also included are tributes for everyone from the pastor to the church nursery worker. These may be used during “Appreciation Month” or at any time throughout the year to show gratitude for a job well done.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.   Col 3:16-17

Do you ever find yourself leaving church thinking, “I didn’t get much out of the sermon today. The pastor didn’t do a very good job.” Maybe your experience has more to do with your heart than the pastor’s words. Did your mind wander to the upcoming football game? Did you plan your schedule for the week? Did you listen with your heart open so that God could speak to you?

Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted . . . They are more than can be numbered.  Psalm 40:5

The old hymn reminds us to “count your many blessings, see what God has done.”  So often focus on all we must do with work, family, children, soccer practice, meetings that we forget to stop and look at the blessings we receive. 

A difficult task our pastors have is to break through our focus of all the problems we have to look at the blessings God has given us. Sometimes we are so busy thinking about the trials in our lives we don’t open our hearts to hear the Word that is being taught.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss of Revive Our Hearts has an excellent teaching on preparing yourself to be a listener to the sermon.  “If your heart is hardened or it’s preoccupied with things of the world, the most anointed preaching is not going to make a whole lot of impact on you, if the condition of your heart isn’t right.”  Click Here to go to the podcast page. It was posted October 16, 2006.  A great listen and a a heart’s eye opener.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. Do not use your freedom to indulge in sinful nature; rather server one another in love.    Galatians 5:13 NIV 

Using PowerPoint for PhotoStory3 or other media software, how about making a presentation with pictures showing how much you appreciate their work. Add music or comments from the congregation offering short comments, stories and words of appreciation.

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.   James 3:18 MSG 

Continuing in our study of how we can honor our pastors and show appreciation to the pastor and to his wife for the teaching and support they give here is another idea. Can you or a group of friends give him and his wife a night away at a Bed ‘n Breakfast or a hotel? This is a neat way to support his marriage and to show love to his wife as well.

Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:28, NLT

Your pastor works hard each week to prepare the message, keep his heart pure, be available to those in need.  Is there something you can do to offer help in appreciation?  Here is another idea.

Is his car in working order? If not, do you know how to fix it or do you know a professional that could fix it at a discounted price?

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.  Psalm 23:3

This month we’ve been exploring ways to show our pastors appreciation for them sharing their time, talents, treasure, and touch to help us grow in Christ.

Here is another idea. Provide a meal. This could be a hot lunch during the week, or a supper for him and his family. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Make a casserole, add some buns and salad fixings, and brownies. They will love your homemade gesture!

 

I was listening on my headphones to a sermon by Ken Davis titled “Super Sheep”. Ken Davis is an excellent speaker who uses humor and wit to bring to heart the word and love of God.  In one of his scenarios he is saying he doesn’t want to be a sheep. A sleep can’t even run right!! How about a lion, now that is a creature to be. He looked up scripture trying to find better creature to relate to than a sheep and found “lion”. Now there is a powerful animal. So, he read I Peter 5:8 which  “the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”.  Hmmmm, a lion is not a good thing.

While listening to him speak about sheep and being devoured and how Christ is the shepherd that watches over us my mind wandered to a cartoon I used to enjoy. Ralph and Sam, a sheepdog and a wolf greet each other as they clock in to work. The next scenes show them at work. Ralph tiptoes in to the herd of sheep and tries to steal one for dinner. Sam is no where in sight, until suddenly he appears before Ralph, knocks him out, and returns the furry little lamb to the field. Throughout the next scenes Ralph tries to harm the sheep but Sam, ever so quietly, ever so faithfully, sits and watches over the flock. You don’t even notice him. But when Ralph tries to devour one of the flock, Sam is right there to protect them.

Jesus is our shepherd. He quietly leads us to the fields to graze upon the lush green grass. We often forget he is there. He is quiet, he is watching. And He is there to protect us when the wolf comes along. Sometimes we don’t even notice He protected us, perhaps we were held back at work one night for some reason and find later that an accident occurred which you were not in because of that simple little act. 

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. “  I used to think that was so silly, why is the Lord a shepherd that I don’t want. No, there is nothing that I need and do not have because the Lord, my shepherd “makes me to lie down in green pastures”. He provides rest and comfort and all my needs.  Of course, there are those times I feel I can do a better job than He does and I leave the herd to find those things for myself. I always go back, or He comes looking for me I can provide nothing for myself. All I have I have because the Lord gave them to me.

I am a fluffy little lamb enjoying the green pastures provided by my Lord and Savior. I can leave the herd, but I don’t want to.  “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for He is with me, His rod and staff protect me”. 

Where are you? Are you walking along beside the great shepherd? Do you want to?