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Stretching Exercises

Talbot Davis August 24, 2009 at 9:03 am 0

Julie and I were away this weekend, enjoying a trip that all the pastors at Good Shepherd have received this summer, courtesy of what we call our Staff-Parish Relations Team.

But back at the church, we showed this piece as a demonstration of the ways God stretches us into strength so that we might then minister in his name.

Thanks to Frank Mondo for sharing his story.

A man. Working in children's ministry. Showing kids of all ages that you can be both masculine and spiritual. That's a high value at Good Shepherd.

In a world all too often lacking in male role models, we consider it a high privilege to have guys like Frank being made into a piece of work.

Good Shepherd

Stretching Exercises

Talbot Davis August 21, 2009 at 6:00 am 2

Ouch!

How is that picture even possible?

But that's what stretching does for the human body -- it makes the impossible become possible.

Stretching gives us more flexibility and, paradoxically, leaves us stronger in the end.

It's much the same way with the ministry we attempt for God.

When we allow ourselves to be stretched, shaped, and challenged -- to put another way, when we become pieces of work -- we end up both more limber and more powerful.

That's what Week Two of Piece Of Work will be about.

Together, we'll be stretched into strength.

Sunday. 8:30. 10:00. 11:30.

Good Shepherd

Piece Of Work Worked

Talbot Davis August 17, 2009 at 9:55 am 3

So yesterday, everyone who entered the Worship Center received a small container of Play Dough.

We talked about how we are God's "workmanship" -- in a grand sense how we are the raw material that God then fashions into a thing of beauty and purpose. We are his masterpiece.

In other words, we are all pieces of work.

But it didn't stop there.

We are not masterpieces to gaze in the mirror and proclaim how good we look. God makes us his pieces of work because we have "been created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." We're worked on to work for.

So we talked about that at Good Shepherd. And then we challenged the many people who receive ministry from the church to then provide ministry through the church. After all, that's why God is making them a piece of work -- to work for him.

And it all ended up with 10 minutes of silence as people then crafted their Play Dough into clay creations that represented what God is doing in them. Now. Today. And here's the result.

It was one of the most unique ways we've worshipped and prayed together. But I believe it was one of the most effective as well.

So one week and one experiment down in Piece Of Work. And we didn't fall on our face.

Good Shepherd

What You Should Do On Sunday Morning

Talbot Davis August 14, 2009 at 6:00 am 1

I've long heard that there are three types of churches: risk takers, care takers, and under takers.

We'll wherever we usually are on that spectrum, this Sunday we're starting on a message series that will be high on the risk factor.

It's called Piece Of Work.

It comes from Ephesians 2:10: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

So God is the artist and we are the art.

Each week in the series we're doing something that could be great. Or it could fall on its face.

But we believe the risk is worth the reward each time. We trust that God will allow the people of Good Shepherd to experience what it means and why it is that they are his masterpiece.

Sunday. 8:30. 10:00. 11:30.

Good Shepherd

Love & Respect

Talbot Davis August 10, 2009 at 7:55 am 1

In laying out our goals and emphases of 2009, we kept coming back to the subject of marriage. We sensed that many marriages in this community had settled into an uncomfortable truce while others were teetering on the brink of collapse.

That's why we did the LoveDare series back in February, along with a Pathfinder launch to support it.

And it's why were hosting the Love & Respect Video Conference here this coming weekend.

Friday night, August 14 and Saturday morning, August 15.

Time well spent unfolding the biblical wisdom behind healthy marriages.

As an added bonus, you'll be the first occupants in the first public event at our new Corner Campus.

To sign up, check here.

Good Shepherd

Talbot Davis

The Heart of the Matter

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